Chapter 22 JOE
Chapter twenty-two
JOE
It felt like it had been forever since I watched the two men I was dating reunite.
Both had shared their feelings about the other with me.
Once my brain caught up to what I had witnessed, it felt as if I had lost them both instantly.
Montgomery went full big brother mode as soon as he realized what had happened—he was the only person who knew my relationship with them.
I didn’t handle the situation well. My chest had felt like it was being crushed, and I was unable to breathe.
It took some time to make sense of the situation, but I ran into the house to escape\.
I heard them yell for me, then try to follow, but Mont told them to figure things out between them before they went after me.
When I burst through the front door, Arthur and their dragons all surrounded me, helped me to the couch, and asked what was wrong.
That was when I had to tell my brother that I was involved with two men.
Then I explained what they had both told me separately about the person they had a bond with but had lost, which caught him up to why I was now in his living room hyperventilating.
When both of them reached out to me the following day and wanted to spend time with me, the hope that had vanished returned. I knew at some point I needed to let my heart free to fall for one of these men, but I wasn’t ready.
It was almost 2:00 p.m., and Gentry would be here to pick me up. There were knots in my stomach as I paced back and forth. I kept telling myself to be cool because what I really wanted to do was pin him to the wall and kiss the shit out of him, but I had no idea if we were still in that place.
There was no way I could even pretend I hadn’t missed him.
We’d been getting to know each other better, and I knew he was charming and sweet.
Our emotional connection grew stronger whenever we were together, and the physical connection was amazing.
I was now fantasizing about being topped, and Gentry was the one I wanted in me.
Even though I tried not to think about it, I wondered if he and Dusty had been together.
It didn’t bother me like I thought it would.
After all, I had been with both men. What surprised me was that, over the last few days, when I lay in bed and thought about them, I felt left out.
If they were together, I was okay with it, but I wanted to know.
Something inside me kept saying I wanted to be part of it, not physically because I wasn’t interested in that, but to be included.
I heard the gravel under the truck tires, and I tried not to bust out the front door at a full run.
Instead, I tried to casually open the door but ended up hitting it against the wall, then walked away too fast, tripping on the bottom step.
Denying that I missed him and that I was happy he was here was useless.
His smile made my stomach do back flips, and my heart did some sort of dance. All those feelings made it obvious I had fallen for him.
“Hi there, sexy.” He said it easily, as if we greeted each other this way all the time.
“I’ve really missed you.” He handed me a bouquet of red and pink roses.
“I’ve missed you, too. These are gorgeous, come in while I put them in some water.”
“I have one more thing in my car, let me go get it.” He turned and jogged back to his truck.
When he returned, he held a cake box from a local bakery. He lifted it, and inside was what looked like a cheesecake, but each slice was a different flavor.
“You remembered that I like cheesecake?”
He nodded. “Of course, I remember everything you tell me, Joe. You are very special to me.”
I pulled out a vase and arranged the roses in it. After peeking in the box again, I slid it into the fridge.
“I look forward to sampling that with you later.”
When I turned around, we were steps apart, so I moved closer. He smiled, his hand along my cheek, while his thumb ran over my bottom lip.
“I really did miss you, Joe.” He kissed me gently, and I couldn’t help but deepen it.
He tasted like caramel and coffee. He held my head steady, wrapped his other arm around my waist, and pulled me tight.
I could feel him hard against my hip, and there was little doubt he could feel how hard I was for him.
We were forced to pull apart to breathe.
“Hi,” he said again, then shared another one of those beautiful smiles that felt like they were only for me. “Let’s go riding, and we’ll come back here. I hope you don’t mind I brought a change of clothes and hoped to shower off the horse smell when we get back.”
“I’ve mentioned before, you being naked and wet is always welcome.”
I felt more confident riding Amber and felt like, as long as Gentry was there, I could get some fantastic shots for their advertising.
It was easy to look forward to going away for several days, knowing Gentry would be my tentmate every night.
Camping was something we did a lot growing up, and I suspected this would be a little less harsh since it’s something rich people do for vacation.
“I think I am going to do okay when we go.”
We were both on Amber, and Gentry's hands were on my hips under my shirt. The heat of his palms made me hard, and my skin was covered in goosebumps. Each time I sat back down, he would lick and kiss my neck. We stopped at our river, and let the horses get a drink. While they rested, Gentry took me in his arms and kissed me until I couldn’t think straight.
“We don’t have long before we go. You don’t even need me, but I am excited to be going with you.” He said while holding me close.
Our mouths fused again. A moment later, he kissed up my neck and scraped his teeth along the helix of my ear, which made me tremble in his arms. He continued to talk.
“The trip is six days, but we will be alone together for eight since Martin insists we drive up the day before and drive back the day after we finish.”
Knowing he and I would be alone for all that time did things to me.
The fact that I would have his body for all that time was exciting, but riding, traveling, and hanging out together were what I really wanted.
I knew my feelings were getting deeper for him, and I hoped he felt the same way.
Briefly, I thought about Dusty. I liked him so much, too, but he was only starting to decide if he wanted a relationship, and now he had Gentry.
My heart squeezed for a second.
“What’s wrong?” Gentry must have sensed the shift in me. This was a conversation we needed to have, and now, while we were both in a good space, was the best time.
“I was.” This was going to be hard. “Dusty, how does he fit into this?”
We sat on a stump, and he looked at me, taking the conversation seriously. “I love Dusty.”
I took a deep breath and felt like I might cry. He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “It’s not like that. I don’t know him after all these years. I know you two are dating as well, and this is a situation I never expected to be in.”
“I understand that completely.” Knowing he was confused by our situation helped.
“I like you so much, and the only thing I can tell you right now is that I want to get to know you more. I want to be intimate with you, and I want to spend as much time as possible with you.” He pursed his lips together.
“I’m going to get to know Dusty better as well.
I know it feels like at some point someone is going to get hurt, and that sucks, but for now I am going to take it day by day if that’s okay with you. ”
The shitty part of this was that I wanted to do the same thing. “Okay. I guess I am doing the same thing.”
I had a lump in my chest because this next part felt weird. “Do you think? Well. I’d like to feel safe. Would you be willing to only have sex with Dusty and me?” I was feeling very uncomfortable, yet incredibly grown-up. Mont told me to ask for this since we were already sharing partners.
He smiled. “Joe, you’re an amazing man, and you do some crazy things to my heart. I think that’s a great idea. Dusty knows we are together right now. Should we text him and see if he is on board? I am one-hundred percent in agreement.”
“Yeah, let’s ask him separately next time we see him.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about the three of us interacting. “And um. I’ve been tested. You and Dusty are the only people I’ve been intimate with.” He nodded.
“That’s good to know, and I’m the same.”
This was hands down the strangest conversation I‘d ever had. Even though I wasn’t ready for us all to interact, it honestly felt like the three of us were in a relationship. I kept telling myself that I couldn’t imagine sharing, but that’s exactly what I was doing, and I started it.
“Feels weird, right?” He asked me, not meeting my eyes.
“It does. I am not sure how to process most of this.” I felt guilty about being greedy.
They were both so wonderful to be with, and time with either of them wasn’t something I was prepared to give up yet.
I looked at him for a minute and started to worry he was going to decide this was a mess he didn’t want to get involved in.
“You know what. We’ve all talked, and there are no secrets. Let’s enjoy being with each other and ignore the rest of the world until tomorrow.” He smiled sweetly at me.
“I like how you think.” I stood up and pulled him up with me. Our bodies were close together, and I could feel his arousal. Unable to help myself, I squeezed him through his jeans. He moaned as he pushed into my hand.
“Can we take this back to your place?”
“Again with good ideas. Let’s walk until this situation in my pants resolves itself. I can’t mount at the moment.”
He chuckled, then looked down, “Yup. We will walk for a bit.”
We headed back toward the barn side by side, holding hands. I had Amber’s reins, and Dusty followed along like a big dog. After a while, we mounted and rode the rest of the way.