“Neither did I,” she confessed, and his smile went crooked.
“You okay?”
“Mmmm. Maybe.”
He lowered his chin, cast a glance at Tyler.
“We need to talk, buddy,” Tyler said. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
Nick held up a hand. “Hey. No worries. I could see you two worked things out, I guess. I’m glad.” He nodded.
“Yeah.” Tyler pulled Kaelin further into the room, tucked her into his arms in front of him. “I’m not sure if we’ve worked things out. Not everything. We talked. I apologized.”
Nick nodded slowly. “Good.”
“The thing is…” Tyler’s voice cracked. He lifted a hand to rub his face and Kaelin peeked over her shoulder at him. Her heart full and aching for both of them, she only wanted to make things right for them. Tension thickened around them, and Nick’s throat worked as he swallowed.
“I said, no worries.” Nick gave them a thin smile. “You don’t need to explain it to me, man.” His expression gentled. “I’ve always known how you felt about Kaelin. I’ve always known how she felt about you. If anything good came out of that screwed-up family wedding, it’s you two being together. I’m happy for you.”
Tyler gave a short laugh. “Yeah, you are so right about that.” He paused. “But…”
Nick turned away then, and moved to the old oak dresser in the corner. “So,” he said, his back toward them. “What’s gonna happen? Kaelin, you moving to Chicago?”
“We haven’t thought that far ahead.” With another glance at Tyler over her shoulder, she released herself from his arms and moved toward Nick. She touched his back. He didn’t turn, just bent his head. “Nick.” She rubbed up and down. “Oh, Nick.”
“Don’t fucking feel sorry for me,” he said in a low, tight voice, head still down. “I’m fine.”
“I know. I don’t feel sorry for you.” She spoke in a low voice too. “Nick. I know you love him. I think I-I love him too.” Her nerves stretched like rubber bands, she willed her shaky voice to be steady. “But I also care about you.”
He nodded stiffly. “Kaelin. You know I care about you too.”
Tyler moved up to them then, to stand behind Nick. He slid his arms around Nick and rested his head against Nick’s. Nick went very still, his fingers gripping the edge of the dresser, still looking down at it.
“What you said that day,” Tyler said. “When we were in Mapleglen and you said it was insulting to you that I thought Kaelin was too good for me, but you weren’t…I’ve been thinking about that.” Tyler paused. “You probably are too good for me. And I want you to know how much that means to me that you care about me. Nick. I’ve never told you this.” His voice came out thick. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“What are you saying?” Nick asked after a long moment of dense silence.
“He’s saying, we don’t want to lose you,” Kaelin said. She rested her hand on his taut forearm. “I’m confused, too, Nick. This is the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. I want two men. Me. The good girl. I don’t know what happened to me last weekend, but for some reason this just all feels like this is the way it should be. The three of us. “
Nick groaned and still didn’t move. Tyler’s hand rubbed over his chest. “Jesus,” Nick said. He turned his head and met Kaelin’s eyes. “Are you sure, Kaelin? A lot of people would think that’s really fucked up.”
“I know.” She smiled and held his gaze. “I’m sure. You know I’ve always cared about you. You were always a friend to me. Last weekend…well, it was more than just friends. Right?” She bit her lip as she awaited his answer.
“You know it was, honey.” He released his grip on the dresser and found her hand with his. His big warm fingers closed around hers. “You know it was.”
He turned in Tyler’s arms to face his friend. “Tyler. Buddy. What the fuck?”
Tyler gave a choked laugh. “Yeah. What the fuck is right. I don’t know, man. You think I can explain any of this? All I know is what I want. I want you. And I want Kaelin. And I think…” He paused, glanced at Kaelin, wrapped one arm around her shoulders, the other around Nick’s, pulled their three heads close together. “I think we are so fucking lucky to have found her, probably the only woman in the world who’d get this.”
She huffed out a little laugh, pleasure sliding through her at his words. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “I can’t be the only woman in the world who’d fall in love with both of you. I saw the girls who chased you both in high school. I’m kinda thinking I’m the lucky one, here, the one who has two guys who care about me. That’s…unbelievable.”
Nick’s arm came around her too, and she realized he’d put the other arm around Tyler and they stood in a circle, holding each other.
“I guess we’re all the lucky ones,” Tyler said. “Probably me most of all. I never felt like I was worth loving by anyone. And now I have both of you.” His voice choked up and he squeezed his eyes closed. Kaelin’s throat tightened up too, and for long moments they just held each other.
Tyler lifted his head and his mouth met hers in a hard, fierce kiss. He turned to Nick and kissed him too, his arm around Nick’s neck. Then he looked him in the eyes. “I love you, Nick.” Nick’s eyes closed, his Adam’s apple bobbed, his mouth compressed, and then they kissed again. Emotion swelled in Kaelin’s chest watching them.
The kiss escalated into scorching, and Tyler moved back and forth between Nick and Kaelin, nipping at lips, licking inside their mouths, and then Kaelin turned to Nick and kissed him too, so hot and heartfelt, and when they broke apart, breathing heavy, she looked at Tyler and the look in his eyes almost took her knees out, the hottest, most profound worship and love she’d ever seen.
“Come back to bed,” Tyler murmured. “Both of you.” And he took both their hands and led them from Nick’s room, with a smaller double bed, to his with its massive king-size bed.
Kaelin wanted this to be about Nick. She and Tyler had had their moments earlier and this had to be for Nick, and when she and Tyler exchanged glances she knew he felt the same.
“Wanna fuck you,” Tyler whispered against Nick’s mouth as he undid Nick’s jeans.
Nick groaned and their kisses went hard, savage. They each shoved off their jeans, and Nick broke the kiss long enough to yank his T-shirt over his head. Kaelin took it from his hands and tossed it onto the chair, stroked her hands down their backs as they kissed again, now naked, their hard, muscled bodies pressed together, their hands fisted in each other’s hair.
They moved to the bed and Tyler pushed Nick down on his back. Nick went to roll over, and Tyler stopped him. “Face to face,” he growled. Nick adjusted his position on the bed and held out a hand to Kaelin. She smiled, her chest feeling so full and tight, and sat beside him on the bed, rubbed his chest. He sucked in air, as Tyler moved over him and kissed him again.
Tyler lifted up to kiss Kaelin once more, with a lingering stroke of his tongue over her bottom lip, and a heated eye-lock that seared her soul, before he started kissing his way down Nick’s body. She watched, heat rolling over her body in hot, erotic waves, as Tyler licked Nick’s nipples, kissed his rippled abs, shifted lower and…and… She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when Tyler took Nick’s cock in his mouth.
Her body turned to liquid as she watched, wide-eyed, aching inside with an intense need, mesmerized by their passion for each other. Nick reached for her hand and clasped it, and her heart swelled. She looked at his face, saw his eyes close in ecstasy, his mouth open. She leaned over and brushed a kiss on his lips, then licked her own lips. Watching with avid eyes as Tyler closed his mouth over Nick’s cock and slid down it, then back up, sucking.