Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Kayla’s eyes tick back and forth between us, then she licks her lips. My eyes zero in on the innocent movement, giving it a much filthier meaning. I swear this room must be filled with her floral perfume or her pheromones or something because I am keyed up just being this close to her. Still, I do my best to listen as she formally introduces herself. “Kayla Harrington, though I guess you figured that out. I didn’t mean to be misleading about my name. It seemed like a good idea when I was meeting sexy strangers in a bar and I’m… who I am.”
She lets out a tiny laugh, like that’s explanation enough, and I guess in a way, it is. She went into that night thinking it was a one-night fling the same way we did, so we were all a bit protective of our true identities. I instantly forgive her for that. The rest? I’m still not sure.
“I didn’t expect to ever see you again. Either of you, certainly not both of you, and definitely not here.” She glances around her office. “Why are you here? Really.”
“To spank your ass for walking out on us,” Maddox suggests with a smirk. “And maybe take you to dinner. Before, after, or both—your call.”
Kayla’s bark of unexpected laughter releases the tension that’s been in my chest since that morning at the hotel. And when she looks at me for an answer, I’m brutally honest. “The way you took us both—beautifully, proudly, without reservation—was sexy as fuck, and I would love to do that again, but I’m here because of the conversations in that bed over Chinese food. I want that again. More than the sex.”
“Wow,” she breathes.
“Hey, that’s what I said too,” Maddox argues good-naturedly. “He’s just Mr. Poetic over here.” He backhands my arm, grinning like that’s remotely true. Poetry would require me to be good with words, and words are some of the hardest things for me. Quieter, he tells me, “Good job.”
Turning his attention back to Kayla, he asks, “You should know I don’t cook, but I’m a damn good DoorDash orderer. So, are we having Chinese again tonight?” He sounds cockily certain that she’s coming to dinner.
I am too. Until a shadow passes through her eyes.
“Look, I have thought about that night too. A lot, actually,” she confesses with a wry tilt of her head. “But it was one night of spontaneous recklessness and if you knew me, you’d know those are two things I am not.” Her eyes fall to her hands, where she’s fidgeting with a ring on her middle finger. “I don’t think it’s supposed to be something we do again. What if we ruin it?” That last bit is barely more than a whisper, like she’s hoping we don’t hear her.
“What if we don’t?” Maddox counters. “What if it’s even better the second time around? The third? The hundredth?”
Her eyes jerk up, wide with shock and landing on each of us in turn. “What are you talking about? Like… a relationship? With all three of us?” She chuckles uncomfortably, like that’s unheard of.
I get that. It’s not what Maddox and I ever planned, either. We fuck women together, we live together, albeit separately, but we’ve never actually been in a relationship with another woman together. We’ve never even talked about it. But I can’t picture a world where it’s him and Kayla without me, or me and her without him. The idea of none of us being together is even more unfathomable.
“We’re not asking you to decide that right now. Dinner, that’s all we’re asking,” I declare, pinning her with a look that dares her to say yes. “One date.” That’s as much a lie as when I told her we were ‘just dancing’, and we all know it. I’m asking for a hell of a lot more than whatever fancy filet mignon and red wine meal she’s used to.
She’s quiet, but her brain is so loud I can almost hear her arguing with herself. I don’t think I breathe. I know I don’t dare to do something stupid like hope.
“I can’t,” she says finally, her eyes filled with regret.
The refusal is a direct hit to my heart, and it sneers ‘told you so’ like it already knew this was going to happen.
There might be more to her answer, but I’ve heard enough. I don’t need or want meaningless platitudes and hollow explanations. “We understand,” I say, speaking for us both as I stand up once more. “Again, sorry for invading like this.”
Maddox tries to get me to wait, wanting to push her harder, but I won’t strong-arm her into this, especially after what she thought initially. Given where her mind went, she’s had some ugly experiences too, and the last thing I want to do is be someone she remembers that way. She doesn’t deserve that, and I don’t want to ruin whatever memories she has any more than we already have.