by Jess Dee
“It’s Sunday now,” Violet said quietly.
He smiled then. A smile infused with every bit of the happiness Noah and Violet had filled him with. “Then my answer is yes.”
And just like that, the weight was gone. All of it.
And Declan knew it wouldn’t be back. Answering yes had freed him, finally and totally, from the hold he’d allowed his parents to have over him.
Violet sucked in her breath. “What a difference a weekend makes.”
“It’s not about the weekend, Vi.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “It’s about the people I spent the weekend with. They made the difference.”
Well aware the tables around them were occupied, and anyone could see them, Declan took Noah’s hand with his free one. “You two made the difference. And I love you both for it.”
Violet gasped.
“I love you, full stop,” Declan corrected. “Vi, the second you walked into our offices I knew you were the woman who could make all my most secret fantasies come true. I think I fell in love with you that first day, and spent the next two years denying it. But it’s true. I love you.”
Violet put a trembling hand over her heart. Her lips quivered and her eyes shone with unshed tears.
He pressed a light kiss to her luscious lips.
Then he brought Noah’s hand to his mouth. “I love you, Noah. I’ve loved you for years. And, yeah, you might have known it all along, but I should have told you, often. If…” Declan choked up and had to swallow hard before he continued. “If you give me the chance, I’ll correct my mistakes. I’ll tell you I love you every day, so you never have to make assumptions again.”
Noah’s face softened. “I love you too.” The love poured from his hazel eyes. “Always have, always will.” Then Noah looked at Violet, whose eyes now swam over. “I love you too, baby. You’re the only one I could ever love as much as I do Declan. The only person I could ever share him with.”
A single tear streaked down her cheek, and the hand that had been pressed to her chest now pressed to her mouth.
“But,” Noah said, and Declan’s heart smashed into the pit of his stomach, “I need something more definitive from you, Dec.” Once again Noah turned to face him, his features intense. “You’ve run too often for me to believe you want longer than a few weeks or months.”
No problem. Declan could give Noah exactly what he needed. “I’m not talking about weeks,” Declan promised. “Or months. I’m talking about…” Don’t say forever. “…forever.” Well, fuck. He’d gone ahead and said it.
And damned if the word didn’t make him smile again, even harder this time. “I want forever with you and Violet.”
Noah smiled back. As broadly and as freely as Declan did.
Happiness didn’t just well inside him now. It pretty much hammered him from all sides. There was nothing that could detract from Declan’s exhilaration. Nothing.
Except for the sob that exploded from Violet’s mouth, tearing past the hand that covered her lips.
Chapter Twelve
Violet had ruined the weekend.
She’d taken the most exquisite moment in time and trampled on it, wiping the smiles from Noah’s and Declan’s faces.
Hours later, Violet still could not rid her heart of its desolation. She’d wrecked the most significant lunch in history by rejecting Noah’s and Declan’s love. The kind of love that only came once in a lifetime.
She didn’t bother going home, even though the two-and-a-half-hour drive back to Sydney, combined with the devastating emotion of the preceding hours, had left her exhausted. While she longed to climb into bed and bury herself there for a year at least, home was not where her heart and her head told her to go.
She pulled into the driveway as the sun began to set and rang the front bell with a sense of impending doom.
Hysterical barking preceded a firm voice telling Maurice and Winslow to hush. Silence ensued, but Violet was still greeted by two very excited boxers rushing at her as the door opened.
“Hey, guys.” She dropped to her knees to pet the dogs, cooing lovingly at them. Delighted with the attention, Maurice licked her from chin to forehead as his tail whipped from side to side. Winslow, overjoyed by Violet’s arrival, spun around in mad circles.
“Oi,” Tori called. “Maurice, Winslow. Sit.”
Maurice listened instantly. Winslow, having spied his tail, now spun even faster, intent on catching it. He did—and came to a crashing halt, a stunned look on his face.
Both she and Tori laughed at the dog’s silliness, and Vi stood up once again, drying her face on her sleeve.
“Hello, you,” Tori hugged her. “This is a nice surprise.”
“I brought you some wine,” Vi said in greeting. She handed over the bottle of red Tori had grown addicted to the weekend of her almost-wedding.
“My favorite,” Tori enthused. “Thanks. Oh, wait, did you visit the Rolling Hills?”
“We, um, stayed there.”
“You did?” Tori’s eyes were huge. “You, Declan and Noah?”
“Yep. Noah organized it.”
“Wow. Okay.”
“Weird for you to hear that Dec went back there?” How could it not be?
“Yeah. A little.” Tori frowned. “Okay, a lot. But it shouldn’t be. I’ve spent several weekends at the hotel with Andrew. I just never imagined Declan going back.” She led Violet into the kitchen, set the bottle on the counter and filled the kettle with water.
Violet sat at the little kitchen table.
“Want something to eat?” Tori pointed at a large covered dish. “Mum was here earlier. She brought a chocolate cake.”
“Again?” Tori’s mum was famous for her chocolate cake. For all her biscuits and cakes, really, but chocolate was her specialty.
“She bakes Andrew a fresh one every weekend. I think it’s her way of thanking him for saving her daughter from the humiliation of being dumped at the altar.”
“You still feeling that humiliation?”
Tori smiled hugely. “I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. If Declan hadn’t dumped me, Andrew and I wouldn’t be together.”
“Still hate Declan?” Oh, shit. She hadn’t meant to ask. Not yet anyway.
“No. I don’t understand him or what he did. But I don’t hate him. We’ve made our peace. Now, have a slice of cake.”
Any other time, Violet would have dug in heartily. Last Sunday, after lunch here—the lunch where she’d met Blake—she’d recklessly challenged Andrew to an arm wrestle for the last slice. Of course she’d lost, but Andrew, gentleman that he was, had shared it with her anyway, much to Tori’s amusement. “Nope, thanks. I’m not hungry.”
Tori took a seat opposite Violet. The dogs lay under the table. One of them, Violet wasn’t sure which, pressed up against her leg. She kicked off her shoes and scratched his soft fur with her toes.
“Oh, hey, nice shoes,” Tori teased, looking at the red heels.
“Thanks.” Violet grinned. “Really nice. I know.” They were Tori’s. Or had been, before Violet had helped herself to them. The two of them had shared clothes and shoes since they were fifteen. “It’s finally warm enough to wear them again.” Winter hadn’t allowed Violet to put on open-toed sandals for months, so she’d spent every moment possible in them this weekend.
“You’re right. Maybe I’ll take them back from you. They’ll look great with the new jeans I bought.”
Appalled, Violet glared at Tori. “You wouldn’t. I…I love these shoes.”
Tori stared at the sandals for a good few minutes before conceding. “Okay. You win. You can keep them…for now.”
Violet’s relief was palpable. Which didn’t make sense really. Yeah, she loved the sandals, but she didn’t want them more than she wanted her next breath. Declan and Noah on the other hand… “Is Andrew here?”
“Nope. He’s gone to visit his folks. I’ll see him later.”
That was good. The conversation they needed
to have was private. She didn’t doubt Tori would rehash it all with Andrew later, and Violet understood why.
Tori had vowed that in this relationship there would be no secrets. Her relationship with Declan had been shrouded in them, and those secrets had ruined any future Declan and Tori had hoped to have together.
“So, how did the weekend go?” Tori asked.
“It was…interesting.”
Tori raised a brow. “Interesting?”
Well, yes. If interesting meant life changing, monumental and earth-shattering.
And Violet had given it all up. Every life-changing, monumental, earth-shattering moment of it. She’d given up the two men she loved with all of her heart.
She had to blink viciously before answering, but a pesky lump in her throat still made her voice all croaky. “We achieved a lot, workwise.”
“That’s good.” Tori squinted at Violet. “Wait, that is good, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“You guess?”
Violet forced a smile. “No, it is good.”
“How’s Declan doing?”
“He’s okay.” Or he had been okay, until Violet yanked the beautiful picture he’d painted for her and Noah out of his hands and trampled all over it. “I think.”
“You think?”
“Um, yeah. He has his ups and downs still, I guess.”
“Vi,” Tori said. “I’m okay talking about Declan. You don’t have to walk on eggshells every time his name comes up. I’m over him. Good and truly and forever over him.”
“Yeah. I know.” Tori could never have given her heart to Andrew if she weren’t. “It’s just…”
“Just what?”
Tori might be over Declan, but Violet wasn’t. Not by a long shot.
She shook her head, at a loss for words.
Concern lit up Tori’s face. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Um, yeah, fine.” Wait, this was Tori. She couldn’t lie to her. “Or, maybe not.”
“What’s wrong?”
“God, Tor.” How did she answer without ruining a lifetime of friendship?
Slowly, carefully and diplomatically, so Tori would understand. It was the only way to go.
“I’m in love, that’s what’s wrong. I love him. I love him so much it hurts just to breathe when I’m near him. I never meant to fall in love. It was never meant to happen, but it did, and I do and I can’t help it. I love him. I’m madly, desperately in love with him. With both of them.”
Tori stared at her.
“I love them, Tor. Completely and with all of my heart.”
Well. That was good. Slow, careful and diplomatic—just like she’d planned.
“Him? Declan?” Tori asked. “Them?”
Violet nodded and clarified. “Both of them.”
Tori looked bamboozled. “Both of them, who?”
“Both of them, Declan and Noah, that’s who.”
Tori’s jaw dropped.
The kettle whistled and clicked off.
Tori snapped her jaw shut. “I’ll make us some tea, shall I?”
“I don’t want tea.” She wanted Noah and Declan.
“I’ll make you some anyway. With lots of sugar. Or lots of whiskey. Or both. Whichever you prefer.” But Tori didn’t touch the kettle. Or a teacup. Or a tea bag, for that matter. She did, however, find a bottle opener and pop the top off the red wine Violet had brought for her.
Tori poured a large glass for herself and filled another for Violet.
“’Kay, I’m going to just sip this quietly, and by the time the glass is empty, you are going to have told me every last detail of whatever the hell happened this weekend.”
Violet ignored the wine. “Are you angry?”
“I’m…stunned.”
“Me too. If that helps?”
“Vi! Start talking.”
And she did. As Tori sipped on her wine, or maybe gulped down mouthfuls, Violet told her the whole story. She started from the minute she’d walked into the EOL offices for the first time, two years ago, and finished when she left the two men at the Rolling Hills and drove back to Sydney.
There were details she omitted. Details about Declan that weren’t her story to share, but on the whole, she told her most of it.
Tori’s glass was empty by the time she finished. So was the bottle. Violet pushed her glass over, and Tori picked it up without arguing.
“Okay, let me get this straight. There were feelings between the three of you right from the beginning?”
Violet nodded.
“You were already halfway in love with them by the time Declan met me?”
Again she nodded.
“See, that’s the part I don’t get.” Tori looked perplexed. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you stop me from getting involved with a man you wanted?”
And get in the way of her friend’s happiness? Never. “Because nothing had happened with Declan or Noah. Nothing. It was all just innocent flirting. And when Dec saw you, he knew. He was absolutely certain that you were the only woman he could ever marry. I ceased to exist for him in that moment. Noah did too. For the entire time you two were together, there was no one else for him.”
For six months after too. Declan had been too appalled by his shortcomings and too horrified by the way he’d treated Tori to allow himself happiness of any kind.
“He wanted you, Tor. At that time, it wasn’t about me. A relationship with Dec and Noah and me wasn’t an option.”
“But…but…he didn’t want me. He broke up with me.”
“While you were together, you were all he wanted. But in the end, he realized that long term, he needed…more.”
“And I couldn’t give him more.”
“Would you have welcomed another man into your bed? Would you have been willing to share Dec?”
“No, never.” Tori frowned. “I may teach my class that sharing is good, but I could never share the man I love. If there were a third person in my and Andrew’s relationship, I…I’d…God, I don’t know what I’d do. Probably attack anyone who tried to touch my man.”
“Dec knew that. But it didn’t stop him craving a threesome. In the end, those differences made the two of you incompatible.”
Tori was quiet for a long time. “You know,” she said, “when we broke up, he told me we were different. That we wanted different things from life. He said his deepest desires would shock me, make me hate him.” She sipped her wine. “I never knew what he meant. But…but now I guess he was right. His deepest desires have shocked me. And if he’d brought another man into our bed, my jealousy would have destroyed us. I would have hated them both.”
She looked at Violet, her eyes sad. “How could you not hate him for that? For bringing Noah into your bed?”
Dec hadn’t brought Noah into their bed. Violet had jumped into bed with Noah and Dec.
“I love him for sharing our bed with Noah. See, I’m different from you too, Tor. Vanilla sex never excited me. I’ve always been restless, searching for something more, something better.” Tori knew as much. She was the one person Violet had discussed her desires with. “One man’s never done for me what Andrew’s done for you. Never fully satisfied me. But with Dec and Noah… They fulfill me. Complete me. I could never have one without the other because it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t work. The three of us, together, we’re a whole, like you and Andrew.”
“You don’t get insanely jealous of Noah when he’s with Declan? Or madly jealous of Declan when he’s with Noah?”
Violet shook her head. “They’re so good for each other. They make each other happy. And seeing them happy makes me happy. Besides, watching them getting it on…” Violet’s belly heated. “Seriously, Tor, I’m talking spontaneous orgasm.”
“Declan and Noah. Together…” Tori closed her eyes, and Violet knew she was trying to imagine it. “Yeah, sorry, Vi, it just doesn’t do it for me.”
“Dec knew it wouldn’t.”
“So why did he pic
k me in the first place?”
“Because he saw then what Andrew sees now. A future with you. A marriage and children. But he couldn’t give up the other future he saw. One with two partners. He knew those two futures would never gel with you.”
“Do they gel with you?”
“Noah and Dec gel with me. I see a future with them. Both of them.”
Tori looked at her, curious. “So, when you get it on with them, do you get it on with both of them, at the same time? Every time?”
“It’s only been a weekend,” Violet reminded her. “But based on this weekend, I’m going to say no. Not every time. Just like Noah and Dec need time alone, without me, I’d need time alone with each of them.” She’d spent time alone with Noah yesterday, while Declan had slept, dead to the world for at least two hours. And she’d had Declan to herself when Noah had taken his own nap.
Too wired to even consider sleep, Violet had spent ages in the bath, soaking away the remnants of a day’s worth of lovemaking, giving Noah and Dec some time together in the process.
“Do you love them, Vi? Like, really, really love them, the way I love Andrew?”
Violet’s eyes filled with helpless tears. “So much it hurts being apart from them.” Probably because her heart had been ripped to shreds when she’d left the Hunter.
“Then what are you doing here? Why aren’t you with them?”
“I can’t be with them. Declan was yours. He was your fiancé. Which makes me the worst friend for falling in love with him.”
“Wait. What?”
“I’m sorry,” Violet whispered. “I broke the golden rule of friendship and fell for your ex. It’s over now,” she promised. “I…I won’t see them again.” She’d cut off all business dealings with them too. Just as soon as she’d formatted the marketing plan in a readable document and sent it through to them, she’d cut the ties. For good.
“You ended the threesome for me?” Tori stared at her, looking as shocked by this revelation as she had been by Violet’s original news.
“Of course. I should never have begun it in the first place.”
“Hang on. You love them, you see a future with them, but you called it all off?”
“I did.”
Tori exploded out of her chair. “That is the biggest load of garbage I’ve ever heard.” She marched around the table and smacked Violet on the head.
