by Opal Carew
“It’s a beautiful day outside. It’s supposed to hit eighty degrees and the wind will be about seven knots. It’s the perfect day.”
“Okay, okay,” she grumbled as she pushed the bedclothes aside and sat up. Hickory grumbled from the end of the bed, then leapt to the floor and stalked off.
“You aren’t really a morning person, are you?” he teased, then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her silly.
“Well, when you start my morning with a kiss like that . . .” She stroked her fingers through his hair, then captured his mouth again for a lingering kiss.
He drew away and chuckled. “Oh no you don’t.” He took her hands and drew her forward. “We need to get going. How long will it take you to throw on a bathing suit and shorts?”
“All right already. You’re really worried about no boards?”
“If we’re not there in”—he glanced at his wristwatch— “say forty minutes, I’d say we lose.”
“Okay. Five minutes.”
Danielle unzipped her suitcase, sitting on the dresser, and rifled through it for her bathing suit. Seven minutes later, they stepped out into the bright sunshine. A warm breeze caressed her cheek. Trey opened the car door for her, then handed her a travel mug full of an aromatic vanilla coffee blend. As he got into the driver’s seat, she sipped then placed the mug in the cup holder beside her seat.
“What about Jake?” she asked. “He wanted to come, too, didn’t he? Do you think something happened to him last night that stopped him from showing up?”
“No, he knew when we’d planned to go so he’ll probably assume we’re still picking him up.” Trey handed her his cell phone. “Do you want to give him a call to let him know we’re on our way?”
She took the small sleek phone and pressed the On button, but nothing happened. She tried again. “I think your battery needs charging.”
“Damn. Well, we’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of Jake’s charming brick two-story house. Trey opened her door and offered a hand to help her from the car, and they walked up the stone path through Jake’s bright-colored garden to his front door.
Trey rang the doorbell. The inside door opened, and Rico, naked except for a navy towel draped carelessly around his waist, glared at them through the glass of the storm door.
“Yes?”
“Uh . . . is Jake in?” Danielle asked.
“Yes. He’s in the shower right now.” He grinned wickedly. “And I’m just about to join him. I’ll tell him you came by.” With that, he shoved the door closed in their faces.
Danielle blinked, then stared at Trey. His closed expression gave nothing away.
Jake had started up with Rico again? The guy certainly was good-looking but . . . with Rico’s jealousy . . . Jake must know that it would put an end to what she and Trey and Jake had going. An end to any hope of getting back with Trey . . . at least for now.
Well, what could she expect? She had pushed this whole thing on Jake. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to be a part of it from the beginning. Maybe he feared Trey would never want to continue the relationship. Maybe seeing Rico’s continued longing for him had boosted his spirits and made him want to be with someone who wanted him . . . not someone avoiding anything deeper, like Trey.
But she had seen the change in Trey. Surely Jake had, too. If only he’d given it a bit more time.
Sadness careened through her. If Jake was seeing Rico now . . . it meant the end of their relationship. But she still wanted to be with Jake.
She mentally shook herself. What the hell was she thinking? She was doing all this so that Trey and Jake could be together. Not for herself. Of course, she enjoyed the sex with them . . . the way they made her feel wanted . . . the way they made her feel loved . . .
Oh God, had she really let this become about her? How could she expect to build a relationship when she was seeing two men at once . . . at the same time? Was she really doing this because she hoped something would develop between her and Jake? Or her and Trey?
Oh, damn, her feelings were so mixed up. Of course she’d love to be loved by either one of these special men . . . but they belonged together. She could just tell. Even if Trey denied it to himself . . .
She glanced at Trey, who had led her back to the car.
“Danielle, don’t let it bother you.”
“What?” She gazed up at him as he held her car door open.
“Jake and Rico. Don’t let it bother you. Even if he’s decided to start up with Rico again . . . which means he won’t be sharing with us . . . I still want you to keep coming around.”
He swept her into his arms and kissed her, deeply and passionately.
“I don’t want to lose you yet,” he murmured against her lips, then kissed her again.
Twelve
Danielle drew her lips from Trey’s, getting the sense that his mind was far away.
“Trey, what about you? Does it bother you that Jake might be seeing Rico again?”
“No, of course not,” he said with a little too much conviction.
“Are you sure?”
He locked gazes with her. “Why should it? I mean, he can do whatever he wants. It’s not like I have any claim to him.”
Despite his words, she could see turmoil in his brown eyes.
“I just think that . . . maybe you still have feelings for Jake. You did have something special with him. At least I thought it was special.”
Trey sighed. “That’s true, but . . . it was a long time ago.”
“But if you still have feelings for him . . . why couldn’t you continue what you had before?”
His gaze sharpened. “Who said I still have feelings for him?”
She stroked his cheek. “I think there’s still something between you. I think the two of you could—”
He grasped her arms. “Look, Danielle. Jake and I did have something special back in college, but it didn’t work out. Okay?”
How could she argue with the denial in his eyes, even though she was sure in his heart, he felt differently?
Jake tied his robe and stepped into the living room. It was later than he’d thought. He and Trey and Danielle had plans today and damn Rico hadn’t left yet. He’d already caused Jake enough inconvenience. Jake didn’t intend to lose his Sunday with his friends.
Of course, the thought of Danielle’s soft body pressed against his, his cock buried inside her, Trey on the other side of her . . . sent blood flooding to his groin. More than friends. A relationship he didn’t want to lose anytime soon.
Rico stood at the window, staring out through the partially open horizontal blinds. “Ah, you should see your friends.”
“My friends?” If Trey and Danielle had arrived, they might misinterpret Rico’s being here. He glanced out the window and saw Danielle and Trey in a passionate embrace. The sight sent a confusing surge of jealousy through him.
“It seems they’re more interested in each other than in you,” Rico said.
As Jake watched, Trey opened the door and he and Danielle stood talking intently. A moment later, Danielle got into the car.
“What the hell? Why are they leaving?”
“I don’t know. I just told them you were in the shower.”
Jake’s gaze took in the towel loosely wrapped around Rico’s narrow waist, and could just imagine the conversation.
“You led them to believe we’re together again.”
Rico didn’t flinch, but Jake knew him well enough.
Damn, things were tenuous enough as it was with Trey. And Danielle . . . He did not want to lose her.
He glared at Rico. “Get the hell out of here. Now!”
He strode to the door and opened it, then yelled to Trey as he was getting in the car. “Trey! Wait!”
He slammed the door behind him and strode across his front lawn, wearing only his blue terry robe.
Danielle glanced around at Jake’s voice. She stepped out of the car, and s
he and Trey walked toward Jake.
“Sorry I’m not quite ready. I guess you’re wondering what Rico is doing here.”
“You don’t need to explain, Jake,” Danielle responded.
“I know. It’s just that it’s not what it appears. Rico moved recently, and when I went to drive him home last night, he wouldn’t tell me his new address. I couldn’t just dump him in the street, so I brought him back here. He slept in the guest room . . . and I’m not idiot enough to start up with him again. He’s just too . . . emotional.”
Relief swept through her. So she hadn’t lost Jake yet.
The garage door opened, and a moment later a sporty black car backed out of the driveway and sped away with a squeal of tires, Rico’s hand with a single-finger salute stuck out the window at them.
Trey grinned, and they all began to laugh.
Jake shook his head. “I’m not sure what I saw in him in the first place.”
“Well, a great physique and exotic good looks for one,” Trey answered.
Jake grinned. “Yeah, I guess. Great technique in bed and a nine-inch cock aren’t bad reasons, either.”
Danielle glanced from Jake to Trey and back again and grinned. “Certainly reasons I find quite convincing.”
Jake wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “You’re bad, sweetheart. Real bad.”
She slid her hand discreetly under his robe and stroked his free-wheeling cock. It rose at her touch. “Of course I am. That’s why you both love being with me so much.”
“Nine inches, eh?” Trey stroked her shoulders. “Does that mean you like Jake better than me?”
Danielle chuckled. “You may not have the same length, but you know what to do with it.” And, of course, he was thicker. Her hand itched to stroke him, too.
She released Jake’s cock and stepped away. He smoothed down his robe.
“So you won’t be choosing between us anytime soon?” Jake asked.
“Not if I don’t have to.”
Of course, she knew it wouldn’t be a matter of her choosing. They would choose each other. It was as simple as that.
Danielle unfastened her shorts and pushed them off, then folded them and placed them in her beach bag. Jake removed his shirt and rolled it up, then set it on the picnic table they’d set their cooler on. Sunlight glittered on the water, and several windsurfers skimmed across the surface. One sailor swung his bright-colored sail around, sending his board curving in a new direction. Danielle watched as a young woman stepped from the dock onto her board and took off on the wind. Her companion followed suit, and a moment later they were in the middle of the bay sailing side by side.
“Trey seems to have had some luck,” Jake said.
She glanced across the beach to the grassy peninsula where the rental stand was and saw Trey heading back toward them, a smile on his handsome tanned face. The breeze rippled through his short spiky hair, the sunlight accentuating the blond highlights in the sandy-colored mass.
When they’d arrived and seen the parking lot full and the crowd at the rental booth, they’d resigned themselves to the possibility that they wouldn’t be windsurfing today. Trey had gotten in line while Jake and Danielle gathered their things and took them to the beach to claim a picnic table.
“I got two boards,” Trey said, holding up two slips of paper.
“Only two?” Jake asked.
“I figure we’ll take turns showing Danielle how to use the board.”
Jake turned to Danielle. “I thought you already knew how to windsurf. We taught you before you moved to Boston.”
“That was a long time ago. I haven’t been on a board since.”
“Let’s fix that.” Trey reached for her hand.
She placed her hand in his larger one, enjoying the feel of his large fingers wrapping around hers.
“Don’t forget your water shoes.”
She pulled the blue rubber shoes Trey had brought for her from her bag, knowing they were a wise precaution against getting cut by the sharp clam shells on the sandy bottom of the lake. Why he had a pair of ladies’ size 7 shoes on hand, she didn’t know . . . and didn’t ask. The tug of his hand drew her forward as he crossed the sand to the grass, then toward the shore.
“That’s us. Numbers five and twenty-seven,” he said, gesturing to two windsurfing boards lying on the grass by the water’s edge. “The last two.”
Number 5 had a bright blue-and-green sail, while 27’s sail was purple with bands of turquoise and hot pink.
She gravitated to 27.
“I knew you’d like that one.” Trey pushed the board into the water.
Danielle sat on the grass and dropped the shoes into the water, then dipped her feet in. Goose bumps rose along her legs. “It’s cold.” She tugged on one shoe, then the other.
“It’ll be fine once you’re used to it.” Jake pulled on his shoes, then stood up and waded into the water, guiding number 5 ahead of him. When he was thigh deep, he sat on the board, then pushed himself to his feet. He grabbed the boom of his sail, then drew it upward. He tipped the slack sail until the wind caught it, and deftly sailed away.
Trey pushed number 27 into the water. “Here, climb on.”
She sat on the board and drew her legs onto it, then knelt as Trey guided the board deeper into the lake.
“Hang on.” He grasped the board, then hopped onto it.
She hung on to the sides as it rocked, then he stood up and the board stabilized. Slowly, she stood up in front of him.
“Pick up the sail,” he instructed.
Cautiously, she leaned down and grasped the boom, then lifted it slowly, keeping her weight carefully balanced on the board. Trey grasped the boom, too, his muscular arms around her, his hands right beside hers.
“Like this. Remember?”
He shifted the boom until the wind filled the sail, and then the board began to move . . . slowly, at first, then picking up speed. A tangle of memories wafted through her brain. Of Trey on the board behind her just like this. Of his body pressed against hers. His closeness sent her off balance. . . . Not physically. Physically, he kept her stable and skimming across the water quite nicely. Her emotions, however, somersaulted through her in wild disarray.
She’d wanted him so much that last summer. It had been building all year, and when he’d taken her on the board . . . when his body had been so close . . . his breath brushing across her nape . . . she’d almost died from yearning. But he belonged with Jake. And for the first time, she admitted to herself that Jake and Trey were one of the reasons she’d switched schools all those years ago.
And now, here she was in the exact same situation again. As she leaned into Trey’s body, she realized she wanted him to want her.
Well, he did want her. The bulge against the back of her bathing suit told her that. . . . But she wanted to be . . . special. That one person he’d want to spend a lifetime with. Which was crazy, especially since she realized she felt exactly the same way about Jake.
How could she want both men to want her as his one and only?
Especially since her whole mission was to bring the two of them together.
Obviously, she had these feelings because the two had been paying attention to her. Treating her special. But that was because they were her friends, not because they planned to forge a lifetime partnership.
Now that she’d finally opened herself to these men, it only made her realize how badly she wanted a lifetime companion . . . someone who would love her forever . . . stay with her forever . . . and that was causing her to jump at anyone who showed her any attention. How pathetic was that?
She had to keep things in perspective.
Trey’s fingers slid over hers as he guided her to shift the boom and the board began to turn. She shifted her weight on her feet to balance as the board tipped into the turn, then straightened out under Trey’s guidance.
“You know, I loved it when we used to come out here and windsurf together. Especially when I was teac
hing you.” His lips nuzzled her neck, sending tingles down her spine. “In fact, you caused me some serious thinking.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because . . . you used to do this”—he pressed his groin, and the large bulge in his trunks, against her back— “to me. Which caused me quite a bit of confusion, since I thought I was only attracted to men. Yet, all I had to do was get close to you to get this reaction from my body.”
“You mean you were . . . attracted to me back then?” He had told her he and Jake had wondered about making love to her, but she hadn’t thought it had been an actual physical attraction.
He chuckled. “That’s an understatement.”
“I hope I didn’t . . . I mean, you and Jake . . . it didn’t cause any problems, did it?”
Oh God, could she be the reason they broke up?
“Not exactly problems. In fact, after a day of windsurfing with you, Jake and I would have the best sex ever. I talked to him about it, though. Discussed my confusion. He was very understanding.”
“He didn’t get mad . . . or hurt?”
“I don’t think so. It’s not like I acted on that attraction. And you had the same affect on him.”
As their board approached a clump of other windsurfers crossing in front of them, he guided the boom around so they changed direction again. “He’d been with women before. He knew he was attracted to both sexes. He also knew I’d never been attracted to a woman before. He was quite willing to talk to me about it.”
“That must have been hard.”
“I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it. I still wanted to make it work with Jake, even though deep inside I think we both realized then that what we had wouldn’t last forever.”
Her heart compressed at those words. Why couldn’t it last forever? But that was long ago, she reminded herself. Maybe Trey had needed to explore . . . to test his desires and be with other people. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t find happiness now with Jake.
As they leaned a little to stabilize the board after bouncing over another board’s wake, Trey’s arm brushed along hers.
