Hailey:

Nick’s truck is in my driveway when I get back, and the two men are in my living room, sanding my floor.

My stomach flutters. With shaking fingers, I unplug the wire from the wall. Sudden quiet falls over the room as both men turn to look at me.

“Hi.”

Sean’s grey eyes rest on me. “You left your front door unlocked.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s not safe.” His lips curl into a small smile. “You live in the middle of nowhere. I worry about you.”

My heart is jack-hammering in my chest.

“I’m sorry.” I take a half-step toward them and then stop. “Not about leaving my door unlocked. I’m sorry I threw you out.”

Nick takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry about walking out.”

“You came back. I didn’t think you would.”

Sean gives me an intent look. “We’re not your ex, Hailey. We’re not going to leave.”

“We’ve made no promises…” I start to say. They don’t have to be here. I don’t expect anything from them.

“That’s bullshit,” Sean cuts in. “Of course we have. Every time I touch you, every time I breathe in the fragrance of your hair, I make a promise. You didn’t want to date, and I wanted to respect that, but Hailey, know this. I’m not going to leave. I’m here for the long haul.”

“Wow,” I whisper, not knowing what to say. Sean’s words warm my insides, and I want to hug them close to my chest. “That’s… honest.”

Nick’s lips twist. “You want honesty, Hailey? Six weeks ago, I was looking for exactly what you offered. Casual sex. No commitments. It sounded like a dream come true.” He runs his hands through his hair and stares at me. “It wasn’t. It was hell.”

They’re still here. They’re telling me they care about me too. I’m not the only one with feelings. My heart lightens, and I tease Nick, just a little bit. “Having sex with me was hell? Not flattered.”

He rolls his eyes. “Stop fishing for compliments; you’re perfect. I wanted to do things for you, and you wouldn’t let me. You kept talking about how you couldn’t pay me.” He glares at me. “It was fucking insulting.”

I lift my chin. “No, it wasn’t. You didn’t have to do anything for me.”

His voice is quiet. “I didn’t have to do anything. I wanted to.” His deep blue eyes meet mine. “I don’t want once-a-week, Hailey. I agree with Sean. If you think that all we’re here for is sex…”

Deep end of the pool. Jump, Hailey. “I don’t.” I cross my fingers. “I freaked out.”

“We’re not your ex, Hailey,” Sean says gently. “We’re not going anywhere.” He fixes me with a searching gaze. “Are you?”

I look at the half-sanded hardwood floors. At the egg-yolk yellow paint on the wall. At the brass chandelier that I found in a flea market. I’d bought without having any idea how to install it. Sean had frowned at its wiring, called it a fire risk and had patiently rewired the fixture. When he was done, Nick had fetched his ladder from his truck, and he’d hung the light up.

They don’t need to tell me they’re here for me. With every single thing they’ve done in the last two weeks, they’ve shown me.

“No.” I’ve been nervous throughout this conversation, but it all falls away, and I’m not afraid anymore. “I’m not going anywhere either.”

The sander is an expensive rental that needs to be returned tomorrow morning, so even though I want to jump into bed with them right away, we resume work. For four hours, we sand the hardwood floors through the cottage, and once we’re done, we add a layer of varnish. “It’s supposed to dry in a few hours,” Nick says. “Though from experience, I know your house is going to smell like chemicals for another week.”

“I’ll keep the windows open.” I’m tired and dirty, and every muscle in my body aches, but I want them. “Join me in the shower?”

A slow smile curves over Nick’s face. “That’s not an offer I can refuse.”

Sean detours to the kitchen and emerges with three glasses and a bottle of Chardonnay. “Seems like a good day for celebrating.” He pours the wine, and I take a sip.

Nick’s eyes gleam with heat as I strip off my clothes. “Remember the first Monday?” he asks, his lips tilting into a smile. His hand curls around the neck of the bottle, and he rolls the cold glass over my nipples.

My breathing catches as they pebble with heat. “You liked the ice, didn’t you?”

A shiver runs through my body. “Yes.”

Sean tips some wine over my chest, and then his tongue follows, lapping up the liquid. When his mouth closes over my engorged peak, I can’t stop myself from whimpering, helpless with desire.

We step into the shower. As the warm water rains over the three of us, Nick gets on his knees, pushing his head between my legs. “So beautiful,” he murmurs. “I can’t get enough of the way you taste.”

He parts my folds with his thumbs, and his tongue teases my clit. I grip his dark hair and throw my head back, losing myself in pleasure as he eats me out.

Sean drips more wine down my chest, and his mouth follows. An out-of-control fire blazes in me, as they take me closer and closer to my orgasm. Nick slides two fingers deep into my pussy and twists them to find my g-spot. I grope for Sean’s cock.

My mind is cloudy with lust. My climax races toward me in a wave of intense heat, and I can’t hold back, I don’t want to hold back. I explode. My fears have been burned away, and all that’s left is this. This powerful, timeless, connection between us.

We fall into bed in a tangle of limbs and naked bodies. There’s open heat in Sean and Nick’s eyes as they survey me. “Ready for more?”

There’s not the slightest bit of hesitation in my voice as I reach for the cock nearest to me. “Yes.”

“That’s my good girl.” Sean sounds openly possessive, and his tone should make me bristle, but it doesn’t. Prickles of anticipation wind their way through my body as he disentangles my hands from his hard shaft and places them over my head.

Nick pulls me toward him roughly, his hands winding through my hair, his kiss hungry and passionate. He nibbles at my lower lip and nips at my tongue, and I groan and writhe against his tightly muscled body.

Sean, in the meanwhile, rolls a condom on his cock. “Ride me,” he orders.

Happily. “You want me to slide down your pole?”

He groans. “Someone’s been spending too much time on the Internet, looking up firefighter pick-up lines.” His hands tighten on my hips, and he pulls me down on him. I gasp as his shaft fills me completely. “What else do you have?”

My thoughts are as scattered as clouds on a summer afternoon. Sean thrusts into me, and I grind my hips down on his cock, while I try and remember the lines I read. “Can I hit your hydrant?”

Nick laughs. “That’s terrible.” He pulls a small clear bottle of lube from the bedside table and slowly spreads it into my puckered hole.

He slides a finger into me as Sean thrusts again, his face contorted with desire. “I can feel every twitch in your body,” he marvels, his voice raspy with heat.

Nick adds another finger, stretching me as Sean holds me against his chest. I hear the sound of a condom wrapper tear, and my body sparks with unbearable need. His cock nudges against my tight entrance, and my pussy gushes, as it does every time we have anal sex, at the forbidden naughtiness of the act.

Lube drizzles down my crack as Nick pushes into me, slow and steady and unrelenting. There’s a brief instant of pain as my muscles stretch to accommodate him, and then he’s in. “You’re so wet,” Sean groans.

“So tight,” Nick grunts. “Are you ready to get fucked, Hailey?”

A thrill of desire runs through me. “Yes,” I groan, my breasts smashed against Sean’s chest, my body pressed between the two men. “Fuck me. Please.”

They thrust into me, adjusting their rhythm so that they’re pounding in unison. Each stroke feels deeper than the last. My nails dig into Sean’s biceps, as they fill me, over and over again. They plunge into my body with powerful, forceful thrusts. “Please,” I sob out, not knowing what I’m begging for.

Nick strokes my swollen, aching clitoris. “Is this what you want?” His breath is hot against my ear. “You want me to make you come?”

Yes, yes, yes. I can’t form words. My orgasm consumes me, burns me up in a blaze. I’m so lost in my own pleasure that I barely register their clenched groans as they come.

We lie back on the bed, sated and drained. That’s when Sean drops his bombshell. “I love you, Hailey.”

Fuck.

My heart races in my chest. The words linger at the tip of my tongue. I love you too. I love both of you.

But I can’t bring myself to say them out loud. The chasm is too deep, and though I know I want to cross, I can’t make myself take that last step forward.