TYLER

Brenna glances over her shoulder at me as I roll the condom over my impatient dick. Eight years, three months, one week, and four days. That’s how long it’s been.

“Hands and knees,” Dean directs her. She licks her lips and moves to the edge of the bed. “That’s a good girl.”

Dean moves to the head of the bed, lounging back against a pile of pillows, so he has the best view. I position the head of my cock to her entrance and ease in. Her muscles flutter around me, and I suck in a deep breath as she pushes back.

“Fuck, she’s tight,” I breathe, trying to keep from blowing my load.

“I know,” Dean says, stroking his cock that’s already hard again.

“After the show you two put on, I don’t think I’m going to last,” I say, pulling out and slamming back home. As much as I want to savor the moment, I know it’s a losing battle. “This is going to be hard and fast.”

“Tyler,” she cries out, meeting my every thrust. “Don’t stop.”

The hard edge of urgency in her voice mirrors my own need. She’s the only woman who’s ever caused me to lose myself. She drives me crazy, wild. Unhinged.

I need more. I push her shoulders down, and she tilts her pelvis. The new angle letting me get deeper. I increase our pace, faster and faster until we both cry out. The word around us shatters, breaking apart and reforming into something new, something better. In front of us, Dean grunts out his own climax, and together we collapse on the bed, spent.

Reluctant to leave, just yet, I wrap an arm around her and pull her on top of me. I put one arm around her and another behind my head, sleepy and satisfied.

The bed dips as Dean joins us. He molds himself to her back and kisses the soft skin of her neck. Brenna’s eyes flutter, but she hardly moves. I’m pretty sure we wore her out.

“Are you okay?” I ask, pushing a lock of damp hair off her face.

Without opening her eyes, she nods and mumbles something about dying from too many orgasms. I chuckle and kiss the top of her head, a familiar wave of nostalgia washing over me.

I didn’t expect this.

I never expected to be with her again and definitely not in this way. But this works. It works better than I imagined it would. Her touch is addictive, and sharing her with Dean is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. She fit, like a missing puzzle piece, there between us. And now that I know what it’s like, I can’t imagine not having Brenna in our lives.

 I glance over to Dean and see the same look mirrored in his eyes. Regardless of our past, this is what I want for our future. I kiss the top of her head, and we fall into a euphoric sleep, a mass of tangled limbs and slick flesh.

* * *

The pale November sun peeks through the curtains casting the room in a hazy yellow hue. Brenna is still curled up at my side, breathing deeply. I’ve been up for hours, but I didn’t have the heart to wake her. Dean, on the other hand, had an early morning call. Reluctantly, he left us with promises of coffee and bagels.

I could stay like this forever, but Luther is up and pacing the halls. It’s just a matter of minutes before he finds us and demands his morning walk. I kiss Brenna on the forehead and shift to get out of bed, but she wraps an arm around me and mumbles something.

I brush the hair from her face, and her sleepy blue eyes flutter open.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey,” she says with a shy smile.

“You still okay?”

“I’m good,” she says on a sigh and bites her lip, her bright blue eyes peeking through dark lashes. The smile grows wider, and she nods. “Actually, I’m really good. Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” I say stroking her dark hair, letting it run through my finger. The sense of déjà vu overwhelms me. This is like so many other moments from our past, but it’s different. She can feel it, too.

“I’m still trying to process, but this…you and Dean…” Her nose wrinkled and she buried her face in my chest. “Is it wrong that I liked it?”

“Stop it,” I say and force her to look at me. “There’s no reason for you to feel ashamed. You were wonderful. Perfect.”

“What about you? Are you okay with this? Was it weird seeing me with Dean?”

“Honestly, I didn’t think I’d like it. But,” I say, a grin teasing the corner of my lips, “it was really hot watching the two of you. We’re not kids anymore. You grew into a breathtaking woman.”

I trace my finger along the swirl of colors that decorate her arm. I stare into her bright eyes. I can see the passion and the longing, but there’s something else, something deeper that wasn’t there when we were kids.

“We’ll take things slow, but we have to be open and honest about the way we feel. This is way more complicated than dating one person, and I don’t want to fuck it up.” I brush my thumb over her lip, and she kisses it. “I can’t lose you a second time.”

“You think we can make this work?” she asks, unease in her voice.

“This isn’t just sex for me. For either of us,” I say, trying to reassure her. “We both love you. We’ll move heaven and earth to make this work.”

“I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear.”

She burrows into my side, and I throw an arm over her, drawing her closer to my chest. It feels like all the loose pieces in my life are finally falling into place.

Until her phone rings.

“Fuck. Fuck.” Brenna shots out of bed and starts digging through the piles of discarded clothes. “What time is it? Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up. “Is there something I can do?”

“No.” She digs her now silent phone out of the pocket of her jeans and swears again. “I was supposed to pick up Landon at his friend’s house and drive him to band practice.”

“I can send my driver,” I offer. “He’ll probably make it faster than you can shower and get dressed.”

“I don’t want to send a driver. It’s my responsibility, I’ll go,” she says, her tone icy. She’s pulling on her clothing muttering under her breath. “God, I can’t believe I forgot. This is so bad.”

“It’ll be fine. He might be a little bit late, but it’s middle school band practice, not surgery. I’m sure they’ll forgive him. I’ll give him the number for my driver, that way, next time, he can handle it himself.”

Brenna stops pulling on her boots and shoots me a dirty look. “What is wrong with you people? You can’t just throw money at everything.”

Frowning, I cross my arms, not sure where she’s going with this. “You people? What do you mean? I’m just trying to help.”

“He’s a twelve-year-old boy. He doesn’t need a driver. He needs a parental figure—someone he can count on.” With a shake of her head, she bits her lips and goes back to pulling on her other boot. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I shouldn’t be here. Landon needs me, and I let him down.”

She grabs her phone off the bed and leaves, slamming the door behind her.

“Brenna, wait!”

I hop out of bed, still naked and run after her. Relief washes over me as the door swings back open just as I reach it. But that feeling is short lived as Dean comes in, arms loaded with boxes from the deli across the street.

“Brenna nearly knocked me down in the hall,” he says. “What’s going on?”

“I wish I knew.” I rub the back of my neck, trying to relieve the sudden tension there. “She forgot to pick up Landon, and when I offered to send the driver, she freaked out.”

“Oh,” Dean says and sets down the boxes.

He obviously knows something I don’t, and it pisses me off. I’ve known Brenna for a lot longer than Dean, I should know what’s bothering her. “Do you mind clueing me the fuck in?”

“She’s freaked out about being Landon’s guardian. You know what kind of relationship she had with her mother, and we both know how absent the Hamiltons were. They used their wealth on nannies and drivers, so they didn’t have to raise their kid. She doesn’t want to be like that.”

“Oh,” I say on an exhale and slump back down on the bed. Now, her comments make sense. I grab one of the coffees and take a sip. “She was pretty pissed when she left. She said being here was a mistake.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” Dean says, grabbing a coffee too. “She’s really hard on herself. Let’s give her some time to cool down, and I’ll go down and talk to her.”

He seems so nonchalant about the whole thing, but I feel like I’m about ready to crawl out of my skin. I just got her back, and fucking family obligations are already threatening to tear us apart. Again.

But not this time.

“I know it’s not traditional, but this—the two of us with her—we have to make it work,” I say. “I’ll do whatever it takes, but I’m not letting her push us away.”