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STONE
His demeanor has changed the second he places his planning book down. His full attention is on me. “Okay, a deal is a deal. Now, what is it you’d like to do, since you said something about hanky-panky being off the table?”
“Um, did I really say that? I had meant sleeping together is off the table. Hanky-panky can still be achieved.”
Gibson lets loose a large but still sheepish grin, his fringe falling in his eyes. “Stone.” He attempts to sound like he’s pushing me away with a warning, even with just my name leaving his lips, and it makes me realize what he’s hung up on.
“Does it matter how you live your life? So, we have to be careful, but we can. We can live the life we want without others knowing.” It’s never been a consideration before. I’ve hidden who I was for so long, it ended my marriage and hurt a woman I loved deeply. But then again, if given the right set to complete me in a triad, then I’d grab hold of it and work on the details later.
“We’ve both met Charis’s possessive ex. I can’t imagine he’d take lightly to his daughter living with two men who shared his wife.”
I have a rebuttal to his argument on the tip of my tongue and begin before he can stop me. “First off, it’s his ex-wife. And second, we wouldn’t share. It would be equal, all of us lovers.”
Gibson pinches his lips together. “Hell, Stone, I’m not sure if that sounds any better. Good thing you’re not a lawyer, you’d be poor.”
My fingers inch to touch his. It’s been two weeks since our first encounter, and fuck, I want a repeat. I want a repeat of so much from our night together. But then again, it’s all stuff I want to share with Charis between us.
“And you’re forgetting something. There’s Charis to think about. As wild as this is, she may think it’s deplorable.” In Gibson’s words, his laugh lines show when he lets out the softest giggle. Yes, this manly man in front of me actually girl like giggled.
“Look at you, Teach, pulling out the big words—deplorable.” I don’t stop with the tease and simply pull the collar of his shirt close to my body. His lips brush against mine, just enough that my eager friend downstairs under my belt wakes up. “Yeah, you like that, don’t you? Me taking charge. Me being me and not giving a fuck about what others think.”
It’s his turn to laugh, but it’s not the funny ha-ha way. “Says the guy whose life doesn’t come under scrutiny. It’s funny, I make the least amount of money and my personal life would be examined with a fine-tooth comb.”
“Teach.” My breathing is labored. “Tell me this doesn’t feel good. And tell me you can’t imagine us together, all three of us. Hell, you’re thinking of her nonstop or at least as much as you’re thinking of me.”
“Your ego knows no bounds now, does it?”
My hand caresses his cheek, and our mouths barely touch. “And it’s what makes me so fucking good at my job, too.”
This time he pulls away, but I hold on to his shirt, and when he moves, so do I. “You’re an ass.”
But this is fun. We’re fun together.
“Nah, I’m just a little more than you’d expected, which believe me, isn’t a bad thing, Teach.”
In his eyes, I understand the war that’s brewing. He wants to deny it, but he can’t. I’m not a bad thing at all.
* * *
The pizza’slong been gone, and we’re in the living room watching cooking shows. It had been my choice. I declared I’d have the say in what we watched because let’s face it, I’m bossy as fucking hell.
“If you’re going to continue to torture me with the Food Network, you’ll have to feed my growing body. I’m starving.” He’s on the overstuffed chair in the corner of the room, and I’m spread out on the couch. It’s easy to make myself at home when I’ve been here so many times, just for this very reason. On the weekends, when Katherine’s dad had insisted on taking Jett, I didn’t always work. Most times, yes, but sometimes I was just lonely. I’d end up here, with Simon and Bridget. But all of it has ended, determined to spend more time with my son.
“Yeah, I can do that. Get some shoes on. I’ll take you out for dinner,” I offer as I pull myself from my own mind. “I have to pick up Jett in a couple hours, so let’s drive separately.”
He leans forward, his elbows on his knees. “Hey, how’s Jett doing after you both cleared the air?”
I scrub my hand over my face. But, if I’m transparent, maybe he’ll understand he’s more to me than a one-night stand.
“He won’t be at Katherine’s dad’s as much? Have you talked to your father-in-law yet about what Jett heard?”
I let out a long, deep breath. “As you know, I’ve let Alan have Jett pretty much anytime he wanted. I’d felt bad for how I treated his daughter and I thought honestly, if I let him have access to Jett anytime, maybe he’d forgive me for the divorce. But you’ve heard this before.” And I stop because I’ve spilled my guts to a man I didn’t know a couple weeks ago.
He moves from the large chair next to me. “You felt that if you gave and gave, Katherine’s dad would see the sacrifice you’re making with your own son, but all it was doing was leaving you lonely for Jett on those days he was with his grandpa.”
Holy shit. I say this in my mind, but my eyes widen at his true understanding of me. He listened the other night, but now with how he’s repeated this in his own words, he’s not beating me up for letting my pride of acceptance by Katherine’s dad get in the way of my son and me.
“You understand it. You understand me?” It’s not a question, though I phrase it as one.
