“Come here,” Kaelin whispered. She extended a hand to Nick, and Tyler did the same, glad that she had said that, because he felt the same way. He had pretty strong feelings for Kaelin, always had, but he didn’t want Nick to feel excluded. Because even though Nick loved him, Tyler knew Nick cared about Kaelin too.
Nick moved on the bed, closer, until he was sitting right beside them, and he laid a hand on Kaelin’s back. Their three faces were so close together. Tyler wanted to kiss Nick, to reassure him, of what he wasn’t sure. This was a crazy one-night thing and didn’t change anything for them. But Tyler looked at Kaelin, unsure what she’d think about that.
Understanding and warmth filled her eyes when he met them, and she leaned to kiss Nick herself. And then she drew back and said, “Go ahead. Kiss him.”
Tyler held her gaze for a long moment then turned his face toward Nick, his strong-jawed face, his clear and steady silvery gaze. And Nick moved too, and their mouths met in a hot, clinging kiss.
Chapter Nine
Kaelin watched the two men kiss, heat sliding over her, through her. Her own mouth parted almost hungrily as their mouths met. Softness expanded in her chest, stealing her breath. She watched Tyler’s hand come up to Nick’s face, their eyes closed, open mouths fused. Oh. Oh wow.
After a long, deep kiss, they slowly drew apart and both men looked at her. She gave them a shaky smile, unprepared for how she felt about watching them. Emotional. Aroused.
She knew she liked to watch, though she’d kept that kink buried deep inside her along with her desire to be tied up. There’d always been a forbidden thrill about watching, along with a measure of guilt too, going way back to the time when she was a teenager and had been in the park, sitting on a bench reading a book and had seen a couple, strangers, stretched out on a blanket not far away, making out. She’d watched them over the top of her book, guilty but turned-on.
And that night she’d walked in on Tyler and Nick and that girl, she’d stood behind the door and watched way too long, hurt and shocked, but fascinated, with prurient interest.
But she’d never dreamed about watching this. Tyler and Nick. Two men. It surprised her, but on another level, it felt so completely right. The way they looked at each other, the emotions she sensed between them, the ease with which they touched each other, so comfortable and confident, it made it beautiful to watch. Absolutely, heart-meltingly beautiful.
“Let’s lie down,” Tyler said, shifting her off his lap. “Need a rest.” They arranged themselves under the covers, Kaelin in the middle on her back, the guys on their stomachs, each with an arm flung across her. The heat from their big bodies warmed her, their arms pleasantly heavy on her. She kept thinking about that kiss, awareness now acute that the two men on either side of her probably wanted to touch each other as much as they wanted to touch her. And she wanted that too.
If she was going to have this one wicked night, she might as well have it all.
“Have you ever thought about moving?” Tyler asked.
Huh? She turned her head on the pillow to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Moving. Away from Mapleglen.”
“Um. Well. Not seriously.”
“But you’ve thought of it?”
Why was he asking her this?
“Avery wants me to move to Los Angeles.” She closed her eyes and pressed her face against Tyler’s shoulder, found Nick’s hip with one hand. “But I can’t move away from here.”
“Why not?”
Just like his sister, he didn’t accept her answer. Why not? Why couldn’t they understand that this was her life? She’d lived here since she was born and didn’t know anything else. “Because I have my job here. A life here.” Not much of a life lately, but still… “I have my house. My dog.”
“Why’d you move back here? After college?” Tyler asked.
“I had to.” She turned her head to look at him. “My mom died just after I finished college. My dad…well, you know about him.”
“Not very much, actually.”
She’d assumed everyone knew about her dad and what had happened to him. “He was hurt in an accident at work,” she told them. “When I was fourteen. He had a broken arm and leg and a head injury. His arm healed, but not his brain.” She sighed, remembering how physically he’d looked the same, big and strong, but he’d never been the same person again. Instead he’d been like a child, with poor impulse control, no short-term memory and no inhibitions. Her dad had been taken away from her in that accident and had never come back. “The first few years after his accident were hard,” she continued. “It was like he was a different person. We had some help, but mom started working night shifts at the hospital so she could be home during the day. My dad didn’t have much insight into what had happened to him and lived happily on in his own world. But he couldn’t be left alone for any length of time because he’d do things like leave the stove on or cut his finger off with a knife, so we had to try to be there as much as we could for him.”
Part of the reason her teenage social life had been so dismal. Why so many nights, including Saturday nights, had been spent at home studying. Although it had been important to her to get good marks, she’d also felt an obligation to help out and look after her dad.
“It was really hard on my mom, looking after him all by herself while I was away at college, but she was managing. But then she got breast cancer. I’d been hoping to go to law school, but that was okay.” It really wasn’t. She’d wanted to practice law pretty much her whole life, had done well in college, and had aced her LSAT, but when she’d had to come home to Mapleglen, she’d pushed away the disappointment to do what had to be done.
Tyler stroked her hair.
“My mom didn’t discover the cancer until it was too far advanced to do anything. I don’t think she looked after herself very well. After she died, I had to stay home to look after my dad, but a few years later he had a stroke. Probably a consequence of the brain injury.” She closed her eyes remembering the loss of her parents so close together. It had been a few years, so it wasn’t as painful as it once was.
“I’m sorry.” Tyler said the words, and Nick added, “Me too, Kaelin.”
“It’s okay.”
“What about going back to school? Ever think of that?”
All the time. “Sometimes, yeah. But I like my job. And you know what they say—a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I figured I was better to hang on to what I had here—a job, a home, friends—than to give it up and go after something unknown.” Something scary.
The men were silent.
“I know that’s not how you live your lives,” she whispered. “But it’s how I live mine.”
Tyler rolled to face her and his blue eyes studied her. “As long as you’re happy,” he said. “That’s what counts. Are you happy here, Kaelin?”
She stared back at him, a tightness in her chest, an ache deep inside.
“Of course I am,” she lied.
He nodded, looking as if he didn’t believe her, but pulled her up against him, Nick warm and big on her other side.
“What about you two?” she asked. “You’re happy in Chicago?”
“Yeah. I love it there,” Tyler said. “So much energy, so much happening.”
“And your business is going well.”
This time Nick answered. “Pretty good.”
She turned back to him. “That didn’t sound enthusiastic.”
Nick grinned. “We’ve only been in business a year. It takes a few years to get going, but we’re doing okay. We actually made money the first year, which is unusual.”
“He’s the numbers guy,” Tyler said. “I’m the creative. We’re in the middle of trying to sign a big new client, but we’re having a…hmm…difference of opinion on it.”