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“What do you want to talk about?” Rhys asks, and he sounds strung tight too.
“About…us,” Briar says, chin up, confident. “This project. After last night, I thought we should discuss it and what’s next. Like, for tonight.”
All my tension vanishes. I’m so damn proud of her instead. I wrap my arms around her waist and lift her up. “You fucking rock.”
She laughs. “Why?”
“Two days ago you didn’t want to talk about orgasms, and look at you now. Having one with us unlocked you, baby.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling as I put her down.
Gavin’s not though. His brow is creased. “You. Never. Had. One?”
“Not with another person,” she says. “Until the night before, and then last night.”
“Oh. Well. That’s good,” he says, his lips twitching, like he’s excited.
Well, yeah.
I rub my palms, ready to get down to business. “Last night. Tonight. What is on your mind?”
“The three of us set down the rules the other night. You, Rhys, and me,” she says to me. “It seems we have an extra person so maybe we need an addendum. For the rest of this…boyfriend project.”
It’s like a noose tightens around my chest from the reminder. The first few days have flown by too fast. They can’t be ending this soon. But yet, the calendar doesn’t lie. It’s Saturday. On Wednesday morning we take off. We have a charity thing in Chicago with the children’s hospital there, then a stretch of road games that begins in the Windy City.
There’s a heavy pause in the cottage, like we were all just slapped with the realization that this ends very, very soon. A darkness passes across Rhys’s eyes. Gavin’s mouth is a ruler. And Briar gives a little sigh.
But the clock only spins forward. “Time’s a ticking,” I say, trying to keep the mood light.
“It is,” Briar says, then gestures to the table.
We sit and I grab a sheet of paper from a notebook that the property manager left here and a pen. “What’s that for?” Gavin asks.
“It’s paper,” I say. “You use it to write things down. Like words and stuff.”
“No shit. But what are you doing?”
“Making a new list of rules since you’re the addendum.”
Gavin’s quiet for a beat, then nods, his expression somber. “Right. Of course.”
Ah, shit. I realize what’s going on. He’s not giving me a hard time for fun. He’s the guy who’s never negotiated sharing a woman before. That’s why he didn’t kiss her a few minutes ago. This is new terrain for him. I ease up on the teasing, patting his shoulder. “Hey, this’ll help. It’ll be good to get everything out in the open. Okay?”
“Yeah. Sure. That’s how it’s done, right?” It’s said earnestly, and I’m proud of him too—for being vulnerable and asking that kind of question.
“Communication is key,” I say, then look to the blue-eyed beauty across from me, eager to learn what’s on her mind. No, make that downright antsy. I want to know everything about her. Everything she wants. So we can give it to her. “What do you have in mind, baby?”
She’s like a new woman. This is not the Briar who sorted wooden spoons when I called her on faking it. “Well, first,” she begins, “it ends on Wednesday when the three of you leave. Like we talked about.”
My chest twinges. A dull ache. Maybe that’s from the run. “Right, done,” I say, staying businesslike. Don’t want to think about the end right now. Then I add a rule of my own. “We need to be safe and communicate. Like we’ve done so far.”
“Like you and I did the first night,” she adds.
Gavin’s brow knits again.
Shit. I’ve been a bad friend. A bad leader. I give him an apologetic look. “Briar and I hung out the first night. Before you got here.”
I brace myself for any fallout.
