AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I want that too.” She let out a happy little sigh. “He’s pretty great, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” Auden smiled in the dark. “He’s the best guy I know.”
She turned her head to peek up at him. “Let’s go back to bed, okay? I don’t want him waking up alone.”
Her affection for Lennox warmed him in a way that had nothing to do with his libido. During so much of this, he’d worried that he was pushing O’Neal into the things he liked or manipulating her toward his kinks, but being with her now, seeing her obvious love for Lennox, he realized Len had been right all along. They didn’t create this in O’Neal—they’d unearthed it. She was perfect. Perfect for them.
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Yeah, let’s go steal his covers.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
When O’Neal woke up late the next morning, she rolled over and was disappointed to find an empty bed. She grabbed her phone to check the time and a text was waiting for her.
Auden: early swim practice, didn’t want to wake you, love you
There was a kiss emoji at the end, which made her smile. She wouldn’t have suspected Auden to be the kiss emoji type. She quickly checked her email to make sure the meeting she’d set up tonight had been confirmed and then got up.
When she wandered into the bathroom, she found a folded towel, an unopened toothbrush, and her clothes sitting on the counter. There was a note on top in Len’s handwriting. His letters were these quick scratches that somehow looked like art.
Morning, Sweets! Shower’s yours. Clothes are washed. I’ll be under headphones working in the living room. Please don’t jump-scare me. I hate that.
She laughed. Lennox had initially intimidated the hell out of her. Tattooed grad student, obviously gorgeous, and just so smoothly confident that he could melt the butter right off your toast. But now she knew how sweet and tender he was at the core, and she just felt enormously thankful that she got to love and be loved by him.
She showered quickly and used the new toothbrush that looked to be a freebie one of them had gotten after a dental visit.
When she walked into the living room, she found Len hunched over his drawing desk, barefoot in jeans and a black T-shirt, a pair of wireless earbuds tucked in his ears. His head was bobbing softly to whatever he was listening to, and he was sketching with quick, precise strokes. She let herself watch him in profile for a moment. The look of concentration made her wish she had the talent to drawhim.
Knowing she would for sure startle him if she walked over, she reached out and flipped the living room light switch off and on. He immediately straightened and turned. When he saw her standing there, a wide smile broke through. He pulled his earbuds from his ears.
“She lives! We didn’t kill her with the sex!”
O’Neal laughed. “Yeah, sorry. I can’t believe I slept in this late. I’m typically an annoying early riser, but I think y’all wore me out.”
He chuckled as he set his pencil down and then spun his chair to face her. “I think you and Aud’s after-hours meet-up might’ve been the kill shot. Y’all didn’t come back to bed for a while.”
The words made her tense. “I, uh…”
“Oh shit,” he said quickly. “Don’t get that look. I’m not, like, saying that in some jealous way. I’m glad you two got some time alone.”
“Yeah?” she asked, relieved.
Len exhaled and stood to come over to her. “Of course.” He cupped her face and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “We’re all in this together. That’s the beautiful thing about it. We’ll figure out all the different versions of it as we go. You should have some couple time with Aud. I know I came into the picture as supporting cast, so our relationship is newer and will take a little more time. That’s okay.”
The words crashed like off-key notes in her ears.
“Um, no, actually it’s not okay.”
He gave her a questioning look. “Uh…”
“Supporting cast?” She made a face. “That’s not how I see you at all. I object to that term.”
He laughed and touched the tip of his finger to the corner of her mouth where she must’ve been frowning. “I appreciate the righteous indignation, Sweets, but I’m fine. Truly. We all love each other. None of this is a competition. And if it were, I’d be seriously outgunned anyway. You had a mad, long-standing crush on the dude. There’s history. There’s beenpining.”
“I have notpined,”she said with a huff.
His eyebrows lifted and he gave her a knowing look.
“Ugh, fine. There was much pining.”
