Page 115 of Hearts Storm

Jesus Christ.

“Brex.” Logan’s voice cuts through my haze, his solid nudge to my shoulder nearly knocking me off the bench. “Dude. Stop fucking staring.”

“How can you not?” I ask, eyes locked on Reyna as she lowers herself to the floor in a slow, controlled descent. My cock twitches. “She’s a goddamn work of art, man.”

Setting his weights down, he steps in front of me and crosses his arms over his chest, blocking my view. “It’s called a subtle side-eye, shithead. If even one person sees us eye-fucking her and tells a friend, we’re up shit’s creek without a fucking paddle.”

I crane my neck, catching one last glimpse of Reyna spinning around the pole, legs extended in a perfect horizontal split.

Logan presses two fingers against my forehead and shoves.

“Hey!” I smack his hand away. “You said the chief was cool with us dating her as long as we keep it professional at work,” I remind him, snatching my towel off the bench, wiping the sweat off my face.

He was on the phone with Chief Harrison for close to an hour this morning. Apparently, he and his wife have a unique situation of their own, so the guy is open-minded. Thank fuck. Cause I’m not giving her up, no matter what he said.

“Cool with it doesn’t mean make it obvious,” Logan mutters, eyes flicking over to Reyna before snapping back to me. “We still need to be careful. You know how small towns work. One effing whisper and suddenly the whole town is talking.”

I roll my eyes, but he’s not wrong. Lakeside is the kind of place where gossip spreads faster than a brush fire in August. One wrong look, one lingering touch, and we’re front-page news on the town’s unofficial Facebook page.

Okay. Maybe it’s not that bad. But you get my drift.

“Fine,” I grumble, forcing myself to turn away and pick the barbell up off the floor. “But don’t go blaming me. You’re the one who wanted to come here and work out knowing she’d be here, literally right there, doing things with her body that should be illegal.”

Logan’s jaw flexes. “No shit. I have eyes in my head too, ya know.”

Even though the gym is mostly empty, I lower my voice. “So, what did the chief say, exactly?”

There’s an older guy on the treadmill a few machines down, but he’s wearing an old-school pair of headphones and seems completely zoned out.

Leaning against the weight rack, Logan shoves his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “He said as long as there’s no favoritism or conflict of interest, he doesn’t have a problem with it. But he also said if it starts affecting our performance or causing issues within the department, we’ll need to reassess.”

“That’s... surprisingly reasonable.”

“Yeah,” Logan shrugs. “Turns out him and his wife have a girlfriend. They’ve been in a poly relationship for about five years now.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “No shit?”

“No shit.” A ghost of a smile tugs at his mouth. “Said it took them a while to figure it out, but it works for them. And he gave me some advice.”

“Advice? From the chief?” I snort. “Just when you think you’ve heard it all...”

“Shut up.” Logan narrows his eyes at me. “He said the key is communication. All three of us need to be on the same page, and we need to check in on the reg. Make sure no one’s feeling left out or getting jealous.”

I turn to face him fully. “And are we? On the same page?”

He holds my gaze for a beat. “Yeah. I think we are.”

A weight I didn’t realize I’d been carrying slips from my shoulders. We’ve been best friends since college. And what we plan on doing now is nothing like what we’ve done before. Back when two-for-one was all just fun and games.

This time it’s different. Reyna is different. And the thought of losing either one of them if we can’t figure this out makes my chest hurt.

“Good,” I nod. “Because I’m not going anywhere.”

“Neither am I.” His voice is steady, certain in a way I haven’t heard from him in years. Not since before his ex ripped his heart out and practically ate it for fucking breakfast. “Now get your shit together so we can be done by the time she is.”

Rolling my eyes, I lean over and pick up the weights. But just as I go to take one last look, Reyna’s gaze lifts and catches mine, and I can’t help myself. Releasing a slow, deliberate smirk, I waggle my eyebrows.

Her lips twitch, quickly morphing into a small, secret smile—the kind I know she reserves just for me—before shaking her head and turning her attention back to the class.