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“You saw it.” Lucien’s voice was soft and slightly dazed. “That first day in the hall, when you walked into the wall. You were acting weird. You saw it then.”
Baer snickered, and Grey flipped him off while keeping his eyes on Lucien. “Yes. The thread had started to untangle with you and Gio together, but it was complete when Calder entered the room. It was quite stunning.”
“Soul mates?” Gio stuttered and shook his head. “Oh, no. Nope, not gonna do it.”
Baer clapped his hands. “Then let’s bond them up. All we need are the goddesses.”
Panic surged through him, and he was suddenly struggling to catch his breath. “Bond us up? The last thing I want is a permanent bond in another poly relationship. Nope. Been there and got my heart shattered. It’s not happening again.” He stood up, pulling free of Lucien and Calder. He turned back to look at the two men who were supposed to be his soul mates. There was no use in denying that he was attracted to them. And yes, he definitely cared about them. But soul mates and bonding? Fuck, no. “We’re having some fun, and that’s the way I want to keep it.”
Calder stood next to him. “You know what we have is more than just fun.”
“No, it’s fun, and that’s it.” Gio laid a hand on Calder’s chest because the pain filling his eyes slashed through him. “I like you. Like you both. A lot. But I don’t want some kind of permanent mystical bond.” He shook his head. “I can’t go through this again.”
“You had a mystical bond with two other people?” Calder asked with a raised eyebrow.
Gio looked around the room at all the near strangers staring at him. This wasn’t the place to have this conversation, so he shook his head. “I don’t know what he meant by ‘bond them up,’ but whatever it is, it’s not happening.” He glanced at Lucien to find the man’s expression a dark storm cloud ready to burst on all of them.
“You can’t pay any attention to Baer. He’s an idiot,” Grey muttered with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s too soon to talk about bonds.”
“Why?” Baer asked. “They’re obviously soul mates, and we need all the help we can get in this battle.”
“It’s also obvious that they aren’t ready,” Wiley hissed, glaring at his mate. “Stop being pushy.”
Baer’s expression crumpled, still appearing confused. “We all bonded once we figured out the soul-mate thing—I’m just saying.”
“Well, not me,” Gio snapped. “I’m happy to help you all with Charleston and any other way I can, but this whole soul mate, bonding shit is out of the question.”
“Okay, so we wait,” Clay declared with a nod as if he were some king bestowing favors. “You keep what you’ve learned to yourself. You also need to take the time to get to know them. These bonds are a sacred thing and not to be ignored.”
Resentment over the man’s superior attitude tightened his belly. Before Gio could tell him to shove his orders, Lucien exploded.
“What the fuck!” Lucien jumped to his feet to glare down at Gio. Anger and pain vibrated through him and etched themselves into his handsome face. “Whether you accept it or not, we have something between us, something pretty damn great.”
“I don’t think now is the time to discuss this.” Gio made sure his voice was firm.
Lucien ignored him. “This is more than only fun, and you know it.”
Silence had fallen over the room as every eye was on them. Gio refused to retreat. Another poly was a disaster in the making. He refused to go through that again. “No.”
“Fuck that,” Lucien snarled, then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter Thirteen
Lucien stomped across the back lawn, his feet seeming to instinctively carry him to the practice field while his conscious mind was still wrapped up in Gio’s words. In Gio’s rejection of him and Calder.
What the fuck!
After everything they’d been through?
And this was more than the sex.
Of course, the sex had been absolutely amazing. Earth-shattering. Especially the second time. Everything had started to change that night. Lucien had hoped that things might improve between him and Calder, but he swore he felt a shifting that included Gio as well.
What about the looks? The smiles? Those little touches that reached straight down to Lucien’s soul? Gio had felt it all too.
And then after the attack, all of Gio’s sweet concern for Calder. The way he’d cared for Calder and argued for the right to hold on to his memories out of respect for their fight against the pestilents. Were those all just words to him?
Calder.
A deep ache echoed through Lucien’s chest at the memory of the pained look that slashed across Calder’s face before he could hide it. Gio’s rejection of Calder had cut the Weaver so damn deep. Lucien had wanted to go to Calder and gather him in his arms, protect him from Gio’s heartless words, but he’d been afraid that Calder would only reject his sympathy. The progress they’d made recently still felt so fucking fragile.
