Chapter 18 #2
I shake my head adamantly. “Yes, but he was wrong about me too. He said I couldn’t relax in bed. That I was all up in my head.”
“That guy never deserved you for a single second,” Ryker bites out.
Chase narrows his eyes, his tone turning dark and protective. “I swear if I ever see that guy…”
I kinda want to see them run into Jasper, but only because I like the protective sides of Ryker and Chase.
I take a deep breath, and it feels cleansing, like I’m letting go of the last remnants of Jasper, the last pieces of doubt.
I don’t feel like Jasper has as much power over me even as he did last night.
I haven’t even bothered to check my socials to see if he’s commented on any of the photos I put up.
Maybe those revenge pics helped.
But more likely, maybe a couple nights of great sex did the trick. It’s like I’m leaving behind the revenge era, and moving into the…well, the devil’s three-way era.
Speaking of…
I take another bite of my hummus-covered pita, and when I’ve got some food in me, I return to the topic that intrigues me most. “If you’ve never done this before, how are you so good at…the whole directing thing?” I ask Chase, eager to know.
The golden guy leans back in his stool and wipes a napkin across the corner of his mouth, letting a slow smile spread.
But he’s not the one who answers my question. Ryker clears his throat. “He’s not team captain for nothing.”
I turn to Ryker, intrigued. “But you’re not on his team?”
“Not now, but we played together when we were younger.”
“So you know his leadership style?” I ask.
“Yep. On the ice, off the ice, Chase always has a plan.”
I shift my gaze to Chase. “So, you’re naturally that way in bed too?”
Chase scratches his jaw, then gives a quick nod, owning his bossy side, but his leadership side too. “I suppose so. And Ryker here just gets the job done. That’s his style. No fanfare. Just delivering one thousand percent.”
I hardly know Ryker and yet I know that describes him perfectly. Makes me think I was wrong last night in my assessment that his personality style is the challenger. He’s more the loyalist, since he’s a defender, which is what he does on the ice.
“When did you two play hockey together?” I ask, then snag an olive and pop it in my mouth.
Chase watches the olive slide past my lips with avid interest before he says, “We were on the same team in high school and middle school.”
“And grade school,” Ryker puts in, then adds with a cheeky grin, “Shocking, isn’t it, that we met on the ice.”
Immediately, my brain supplies an image of an outgoing boy and a more reserved one connecting through sport. “I’m picturing the two of you at a rink skating awkwardly, passing a puck back and forth, then saying, Did we just become best friends?”
Chase laughs. “Close, but not quite.”
“Fine, what did I get wrong?”
Ryker leans closer, brushes a strand of still damp hair from my forehead. “We didn’t skate awkwardly, sweetness. Not once.”
They’re so cocky, and I love it.
* * *
After dinner, I try to insist on cleaning up alone since Ryker bought dinner and Chase gave me a home, but they insist they won’t let me do chores solo. They help me, and once the kitchen is clean, we all head down the hall.
Will we go to separate rooms?
But as quickly as that thought arrives, it disappears since Chase nods to his big room—our sex room. “You’re sleeping with us, Trina.”
Well, it is an order, so I follow them and slide into the big bed. Ryker’s right behind me. But even though I’m dead tired, and so damn worn out, there’s one thing we have to discuss.
The ground rules going forward.
My stomach swirls with nerves, but we’ve already vaulted past last night’s ground rules, just like we bypassed separate bedrooms. This will be awkward no matter what, so when Chase dims the lights, I dive in.
“So, we’re doing this for…” I flash back to the start of the evening and to Chase’s words. “The next week while I’m here?”
That came out a little strangled, but at least I said it. There.
Ryker turns to me, his expression thoughtful. “That work for you?”
For a brief moment, I picture nights with them beyond next week. But that won’t happen. That’s not on the table for them, and truly, it’d be foolish of me to imagine anything past the next week. Even if I’ve moved past my ex, that doesn’t mean I need to move to a couple new guys.
I gulp, then nod.
Chase slides in on the other side of the bed, kissing my shoulder. “I know you’re not looking for anything more. No pressure then from anyone.”
“We’ll just have fun as we work through your list,” Ryker adds.
That’ll take some time. We’re all busy, and I checked out their hockey schedules today. With them being on different teams, and with my shifts at the store—since sometimes I work nights—we won’t always be around at the same time.
“We were very productive tonight. We crossed off one, two, and three,” I say with a sly grin.
Chase lifts a brow, cycling back to the start of our sex seminar, I suspect. “One was double BJs,” he says, like he’s counting off.
In no time, Ryker jumps in, “Two was pussy worship and dick devotion at the same time.”
“And three was fucking and fellating,” Chase concludes, but then taps his chin. “But now I really need to know something—was rubbing our come all over your sweet tits while you played with your pussy on your list? Because that’s some very specific smut.”
“And I am here for any sort of improv work in bed,” Ryker adds.
I just smile. “I went off script for that one.”
But speaking of my list, there is another ground rule that’d be good to establish.
Only this is a tougher one to broach. It might cause jealousies, and I don’t want to divide them.
I do want to be on the up and up. Still, I feel wobbly and uncertain as I say, “So, um, I hate to bring this up, but what happens if, well, if I’m say, in the shower with Ryker, and well—”
Chase narrows his eyes, his voice like a hiss. “This your way of telling me you blew him in the shower?”
“No! I didn’t. I didn’t even think about it.”
“Gee, thanks,” Ryker deadpans.