Chapter 3
3
Stellan
After lounging by the pool, doing a weights session in our home-gym carport, and having some lunch, Duke and I are getting ready to go check in on Bailey when there's a knock on the door.
"You expecting a delivery?" Duke asks, and I shake my head.
We bound down the stairs like the gorillas we are, and when he opens the front door, my heart pitter-patters in my chest.
"Bailey," I greet with a smile, standing beside Duke in the doorway. "How are you?"
"Better than I was yesterday." He releases a deep breath, his amber and olive eyes flicking between us. "I came over to apologize."
"For what?" Duke asks.
"For the huge scene on my front lawn yesterday."
"That wasn't your fault," I say, reaching out to rub his shoulder, and just like when I held him yesterday, the physical touch ignites something within me. Something deeper than just sexual attraction. Bailey unlocks the part of me that desperately wants to care for and protect someone.
As much as I love Duke, he doesn't need me in that way. And I know he has the same needs I do, the same desire to lavish love on someone, which isn't what I need from him, either. Plus, we're both tops, and hung as fuck, so it's a real shame to let all this man meat go to waste.
We realized years ago that a third person would make what we have truly perfect. Finding said other person has proven to be a challenge though.
Until now, that is.
Duke can play it safe all he wants, but I sense an opening here. And if there's one thing my cock craves right now, it's an opening.
"Come inside." Duke opens the door wider. "We were just on our way to see you."
"You were?" Bailey asks, stepping inside.
"We were," I confirm. "We wanted to make sure you were okay. That asswipe hasn't contacted you again, has he?"
"No. He's blocked me on every channel imaginable."
There's a firm edge to his voice, which I take as a good sign. But breakups are always tough, even when they're with jerkholes. I need to remember that. Bailey will need some time to heal and process his emotions.
Luckily for us, Duke and I have all the time in the world. We may only be in our early forties, but some savvy investment decisions after we hung up our skates mean we can live a semi-retired lifestyle. That's one of the main reasons we moved here.
We lead Bailey into the kitchen, and as Duke pours us some of his delicious homemade peach iced tea, I take the opportunity to ask Bailey something that's been on my mind since we moved in. "How come you're never here during the week?"
Bailey slides onto a stool at the breakfast bar. "I work in Forest Lake, and I have a small apartment there. I inherited the house when my grandmother passed away last year."
He starts fidgeting. Duke stops pouring and looks at me. We can both feel the weight of Bailey's loss. I want to go over to him and bundle him up in my arms like I did yesterday on his front lawn, but instead, I honor what I said to Duke and tread carefully . "I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you."
Duke places the glasses and pitcher on a tray and suggests, "It's a gorgeous day. Let's go outside."
I open the door for Duke, who's carrying the drinks. When Bailey approaches and smiles at me, I swear he makes me lose my breath the same way Duke still manages to.
Being big and tall ourselves, we're both suckers for shorter, slender guys, and at about five seven, Bailey fits the bill perfectly. His medium-brown hair falls about messily in a way that makes me want to drag my fingers through it, and his boyish face is dusted with a faint hint of stubble. But it's his hazel eyes that draw me in. I've always been a sucker for eyes, and there's a world of mystery behind his that I'm itching to explore. I want to know everything about him.
I latch onto his shoulder as I slide the door closed, and we make our way to the table under the umbrella. He looks up at me, smiling again, and my core ignites. Man, I want to explore every inch of his delectable body.
We sit at the massive outdoor table facing the pool with Bailey in the middle. Duke's always been the better one at handling small talk, so he asks Bailey what he does for work—he's a project manager for a real estate investment company—whether he likes it here—his favorite thing is to escape the city and come up here on weekends, especially in summer, and hang out by the lake—and what music he listens to. He rattles off a bunch of artists I've never heard of, which highlights just how many years separate us. I don't know whether the age gap bothers Duke, but I couldn't give a shit about it. As long as Bailey doesn't mind I can't spell the names of half the artists he mentioned, then why would I give a damn what anyone else thinks?
"So what happened with your ex?" I ask when there's a break in the conversation.
Duke shoots daggers at me. "You'll have to forgive Stellan. He was raised in the woods by pack animals and lacks social skills."
Bailey grins. "It's okay. Um…" The grin fades, replaced by his brows forming a deep V. "Conor cheated on me." He lets out a sigh and stares up at the blue sky. "Three times."
Anger boils my blood. "That's so fucked up."
"We're sorry that happened to you," Duke says, and I give a sharp nod.
"It's fine. I mean, it's not. It really sucks. But this time we're really over. I'm not taking him back. Not after what he said."
Duke glares at me, and I can read his mind as clearly as if he were saying the words out loud. Don't ask. Don't ask. Don't ask .
But I can't help myself. I've been dying to find out more about Bailey for a whole freaking month, and now that I finally can, I'm not about to pass up the chance to do just that.
"Do you mind if I ask what he said?" I get the words out as gently as I can.
"You don't have to answer that," Duke says, trying to keep his voice calm while frowning at me.
Bailey drops his head. "It's so embarrassing, you guys."
"All the more reason not to say anything," Duke assures him.
Bailey takes a sip of iced tea and hums. "This is really good, by the way."
"Thank you," Duke responds with a tight smile, still on edge that I've steered the conversation down this path.
I know he's only looking out for Bailey, and I don't want to make him uncomfortable, either. If he tells me to shut up and mind my own damn business, I'll apologize and do just that. But if Bailey wants to tell us, I'm not about to stop him. It's his call.
"One night, when we first started dating, we got drunk," Bailey begins. "Conor asked me what my ultimate sexual fantasy was." He takes a breath and stares out at the pool, his fingers absently stroking the rim of his glass. "I told him it was to have a threesome."
I almost choke on my tea. Duke lifts a finger and widens his eyes at me to stay quiet. I comply this time.
"He used that against me when I caught him cheating this most recent time."
"I don't get it," Duke says. "How is you sharing a fantasy permission for him to cheat on you?"
"Exactly. Thank you." Bailey reaches over and squeezes Duke's forearm. "I was starting to think I was going crazy."
"You're not," I say, wanting to reach over and touch Bailey even as he releases Duke's arm. The need to feel him is so overwhelming that I curl one hand around my glass and sit on the other one to stop myself doing something that Duke will make me regret later.
"Anyway, I should get going." Bailey drains the rest of his iced tea and my mind does not imagine what he'd look like on his knees, swallowing our cocks with the same intensity.
"Back to work tomorrow, then?" Duke asks as we walk Bailey through the house to the front door.
"Afraid so, yeah."
"You don't like your job?" I ask, picking up on the flatness in his voice.
"It's fine, I guess. Just very corporate. I'd love to do something that makes a difference, you know?"
I glance over at Duke. "Yeah. We know," I say, since we have another reason why we moved here. One that allows us to give back and pass on some of the good fortune we've been blessed with.
"Life, hey?" Duke says with a smile, nudging Bailey.
"Exactly."
We reach the door, and as I open it, the three of us find ourselves in close quarters in the entryway, quiet for the first time since Bailey came over. A big part of me is tempted to draw Bailey into me and see how he responds. As if reading my thoughts, Duke fixes me with a silent warning.
Okay. Even I can admit that may be pushing it. Too much, too fast. I don't want to ruin things before they even have a chance to properly begin.
But now that we've broken the ice and we know Bailey is single— and that his ultimate sexual fantasy is a threesome—I'm determined to at least move things forward a little.
I lock my eyes on Bailey and ask, "Don't suppose you'd like to join us out on the lake when you come back next weekend?"