Healing Pleasure by Tonya Ramagos

told him to starve. Then he’d be rid of him.
    “You just said you were five when your mom passed away,” Lena said as if he needed a reminder.
    Trey nodded. “A five-year-old boy can con just about anyone into a bowl of pudding or a plate of spaghetti. It’s a little harder when five turns into twelve, especially once he realizes how to really fend for himself.”
    “You turned to stealing.”
    Though her tone made her words more statement than question, he repeated, “I turned to stealing. I had to eat somehow, though the people I stole from didn’t quite see it that way.”
    The trees opened and he bit back a grin at the soft moan that escaped her throat as she caught sight of the pond. Her lips parted on a smile, and he followed her gaze as it swept over the open area. A blue jay perched on a branch high in a tree gave a song, breaking the surprised silence.
    “This is amazing!” She stepped away from them, turning slowly as she walked, taking it all in. “God, I can’t imagine what it was like to grow up here.”
    “Far different than the city, darlin’.” Brit had stopped at the tree line and leaned a shoulder against the trunk as he watched her.
    Trey moved further into the clearing, stopped a few feet from the water’s edge, and set down the picnic basket he’d been carrying. “Have you ever been out of the city, sugar?”
    “Not really. I mean, I’ve passed through country like this, but never stayed.” She turned to face him and Brit. “I’m guessing both of you lived in the city before coming here. Did you go to school together? Is that how you met?”
    “Neither of us did much school back then.” Brit pushed off the tree and moved to Trey’s side. “We met on the streets. This dumbass nearly got caught shoplifting at a convenience store. Dude behind the counter would’ve called the cops on him if I hadn’t passed him off as my brother and fed the guy a line about intending to pay for the things Trey had shoved in his pockets.”
    Lena’s eyes narrowed. “You pretended a boy you didn’t even know was your brother and paid for what he stole to keep him out of jail. Where did you get the money?”
    “My father’s wallet. The bastard was gonna beat me anyway. I started figuring I might as well give him a reason. Some weeks I took from him, others I took from my mother. I saved most of it. I thought I could con my way into buying a car off some poor sap even if I wasn’t old enough to drive and get the hell out of dodge.”
    “Did it work?”
    “Naw, I got impatient.”
    Trey kneeled to pull out the blanket May had rolled up inside the picnic basket. Brit hadn’t gotten impatient. He hadn’t been able to save fast enough because he’d spent half the money he stole each week feeding Trey.
    “So you…” Lena prompted.
    “Thought I’d take a page out of Trey’s book and steal one. I saw this old pickup outside a hardware store. It looked like easy pickings. Turned out, it belonged to Horace and Hank. Long story short, instead of calling the law on me, they took us to lunch, needled us into bearing our souls, and offered us a home on the ranch.”
    Her gaze shifted to Trey. “You were with him?”
    Trey straightened and unfolded the blanket on the ground. “I was waiting for him around the corner. He wouldn’t go with Horace and Hank until they came for me.” That had been the second time Brit had changed his life. He’d refused to go with Horace and Hank unless they took Trey in, too.
    He didn’t like the knowing look that moved through Lena’s eyes. She was a sharp one. She’d no doubt figured out how indebted he’d always felt to Brit. She’d probably figured out how guilty he felt over the whole clusterfucked op, too. He’d get passed it, though, and he didn’t need any bit of counseling to help him. All he needed was for Brit to get his head straight, for his buddy to return to the teams with him, and then everything would be all right.
    Brit saved him from the