Page 238 of Better When Shared
The suggestion hit me like a physical blow, blood rushing south so fast I felt lightheaded. “You think she wants... No, that’s not even a thing.” I turned and stalked out of the room before I could think about it any more.
Chapter 6
Skylar
I couldn’t stop staring at Ryker’s hands as he knelt on my bathroom floor, working on the broken doorknob that had trapped him and Kiaan together the day before.
His fingers moved with precise confidence around the screwdriver, those broad firefighter hands steady and sure in a way that made my mouth go dry. The way the muscles in his forearms flexed with each turn of the screwdriver sent heat pooling low in my belly. Fuck, I was in trouble—big, gorgeous, muscled trouble times two.
And they wanted me to choose between them. The thought of letting one of them down, of breaking up our friendship, made my stomach churn.
I was the one who’d fucked this up. I was the one who’d flirted with both of them, lied to both of them. They were my bestfriends, closer than Makai, even, and I’d risked everything, for what? A few horny conversations?
“Almost done,” Ryker said, glancing up at me with those sea-glass eyes that shifted between blue and green depending on the light. Right now, they were more green, flecked with gold from the morning sunlight streaming through the small bathroom window.
I leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over my chest to hide the way my nipples had hardened just watching him work. “Good. I’d hate for anyone else to get trapped in here.” My voice came out huskier than I intended.
The memory of them in the bathroom flashed through my mind again. By the time I’d stopped by to pick up a warmer jacket for the next tour I was running, they’d been trapped in the bathroom for several hours, the shitty doorknob on the used door I’d found for free on a swap site giving out at the possible moment.
I struggled to shake the image of them sitting side by side on the floor, shoulders touching, both mostly naked. At first I’d thought maybe they’d hooked up. I mean, Ryker was bisexual, and… two half-naked guys don’t enter a bathroom without reason. The image had burned itself into my brain—two ridiculously hot men, one bathroom, and a lot of subtext I hadn’t been prepared to process.
Ryker had later told me it was an accident, that Kiaan had come in to shower without realizing he was in there already.
“Your face is turning red,” Ryker observed, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” I lied, pushing my glasses up my nose. “Just... wondering how two grown men couldn’t figure out how to escape a bathroom.”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling deep in his chest. “The knob fell off on both sides. No way to turn the mechanism. Believe me, we tried.” He held up the old brass doorknob, tarnished with age. “This thing’s probably older than all of us combined. Did you get it at an antique shop or something?”
“I got a lot of recycled parts from a teardown near here when we were building my cabin. Loved the quirky feel of old and new blended together.”
“I like it, too,” he said, beaming at me. “Which is why I didn’t want to risk kicking down the door.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak as I watched him return to his work, biceps straining against the sleeves of his t-shirt. God, he was gorgeous—all that power and strength contained in careful, deliberate movements. And Kiaan was his perfect opposite—lean and wiry, all sharp angles and restless motion. The thought of them pressed together in that small space made something twist hot and needy inside me.
What would they look like together? Would Ryker’s broad hands look even bigger against Kiaan’s narrower frame? The images flooded my mind unbidden—Ryker pressing Kiaan against thewall, Kiaan’s clever fingers tangled in Ryker’s hair, the two of them looking at me with matching hunger in their eyes...
“Motherfucker,” I muttered.
Ryker looked up, eyebrows raised. “Problem?”
“Nope. No problem. Everything’s super fucking normal here.” I forced a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. “Just watching you... fix things. Very fascinating. Much excitement. Wow.”
His lips twitched, eyes crinkling at the corners. “I’m almost done. Just need to secure the faceplate.”
I nodded too enthusiastically, desperate to cover the awkwardness. “Makai will be thrilled you handled this. I’m not very handy with building stuff, and he’s busy with his partners.”
“It’s not a bad tiny house,” Ryker said, carefully aligning the new doorknob. “Just needs some maintenance, since you built it with pieces of an older house. Older houses are like that—they have character, but they need someone to take care of them.”
The way he said it—with such gentle intention—made my chest tighten.
“Where’s Kiaan this morning?” Ryker asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“He went for a run,” I said, remembering how Kiaan had slipped out at dawn, expensive running shoes in hand, mumbling something about needing to clear his head. “Said he’d be back for later.”
Ryker nodded, seemingly unsurprised. “He was pretty restless last night. After we got out of the bathroom.”
I bit my lip, curiosity winning out over self-preservation. “What did you guys talk about? While you were trapped?”
