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Trey gathered our wet clothes, including Sam’s police uniform. Years of working on the ranch looked good on him especially on his forearms. The muscle of Trey’s jaw clenched and relaxed, and he directed his gaze at me. A wicked sliver of anticipation shivered down my spine.
“I’m going to throw our clothes in the dryer, but when I return, we’re going to have a talk. Monica, go sit on the couch.”
I had stripped down to my panties since the rest of my clothing was wet. Somehow my lacy black panties survived the rain, but if he kept talking in that rumbling tone, they’d become drenched with arousal. “We can talk after Sam leaves.”
“One.”
Oh fuck. I shot a frantic glance at Sam. Apparently; I reached the end of Trey’s rope. It was about time, but I was wholly unprepared.
Sam gestured to the couch. “Don’t stall on my account.”
I darted my eyes to my boyfriend. Maybe I could get out of whatever he had planned now and we could discuss it later. “I hear you but–”
“Two.”
“I need to get dressed,” I protested. It was a moot point. Trey and Sam had seen all of me before. Well, Sam hadn’t seen me in a sexy way. A bunch of us frequently went skinny-dipping in Falcon Creek. It had become a summer tradition and none of us thought it was a big deal. The glances he was giving me, however, made my heart rate rise. I refocused on Trey since he was the one I was battling.
“I told you to do something, darling. Now.” He pointed to the couch.
“Oh, for crying out loud.” I stomped all the way there before flopping onto the cushions.
Trey’s eyes narrowed, letting me know he did not approve of the petulant way I obeyed him, but all he said was, “I won’t be long.”
Sam crossed the distance between us as Trey disappeared down the hallway, sitting next to me and looping an arm around my shoulders. “Have you been searching for another partner?”
I muttered a string of sounds together without saying anything.
“Uh-huh. So, did it occur to either of you to talk to me?”
“I don’t know. I guess not. At least not about relationship stuff, or I guess anything. These past few months have been rough to say the least.”
“I wish you would have. Either of you. Both of you.” He shook his head.
“You never mentioned you were looking.”
Sam brushed his fingers along the back of my neck. “Yeah, because imagine how sideways that could have gone. If you didn’t want another partner, I’d be a meddling home wrecker.”
“No one would think that,” I groaned. “Almost everyone in town has a, shall we say, alternative lifestyle. Look at Elias! No one predicted he and Luke would end up together.”
Sam laughed and wiped his eyes. “You’re wrong on that front. The only ones who didn’t see that coming were you and Elias himself. Everyone else called it years ago. Regardless, I don’t make a habit of flirting with people in relationships. At the party, you seemed ready to promise me a date if I let you in to Dane’s house.”
“I had to be sure Marissa was safe,” I insisted, although I knew lots of capable people surrounded her that day and I could have gone home. But I wasn’t in the habit of always doing what I was supposed to.
“Mm-hmm. I’ll take your word for now. Whenever I bump into Trey lately, he offers some lame excuse and hightails it. I'm not getting a complex... yet.”
I couldn’t help myself from flirting with him. I had a crush on Sam for longer than I wanted to admit. Trey knew I was subtly searching for a potential third, but not someone who could be dominant to him. I had an inkling that it was something he didn’t want to address. It would have been so much better if one of us caved earlier. Regardless, I wasn’t aware that Trey was avoiding Sam.
“I tried to broach the topic with Trey, sort of. Like a lot of other issues, he wouldn’t talk about them. I’ve been too much for him to handle. He wouldn’t be exhausted if I followed the rules and made better choices. This is my fault.”
“Whatever Trey is going through is his struggle. You are not responsible for his feelings or his choices, no more than he is responsible for yours. Do you hear me?”
“Yet you were going to hold him accountable via a spanking for my acting out.”
“I was trying to assess a situation, Monica. I received the information I needed. Now, answer me.”
“Whatever.”
Sam pinched my chin in between his thumb and pointer finger, tilting it upward. “I’m going to get to the bottom of your issues. You were happy six months ago, don’t tell me you weren’t.”
