Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Leo
I don’t know how to handle shit with Karl at the moment. We’re just… in limbo.
We’ve been coexisting. Living under the same roof, working the same shifts, eating the same food.
Pretending things are fine, even though the air between us is foggy with all the things we didn’t say.
We crack jokes in front of the others. We pass tools back and forth without making eye contact. We act normally.
But every look is a challenge. Every silence is a dare.
Tonight is no different.
But I’m not going to bite.
Let him go ahead of me, swing the door open way too hard. Let him barrel inside, call after Liv before the door even clicks shut.
I’ll go slower, shrugging out of my jacket, every bone in my body aching from the shift. All I want is a beer and maybe five minutes of quiet before Karl starts running his mouth.
But then his words cut off. Just stop.
I frown, stepping farther inside. “What’s—”
And then I see it.
Olivia. Against the wall. Naked except for Jesse fucking Fletcher pinning her there like she belongs to him. His hand is between her thighs. Hers is shoved down the front of his jeans. Both flushed, panting, caught in the act so raw there’s no mistaking what they were in the middle of.
Something sharp rips through my chest. Jealousy, rage, heat. Fuck if I know. I just stand there, frozen, my fists curling tight at my sides while Karl whistles low.
“Well, shit,” he says, smirking. “Here’s me and Leo fighting over you, Liv. Didn’t know other men were in the picture.”
Olivia jerks away from Jesse, scrambling for her towel, cheeks blazing. Jesse, though? He only moves to pull his zipper up. Then glares at Karl like he’d murder him where he stands if he had the chance.
“Shut your mouth,” Jesse growls, shielding her.
Karl laughs, shaking his head. “Relax, lover boy. I’m not the one sneaking around like some horny teenager in my friend’s house.”
The room goes electric.
“You don’t get to talk about her like that.”
Jesse’s voice is sharp enough to cut glass. His fists are balled, his shoulders squared, and he looks about two seconds from putting Karl through the drywall.
Karl just grins wider. That cocky, dangerous grin he wears whenever he knows he’s struck a nerve.
“So, I just let this keep going on as is?”
Olivia’s face flames red, but she is steady when she snaps, “Shut up, Karl.”
That gets his attention. He swings his gaze on her, and suddenly it’s not playful anymore. His smirk falters, his jaw tightens, and I can see the crack in his armor.
“You serious, Liv? After everything? After…” He jabs a finger toward Jesse, “him? In my house?”
“You don’t own me, Karl,” she shoots back. “Yes, we had a date. But in your own words, it was never serious. You were just being kind.”
The words hang there loud as a gunshot.
Shit, she overheard me and Karl arguing that day.
Fucking hell, this is messy.
Karl blinks, looking slapped. Then his jaw sets hard. “Kind? That’s what you think that was? Me being kind?”
Olivia doesn’t flinch. She squares her shoulders, clutching the towel tight. “That’s what you said, Karl. Don’t twist it now.”
I can practically see the vein pulsing in Karl’s temple. “Christ, Liv. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Jesse barks a humorless laugh. “Yeah, sure you didn’t.”
Karl whirls on him. “Stay the hell out of this.”
But Jesse doesn’t move, doesn’t back off an inch. “Funny, considering you’re the one barging in here, playing territorial, like she’s some trophy you get to keep on a shelf.”
Karl shoves forward a step, chest out, shoulders squared. “Better than you sneaking in behind everyone’s back to get your hands on her.”
“Stop it!” Olivia cries loudly.
I should say something. Should cut in, drag them both apart before they rip the house down around us. But I’m rooted to the spot, stomach twisted, throat locked. Watching.
Karl sneers. “What, Jesse? You think this makes you a man? Taking her like that, pressed up against the damn wall?”
“You don’t get to talk about her like that,” Jesse snaps, breaking with fury. “Not when you’ve done nothing but play games with her feelings.”
“You son of a…” Karl lunges, but Olivia shoves herself between them.
“Enough!” She looks at Karl, then Jesse, her eyes wild. “Do you even hear yourselves? This isn’t about me anymore. It’s about you two, trying to outdo each other. I’m not some prize to win. I’m a person!”
The silence after that hits harder than the shouting.
Karl’s chest heaves, eyes burning holes into Jesse. Jesse’s fists tremble at his sides, rage bleeding off him in waves. And me? I feel sick because she’s right. And because somewhere deep down, I know I’m part of this too.
Karl drags a hand over his face, muttering low. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Olivia’s laugh is sharp, broken. “I know exactly what I’m talking about. You both treat me like I don’t get a say. Like, my choices don’t matter. Well, guess what? They do. And maybe I don’t want either of you.”
The silence after her words is deafening.
Karl’s jaw works. Jesse clearly wants to punch through the drywall to bleed off the fury.
And me? I can’t take it anymore. This endless circle. The fighting. The lies. Pretending I don’t see what’s right in front of me.
So, I do the one thing none of them expect.
I speak.
“Or maybe… this isn’t about choosing at all.”
Three sets of eyes whip to me. Olivia’s wide, startled. Jesse’s narrowed, suspicious. Karl’s brows shoot up, and then he laughs.
“You’ve lost it,” Karl scoffs, shaking his head. “What, you’re suggesting she just… what? Has all of us?”
I hold his gaze, unflinching. “Why not?”
The room goes dead quiet again.
Karl blinks, confused. Jesse, though… Jesse’s face twists, half disbelief, half fury.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Jesse snaps. “She’s not… this isn’t…”
“She’s right there,” I cut him off, my tone sharp. I nod toward Olivia, still clutching the towel, her cheeks flushed crimson. “If she’s gonna have a say, let’s give her one. Let her decide what she wants instead of all of us tearing each other apart like idiots.”
Karl leans back against the wall, arms folded, smirking, enjoying the show. But I can see the flicker of something in his eyes. Interest. Curiosity.
Jesse’s fists clench. His whole body is wound tight—he’s two seconds from exploding. But he doesn’t lunge. Doesn’t deny it. He just glares at me. I’ve just lit a fuse neither of us can put out.
And Olivia…
Olivia stares at me, as if seeing me for the first time. She can’t decide whether to slap me, laugh in my face, or think about it.
“Leo… are you serious?”
I meet her eyes and nod once. “Dead serious.”
The air is so thick that it's almost impossible to breathe.
Olivia’s still clutching that towel, but the flush on her cheeks isn’t just embarrassment anymore. It’s something hotter.
Jesse shakes his head hard, running a hand through his hair. He can’t believe we’re even having this conversation.
“This is insane,” he mutters. “She’s not… this isn’t some game.”
“Who said anything about a game?” Karl drawls. He tips his head toward Olivia, a slow grin curling across his face. “She doesn’t look like she’s hating the attention.”
Olivia swallows hard, her knuckles white around the terrycloth. “I… Karl…”
Jesse snaps, “Don’t talk to her like that.”
I cut in before they can spiral out of control again. “You’re both missing the point. It’s not about what we want. It’s about what she wants.”
All eyes swing to her again.
Olivia presses her lips together, chest rising and falling quickly under the towel.
“And what if… what if I don’t know yet?”
The words slam into me hard as a punch. Not rejection. Not denial. Just… honesty.
Karl whistles low. “Christ, Liv. You’re killing me here.”
But the way he’s looking at her, his cocky edge is slipping, replaced by something rawer.
Jesse steps closer, crowding her space. “You don’t need to know. Not right now. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone.” His hand twitches at his side. It’s taking everything in him not to reach for her again.
Olivia’s eyes flick between them, between all of us, and her breath hitches. “But what if… I wanted… more?”
The room goes still.
My pulse pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat.
Karl lets out a low laugh, but it’s shaky, dark. “Then, sweetheart, you just made three men very, very dangerous.”
And fuck if the air doesn’t change right then.
The fight drains out of Jesse’s shoulders, replaced by something else. Hunger. His gaze drops to the strip of bare thigh showing beneath the towel, and he swears under his breath.
Olivia shifts, clutching the fabric tighter, but her knees press together. She’s trying to hold herself steady.
And me? I can’t look away. Every second of this is fire on my skin.
“I can’t believe we’re actually talking about this,” Jesse mutters.
Karl smirks. “Talking’s not the problem. Deciding who goes first might be.”
“Jeez, Karl,” Jesse growls, but his eyes are on Olivia again, not him.
Her voice trembles, but there’s a spark in it now. “Maybe… maybe this doesn’t have to be either or.”
And there it is.
The spark that ignites the powder keg.
Karl’s grin sharpens. Jesse goes still, his chest heaving. And me—I can’t move, can’t breathe, can’t think.
Olivia’s knuckles loosen on the towel. She doesn’t even realize it’s slipping. The terrycloth slides a fraction lower, exposing the smooth line of her collarbone, the curve of her breast.
Jesse’s gaze follows it, like a starving man.
He swallows hard, then drags his eyes up to hers. “Liv…”
She whispers back, “Don’t tell me to stop.”
That’s all it takes.
He steps into her space, bracing one hand on the wall beside her head, the other sliding over the knot of the towel until it drops soundlessly to the floor.
She’s bare. Glorious. Trembling but unflinching.
“Fuck,” Jesse breathes, reverent and ruined at the same time.
His fingers trace her hip, her ribs, the underside of her breast.
Karl chuckles low, but there’s no humor in it now, just hunger. “Well, hell. Guess we’re really doing this.”
He moves in on her other side, his hand tangling in her damp hair, tilting her head back so she has to look up at him. He doesn’t kiss her. Not yet. He just hovers, lips a whisper away.
“Say the word, Liv. Tell us to back off, and we will. But if you don’t…”
Her breath shudders out, shaky but sure. “Don’t.”
My body feels molten, every nerve screaming. I’m rooted to the spot, but I can’t stay there, not when the heat between them is pulling me as powerfully as gravity.
I close the distance. Her eyes flick to me, wide, hesitant, curious. I take her hand, press it flat against my chest where my heart’s hammering.
“You set the pace,” I murmur. “Not us.”
She exhales hard. Then her fingers curl into my shirt, tugging me closer.
Jesse growls low in his throat and dips his head, capturing her mouth in a kiss that’s all teeth and desperation. Karl lets out a muttered curse and claims the smooth line of her throat, his lips dragging fire down her skin.
I hold her hand, threading my fingers through hers, grounding us both even as the world tilts.