Page 150 of Better When Shared
I felt something crack open in my chest at the raw pain in his voice. This was why he used dating apps, why he kept his encounters anonymous and brief. He'd built an entire system to protect himself and others from his perceived weakness, turning what should have been intimacy into a carefully managed transaction.
I shifted on the bed, moving closer to him, pressing myself against his side. His arm came around me automatically, and I could feel the tension thrumming through his muscles.
"You deserve love too," I whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to his jaw. "You deserve someone who sees how good you are, how much you care. You’re not your father."
“Definitely not his father,” Enzo muttered. “Cooper Casey is a selfish prick.”
Brian's breath hitched, and I felt him turn his face toward mine. "You guys don't understand. I need sex too much. I'm not good at resisting, even if I love my partner. I cheated once, back when I was trying to do the relationship thing... it wasn't emotional. It was a physical need that I couldn't control."
Enzo made a sound that might have been a snort. "How much sex were you having with your fiancée? She seemed… a bit uptight."
Brian's cheeks flushed, but he answered honestly. "Once or twice a week, maybe."
The silence that followed was broken by Enzo's incredulous laughter. "You? Only once or twice a week? How would that even work? You have a high sex drive, my friend."
I felt heat flood my own cheeks, though I had to admit Enzo had a point. "What Enzo is trying to say," I said, swatting at himplayfully, "is maybe you aren't destined to be a serial cheater. Maybe you just needed someone who's sexually compatible."
"Or multiple someones. Like us," Enzo said. The huge smile on his face made it a little unclear if he was joking.
I watched Brian's face as he processed this, saw the way his analytical mind was working through the implications. It was fascinating to see him apply that same methodical precision to his own emotions, trying to solve the equation of desire and commitment that had been plaguing him for years.
"It's not that simple," he said, but his voice lacked conviction.
"Isn't it?" I asked, my fingers tracing patterns on his chest. "What if the problem wasn't that you're fundamentally if you were trying to fit into a relationship structure that didn't match your needs?"
Brian's arm tightened around me, and I could feel his breath catch. "Gemma..."
"I'm not saying throw caution to the wind," I continued, my voice taking on the persuasive tone I used in difficult negotiations. "I'm saying maybe consider that you've been solving the wrong problem. You've been trying to suppress your nature instead of finding people who complement it."
Enzo's hand found mine where it rested on Brian's chest, his fingers intertwining with mine. "Plus," he said with a grin thatwas both tender and wicked, "I don't know about Gemma, but I'm pretty sure I could keep up with whatever you need."
Brian raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a bold claim."
"I'm a confident man," Enzo said, his grin widening. "I've got stamina. And I’m about to become addicted to having your dick in my ass."
Despite everything, Brian laughed—a real laugh, warm and genuine. "You're both insane," he said, but there was affection in his voice, and something that might have been hope.
"Probably," I agreed, pressing another kiss to his skin. "But we're your kind of insane."
Chapter 15
Enzo
Naples, Italy
We laughed as we sprinted through the ship's corridors, the small white pharmacy bags crinkling in our hands. The walking tour of Naples had been beautiful—ancient cobblestones, soaring cathedrals, the kind of history that should have captured my attention. Instead, all I could focus on was the constant, maddening buzz of the vibrating plug Brian had worked into my ass before we'd left the ship that morning.
"For preparation purposes," he'd said with that wicked grin, his fingers slick with lube as he'd stretched me open. "Something to think about while we're sightseeing."
Think about it? I'd been fucking obsessed with it. Every step through Naples had sent vibrations racing through my core, every bump of the cobblestones a reminder of what was waiting for me back in our suite. By the time we'd spotted the pharmacy,I'd been half-hard and desperate, my cock straining against my jeans like I was some teenager who'd never been touched before. I’d untucked my t-shirt to hide it, and was still a little worried that the middle-aged woman standing next to me on the bus had spotted the tent.
The moment our suite door clicked shut behind us, I was moving, my hands already working at the buttons of my shirt with frantic urgency. "Fuck," I gasped. "I've been dying all morning. That thing's been driving me insane."
Gemma's laugh was warm and knowing as she set down her own bag of supplies. "That was rather the point, wasn't it? You should have seen yourself in the cathedral—you looked like you were about to combust."
"I was," I admitted, my shirt hitting the floor followed immediately by my jeans. My cock sprang free, already leaking pre-cum despite the fact that nobody had touched me yet. The plug continued its relentless buzzing, sending waves of pleasure through my prostate that made my knees weak.
Brian's eyes were dark with hunger as he watched me strip, his own bags forgotten as he took in the sight of my naked body. "Look at you," he murmured, his voice dropping to that commanding tone that made me want to drop to my knees immediately. "So desperate. So needy."
