Page 45 of The Last Call Home
I smirk, but there’s no humor in it.“No.I don’t assume everyone I find attractive wants to sleep with me.I’m hopeful, not delusional.”
“He’s just ...look at him.”Malerick cuts in, voice quieter than usual, like he didn’t mean to speak but couldn’t help himself.“I’d never been into guys.But him?There’s something about him that makes you want him even when you don’t understand why.”
Delilah nods, sipping her drink like it’s water and not something burning down her throat.
“It was our third mission,” I say, leaning against the kitchen counter, too wound up to sit.“We were undercover.Bodyguards for one of the top brass in an organized crime ring.She was an assistant.High heels, fake smiles, cold eyes.”
“She played the part,” Malerick murmurs.“Played us too.First time we had sex ...it was a threesome.”
Delilah’s jaw doesn’t drop.No dramatic gasp.But her expression sours like I’ve just ruined her favorite dessert.“So that’s why you need me?”she asks.“You’re just trying to recreate the past?”
I shake my head fast and hard.“No.Absolutely not.Would it be fun if the three of us had sex?”I glance between her and Malerick.“Sure.I’d be an idiot to say otherwise.But that’s not why I want you.That’s not what this is.”
Her eyes narrow.She has that I’m-two-seconds-from-walking look.
So I keep going because if I stop, I might lose her.
“We never talked about what happened that night,” I admit.“But it wasn’t the only night.Not by a long shot.At some point, it wasn’t just about her.It was about us too.”
I pause, heart thudding.“I touched him.He touched me.And it wasn’t just sex anymore.It was needed.It was safety.Maybe even love—but we never said that out loud.”
Delilah blinks.
“We moved in together.Separate rooms.Didn’t last.We ended up in the same bed most nights—unless we found a third.Then it was whoever’s place worked best.”
Malerick adds quietly, “Then came Rachel.”
“She was our neighbor,” I explain.“She slid into our lives like she was meant to be there.No questions, no hesitations.She was warm.Open.Needed us.”
“She liked to be the center,” Malerick murmurs, his tone unreadable.
“Six months passed in that blur,” I continue.“Then we got sent away on a mission.When we came back, Rachel was different.Clingy.Distrustful.Possessive.”
“She gave us an ultimatum,” Malerick finishes for me.
“She wanted commitment,” I clarify.“I thought we had that.But for her, it meant one of us had to leave.She didn’t want three.She wanted a choice.”
Delilah’s brows draw in.“But weren’t you two together?”
I exhale, slow and ragged.“That’s where it all went to hell.I thought we were all together—her, him, me.But maybe that was just my illusion.”
“So there was no communication,” she concludes.
“In some ways, it was just sex and fun,” Malerick offers, voice flat.Like he’s trying to convince himself more than her.
“We were in our twenties—too self-absorbed in work and having a good time.I thought we were okay.”
Malerick snorts.“We obviously weren’t.”
“So you didn’t love each other?”
The room stills.Silence blooms, but it’s not peaceful.It’s a minefield.
My jaw twitches.I glance at Malerick, knowing I’m about to say the one thing that’ll gut us both.His expression is unreadable, but his hands are clenched, knuckles white.I know that look.I’ve seen it before—in the mirror.In warzones.In grief.
Love?
It wasn’t that simple.
