Page 94 of The Triple Play

“Get the tarp,” Cole said to Xavi, then turned to me instead. “Close your eyes.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he grinned.

I closed my eyes and let him pull me toward the structure, my feet sinking into the grass as we crossed the ten or so feet from the back porch. I heard the sound of plastic scraping, the tarp coming clean off, and then Cole stopped us, moving around until he was behind me.

“Open!” Xavi chirped.

I blinked my eyes open, staring at the shed-like structure, not quite understanding at first.

But then I saw through the glass doors.

My knees nearly buckled.

Xavi grabbed the door handle and pulled, throwing it open and gesturing for me to look inside, a shit-eating grin plastered to his cheeks. “Have a look.”

I stepped in, my breath knocking loose. Thick soundproofing lined the walls in charcoal, a wide desk holding a studio-quality mixing board with dual monitors on the far end. On the opposite wall, shelves were already stacked with recording gear — interfaces, microphones, leads, two brand new Taylor guitars, pedals, the whole nine yards. Across from the window, a small, plush loveseat with one of my old lyric journals sat on a cushion.

I turned around, staring at them both through the open door, my breathing stuttered.

“We didn’t want you to give up music,” Cole said quietly. “We were worried you might before you started trying to write again. We didn’t want you to have to choose.”

“We want you to have everything,” Xavi added. “The baby, us, your dreams. You shouldn’t have to worry about giving anything up.”

I blinked fast, trying to stop the tears that were burning my eyes, but they came anyway. I pressed my hands to my face, trying to breathe, but it turned into a muffled sob. “You dicks,” I croaked. “I didn’t think—I—thank you. Oh my god, thank you.”

Cole stepped into the studio, his arms wrapping around me in an instant, pulling me into his chest. “You don’t need to thank us.”

“You really don’t,” Xavi chuckled, stepping in too, his hand petting the back of my head. “It’s the least we could do.”

“Bullshit, this must have cost thousands.”

Cole shrugged. “So?” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my lips. “We wanted to.”

Xavi gently coaxed me from Cole’s arms, wrapping one of his own around my waist as Cole let me go. He gripped my face in his hand playfully. “Youare giving us the greatest gift we could have ever asked for, baby. If we can’t give you a few nice things in return, then that’s not exactly fair, is it?”

He let go of my cheeks, but kissed me before I could move my head, his mouth moving languidly against mine, sticking around unlike Cole’s peck. His hand moved to the back of my neck, cradling it.

What started soft morphed quickly, quicker than I anticipated. Xavi always kissed like he meant it, like every moment demanded it, and I should have expected it — he kissed me no differently this time, but the act of receiving what they’d given me already had me too weak to want anything but more from both of them.

I felt Cole’s hand between my shoulder blades as I exhaled into Xavi’s mouth, my fingers fisting the front of his shirt, just trying to keep myself upright while his lips moved against mine, deliberate and slow, but not gentle. The warmth spreading through me pooled between my thighs as he tilted his head, his tongue brushing mine in a way that screamedmore.

He groaned under his breath, almost like he hadn't meant for it to escape, and I felt it down to my bones. “Fuck it, we’re christening the studio,” he said against my mouth, and Cole laughed, grabbing the door and pulling it closed.

“Colton will be pissed,” Cole murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of my head.

“Then he should have run faster,” Xavi growled, letting his mouth roam across my face instead, kissing down to my jaw, my neck.

Cole’s hand dragged down my back, over Xavi’s arm, and hooked beneath the bottom of my tank top, pushing the fabric up. “Fair enough. Let her go for a sec.”

Xavi let go just long enough for the fabric to come up over my head before his mouth was on me again, leaving a little trail of kisses and nips down the side of my neck, his arms wrapping back around me like a vice and exploring the divot of my side, the curve of my ribs, anywhere he could reach.

Cole reached around to the front of my bralette, finding the oddly positioned clasp and undoing it, and he peeled the fabric off my back and down my arms in one quick motion. His mouth came down on the opposite side to Xavi’s, trailing across the top of my shoulder.

My heart thudded heavily in my chest, my head starting to spin a little from their mouths alone. I reached back with one hand, fisting the bottom of Cole’s shirt, and grabbed the neckline of Xavi’s in front of me, trying to urge both of them to take it off but feeling too scatterbrained to figure it out.

“Already had you this morning, darling,” Cole chuckled against my skin. “I’m happy to just help.”

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