Chapter 22 Dallas
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Dallas
A proposal of sorts.
That’s what the text message from June said.
I’d reluctantly left Madi’s bed earlier with the promise that we’d be in mine once I was off work. But now, instead of having our date, we were going to June’s.
And somehow I felt the same level of anticipation.
I worked on cars all day long. I’d changed oil for people, replaced spark plugs, ordered some parts, and worked on Madi’s little Prius.
And all day long, I thought about the proposal.
I threw a towel over my shoulder. My orange shirt was stained from working under cars, as were my dark denim jeans. Before I even thought about heading over to June’s, I needed to go home to shower the sweat and grime off my body.
It felt good to be back in the swing of things. My time off had been nice, but I’d missed being in my garage. It was the same way Avery felt about her studio or Austin felt about Whynot Stay—it was my space.
The brick walls were painted white. I had a bunch of vintage posters of old cars hung up, along with an orange neon sign that said Whynot Auto in a nice cursive script. Over the years, I’d also collected some old hubcaps that reflected like mirrors.
It was exactly how I wanted it.
Then there were my racks of tools, my car jack, my printer and desk. All the useful shit I needed to run a place like this. Everything had its spot, including the coffee mug I’d been sipping from all day.
I wiped my hands on the rag as I crossed the garage to my desk. I leaned over at my screen lit up, wondering if it was June or Madi.
Evie.
My brows shot up. God, did this mean I was in trouble?
I used my face to unlock my phone and scanned the text.
Evie
You get one warning, Whynot. Don’t fuck this up.
I wasn’t even sure what I had the possibility of fucking up yet. I sighed and sent her back a thumbs up, knowing that was probably an asinine response back, but it was all I could muster with my nerves.
A proposal.
I’d been wondering the entire week already if June was going to text me. I’d been tempted to check in on her, but we’d left things clearly defined. If she wanted me, she had to tell me, and I could take the lead from there.
But I had to hear it from her first.
Now I had no idea what the fuck was going on. June? We were having dinner at her place for a proposal? The night after she and Madi slept together? The same day that Madi and I slept together?
“What are you thinking about?”
I damn near jumped out of my skin. Mateo stood in my garage, leaning against one of the cars with his arms crossed and brow raised as if he'd caught me in the middle of something naughty.
“For fuck’s sake, Mateo. Have you ever heard of knocking?” I barked.
“In an open garage? No. Have you ever heard of paying attention to your surroundings?” That smirk became nearly insufferable. “Who are you thinking about?”
I huffed out a breath as I set my tools down, my cheeks flushing with heat. “No one.”
"Liar, liar, pants on fire. I know June and Madi went on a date last night. You forget your sister tells me everything. I heard all about her ditching them so they could go out and I even heard that you and Madi went on a date earlier this week too.”
“Can I just say, I hate living in a small town?” I grumbled.
“No, you don’t.” Mateo grinned. “So, am I right? And does this mean you and June are dating now?”
My brows shot up. “No. No one is dating. There’s a lot happening right now, but don’t get it in your head that it’s going to be like the three of you.”
Mateo let out a low whistle. “Damn, is that smoke I smell? I think your ass is on fire, Whynot.”
“Fuck off,” I sighed. “You don’t get it.”
He crossed his arms as I leaned against the car next to him. “I think of all people, I may be one of the most qualified to get it.”
“If I tell you something, you can’t tell anyone.”
“Mmm . . . I can’t guarantee that.”
“You can’t tell Avery.”
Mateo shook his head. “I don’t know if I can promise that. Anytime Levi and I try to surprise her, she roots out all our secrets like a bloodhound. She’s got this radar for it.”
“Mateo. I need my friend right now, not my brother-in-law.”
He cursed under his breath. “Okay. Fine. I’ll try.”
I knew that while he was giving me a hard time, I could always trust Mateo. He was one of the best people I’d ever known. Here goes nothing. “I kissed June on New Year’s Eve this year.”
Mateo’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“Yeah. And since then, I’ve wanted her. Well, I actually wanted her before then, but never did anything about it. You know how that is.”
Mateo slowly raised a brow. “I do. Go on.”
“Well, anytime I try to talk to her about it, she pushes me away. And then I met Madi, and things escalated . . .”
“Escalated.” Mateo let out the softest snort. “I see. Continue.”
“We’re supposed to have a date tonight, but then June texted, and said she wants to propose something. Then I got a mildly threatening text from Evie. So now I have no fucking idea what’s going on or what I should be doing.”
Mateo planted his hands on his hips and started pacing. “Well, you’re fucked.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
“Yeah. What about June and Madi . . . Does it bother you that they’re interested in each other?”
“No,” I said. “I just . . . I don’t know. I keep thinking about both of them. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”
Mateo paused in his pacing. “Do you like June?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“And do you like Madi?”
“Yeah.” The corner of my mouth tugged.
“Hmm.” We were both crossing our arms now, like we were squaring off. “You've always been so . . .”
“Boring?”
“No. I was going to say steady. I don’t think you’re boring at all.”
“And is falling in love with two women unsteady?”
He grinned. “No. But I'm not the right person to ask. Also . . . love?”
Fuck. “I mean—no. It’s too soon for that.” I sounded like I was bullshitting him. Maybe I was. God, this was worse than I ever thought it could have been. Austin would give me hell once this was all over. “June won’t even talk to me about our kiss.”
“Hopefully that’s what she’s doing tonight. Maybe she’ll confess her undying love for you and you’ll ride off into the sunset together.”
I made a face, and Mateo started laughing. “That doesn’t sound like June.”
“No, it doesn’t,” he agreed.
I raked my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know. Don’t tell Avery about that kiss. I’m sure June will at some point, but I don’t want to be the one, you know?”
“Yeah.” Mateo nodded. “But just know as soon as Avery mentions it, I will be confessing my sins.”
I chuckled despite the stress eating me alive. I snatched the towel from over my shoulder and dropped it on my desk.
“I gotta clean up here,” I said. “And then go home and shower and make myself presentable.”
“And stop by the store for some condoms.”
My jaw set. “Maybe.”
“I still need to meet the infamous Madi. Especially if you’re gonna fall in love with her. I need a face to the name and devastation.”
“Fuck off,” I groaned. He continued to laugh. “I can’t believe you’re laughing at a time like this.”
His grin cracked even wider. “You know you love me. Which means if you need anything, you’ll let me know. Okay?”
“Of course. And same.”
Mateo gave a wave and headed out. I watched him go, then started to clean up for the day. I reset everything, sent a couple emails, finished a couple of estimates, then locked down the garage.
Twenty minutes later, I was stepping into my shower.
Hot water ran down my back. I scrubbed every inch of my body, steam easing my muscles.
What was I going to do about everything?
My conversation with Austin came back to mind. He was right about jumping into BDSM, it could be worse for us in the long run.
But when it came to Madi, any sort of willpower I thought I had evaporated.
And June?
If she asked me to have sex tonight, I’d say yes. I knew I’d say yes. I couldn’t resist her either.
“Fuck me,” I whispered to myself.
I barred my arm against the titled wall, resting my forehead against it as I let the water keep running. My cock hardened as I slid my hand down, my breath puffing out.
It’d been too long since I’d had a warm body beneath me. This morning with Madi changed that.
All I could think about was Madi and June—fuck. Fuck it. Fuck it all. I didn’t stop myself from thinking about them together this time. I didn’t pull back.
Knowing that Madi dominated June last night made my blood boil with lust.
“Dammit,” I huffed.
I gasped as I stroked myself, my voice echoing around me. Masturbating wasn’t enough. What I really needed was to have Madi sit on my cock while June sat on my face.
My head tipped back, eyes squeezed shut, pleasure rushing through my veins. A heat wave of need rippled through every muscle, my hand moving faster.
It was wrong. It was wrong to think about stripping every piece of clothing off Madi. It was wrong to imagine putting June on her knees and commanding her to please the woman we both wanted. It was awful to even consider what it would feel like to slide my cock into her and make her scream my name.
All of it was wrong and yet I couldn’t stop.
Goddamn it. I was angry at myself for getting off to this fantasy. I closed my eyes again, shaking my head as I thought about chasing both of them. The primal sex the three of us could have would be feral and hungry and—
I gasped as I came, sliding over the edge. Hot cum jerked from my cock, dripping down my hand and then down the drain as I turned to face the shower head.
Relief followed. Then, a little shred of . . . hope?
Whatever this proposal was, I knew it would change things.
I just wasn’t sure if it would be good or bad yet.