Kassidy returned moments later carrying a wineglass and a tall glass of sparkling amber beer. Dag watched her. Her pretty mouth was tense, her eyes blinked rapidly even though she smiled and appeared to chat normally with Hailey. He could feel how the entire atmosphere had changed though, although Dave and Hope didn’t seem to notice. Dag could see the worry shading Chris’s eyes, knew how he felt because he felt exactly the same—protective of Kassidy.

He didn’t give a shit if Hailey wanted to spill her guts and rat him out—if Hope and Dave hated him, so what, he’d be gone and never see them again. It was Kassidy he worried about, worried too because he knew how disturbed she was by what her sister was doing.

And he didn’t even want to let his mind drift toward the thought that he’d seen Hailey naked with another man’s cock in her mouth—Jesus H. Christ.

After a while of drinking and munching on snacks, and conversation that had turned brittle and superficial, Kassidy stood. “We should start cooking,” she said brightly. “Dad, can you start up the grill?”

“You bet, Kassie.”

Dave went over to the deluxe stainless steel barbecue on the side of the deck. Dag followed Kassidy into the kitchen.

“You okay?”

She paused, hands resting on the island countertop. He wanted to put his arms around her and hug her but resisted the urge, given…everything.

“Yeah.” She blew out a breath then met his eyes. “I have to talk to her.”

He nodded. He would have been perfectly fine just forgetting the whole thing, never letting Hailey know they knew. He could be good at pretending. He’d been pretending most of his life. But he understood that Kassidy was concerned about Hailey.

He grabbed another beer. “I’ll send her in.”

“Dag. Wait.”

He turned and looked over his shoulder.

“I was wrong about you. When we first met.”

He smiled crookedly at her. “Yeah. You were.”

They exchanged a long, weighty look and then he turned and went back outside.

Chris watched Hailey disappear through the sliding doors into the kitchen where Kassidy was. He looked at Dag, who met his gaze and lifted a brow. Dag’s mouth was firm and straight, and Chris’s gut clenched. He went to stand, and Dag gave a brief shake of his head. Chris subsided back into the cushioned wicker chair and lifted his beer to his mouth.

Damn. He didn’t know what Kassidy was going to say, but he really wanted to be in there. And he could tell, so did Dag. Dag didn’t sit back down in his chair but perched on the deck railing beside Chris, listening to Hope and Dave talk. Then he felt Dag’s hand on his shoulder, a brief squeeze. He didn’t look at Dag, wanted to reach up and cover Dag’s hand with his own, but the touch was fleeting. He nodded, smiled at Kassidy’s parents, not even hearing what they were saying. Only good thing about this whole mess was that the three of them shared it, which was weird but somehow comforting. Together he and Kassidy were a couple and he’d always felt they made a good team–her, soft and sweet and sensitive, him, tough, aggressive, maybe a little stubborn. Okay, a lot stubborn. But having Dag with them, on their side, just made him feel even stronger.

How did life get so fucking complicated?

“Dag said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yes.” Kassidy set her trembling hands on the counter and faced her sister.

Hailey met her gaze with raised eyebrows.

“Hailey. We saw you…in a movie the other night.”

Hailey blinked.

“A porn movie.”

Several beats of silence passed. “You were watching porn?” Hailey gave a tight laugh. “This gets better and better. Little angel Kassidy is turning into such a naughty girl!”

Kassidy wasn’t going to get caught up in that. She recognized exactly what Hailey was doing. “Never mind me,” she said firmly. “I’m worried about you, Hailey. Why are you doing that?”

“Why do you think?” Hailey reached for a pretzel in a bowl on the counter and popped it into her mouth.

“Well, I’m guessing it’s for the money, but god! Hailey, how can you demean yourself like that? You’re so smart and you have so much going for you! If you need more money, go back to college, finish your degree, get a better job than bartending!”

“Why do you think it’s demeaning?” Hailey asked coolly.

“Hailey! The things you do…with men you don’t even know…how can you do that?”

“You’re not exactly in a position to be judging me, big sister.” Hailey crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. “With what I saw the other day…”

“This isn’t about me!” Kassidy’s fingers tightened on the cool granite counter. She took a breath. “And you’re right. I’m not judging you. I’m just…worried about you. Truly.”

“Well, don’t. I’m fine. I enjoy what I do. I’m having fun. I’m professional, respected, well paid…it’s not big deal. And I don’t see what’s so different about it than what you’re doing.”

“There’s a huge difference. What I’m doing….isn’t…” She stopped, at a loss to try to explain the difference. She could feel it inside her, the powerful difference, but putting it into words was hard. “What I’m doing is about love,” she finally said.

Hailey gave a shout of laughter. “You’re telling me you’re in love with two men?”

Kassidy bit her lower lip. Her stomach churned and she pressed a hand there. She’d been trying to avoid thinking about that, but when Hailey said the words, she knew it was true. She’d come to care for Dag. A lot. She wasn’t sure if she’d say she was in love with him–but she definitely cared for him. “We’re not hurting anyone,” she choked out. “We’re all mature, consenting adults.”

“Well, I’m not hurting anyone either,” Hailey said, straightening. She smiled. “And we’re all mature consenting adults making adult movies. And I don’t feel demeaned by it. So what’s the problem?”

“Mom and Dad would die if they knew.”

Hailey’s eyes narrowed and her gaze zoomed in on Kassidy. But she gave a negligent shrug. “You won’t tell them.”

Kassidy stared back at her and lifted her chin. “What makes you think that?”

Hailey laughed. “I don’t actually give a shit if they find out. But I know you won’t tell them because you’re such a soft-hearted little angel. You wouldn’t want to hurt them.”

Kassidy gritted her teeth. “Fine. I won’t tell them about you if you won’t tell them about me.”

Hailey rolled her eyes. “God, are we five years old again?” And she turned and walked out of the kitchen, back onto the deck.

She couldn’t go back out there. Her whole body was shaking, her stomach hurting, her chest squeezing. She closed her eyes and set her elbows on the counter, rested her head in her hands.

Maybe she was making too big a deal of this. It just seemed so…awful, what Hailey was doing. Whereas she…what she was doing was…not. It wasn’t.

Who was she to judge her? She couldn’t judge anyone for choices they made. Much as she tried to defend what she and Chris and Dag were doing, most people would think it was wrong. Sinful. Depraved.

But she didn’t care and she supposed she could understand that Hailey felt the same way.

“Hey.” She felt a gentle hand on her back. Dag’s voice stroked over her. “You okay?”

“Yes.” She straightened, pushed her hair back and smiled at him, although her lips felt tight. “I’m fine.”

“Hailey’s gone. She decided she couldn’t stay for dinner after all.”

“Shit.” Hailey’d finally shown up at a family event and Kassidy had ruined it. Tears stung her eyes and she blinked rapidly. “That probably hurt Mom and Dad’s feelings.”

“Yeah, a little, I think.”

He studied her, and the concern she saw there told her one important thing—Dag cared for her too.

“You can’t use that objectivist crap to justify porn.”