ComfortZone by KJ Reed

under control. Almost scary, actually, how you keep
this place organized.”
    “Someone has to,” he bit back.
    Trav raised his hands in surrender. “Hey, I’m not
complaining. I agree. Someone has to hold the reins. A place like this has a
lot of love to give. But you can’t do that without a plan and someone running
things.”
    He blew out a breath. After so much criticism of his control
from Mary Ellen, he was jumping the gun on anyone who brought it up. “Sorry.
It’s just been a long couple of weeks.”
    “Has she had a long few weeks too?”
    “Who?” His instinct to play dumb where his feelings for Mary
Ellen were concerned were too ingrained to fight.
    Trav squinted at him, then shook his head. “We both know
who. What I don’t know is why you fight it so hard. The two of you love to act
like there’s nothing going on, and yet put you both in the room together and it
feels like there’s a contest to see who can burn the other one’s clothes off
with their eyes the fastest.”
    Had it seriously been that obvious? “She annoys me,” he
muttered. Which was true.
    “So does Marge. But you don’t stare at her like you do Mary
Ellen.”
    Marge the cook? “Marge is knocking on the door to ninety.”
    “Lies. She couldn’t be a day over eighty-five.” There was a
teasing light in Trav’s eyes, and Brice was tempted to toss his keyboard at
him. “Look, we’re brothers now.”
    “Brothers-in-law.”
    He waved that away. “Whatever. The fact is, what you tell me
in confidence stays there. Ariel and I are married, and I love her more than
life itself. But we’re perfectly capable of keeping things quiet if it’s asked
of us. We share a life, not a brain.”
    Brice thought about that for a moment.
    “Just answer this…what’s stopping you from making a move
with Mary Ellen?”
    Ha. “Funny you should ask…”
    * * * * *
    “Holy shit. I still can’t believe you slept with my
brother.”
    Mary Ellen’s eyes darted around, seeing nothing but trees on
either side of the trail. “Keep it down, will you?”
    Ariel glanced around her as well. “What, like there’s some
nosy blue jay eavesdropping, just ready to break the story on Perez Hilton?
Come on.”
    Okay, when she put it like that, it did sound stupid.
“Someone could ride up the trail behind us,” she mumbled.
    “And be heard coming a mile away. You know we’re alone back
here.”
    “Were you this smart when you left? I think I miss my dumber
friend, can I have her back?” Mary Ellen ducked the handful of leaves Ariel
threw at her, righted herself in the saddle again. “Yes. I did. And you can
stop looking so surprised. You knew I had a…” A what? Crush seemed a little
juvenile. But using the word lust to Brice’s sister was a little
bizarre, even if it was her best friend.
    “Thing. Let’s use the word thing and call it done. And yeah,
I knew. I was encouraged by it. But sweetie, I’m not mad. I’m just shocked that
he actually let his guard down enough to go for it.”
    “That would make two of us.” She breathed in, let the scents
of flowers and fresh, damp earth and leather seep through her, calm her. “But
as it turns out, he didn’t let anything down. He just created this little box
to put me in.”
    “I’m not following.”
    Mary Ellen urged Ross until he was even with Ariel riding
Rachel. “It’s like, he only let me in a little bit into his life. He created
this special box, labeled Mary Ellen . And as long as I stay in this box
that he’s decided I belong in, then everything is fine. But if I want to step
out, then it all goes to hell. He’s so…controlled.”
    “That’s Brice.”
    “Yeah, I know. And sometimes I like it. But other times,
well, you know me. I like to be in charge too. But that’s not acceptable to
him. He’s like a junkyard dog with a bone and nobody gets to share his bone
with him.”
    “He earned it fair and square,” Ariel said, surprising her.
    “The bone?”
    “The