Page 265 of Better When Shared
She shuddered, then tucked her head under my chin, Kiaan’s hand stroking her back in slow circles. For a long minute, no one said anything. The world was just breath and heartbeat and the heavy scent of what we’d made together.
Then softly, so quiet it barely registered, Skylar murmured, “I love you. Both of you.”
She sounded wrecked and shy, nothing like the woman who’d just demanded we pretend to knock her up. Like she was giving us something fragile she’d never offered before.
I kissed her hair, heart hammering. “Love you too, Duchess. So fucking much. And Kiaan, too. He has a huge piece of my heart.”
Kiaan didn’t hesitate either. “I love both of you. More than I ever knew was possible. You’re my best friends, and, well, the fact that the sex is hot as hell makes everything pretty much perfect.”
We lay tangled together, her body bracketed between us, safe and adored. I closed my eyes, letting the exhaustion and joy settle deep. We were a mess, but we were together—a team, a family, everything I’d ever wanted and never thought I’d find.
“I’m not letting you go,” I said, my voice rough with promise. “Either of you. Even when I have to go back to Denver.”
Skylar’s laughter echoed against my skin. “Good. I know your job is important, but we need you, Ryker.”
I nodded, my throat going tight, and kissed her roughly. “I can be a firefighter anywhere.”
“Personally, I’m planning on staying,” Kiaan bragged with a smug grin. “I suppose I can take on the breeding duties while you’re gone.”
Chapter 15
Kiaan
The silence in Skylar’s car felt heavier than it should have as we pulled away from the Friday Harbor seaplane terminal, Ryker’s broad frame growing smaller in the rearview mirror until he disappeared.
I glanced at Skylar’s white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, the slight downturn of her lips, the way she blinked a little too rapidly. She hadn’t cried, but the absence of the third piece of our puzzle left a palpable emptiness in the car, like the strange hollow feeling after an orgasm that was physically satisfying but emotionally incomplete.
“He’ll be back,” I said, the words sounding pathetically inadequate even to my own ears.
Skylar nodded, her eyes fixed on the winding road ahead. “I know.”
But did she? Did any of us really know what happened next? The past two weeks had unfolded like some fever dream—the three of us tangled together, boundaries dissolving, something new and beautiful taking shape. And now Ryker was flying back to Denver, back to his firefighting job and his normal life, while Skylar and I were left here to... what? Wait? Hope? Pretend everything hadn’t fundamentally changed?
“It’s just work,” I tried again, reaching across the console to rest my hand on her thigh. “His shift rotation. He has responsibilities.”
“I know that,” she snapped, then immediately softened. “Sorry. I just... fuck. This sucks.”
I squeezed her thigh, feeling the solid muscle beneath the worn denim of her jeans. Two weeks ago, touching her like this would have been the culmination of years of fantasy. Now it felt natural, necessary, and incomplete without Ryker’s steady presence.
“We’ll figure it out,” I promised. “The three of us. We always do.”
She laughed, a short, sharp sound with little humor. “Do we? This isn’t raiding a dungeon, Kiaan. This is real life. Relationships are hard enough with two people. With three? When one lives across the fucking country?”
“We’ll work it out,” I repeated, more firmly this time. “Long distance isn’t ideal, but it’s not forever. There are options.”
The words hung between us as Skylar guided the car onto the main road that would take us back to Strawberry Creek Ranch. San Juan Island stretched out around us, all gentle hills and glimpses of water between the trees. Two weeks ago, I’d arrived here as a successful tech entrepreneur with a carefully constructed life—and zero intention of falling for my best friend and her other best friend simultaneously.
Now I couldn’t imagine my life without either of them.
“Are you leaving too?” Skylar asked suddenly, her voice small in a way that made my chest ache.
I blinked, genuinely surprised by the question. “What? No.”
“You have a life in California.”
I snorted. “Not really. Not since I sold the company.”
“What about the investing thing you told me about?”
