Page 33 of The Triple Play

His thumb rubbed across the back of my knuckles slowly, softly, and all I could do was stare at it, watch the way my skin moved beneath it. “That’s okay, Annie.”

“I don’t even know which one of you I…” I trailed off, cringing at myself. “God, that sounds awful.”

He shook his head, the short little strands dislodging from behind his ears. “Not to me.” His fingers abandoned my hair, one bent one coming up instead under my chin and nudging my head up gently. I met his gaze, finding a hint of calm in it, and tried to let it wash over me. “You’re figuring things out. You’re allowed to do that.”

All I could do was look up at him, my heart in my fucking throat, trying to catch my breath around the ache and uncertainty of whatever the hell all of this was. “I just feel like I have to choose,” I breathed.

His other thumb dragged across my chin, his gaze a little sterner, his eyelids dropping just a hair as he watched me closely. “Not today,” he murmured. “Just… be here. Be present. Eat your damn burrito. Hang out with me. No pressure, no choices.”

My pulse hammered violently in my ears from the way he was looking at me, and it took every bit of self-control I possessed to not do something utterly stupid.

“And for what it’s worth, sweetheart,” he continued, his thumb moving a little higher, brushing against the bottom swell of my lower lip, “I don’t mind sharing if you begged to be with all three of us.”

I don’t mind sharing if you begged to be with all three of us.Dear god, had I heard him right? Surely not. Surely he didn’t mean that.

My eyes blew wide, the possibility of that settling over me, the places I’d let my mind drift to over the last few days swarming back in like wildfire. Heat warmed my skineverywhere, and I could tell he noticed, could see it in the way his lips quirked up in that stupid little smirk he loved to wear, could feel it in the way his hold on my chin grew just a little bit tighter.

“You’ve thought about that before,” he said, his voice low like a goddamn purr as he leaned a little closer, his body starting to invade my space. It wasn’t a question. “So have I.”

I didn’t breathe for a second. Icouldn’t. His words lit a fire in my chest and burned it all the way down to the space between my thighs, like striking a match far too close to dry kindling. I blinked up at him, my heart thudding so hard I was positive he could hear it, and still,still, I didn’t pull away.

I leaned into him instead.

Not enough to reach him, but enough to make it clear what I wanted right then. He wanted me to be present, and god dammit, I was being present. My lips parted just a little, my free hand wrapping around his wrist, my fingers curling tight, anchoring him to me as my lips justbarelybrushed against his. Just enough to feel the heat radiating off him, just enough to feel his breath across my skin, just enough to know that I absolutely wanted more.

He held still. Heletme.

He gave me the choice here of taking it or not, and oh my god, I was going to take it.

I kissed him.

Mouths touching, just softly at first, testing. Tasting. Like dipping my toes into water I already knew I’d end up drowning in. But then he broke it for a second, catching his breath. My fingers released his wrist as he trailed his hand along my jaw and back behind my ear, sinking into my hair, and he moved toward me, all hesitation and tentativeness out the window.

The next kiss was pure want and need.

He met me halfway, kissing me back like he’d been holding it back for days, like he’d been waiting for me to make that move just so he could meet it with everything he had — and I was positive that was exactly what he’d done. My back hit the cushions behind me and he followed, pressing me down, all warmth and muscle and momentum. His other hand left my hand on my thigh and he used it to brace himself against the arm of the sofa.

The kiss turned desperate fast. Teeth grazing, tongues clashing, his thumb brushing the space beneath my ear like he was trying to memorize it. I shifted my knees, giving him space to settle in between them, gasping at the sensation of the warmth of his rigid body covering more and more of me, heat tangling low in my gut and pooling in the space between my thighs. He kissed like he played — reckless, confident, all-in. And I kissed him back like I was afraid he might disappear, even though my mind screamed at me to run.

But that was the kicker. We were in my space. I had nowhere to run to.

And maybe that was exactly the push I needed.

I let my hands drift down the front of his hoodie, eager, willing,wantingto feel more of him. I found the bottom of it and sunk my hands beneath it, finding nothing but the smooth, tight skin of his lower stomach. He grunted against my lips before shifting his mouth, kissing my cheek, my jaw, moving lower to my neck, making my head spin.

My hands surged higher, over the lines of his abs, feeling each one bare beneath my fingertips. I knew he was built, but my god, I’d never felt something that strong in my life.

“Christ,” he rasped against my throat, releasing his hold on the side of my head and shifting slightly. He reached behind his neck, grabbed a fistful of his hoodie, and yanked, pulling it up and off of him in one quick movement, his hair tie catching in the action and slipping free. Overgrown, shoulder-length black hair fell around his face and neck as he loomed over me.

Holy fuck.

Themuscleon him was like something carved by the goddamn ancient Greeks. He was all sharp lines and hard-earned strength. Defined pecs, shoulders like a statue’s, and that deep cut between them that led down to abs that were completelyunfair. His biceps flexed with the smallest movement, thick and corded, veins trailing down like a roadmap I suddenly wanted to trace with my mouth.

I tried not to stare. But I was absolutely staring. And of course, he noticed.

“Careful, sweetheart,” he murmured, smug as sin as he dipped his head, his mouth touching mine so lightly I could barely consider it a kiss. “Keep looking at me like that and I’m gonna start thinking you want a hell of a lot more.”

My chest rose and fell rapidly beneath him, my hands flat against his bare chest, my gaze desperately trying to focus on his but struggling with him so close. “What if I do?” I breathed.

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