“Offer to sell out to the two of them,” he suggests.
I nod. “That would be the easiest. I figure they’ll be so burdened with guilt I could at least get a good deal.”
Andrew chuckles. “That’s my girl.”
“Still,” I say, sobering at the thought of an unknown future. “I’m going to have to find a job.”
He nods in agreement with a pleasant smile on his face, but his voice is serious. “You’ve got time to decide. If you need help with money, I’ve got you covered.”
Surprised, I shake my head in denial. “I couldn’t possibly—”
“You can,” he cuts me off.
I hold a hand up, trying to interject. “You barely even know me so—”
He shuts me up with a determined kiss. His hand goes behind my head to hold me still, and his mouth devours me until every single thought that was in my brain exclusive of him melts away.
Andrew pulls back, but keeps his face close to mine. His gray eyes are dark and swirling with intensity. “I know you well enough. Going to get to know you even better. Don’t try to put off my concern for you, Brynne. You’re not just a fuck, okay?”
I can’t do anything but murmur, “Okay,” and take note of the fact there’s nothing about Andrew that makes me feel cautious.
No doubts.
No pits in my stomach.
I don’t have a single hesitation about venturing forward with him to see where this goes, and I also take note of the fact that it feels more right to me than anything ever has.
CHAPTER 5
Andrew
As I pace my hotel room, I stop to peer out the window that faces the Washington Monument, which is all aglow with strategically placed lighting. I tap the iPhone in my hand against my leg, a nervous gesture for sure.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” I mutter as I hold the phone out before me. I touch the text icon to pull up the conversation between Brynne and me.
I had put her into my contacts before I went up to her hotel room to pack her belongings. My first text when I got to the room was to tell her there was no sign of Jesse or Tara, and it was safe for her to come up.
I watched as she packed her suitcase, not saying a word as she pulled out some sexy lingerie in wedding white and threw it all on the floor. I gritted my teeth knowing that had circumstances been different—if she hadn’t had a douche for a fiancé—she’d probably be wearing those items for him right this very moment in the Turks.
My next text was when I landed in D.C., since she’d asked me to let her know I’d made it safe and sound.
She replied, I’m glad. Sleep well.
I’d replied, You too.
That was an hour ago, and I’m feeling restless. I want to text her again. Call her. FaceTime her so I can gaze upon her beauty.
Fuck, I’m messed up in the head. I can’t stop thinking about her, but I don’t want to come off as stalker-like. We made plans to see each other this coming weekend, and I can’t figure out what that really means in a relationship context. Do we go all week without communicating? Or would she think I was being clingy for calling right now just to hear her voice?
I’ve never had these doubts before when it came to a woman, which is why I’m pacing back and forth trying to figure this shit out.
Well, that’s not quite true. I had plenty of doubts when I got involved in the three-way sexual relationship with Dane and Avril. While I let myself succumb to the wicked pleasure of such a relationship with my best friends, I ultimately paid great heed to the doubts I had and cut the relationship off.
It was the only thing to do because I could see Avril and Dane were in love with each other, and I knew I had to step away. The minute love entered the picture, the sex between all three of us had to stop. I thank my lucky stars every day that it didn’t end up ruining our friendship.
Sighing, I lower my arm and start to tap the phone against my leg again. I lean my forehead against the window to gaze at the traffic below me. I love D.C. at night. It’s just as bright and sparkling as Vegas, but in a different way. Maybe it’s more of a dignified way, but the entire city is lit up at night and it’s a sight to behold.
An idea comes to mind, and my head jerks back. Considering for only a moment, I hold my phone up to the window, hit the camera app, and snap a picture of the Washington Monument. Without any hesitation, I text it to Brynne.
Wishing you were here to see this.
Fuck the hesitation. I like her, and I’m going to make sure she knows it.
I’m surprised when she texts right back. So pretty. I love D.C.
My thumbs go to my screen with the intent to nail down a time in the future we can take a trip here together, but before I can get the first word down, a FaceTime call from Avril comes through.
My brows furrow wondering why in the hell she’d be calling me on her honeymoon. I ignore my phone, moving instead to the desk where I have my iPad set up. Sitting down, I accept the call and then Avril and Dane’s faces are taking up my screen.
They’re obviously in their hotel room judging by the rumpled bed I see in the background, but from their shoulders up they appear to be dressed and ready to head out the door. Tokyo is thirteen hours ahead of D.C., so it’s mid-morning there.
“Hey,” I say with surprise. I didn’t expect to hear from them until they came back to the office.
“Hey,” Avril says with a wide grin. “What are you doing?”
“Not much,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. I’d cut it short recently, and I’m liking it so far. “But why in the hell are you calling me on your honeymoon?”
Dane chuckles. “We miss you, dude.”
“Yeah,” Avril agrees, her eyes soft as she focuses through the on-screen camera. “We miss you.”
“Fuck off,” I grumble, although it pleases me. “You two have better things to do than call me.”
“Oh, we just got done doing ‘better things,’” Dane says with a wink, and I wait for jealousy or sadness to fill me.
Neither happens, and I’m relieved. I’m truly okay with the three of us not being together intimately, although I’ll always treasure those moments.
“Everything good to go on your end?” Avril asks, her tone turning professional.
I’m meeting some hematology researchers at Johns Hopkins this week. They’ve been testing our prototype. We try to meet once a quarter to go over results and adjust as needed. Our machine will be in testing probably for another few years, but we don’t want to leave any stone unturned. Our goal is clean results so we get FDA approval down the road.
“Everything’s fine,” I assure her. “I’ll send you two an update email before I head out Thursday.”
Dane nods. “When you get back into the office on Friday, can you get with Leon to go over proposed changes he made to the cytometer research budget?”
“Can it wait until Monday?” I ask.
“Yeah… sure, but why?” he replies.
“I’m headed to San Diego,” I say, and I cringe at the tone of my own voice. It’s way too vague and secretive.
Avril is the first to leap as she leans in toward the camera. “What for?”
She knows.
She knows it’s a woman.
No use hiding it.
“I met someone,” I say firmly, hoping to head questions off at the pass.
“Who?” she exclaims with delight. “When? Where? What’s her name?”
“Jesus, Avril,” Dane grumbles as he pulls her back by the shoulder. “Give the man some privacy.”
“No way,” she says as she shrugs his hand off. She leans in even closer to the camera. If she tips her head back to any more, I’ll be looking up her nose. It’s a move that warms my heart, because she has to know that as well and just doesn’t care because we’re best friends. “Spill it, Drew. I can see on your face that this is something special.”
Dane doesn’t make a move to pull her back, but rather peers at me over her shoulder. I can see h
e’s now interested in my answer, the surety in Avril’s voice I’m hiding something making the difference.
“Her name is Brynne,” I tell them. “She’s a dentist who lives in San Diego. I’m going to see her this weekend, so I won’t be in the office on Friday.”
Dane waves a dismissive hand, and Avril presses on. “Where did you meet her? Online dating? A casino? The Wicked Horse?”
“None of the above,” I say vaguely.
They both just stare at me with resolute expressions.
Sighing, I admit. “She was hitchhiking down the road in a wedding dress.”
They are slack-jawed now, confusion written all over their faces.
“So I picked her up. We went to a bar and had some drinks.”
“Go on,” Avril says with a nod, leaning in just a bit more so it’s mostly her face I’m gazing at.
“And well… we got married.”
Avril recoiled, and Dane’s face now fills my screen. “You what? Are you crazy? You married a woman in a wedding dress hours after meeting her? Without a pre-nup? Jesus, Drew.”
“Just relax,” I say. Avril pushes her way back into the camera view, her eyes now filled with pure concern. “It was a lark. A joke. We did it so her dress wouldn’t go to waste. She’d wanted that dress since she was thirteen, so I was just doing her a favor. We agreed to get a quick annulment after before we tied the knot.”
“You are certifiably fucking nuts,” Dane grumbles. But to my surprise, Avril gives a dreamy sigh.
“That’s so you,” she says with a soft smile. “That was utterly sweet.”
Dane grouses something about her being entitled to my wealth now, but I ignore him.
“She’s great,” I tell Avril. “We went to the attorney’s office the next day, and we signed the documents to start the annulment process. In twenty days, we can petition the court to grant it. But we want to keep seeing each other.”
“Wedding night was that good, huh?” Dane mutters.
“Good isn’t even close,” I assure him, and Avril snickers. “It was beyond amazing.”
What I don’t tell them is that Brynne is the most beautiful, sexy, exciting, and intriguing woman I’ve ever met. It would cause Dane to worry and Avril to go overly romantic on me, because I know she still feels some guilt over choosing Dane rather than me.
But that was never a bother in my mind. I never felt slighted or jilted that she fell in love with my best friend, and that’s because I wanted their happiness to be everlasting. That’s totally the romantic in me, and deep down… I knew Avril wasn’t the one.
She makes a hell of a best friend, but our connection on the intimacy side never went very deep. It was only about being taboo and feeling good.
“When can we meet her?” Avril asks with excitement.
“Whoa,” I say with my hands held up. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s see how this weekend goes.”
Dane leans in now. “You know… we could open up an office in San Diego to make it more convenient for you. Move the main research facility there.”
Avril’s jaw drops in surprise, and mine follows. I thought Avril may have been jumping the gun by wanting to meet her—although truth be told, I’d like that a lot—but Dane has lost his marbles suggesting something so drastic.
I mean… the reason we opened Caterva in Vegas was because of the great tax breaks Nevada gave to biotech firms. It would be business suicide to move back to California.
I give my friend a wry smile. “I appreciate the sentiments, but I just met the woman. We spent one night together. I’m sure nothing is going to happen that would want me to relocate, nor would I let you move the facility to California anyway. That’s a stupid business decision and you know it.”
“Nothing’s stupid when it comes to love,” Dane says sagely.
“Love isn’t involved,” I tell him bluntly. “It was a fun night, and there was some off-the-charts-sex involved. Hoping there will be lots more of it this weekend. That’s all there is.”
Avril doesn’t buy it for a second. “The weekend we come back, have her come to Vegas and we’ll all do dinner at our house. Grill out or something.”
Groaning, I cover my face with my palm. She’s exasperating and cute all at the same time.
I’ll never admit to her that I’d very much like for them to meet Brynne, because despite how coolly I’m playing this right now, I just know there’s something incredibly special going on between Brynne and me.
CHAPTER 6
Brynne
Deely, Adams & Combs.
As I stare up at the large wooden sign above the front door of my dental practice, a sadness hits me so deep my legs almost buckle. I didn’t feel this when I saw the picture of the threesome that ruined my wedding. Didn’t grieve for the loss of a husband and mate.
But as I step through the front door, I’m beyond morose that this business I helped to build up is going to close. Perhaps Jesse and Tara will keep it going, but more than likely it will falter. While their strengths are in being good dentists—which I am, too—I was the business leader. The one who oversaw operations and marketing. I paid the bills and ensured payroll was met each month. Without me, they’ll never make it and that’s not ego talking. They just don’t have an entrepreneurial mindset the way I do, and it makes me genuinely sad for our staff, as they’ll have to find other jobs.
Same as me.
Tracey Coffman, our receptionist since we opened our doors over a year ago, sits behind the reception desk and blinks at me in surprise.
“Dr. Adams,” she exclaims. “Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon?”
Clearly, no one here has heard what happened, which means neither Jesse nor Tara have been in yet.
I give her a wan smile. “Wedding got canceled. When is Tara’s first appointment today?”
Tracey’s jaw drops wide open, and she continues to blink at me. I just return her stare until she scrambles for her computer. After hitting a few keys, she stammers, “T-ten.”
I nod. “I’ll be in my office going over some paperwork.”
At least I hope I can concentrate on paperwork. I’ve done nothing but think about Andrew since getting back to San Diego.
He called me last night just before I was going to bed. It was a short conversation as he told me he just wanted to hear my voice before he went to sleep. I thought that was sweet and sexy at the same time.
Before we hung up, he promised we’d talk the next night, but he wanted to do it over FaceTime. He said he wanted to see me.
All of me.
There was no mistaking the implication. We were going to have phone sex, and I couldn’t wait. It would be a first in my books.
After, I was so turned on thinking about what Andrew might make me do the next evening that my hand found its way in between my legs. Next thing I knew, I was rocking the bed and calling out his name while I brought myself to orgasm. I fell asleep peacefully and with a smile on my face.
I make my way past the reception desk, then down a hall that houses my office. Our building is small, and the majority of the space is consumed by exam rooms and equipment. There are only two offices, and I got one all to myself since I was the business manager. Jesse and Tara shared the other office, and the irony isn’t lost on me about them sharing space.
For a few blissful minutes, I manage to start going through mail from late last week. It consumes my mind with things other than dealing with Jesse and Tara.
That’s shattered when I hear a timid knock on my door. At my terse, “Come in,” it opens to reveal both traitors standing there with trepidation on their features.
Jesse steps in first, then has the nerve to glower at me. “Thank God you’re all right. You wouldn’t return my calls or texts, and we’ve gone out of our mind with worry about you. That was not cool, Brynne.”
“I’m fine,” I reply blandly. “As you can see.”
Tara steps in, turning to shut the door behind her. When she faces
me again, she’s wringing her hands. “Brynne… we are so very sorry.”
“Yes,” I say flatly. “I imagine you are.”
“We didn’t mean to hurt you,” she continues. “It was a one-time thing. We got drunk, and I was wanting to hook up with Jesse’s best man. I mean… he was hot, right? We ended up at this sex club—”
I hold my hand up, and her mouth snaps shut. “I don’t want the details. I don’t need them. What’s done is done.”
“Are we done?” Jesse asks softly, and I’m offended by the deep sadness I hear in his voice.
My eyes cut to him. “We are.”
“Brynne, please,” he cajoles, moving toward my desk. “We can work through this. It was meaningless. It wouldn’t have happened except for the alcohol.”
Incredulous, I feel my eyebrows rise and my mouth slightly parts in surprise. “You make that sound as if that’s almost a legitimate excuse.”
“No,” he hastens to assure me. “Not at all. I just want you to know that it wasn’t my intention. I should have never gotten drunk the night before my wedding. I love you.”
“Don’t speak about love,” I hiss. I stand up, forcefully slamming my palms on my desk as I do. “You don’t go to a sex club the night before your wedding and fuck my maid of honor with another man. It’s vile and disgusting and you disgust me. Both of you.”
Tara’s head hangs low, her eyes refusing to meet mine. Jesse merely stares at me with determination in his eyes.
“Counseling,” he suggests. “We should see a counselor who can help us work through this. I know we can do it if we try.”
My look of disbelief has Jesse’s mouth snapping shut. “You seriously think we can come back from this? You what… think I can talk out these issues with a therapist and just forget that your dick was in my best friend’s pussy just hours before we were set to wed? Oh, let’s not forget she was sucking another man’s cock at the same time.”
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