2. Katherine
KATHERINE
King’s lips part like he wants to argue with me.
Despite the little verbal bomb he dropped about kissing Gabe and his subsequent freak out, I can feel the urgency in him. How earnest he is. Just how much he’s fretted over the whole situation.
I tell him he doesn’t need my permission, but he obviously doesn’t believe me. I cup his cheek, and he leans into my touch. Such a happy golden retriever boyfriend. The most golden there ever was.
“I think I do,” he says, voice rough and strained. “I’d rather break both my wrists than hurt you.”
He looks to Gabe for back-up. That’s kind of adorable.
Given how often he’s doing handstands or climbing something, breaking both wrists is extra heinous in his world.
Smiling, I look back at Gabe. Those razor-sharp blue eyes flick from King to me and back.
“We wanted to talk to you. We’d never want you hurt,” Gabe says. “But then the elevator got stuck.”
He watches King the same way he watches Alex. Constantly checking in, making sure he’s okay, lots of heat and attraction, but also that hint of aloofness. Like, look but don’t touch—until I tell you to.
Kingston has worked his way into Gabe’s bubble. I’ve learned just how small that sphere is this last week. We’re both among the privileged few allowed inside Gabriel Rothburn’s life.
I never expected to feel so special where Gabe is concerned.
“This isn’t one of those ask for forgiveness rather than permission situations,” King adds.
“Okay.” There’s a tiny kernel somewhere deep down that worries that I’m not enough and that’s why he’s interested in Gabe. But that whisper is my past.
The old Katherine.
The woman who was never good enough for her mother. Who struggled to find her place and her people and felt like an outcast more often than not.
The new Katherine understands enough about chemistry and timing to see that they were on this crash course from the moment King showed up on the beach in front of Gabe’s house.
This woman says, ‘The more the merrier.’ Within reason, of course.
King’s eyes widen a fraction, clearly waiting for more from me. “Okay?”
“If you need my permission, you have it.” I drape a leg across his lap, scooting in as close as possible because King needs words and actions. Cupping his cheeks, I drop a soft kiss against his lips. My heart almost explodes at his stunned expression.
“It’s obvious that you two are orbiting around each other.” My heart squeezes, somehow both scared of this new dynamic and excited for the future. So I lean back in and kiss his chin, his jaw, moving down his neck. He smells so familiar: expensive and understated. Feels so warm beneath my lips.
I sink against him, and he leans into me, hands traveling up and down my back. Tucking my face against the side of his neck, I breathe him in. That feeling of rightness I’ve felt all week is still here, wrapping around me like the warmest, softest blanket.
Gabe’s hands join King’s, coasting over my hips, down my thighs, all while he kisses across my shoulders, then my neck. They’re making me breathless and needy.
“This is new for all of us, no matter how quickly we fell into things. I’d be the world’s worst hypocrite if I didn’t want you to be as fulfilled as I am.”
For a moment, we’re trapped in a blissful bubble of our own making. Feelings things out as we take—somewhat shaky—steps forward.
“You’re too good to be true, Princess.”
“I just want us all to be happy. Life’s too short to be unhappy.”
King leans back, searching my face. “You don’t get it, do you?” He shakes his head ruefully and quickly rolls his eyes. “Gah, I’m sorry. I’m so bad at this.”
He takes my hand and presses it to the center of his chest, where his heart pounds away at the strong wall of muscle.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Sensation travels up my hands, sending a deeper awareness through my body. His touch has always done that. For years, I ignored it. Pushed it down and told myself to enjoy the moment. Enjoy his friendship.
But I don’t have to do that anymore. Do I?
“It’s always been you. You’re the person I can never get out of my head. That I wake up thinking of. That I go to sleep wondering about. And that auction was the fire I needed to come back stateside and admit that. To myself and to you.”
“Damn,” Gabe whispers.
Man, when Kingston finds the words, he really finds the words.
“You’re not bad at this, man,” Gabe says. “Who told you that?”
Kingston shrugs.
“I just don’t know how all this fits.” He glances over my shoulder at Gabe. I swear I feel the current of energy coursing between them. “And I’ve never been particularly hung up on the future, so this all feels?—”
“Weird,” Gabe says sympathetically.
“What do you want it to look like? We can build our own life, King. Just like you’ve always done. You wanted out of New York, so you left. You were brave and determined and didn’t let anyone or anything stand in the way of that.”
Not even me. Not even our friendship or his feelings for me.
How hard must that have been?
I slide my hand up to the side of his throat, where his pulse taps against my palm. “So the question is, what do you want? You had the courage to come back here and face a city of elevators.”
“That felt easy, compared to this,” he grumbles.
“Really?” Gabe asks.
He’s right, given the incident on the elevator.
My phone rings, muffled by my purse, shattering the moment. We all stare over at it on the bench at the foot of the bed. The outside world is never going to stop intruding.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I count to five and remind myself, one thing at a time.
I ignore the dumpster fire on the other end of the airway and the dread that fills my stomach like hardened concrete.
Somehow, when I’m with my guys, the chaos of the world melts away and I completely forget that it exists. That there are problems that need fixing and issues that need to be dealt with.
But all that will have to wait because right now, my best friend and my boyfriend are my priority.
“I’m following your lead, King. Both of you, actually.” I cover Gabe’s hand with my own, lace our fingers together and hold on tight. “My trailblazers.”
Gabe drops a kiss on my shoulder. “You say that like coding is harder than facing the bigots of the world.”
I close my eyes again, soaking in his touch and his words. Shame heats my cheeks. Of course, it’s not as easy for them. Then again, I’m dating three men. The world is not ready for that either.
Do I care?
I would love to say no. But I’m not built like that.
Lifting his hand, I pull Gabe closer, wrapping his arm around my middle. “You’re right. But if we’re in this together, we can handle it. Right? Stronger together and all that jazz.”
“Should we do jazz hands?” King asks, fluttering his fingers.
“God, I hope not,” Gabe murmurs.
“Figure out what you want,” I cut in. “What both of you want. Is it each other? Is it each other plus me?—”
“I don’t think she’s getting it,” Gabe says.
“I told Ava I’m poly,” King chimes in.
“Wow.” My jaw drops, and I smack my lips closed. That’s a big step. And it feels right that he’d sort out some things with his sister. Siblings can make great sounding boards. “That’s big.”
Gabe reaches around me and squeezes King’s shoulder. “Good for you, man.”
Seeing them together, feeling them, sends my hormones into overdrive. There’s something about your lovers also appreciating each other that makes for the most incredible feelings. Like puzzle pieces just fitting better.
And watching these two find each other, like I said, two peas in a pod. They’re like magnets. Unable to stay away from each other.
And I’m the sliver of metal trapped between them.
“Proud of you,” I tell King. “That couldn’t have been easy. It’s a good first step. I know this has been so fast. I’ll try to be patient.”
“Patient?”
“For you guys to decide what you want. How your relationship will work within ours.” I wave my finger around in a counterclockwise circle. “I’m this close to begging you to let me come along for the ride. But maybe you guys need some time just the two of you.”
“Now you’re both spinning,” Gabe grinds out. “Stop talking, both of you.”
Oh, thank goodness. I’m kind of tired of talking.
I open my mouth to ask them if we can get back to the kissing/welcome home cuddles I’ve been craving.
That’s when King drops another verbal bomb in my lap.