Author: Olivia Cunning

The bathroom door opened. She peeked out of the shower curtain and was blessed with Trey’s orneriest smile. “Can I come in?”

“We need to talk,” she said. Ground rules. They needed ground rules. Her heart thudded even harder when Trey tilted his head and he did that thing he did when he wanted something. That irresistible, ornery-assed, tell-me-no-if-you-dare look.

“Talk?”

“Yes, talk.”

“Okay,” he agreed and entered the bathroom.

Ethan leaned in through the doorway, looking tall, dangerous, and well-fucked. The bastard. “Room in there for three?”

“We’re going to talk first.”

Ethan’s nose crinkled and he moved back in the hallway. Reagan didn’t miss the familiar way Ethan stroked Trey’s hip before he shut the door behind him. Trey closed the toilet seat lid and sat on its surface.

“Okay, talk,” he said. “But make it quick. You’re naked and wet. I can’t be expected to concentrate on words.”

Reagan’s belly quivered with nerves. What if they couldn’t make this work? What if she had to let him go? What if he ended up feeling something for Ethan and she had to pretend like she was okay with that?

“How often do you think you’ll need to be with Ethan?” she forced herself to ask and noticed she’d been rubbing soap over one arm for several minutes.

“Is this about the rules?” Trey asked.

“I think we need to lay some ground rules at the beginning.”

“Can we try no rules, Reagan?”

She peeked out of the curtain to look at him. “No rules? There have to be some rules. I know you need a man in your life to fulfill you sexually, but I’m not prepared to let you sleep with anyone you choose. What’s the point of being in a relationship if you’re not willing to offer me some sort of commitment?” There. She’d said it. Now the ball was in his court.

He sighed and scrubbed his face with both hands. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“I think so.”

He looked up at her, his gaze intense. Not at all like Trey’s usual devil-may-care expression. Reagan’s knees went weak.

“I love you,” he said. “I have never said that to a woman in my life. Not in a romantic capacity.”

“I love you too.”

He smiled. “I want this thing between us to work. I think it’s special.”

“I think so, too.”

“The sexual side of our relationship has to be completely open for it to work.”

“Completely open?”

“What happens when I get tired of Ethan?”

“What happens when you get tired of me?” She didn’t mean to sound like a needy banshee, but it was her biggest concern. Not that Trey would find sexual release with a man, but that he’d stop loving her. Or start loving someone else more than he loved her. She couldn’t stand the thought.

“Won’t happen. I already said I love you.” He clutched the fabric of his jeans at his thighs. “You have to be one hundred percent okay with this part of me or you are going to get hurt. That’s why I left the first time. Not because I wanted to, but because I can’t change for you and I don’t want to hurt you, Reagan. I won’t be the cause of your tears.”

“This is hard,” she said.

He linked his hands together and rested his forearms on his thighs. He stared at his thumbs and asked, “Do you need time to think about it? I can go. Give you more time.”

She shook her head. “I’m ready to try this. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be devastated, but at least I’ll know we tried to stay together.”

He offered her a crooked grin. “I don’t think you’ll regret this decision, Reagan. Ethan and I are both here for your pleasure. And mine. And his.”

She knew her body wouldn’t regret it, but she wasn’t so sure about her heart.

“How do you feel about Ethan committing to us?” Trey asked.

Reagan’s eyes widened. The water was starting to grow cold, so she hurried to rinse off and shut off the shower. “He shouldn’t have to. I mean, if he’s just our sex buddy…”

Trey handed her a towel. “He means more to you than a sex buddy, Reagan. He’s your best friend. Be realistic.”

“I can keep sex and friendship separate,” she said and wrapped the towel around her body. “He’s for you. Not me.”

“He has feelings too,” Trey said. He rubbed a hand over his face. “If he wants to be used as a sex toy, that’s his business, but I don’t think that’s the case. Not after last night.”

Reagan’s heart gave an unpleasant lurch in her chest. “Are you falling for Ethan?”

He chuckled. “Not exactly. I like him. If I thought last night was a onetime thing, I wouldn’t be sitting here discussing this with you, but if you’re putting the stipulation on me that if I want a man, it has to be Ethan—nice choice, by the way—then he needs a say in this too.”

Never in a million years had Reagan expected Trey to be worried about Ethan’s part in this. She had been thinking of Ethan as someone she trusted to serve Trey’s sexual needs and leave when she told him to, not as the man she’d been friends with for years. Not as someone who had feelings and wasn’t just a nice body with a big cock to keep her boyfriend satisfied. “God, I’m such a bitch! I never once thought about Ethan’s feelings in this. He just seemed so eager to take you to bed.”

She grabbed the doorknob, but Trey caught her around the waist. “Ethan and I talked about this already.”

“Without me?”

“We weren’t trying to exclude you. More like protect you.”

“I don’t need to be protected, Trey. I’m a big girl.”

“We both care about you and we like each other enough to commit three ways.”

“Three ways?” She could feel the heat rise up her throat.

“At least in the bedroom.”

Trey tumbled her onto his lap. “You can say no, Reagan. You can put up any limits you want. I want you to be comfortable with everything we do. If you don’t want Ethan to be a fixture in our lives, that’s fine. We’ll tell him that now. I won’t sleep with him again, but I honestly don’t know how much deprivation I can tolerate. I lasted about two weeks last time.”

She stared up at him. Last night when she’d received those pictures of Trey with Ethan, she hadn’t been jealous or hurt or confused. She’d been aroused. On fire. The jealousy hadn’t spawned until that morning when she’d awoken alone and knew the two of them were cuddled up together in bed without her. “Ethan wants this?” Reagan asked.

Trey nodded. “He’s emotionally invested in you, sweetheart. He wants a commitment too.”

“I thought… I thought.” She didn’t know what she thought. She knew she loved Trey. She wanted him happy. She trusted Ethan. Then why was she so mixed up? She wrapped her arms around Trey’s neck to draw him closer. God, she’d missed him lying beside her last night. She’d become entirely accustomed to him being a part of her life.

“What?” Trey asked, his hand lightly stroking her bare thigh.

“I thought we could decide this stuff afterwards. I want to make sure I like being part of your attraction to men. If it’s half as sexy live as it is in pictures, I’m sold.” She giggled.

“Mmmm,” Trey said, his lips skimming her collarbone. “I do love you, woman.”

“Did Ethan satisfy you last night?” she asked.

“Do you really have to ask?”

“He’s good in bed, isn’t he?”

“You would know.” Trey’s lips moved up her throat to her jaw. “Are we finished talking now?”

She chuckled. “Did you have something you’d rather do?”

“Ethan and I talked about all the things we wanted to do to you on the drive over. It got me all worked up.”

Reagan’s towel dropped to her waist as Trey’s hands started to wander.

“What kinds of things?”

“We’ll show you. Are you sure you’re okay with this now? We can take it slower if you need to.”

She smiled. “I’m ready.” She smoothed his silky hair with her fingertips. “Now.”

Trey tipped her onto her feet and stood. He took her towel and dropped it on the floor. “You won’t need it.” Trey opened the bathroom door, scooped Reagan into his arms, and practically sprinted to the bedroom.

She laughed and held onto his neck. “Eager?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Me too.”

“Have you ever been with two men before?” he asked her.

She shook her head and turned it abruptly when she noticed Ethan standing beside her bed, removing things from a sack and lining them up in a neat row on her nightstand.

“If you don’t like it, we don’t have to do it again,” Trey told her. “I can keep the two halves of my sexuality separate, if necessary, but I’d much rather share everything I am with you. And so would Ethan.”

She tore her eyes away from the set of red silk scarves Ethan had laid out on the bed. In that moment she realized how blessed she was to have Trey in her life. She wanted to be a part of everything he was, because she loved him. “I want that too.” And how could he think she wouldn’t like it? She supposed it was possible, but not very probable. “Thank you for being so patient with me, Trey. For talking with me about this. It helps with the nervousness I’m feeling.”

“You don’t have to be nervous. It just me. And Ethan. You trust both of us, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And if you’re uncomfortable with anything we do, just let us know.” He grinned. “We’ll adjust our tactics.”

Trey carried her over to the bed and set her down on the edge of the mattress. Ethan glanced at Trey and offered him a wink. Reagan swallowed. She wondered what the two of them had in store for her.

Trey moved to stand behind Ethan. He ran his hands over Ethan’s flat belly. “I think Ethan looks better naked,” he said. “What do you think, Reagan?”

“I think you should take his clothes off,” she said.

Trey pulled the hem of Ethan’s tight T-shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. Reagan’s mouth went dry as she watched Trey’s hands slowly slide up Ethan’s abdomen, bumping over each ripped muscle as he drew the fabric upward one agonizing inch at a time. Damn, the man was lickable.

“What do you want to do to him, Reagan?” Trey asked.

“Trace all of those stomach muscles with my tongue.” Her eyes widened and she looked up at Trey who was watching her over Ethan’s shoulder. Had she really just admitted that aloud in front of her boyfriend?

Trey grinned at her. “So what’s stopping you?”

“It’s okay?” she asked, genuinely flabbergasted that Trey was okay with her licking another man’s belly.

“I thought you explained things to her,” Ethan said. He reached forward and gently cupped Reagan’s face. He gazed down at her with those dark brown eyes of his and her breath caught.

“I tried,” Trey said, pulling Ethan’s shirt up over his hard pecs. With her mouth hanging open, Reagan watched Trey rub Ethan’s nipples. “I don’t think she fully understands that there are no limits on anything that goes on between the three of us while we’re in this bedroom.”

“Looks like we’ll have to show her.” Ethan grinned wickedly, his gaze skimming over Reagan’s flesh until she had a full-body blush going on. “Unfasten my pants, Reagan.”