FriendlySeduction

by Gillian Archer

  Sara sighed. She’d just have to think this one through on her own. Somewhere in this muck was the right decision. She just had to find it.

  Chapter Five

  Marc woke with a start. A tingling sensation washed over his body. Someone was in the room. Scanning the shadows, his gaze landed on a figure sitting in the armchair in the corner.

  “Fuck! You scared the shit out of me,” Marc grumbled.

  “Yeah, well, we’re even. I never did peg you for a weasel. But I guess I should’ve known better, huh?”

  “Jesus, man. It’s too fucking early.”

  “That’s what I thought when I woke up to the sunrise with a splitting headache and a crick in my neck.” Rob raised a hand to rub his neck. “What happened last night?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “No, I remember. I’m just not sure if some of it really happened or…”

  “The kiss in the pickup?”

  “So that was real, huh?” A smug grin swept across Rob’s face that even the morning’s dimness couldn’t hide.

  “Don’t get too cocky. You fell asleep on her. I don’t think she was impressed.”

  “And you left me in the pickup all night. You fucker!”

  Marc tensed and waited to see what Rob would do next. They hadn’t fought since the fingerpaint scuffle in kindergarten. But he would do whatever it took to make Sara his. Friends be damned.

  Rob sighed and dropped his head into his hands. His words were muffled by his fingers. “So what happened? She chose you?”

  “No. I left her in the guest room. I didn’t want to make her choose between us when she was drunk.”

  “She wasn’t drunk.”

  “She was tipsy. Did you see her toddling on her high heels? She could hardly walk. And she tasted of beer.” Sara didn’t like beer. Whiskey, tequila, rum were her drinks of choice. She must’ve been really wasted if she drank a beer.

  Rob smirked. “She’s never worn heels. You know that, and as for the beer… I’m afraid I’m to blame for that.”

  Marc choked as he caught Rob’s meaning. Man, he should have known.

  “Wait! How’d you know what she tasted like?”

  Marc merely smirked in reply.

  Rob scowled. “So it’s like that, huh?”

  Marc grunted. “Still, she couldn’t have been exactly sober when she made the decision to give her virginity to that jackass.” He clenched his jaw, remembering the scene in the parking lot.

  “Virginity? Shit, I forgot about that!”

  “Yeah, well, it’s kind of hard for me to forget when I had to practically save her from being raped by that punk.”

  “What?” Rob bolted to his feet and made for the door.

  “Hold up there, John McClane. I took care of it. Actually Sara took care of it. Come on, I’ll tell you about it while we make breakfast. And then we’ll wake up Sara. I think we both want to hear from her.”

  “And you didn’t kick the little fucker’s ass?” Rob couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “If I’d been there, that punk wouldn’t be able to find his dick. Or his hands. If I’d been there—”

  “But you weren’t.” Marc glared back.

  Rob shut his mouth.

  “You were busy drowning your sorrows at the bar. I was the one who found Sara being attacked in the parking lot. I was the one who helped her get away. I was the one who decided it was more important to get her out of there rather than satisfy my bloodlust.”

  Rob really didn’t have a comeback for that. Marc was right, he was being an ass. “I’m sorry, man. You’re right.”

  “Damn straight.” Marc turned back to the stove and the popping bacon.

  Rob sighed. “So I guess there’s really no question, is there? She’s going to pick you.”

  His gut clenched at the thought of not being with Sara. He’d waited so long that to have his chance with her slip through his fingers was almost more than he could tolerate. He clenched his jaw. At least he lost her to Marc. The thought held little comfort though. Maybe with time…

  Fuck, who was he kidding? He didn’t think he could handle living here, being friends with them while they enjoyed their life together. He really wasn’t cut out to be a martyr.

  Marc was silent as he fiddled with the frying pan. “I don’t know if she’ll pick me.”

  “But you were the guy. The one who held her in the parking lot. The one who tucked her in last night. I’m the jackass that fell asleep on her.” He silently cursed himself for being so stupid. If he could kick his own ass, he would.

  Marc chuckled. “Yeah, there is that.”

  “Yeah…well, I hope you guys invite me to the wedding.” Fuck, now he sounded like a pouty brat. Little wonder why Sara wasn’t going to pick him. He didn’t like himself at the moment.

  “Wedding? Who said anything about a wedding? We’re not even dating yet. Hell, for all we know she’s going to pick you. Or neither of us.”

  “Fuck, what are we going to do if she doesn’t pick either one of us?”

  “Come on, I saw that kiss in the truck—there was obvious attraction there. She digs you. And at the bar…” Marc huffed, clearly not pleased with the memory.

  “Ah, man.” Rob swallowed a groan as he remembered their dancing last night and the kiss later. That kiss had been so amazing he was shocked he hadn’t dreamt it.

  Marc was right—they had chemistry. He had felt the attraction for a while. Obviously Sara felt the same. Too bad she’d dated the douchebag for so long. They needed to make up for lost time.

  He chuckled as his gaze swept the room and met the sight of Marc standing over the stove. Rob’s grin slowly left his face. He couldn’t forget Marc felt the same.

  Or that Sara was also drawn to Marc. After all, she had kissed him last night too.

  Marc groaned. “When the hell did life get so complicated?”

  “I don’t know.” Rob sighed while contemplating the tabletop as if it held all the answers he needed. If only there was some way they could all stay friends, no hurt feelings and yet he got the girl at the end of the day. A glimmer of a not-so-distant memory gave him an idea. “What if we revisited that weekend in Cabo?”

  Marc scowled. “I thought we agreed to never discuss Cabo.”

  “But I think Cabo’s the answer to our problem. You want her to choose you. I want her to choose me…” He sent Marc a significant look, waiting for him to fill in the blanks.

  “Yes, Einstein. Welcome to our fucked-up situation.” Marc glared. “Why would we want to screw it up even more by throwing Cabo into the mix?”

  Rob cleared his throat. “We’re older now. Learned some tough lessons. Plus Sara is different from her—Sara’s levelheaded and mature. I think she could handle it. She wouldn’t try to play one of us against the other, unlike some people. It could work this time. How awesome would it be if she didn’t have to choose?”

  Sara opened her eyes as the smell of bacon surrounded her. Ah, she was in heaven. First thing in the morning, she didn’t have to lift a finger and breakfast was already made. Add a shirtless, ripped hunk to hand-feed her, and her utopia would be complete.

  She startled as her fantasy walked into the room with fantasy man number two following on his heels. Sara groaned as she remembered last night. And why she had been alone in a strange room. She fervently wished for a nice black hole to open up in the ground and swallow her.

  She peeked one eye open. Nope, no hole. Just two shirtless hunks and one heaping plate of food. At least her last meal with her best buds would be a memorable one. Eye candy combined with a yummy breakfast. If she could swallow past the lump in her throat.

  “Honey, don’t look like that.” Marc shoved the plate at Rob then bounded to the bed. “It’ll be okay. We’ve talked it over while making breakfast. Whoever you don’t choose…he’ll step aside.” He looked over at Rob and his voice became strangled. “We’ll still be friends.”

  “Don’t you see? I can’t choose.” Sara picked a
t the quilt, her bottom lip trembling.

  “Ah, honey. Don’t worry.” Marc drew her into his arms. “It’ll all work out.”

  “How? How can I choose one of you over the other? Whoever I don’t choose—we won’t really be friends. It’ll be strange and awkward and eventually we’ll drift away. I know it.”

  “So you have chosen,” Rob finally spoke from across the room as he dropped her plate on top of a dresser.

  Sara drew back from Marc’s arms. “Haven’t you been listening? I CAN’T!”

  “But you have.” Rob shook his head. “You’ve already pictured the future without one of us.”

  “No, I’ve pictured the future without either of you and I just can’t do it.” She buried her face in her hands. She couldn’t bear to look at them.

  “So there really isn’t one of us you like more? One of us you’d rather be with?” The bed pressed down on her left as Rob sat down on her other side.

  “Gah!” Sara threw her hands in the air and glared at the two of them. “That’s like asking me if I’d prefer a crème brûlée truffle over a sticky toffee chocolate.”

  Marc and Rob exchanged confused glances.

  Sara rolled her eyes. “It’s a girl thing.”

  “So what do we do? You want to date both of us?” Marc chuckled weakly.

  “That’s not a bad idea. What if you didn’t have to choose?” Rob asked, looking straight at her.

  Sara’s gaze bounced between them. Rob looked totally at ease with the situation. Marc seemed…troubled. Unsure. He looked just as confused as she felt.

  “But I would eventually. I mean it’s not like we’re going to live in a—what do you even call it? We wouldn’t be a couple, so what—a triad? A trio?” Sara laughed uncomfortably.

  “Why not? It could work,” Rob insisted.

  “Come on! What would you tell the guys on the force, Rob? Or your parents, Marc? So I’m with one of you guys and the other is just ‘the roommate’? That’s not fair.”

  “You don’t care about what your parents would think of this relationship?” Rob pinned her with his gaze.

  “It wouldn’t be a relationship, would it? I would date one of you and cheat on him with the other. Someone will find out eventually—this is a small town, after all—and then what?”

  Rob shook his head. “We start out the way we want to go forward. We’re open about it. If they don’t like it, tough shit.”

  “But what about your families? What will they think about it?”

  “My mom will love me no matter what.” Rob reached up and brushed her hair off her face.

  Sara felt a pang at his simple statement. What she wouldn’t give to have her parents love her so unconditionally instead of their constant nitpicking and judgments. The more they talked about the options, the more settled Marc looked. Unlike her. She felt just as lost now as she had when she woke up this morning.

  Marc let loose a shuddering sigh. “I’m in. Especially if it means I have you by my side.”

  Sara was silent as she cast around for another excuse. She couldn’t believe what they were talking about. How could they even…how would… She blanked.

  Rob rubbed a thumb across her wrinkled forehead. “What about your family? Are you going to be okay with their reaction?”

  “I don’t have to wonder how they’ll react. You guys remember what they did to Jason and that was just a teen pregnancy. Not to say that it wasn’t major. But it wasn’t… This is… There’s no way they could handle this.” Geez, she was rambling. She drew a deep breath. “It’s not like they’re supportive of me right now and I’m a virgin. At twenty-four! I could die a virgin and they’d still have issues with my choice of men.”

  “So would I,” Marc drawled.

  Sara and Rob laughed. Marc’s comment lightened the tension that had descended on them.

  “So give it a chance,” Rob whispered.

  “Give us a chance,” Marc finished.

  Chapter Six

  Sara looked down, unable to meet their gazes. “H-how would this work? I mean… So, I just date you two and sometimes I go into Rob’s bedroom and other times I go with Marc?” Damn, her complexion couldn’t hide a thing if her stinging cheeks were anything to go by.

  “Or you could sleep with both of us.”

  “At the same time? B-but—how do we… What do we… You’re not serious!”

  Did Rob really just suggest a threesome? Okay, so it might be her wildest fantasy come to life but there was no way Marc would agree to it. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He was sprawled next to her on the bed without a care in the world.

  A glimmer of a past conversation tweaked the back of her mind. “But then that would mean that you all would have to be naked at the same time. In the same bed. What did you call that, Marc? A devil’s threesome?” She held up her right fist with the index and pinky fingers extended.

  “Ah, come on, Sara. I was sixteen.” Marc rolled his eyes as a dark-red hue swept his face. He was so cute when he was embarrassed.

  “And it’s not like this is the first time we’ve done this.”

  Silence enveloped the room. Sara couldn’t believe Rob’s revelation. They had done it and she hadn’t known. She thought the three of them had a close relationship. They shared practically everything. How could they have hid that they were in a…she didn’t even know what to call it… A polygamous affair? A ménage? A three-way relationship?

  “When?” she croaked.

  Marc glared at Rob.

  “Just after graduation.” Marc ducked his head and avoided their gazes.

  “What he meant to say is, we did it once after graduation with a girl Marc was seeing.”

  “So that’s what happened in Cabo?” Her mind whirled as she remembered that time six years ago.

  To celebrate graduation, the guys vacationed in Mexico with a few friends. She couldn’t attend due to lack of funds, plus her mother threatened to throw her out if she went. Slumber parties with guys were a huge no-no. Even if she had been over eighteen.

  A tingling sensation swept over her scalp as she remembered just who Marc had been dating at that time. “With Bethany?”

  Marc nodded, suddenly mute.

  It figured. Of anyone, it had to be Bethany. The bane of her existence in high school. One of the golden crowd who thought they lived better lives compared to little people like her. Truth be told, she was still a tiny bit pissed Marc had even dated the witch. That tiny bit grew in light of this new information.

  Marc squeezed his way in to sit between her and the stack of pillows behind her then pulled her close to him. “You more than anyone have to understand we had sex lives before you—before this. Before we thought about you this way… I, uh, damn it. You know what I mean.”

  She turned slightly to look at his face. She had never seen Marc so flustered. Smooth-talking, sexy-as-hell Marc was flustered over her. Sara was bowled over by the thought. Now she just had to wipe away the vision of Bethany sandwiched between her guys.

  “I’ll forgive you on one condition.”

  “Anything.”

  “Dude, you’re giving away the farm before the bidding has even started,” Rob said in disgust from his perch at the foot of the bed.

  “It’s my farm.”

  “Hey, I’m in this relationship too.”

  “Guys? Guys! Half-naked chick in bed and kind of pissed at you here, remember?”

  “Sorry.”

  “Sorry.” Marc squeezed her shoulder.

  Sara’s lips quirked at their mumbled replies. Good to know some things never changed. They still loved to get under each other’s skin. Now if only she could see said skin… “Anyway, my condition—I think you need to kiss it and make it better.”

  Sara had to hold back a laugh at Marc’s expression. He stared at her as if he didn’t understand English. He slowly started to lean toward her, staring at her face as if he was afraid she’d change her mind. As if.

  Finally his mouth c
overed hers. The kiss started out gentle, Marc’s lips moved softly over her. No hunger, no urgent need to brand her as his. The striking contrast between last night’s harsh, urgent kiss and this gentle, probing one was astounding. But still nice. And yet she found herself missing the grinding need that captured her before with Marc. She never would have believed he had such an almost violent need for her.

  She pulled away. “What was that?”

  “Uh, the kiss-it-and-make-it-better thing?”

  “No, I want last night’s kiss. I want that guy in my bed.”

  “You mean me?”

  Sara startled at Rob’s question. Was it him last night whose kiss made her weak in the knees? Had she been so drunk she couldn’t remember the difference? They never would have made a move on her if she was that far gone. She looked from Rob and back to Marc, her gaze bouncing like an audience member’s at a tennis match.

  Which one was it? God, she was embarrassed she couldn’t remember. “I’m such a slut,” she mumbled under her breath.

  “I never want to hear that from you again.” Marc’s steely hazel eyes gave her no doubt he found that kind of language unacceptable. But she still couldn’t get the specter of her mother’s judgment out of her mind.

  “You’re here with us because we want you. No doubts. No regrets. Let us show you how it can be.”

  Sara caught her breath at Rob’s determination. He wanted her. As he leaned toward her, she couldn’t help but sink into him. His mouth took hers and she knew instantly this was the kiss she had been waiting for. His lips moved demandingly over hers. There was no hesitation, no asking for permission, he just took. His tongue probed between her lips then swept inside to teasingly dance and duel with hers.

  Sara moaned. She was so caught up with the masterful way Rob kissed, it took her a full minute to realize Marc had swept the hair away from the back off her neck to nibble the delicate skin there. And here she had thought Rob was that good of a kisser that he was making even the back of her neck tingle. Sara felt as if every nerve in her body was tingling with new sensations. Goose bumps broke out all over her body and she shivered.