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So much for not getting too comfortable with them.
Chapter Nineteen
Brennan
I couldn’t stop staring at them despite telling myself not to. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing was real. But it was and it was all because of Tristan.
I’d had my doubts when he’d woken me up this morning after Memphis had left in the early morning hours. Our impromptu lovemaking session had left us both drained, me probably more so than Tristan and Memphis since it had felt like Memphis had fucked me within an inch of my life and I’d had the added excitement of feeling Tristan’s taut, naked body beneath me. I’d fallen asleep within minutes of Memphis cleaning me off with a damp washcloth and I hadn’t even realized he’d left until Tristan had woken me with tender kisses an hour later. I’d seen the worry in his eyes and it had taken me several long minutes and more than one drugging kiss to get him to tell me what was bothering him.
He’d admitted to me that his plan the night before had been to leave, but that Memphis had stopped him and then asked him to let him hold him. I’d both been upset with Tristan for walking away when he’d told me he wouldn’t, and hurting for Memphis, knowing the level of pain that had to be living inside of him, but Tristan had kissed me before I could lay into him and then he’d asked me a simple question.
Did you mean what you said about wanting to figure things out between the three of us?
When I’d said yes, he’d told me his plan and I’d felt the hope inside of me grow. We’d spent another hour just working through the details of how we would get Memphis to see that he needed us both and then we’d gone into the living room to wait. Because no matter what, we knew Memphis would never come to us. That meant we would have to go to him and then we’d have to stick by him until he saw that a relationship between the three of us could work. It had to work.
The fishing trip had also been Tristan’s idea and he’d been the one to ask Phoenix for his help. Cain had been a potential sticking point since we had no idea if he’d go along with us, but Phoenix had promised he’d take care of Cain. The look on Memphis’s face as he’d spoken with Cain had been priceless, but the fact that he hadn’t been angry with us for how we’d manipulated the situation had just been proof that Tristan had been right.
Memphis was ours – we just had to fight a little harder to show him that.
We’d headed to Tristan’s fathers’ island house after calling Beck to see if he was interested in tagging along, but he hadn’t answered his phone and a call to Cade had proven that Beck wasn’t up for the trip. We knew what that meant since the young man’s battle with depression was an ongoing thing and we could only hope that things would soon start looking up for our friend. Cade had said we could come visit later in the week if we were interested and we’d readily agreed, since Tristan’s bruise would be healed by then and his finger could easily be explained away by the lie that he’d fallen off his bike.
The fishing trip had gone better than either of us could have even hoped for even though it had taken Memphis a little while to relax and enjoy himself. But as soon as he had…
There were just no words for how different he looked when he smiled, when he laughed. I’d been in awe of him and I’d been in awe of Tristan for the natural way he seemed able to draw Memphis out. And not once had I felt even a spark of envy because Tristan’s gift to draw people to him was one of the many things about him that I’d fallen in love with so long ago.
We’d fished for hours and had caught nearly a dozen smaller fish, but our prize had come near the end of the day as the sun had started to set and Memphis had reeled in a salmon. The excitement as he’d hauled the fish on board had been infectious, and I’d actually had to look away at one point so I wouldn’t burst into tears at the sight of the real Memphis – the one who took such great pains to hide himself away from the world and us.
But the best part of the day had come as I’d been driving the boat back to Logan and Dom’s beautiful secluded home on the northern tip of the island. Memphis had been standing at the front of the boat taking in the view when Tristan had joined him. They hadn’t spoken to one another, hadn’t even touched at first. Memphis had merely looked down at Tristan and then without preamble, he’d pulled Tristan in front of him and placed him so that his back was to Memphis’s front. And then Memphis had wrapped his arms around Tristan and held him that way until the dock had come into view. I’d been sure things couldn’t get better than that, but when I’d gotten off the boat, our catch in one hand, I’d been stunned speechless when Memphis had taken my hand in his for the short walk back to the house. He’d put his other arm around Tristan’s shoulders and tugged him against his side and for those few brief moments, I’d had a glimpse of what we could be together.
