Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“Where is my buddy and why has his evil emo twin replaced him?”
Chase turns around. His jaw is tight. His eyes are cold. What’s worse is when he says, “Shut the door. We need to talk.”
15
THE T WORD
Chase
I pace around my room, dragging a hand through my hair, trying to get a grip on this stranglehold of jealousy that came out of nowhere and pummeled me to the ground. “We said we won’t let a woman come between us,” I say, but that only scratches the surface of this storm of unexpected emotions battering my chest.
“Right,” Ryker says carefully, like I’m a rabid animal he must approach with caution.
“But I didn’t expect…this,” I say, irritation thick in my tone. I hate feeling this way. Annoyed and out of control.
“What’s this?” he asks, stepping farther into the room, more out of earshot.
“This little twist,” I say, then wince at how I sound. Pissy and caught up. I haven’t even known Trina for a day, and I can’t believe I feel this way, but I do. “I was jealous you got her dinner and the pound cake.”
Ryker barks out a laugh, but then it dies quickly when he studies my face. “Shit. You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.” And that’s the issue. “I was jealous you solved a problem for her.”
“Need I remind you that you offered her a place to stay,” he says, waving his hand around my room. “That’s a bigger problem to solve than a cake.”
Fine, yes, I helped her with her landlord issue. But I still haven’t peeled back the real problem. “But see, I want to do things for her—”
I can’t get out the last word.
When I don’t finish, Ryker must decide to change tactics since he approaches me, his demeanor calm, maybe reassuring. “Look, it’s cool with me if we do different things for her. You took her to the dog park. I’m not the kind of guy who’s gonna baby talk over her dog.”
“I don’t do that,” I spit out.
Ryker rolls his eyes. “You do. And I’m not going to be the one who asks how did you sleep. But look, she needed a pound cake. That’s my wheelhouse, man. Finding things. So I did that for her. Just like you gave her a place to stay.”
He’s right. I know he’s right. We don’t have to compete with errands or gifts. We don’t have to fight over her. I don’t need to be jealous if we want the same thing.
Just say it, man.
“But what’s really getting at you?” Ryker presses, folding his arms across his chest. “Because I don’t think it’s the pact. This doesn’t feel like the Abby”—Ryker stops to fake cough—“Selena…deal.”
That’s the thing. On paper, there are some similarities. We want the same woman. But in reality, the situations are vastly different. We had no idea we were into the same woman before. Now, everyone’s been on the same page since the start.
“It doesn’t feel that way to me either. Since, well, we met Trina together,” I say, the words stumbling out awkwardly. “Everything’s in the open.”
“It sure is,” Ryker says with a little smirk. “Swinging dicks and all.”
Jackass. He’s so much cooler about this than I am. But that’s how he’s been most of his life. Steady as a rock. He had to be for his mom and sisters. But I’ve had to do the same too. So I let out a deep breath, prepared to say the hard thing.
But he says it for me.
“Are you afraid she doesn’t want to sleep together again?” Ryker asks.
Boom. There it is. He said it. The T word—together.
I drop my head against the cold window then admit the stark truth. “Yes. I can’t stop thinking about the way she melted under our touch,” I say, but I have to face this head-on so I turn around and draw a soldiering breath. This is new terrain, talking about sex this openly, even with my buddy. Yes, last night we talked about a game plan for a hot night. But we were powered by the adrenaline and swagger of what seemed like a one-time opportunity.
Now, I want another night with her. Maybe even a whole week. But I also want Ryker to have her too. The way she fell apart when we pleasured her together was addictive. “I want to share her again. If she wants to. Do you?”
Ryker just smiles, like took you long enough. “I sure do.”
We leave together, men on a mission.
16
BOSS BABE
Trina
Well, this is weird. My stomach is rumbling, and I’m twiddling my thumbs on the couch. Okay, not twiddling. I’m flipping pages on my Kindle, gobbling up the first chapter of a new Hazel Valentine romance, and wondering how long two guys can talk.
But it feels like twiddling, because I’m waiting, and I’m trying, I swear I’m trying, not to assume they’re talking about me.