Page 25 of Painless
“It’s just…weird to listen to. Like you’re a family splitting chores.”
“That’s basically what we’re doing,” I pointed out. “Only it’s no chore to make our woman more comfortable after getting needles in her skin for two hours.”
“Okay, tell me this.” Gunner rested his chin in his hand. “How are you okay,” he directed at Reaper, “with her being all up inhislap?”
“I had her to myself this morning,” Reaper shrugged. “’Dro gets up early to go to the shop, so we get to lay in together.”
"Then she has lunch with me." I wrapped around her tighter.
Gunner kept his bewildered eyes on Mari. "And what about after you're all done for the day?"
"We split time between both houses," Mari answered. "The evenings are usually all three of us. We have dinner, talk, and wind down for the evening together. But we make sure to have alone time, too. We've established a cozy little routine."
"We sure have." I dragged my lips from Mari's ear to her temple, and felt her completely melt in my arms as a result. The insecurity in my gut melted away, as if it were never there.
Reaper was right, as usual. Sharing a woman was tricky to navigate, but she held the wheel and steered us true. One woman could only do so much to keep multiple men happy. I had to trust her, to believe she was genuine in her feelings, and had all of our best interests at heart.
"But what about..." Gunner's question trailed off, but he raised his eyebrows pointedly.
"Gun, if you never heard of a threesome, I regret ever letting you into my fucking club," Reaper growled.
"Of course I know about threesomes!" Gunner snapped. "But...all the time?"
"No, not all the time," Mari answered. "If I want to be alone with one of them, I'll say so. I try my best to keep it equal, but honestly?" A rosy blush filled her cheeks. "I love it best when all of us are together."
"You're getting spoiled." Reaper leaned over and kissed the back of her shoulder.
"And that doesn't bother you either?" Gunner asked him. "Seeing your best friend and your woman in bed together?"
"Not a damn bit." Reaper set his gun and cleaning supplies down, resting his forearms on his knees. "Bottom line, I want my woman happy, whether it's from me or another man. This way, I know it's from someone I trust. Someone who'll love and protect her if anything happens to me."
"Don't talk like that," Mari scolded, reaching over to smack his arm.
"I'm just saying it's another benefit to what we have, sugar. Especially if we take on General Tash in the near future. I'll be at ease knowing you'll be looked after, no matter the outcome."
I decided to steer the conversation back to a less ominous topic. "The sex thing isn't as weird as your mind makes it out to be, Gun. Yeah, I love this woman. Yeah, I watch my best friend nail her until she's creaming all over his cock. One does not invalidate the other."
"They try to make it all about me," Mari groaned like she was complaining, although nobody missed the smug grin on her lips. "But I make sure nobody gets neglected either."
I nuzzled her neck and kissed her there. "You're too good to us."
"That's why we put up with you," Reaper added, playfully swatting her hip.
"I just..." Gunner ran both hands through his hair, tilting his head up to the sky with a long breath. He stayed like that for a while before resuming his gaze on the woman at the center of all of us.
"I want to be with you, Mari," he said in a rush of breath. "I tried to fight it, but that only made me want you more. I love that you trust me when you're scared and I want to be someone that's there for you. I just," he paused, his eyes filled up with only her, "I just don't know if I can handlethis."
A long, heavy silence fell over us. Reaper and I exchanged a glance and a mutual shrug. We answered all his questions, said all there was to say. If none of that was enough, maybe Gunner wasn't cut out for this. That was fine, but he couldn't keep being Mari's emotional support person if that was the case. It would be too close, too intimate.
Our woman stared at him with a gaze that reflected his. They only saw each other in that moment, and I wondered what was going through her head.
"I guess there's one way left to find that out, Gunner." She stood, grabbed my hand and then Reaper's. "Let's go home."
"Oh...kay?" I stared at her, my ass still glued to the couch. "What's on your mind,bonita?"
"We're going to bed." She turned her head to look at Reaper, then the man sitting across from us. "And Gunner's going to watch."
Ten
