It’s been a lovely Saturday afternoon so far. No drama, no nothing. I remember how terrified Cate looked when I walked in on her and Jack earlier in the week, and so I’ve tried my best to keep things nice and relaxing, friendly, low-key and low-commitment. It’s been wonderful, despite the fact that I want her every time I lay eyes on her.

Speaking of which, I’m watching her now, her lovely curves moving with purpose as she unhitches and folds old drapes.

“I loved these drapes as a kid, but they have to go,” Cate says, continuing her work.

I laugh. “Yeah, Sully’s taste was always a bit Old Spice, wasn’t it?”

“That’s definitely one way to put it,” she replies teasingly. “I think we can do a lot to brighten this old house up.”

“Yeah, I agree,” I say, standing on a small stepladder and helping with the next set of drapes. “The ones you picked out are astounding. Very chic, very welcoming. You’re amazing at this.”

“Thanks, I try,” she says, smiling.

We still haven’t talked about the townhouse. I feel like time is starting to run out, but there hasn’t been much that I could do about it for the past few days. Jack isn’t taking my calls, and Cate has been determined to move on as much as humanly possible. She’s a tough cookie, that one, but I’m caught in the middle of these two again. I’m starting to feel like that might be my place in their lives, which isn’t the worst thought in the world, but it’d be nice if we could get things settled.

Even nicer if we could get things good.

“All of those interior decorating skills are going to come in handy if it comes to preparing the house for sale,” I say, wincing the minute the words are out of my mouth.

Sure enough, Cate stops for a moment and shoots me a glare. Kind of cute, if I’m being honest, even though I hate to have upset her. Still, it might as well be an air-kiss for how non-threatening it is.

The two of us have been falling into a playful rapport, and I’m glad to see that it can stand up to a discussion like this. We won’t make it far if it doesn’t, and regardless of what happens with the townhouse, now that Cate’s back in my life, I don’t want to let her go again.

“I don’t want to let this house go, Dylan,” she says, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face as she all but parrots my thoughts with her words.

Well, so she’s talking about the house, but the connection between us? Even with our current lack of sex, I can tell she feels it, too.

“I don’t care what we have to do, but we’re going to figure this out together,” she goes on firmly. “We’re not leaving this house to anyone else. It’s our home.”

I want to agree. Instead, I say, “The only problem is, we’re not the ones who can make that decision. Not just the two of us, anyway.”

Jack’s always on my mind.

“Just say it, Dylan,” Cate says, throwing me a playful look.

I haven’t brought Jack up since he stopped by, knowing she’s not nearly as okay with her attraction to him as I am, and it’s good to see her teasing me about it instead of looking like she might combust.

She finishes with the drape in her arms and throws it onto the stack on the floor, adding, “This has been so nice with the two of us, it really has, but I know the… the situation with the townhouse—” with Jack “—has been hanging over our heads like a guillotine all week.”

“Okay,” I say, and motion with my head for her to join me in the kitchen. “Let’s talk about it over some lemonade, yeah?”

A moment later, we’re both sitting on the couch with our fresh glasses of lemonade. It’s not that hot outside yet, still a little too early in the year, but we’ve been working hard all day and the sweet, cold liquid comes as a welcome relief.

“Everything you touch turns to gold,” Cate says, resting her head back into the cushions contentedly. “You’re going to be an amazing professional chef. They ought to just give you that certificate right now.”

I laugh, pleased, settling in and enjoying the moment. “Yeah, well, there’s still a lot I don’t know. Catching up quick, though.”

“Speaking of catching up,” she says, spearing me with a look.

Cate’s always been magnificent, but like this? Shedding the shyness and reserve she’s worn like armor ever since I’ve known her, a little bit more every day?

Sexy doesn’t even begin to describe her.

I take another drink of my lemonade, ignoring the surge of heat and refocusing on Jack.

Well, that brings another surge of heat, but I ignore that, too.

“The sooner we talk to Jack, the better,” I say. “If I have to be out of here this summer, I don’t have a lot of time to get my life together for a big move into a new place, and I know you’ve got to figure out what you’re doing, too.”

Cate winces, frowning. “Dylan, I’m so sorry. I know I’ve been selfish this week, and you’ve been so, so perfect about making things lovely for me.”

I smile, and by the flush in her cheeks, I realize I haven’t been able to keep all the heat out of it. Not that I want to hide it from her, but I also don’t want to push her until she makes her peace with what she called “complications.”

“It’s been my pleasure,” I say, and yeah, Cate hears the innuendo.

She clears her throat, glancing away. “But you’re right,” she continues after a second, finally looking back at me. “Dragging our feet on this isn’t fair to you any more than it is to me.”

“It’s not fair to Jack, either,” I point out.

Cate bites her lip, and I wish for the millionth time she felt comfortable talking about her feelings for Jack with me. He’s the hottest man I’ve ever known, and if she thinks I blame her for wanting him, she really doesn’t know me as well as she might think. And if she thinks I’d judge her for that? Well, I’m not going to say I’d love sharing her with someone else. Would probably back off if that’s what she wanted. But Jack is… Jack. All I felt seeing them together was happy.

Well, happy, plus turned on, but I’d been able to tell that if I’d let on to that—at least, any more than I had with my comment about wanting to kiss him—it would have freaked both of them out even more than they already were.

“Jack has money and his own home,” Cate’s saying now, pulling my thoughts out of some of my hotter fantasies and back to the reason we’re talking about Jack right now. “No matter what we end up doing, he’ll be fine at the end of this.”

Jack’s money and position don’t necessarily equal “fine” in my head, but I’m not going to push that conversation with her.

Cate gives me a quizzical look, and something about the little flare of heat in her eyes makes everything inside me perk up.

“So, hey, personal question,” she says.

I laugh. Her tone is cautious, but I’m an open book. Like I’d said to Jack, I don’t hide who I am, and certainly don’t have any interest doing that with Cate.

“Shoot,” I prompt her when she doesn’t go on right away.

“Okay,” she says, her cheeks pinking up again. “Did you mean it?”

I’m at a loss.

“Mean what?” I ask.

She flushes even more, and her breath picks up a little. It’s sexy as hell, and even before she tells me, that reaction finally gives me an idea about the subject she’s fishing around so carefully.

“When you… when you said you’d kiss Jack too, did you mean that? Were you just trying to scare him off? What’s the deal there?”

I grin, raising my eyebrows. I’m trying to remember if we’d talked about anyone I was interested in back when we were kids. Anyone I’d dated. I think not. Certainly not Jack, because there was always that tension between the two of them, and not anyone else, because… well, honestly, because in the summers, when Cate was there, between her and Jack, I didn’t really pay much attention to anyone else.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Cate says, holding up her hands and looking mortified. “If it’s personal, it’s okay, I totally understand.”

I laugh again, but a part of me feels the tiniest bit sad. I mean, she’s been raised with such a narrow idea of right and wrong. Just as harsh, in its own way, as the way Jack grew up.

“Cate, it’s okay,” I say, grabbing those hands and squeezing them. “I’m bisexual. I’m open about it. It’s who I am. Jack is gorgeous, attitude notwithstanding, and the answer is hell yes. I’d totally take a piece of that, if he’d let me.”

A myriad of emotions flit across her face, almost too fast for me to read. None, however, is disgust. I see everything from curiosity to lust, and I wait it out, wondering where she wants to go with this conversation.

Finally, she smiles, and it looks a little fragile. Self-conscious. “So, when we slept together, would you have rather it have been…”

“No,” I say, and see the instant relief on her face. “Wanting Jack doesn’t mean I don’t want you, too. And seeing the two of you together?”

She goes even redder, squirming. I can tell part of it is embarrassment—those damn voices of “right” and “wrong” playing in her head—but another part of it… another part of it is something hotter.

I sit up and put my lemonade down on the coffee table, then take hers from her and do the same.

“Cate… come here.”

She bites her lip, and I can tell she’s surprised. I’m a pretty mellow guy, and I know she knows I’d never push her, but I can’t handle those doubts on her face, and that—combined with how much I’ve wanted her all week—makes my words come out a little more forcefully.

She stares back at me for a second, then stands and—when I grab her hand—lets me pull her down on my lap.

I kiss her.

For a second, she freezes up, and I wonder if she’s thinking of Jack’s lips… Jack’s mouth… Jack’s tongue inside her. And then, oh fuck, I’m thinking of those things, and my hands are tangled in her hair and I’m getting hard. Swelling under her curvy ass.

“You don’t mind?” she gasps, tilting her head back as I lick my way down the smooth column of her throat. “Really don’t mind? That I was with Jack?”

“I’m thinking of it, too, Cate,” I say, rolling my hips to let her know exactly what that does to me.

She moans, then laughs, and for once, she sounds free. Happy.

And then I’m laughing too, because whatever happens here, with the two of us—the three of us—it’s right. I know it. Everything about being in this house has always been right. Has always been exactly what each of us has needed.

“So, you don’t just not mind,” she says, pulling back a little and giving me an impish grin. “You like Jack, too, right?”

“Oh yeah,” I say. True, on so many levels. I grin at her. “Dude’s hot, what can I say? You’ve seen his suits, right?”

“Ugh,” Cate says, flushing as she laughs some more. She nods, though, even though she adds an obligatory, “He’s such a jerk.”

“Oh yeah,” I agree, nodding solemnly. “He looked like he was being horrible, kissing you like that the other day.”

“Shut up,” Cate says, still laughing as she leans against me and pouts playfully. “He is a jerk. But… maybe he’s a jerk with a spectacular ass.”

“Maybe?” I tease.

We look at each other for a moment, then both burst out laughing. It’s the most laughter I’ve heard fill this townhouse in a long, long time, probably years, and even though I haven’t been pining away for anything in particular, it suddenly occurs to me that having her here… having Jack in my life… they fill in pieces that I hadn’t really realized were missing.

Sully would be so happy. He loved us. All of us.

“Jack’s not a jerk,” I say, smoothing a hand down her back. Cate snorts, and I laugh again. “Okay, maybe he is a jerk, but that’s not all he is. He’s funny, and he’s quick-witted, and—”

“Sexy,” she whispers, then makes a little “eep” sound that’s adorable, as if the word had slipped out without her meaning it to.

I grin. “Yeah, that. And I know he can be abrasive and judgmental, but remember where he grew up.”

“You’re right,” Cate says, sighing. “Poor guy. I think I met his parents one time. It was one of the very few times they ever showed up at the townhouse to pick him up. They were brash, obnoxious, real class acts.”

I remember the time she’s talking about. It had surprised me, since most of the time, it had seemed like Jack’s parents didn’t give him much thought. Let him run wild, do his own thing. I don’t even think they even knew Sully was a part of Jack’s life for the first few years… but once they’d found out, well, let’s just say that they definitely cared about Jack rubbing shoulders with money.

“He was so embarrassed,” I remind her, my heart hurting a little for him, even after all these years. “The two of us were upstairs when his parents showed up, and I could hear his mom screaming for him to get his ass downstairs or he was gonna get it.”

“Jesus, yeah. He was already eighteen at that point, too, wasn’t he?” Cate asks, shaking her head. “Definitely way too old to deal with that sort of talk from his parents.”

“They still… reach out to him.” I grimace. Can’t help it. Normally, I like to look for the best in people, but either there really isn’t a lot of good to see in the Kelly family, or I just care too much about Jack to be generous.

“Really?” Cate asks, looking curious.

“Yeah, he mentioned it at dinner not too long ago. It’s just them looking for money, always looking for money. They try to guilt trip him with the family name, and how he’s not living up to it. I don’t know, it sounded like a bunch of crap.”

Even worse had been the look in Jack’s eyes. He deserved better. A family who loved him for him.

“Well,” Cate says, frowning. “I can certainly understand the family name pressure. Being a MacMillan is not a walk in the park, and I can’t count all the times I’ve dealt with my mother yelling at me for it. If Jack was too old at eighteen to be yelled at by his mom, I’m definitely too old at twenty-four to be yelled at by mine.”

“Agreed,” I say, glad that was never an issue for me. I’m “just” a Smith, but mostly I’m just… me. My mother never pulled that kind of bullshit, and it’s not in me or anyone close to me to care.

I’m still hard, but when her stomach rumbles, the part of me that wants to take care of her in other ways, too, wakes up.

“Dinner?” I ask, standing us both up.

For a minute, she looks embarrassed again, but she gets over it and nods. Seriously, the number her mother pulled on her… I shake my head. Cate’s perfect just the way she is, and hopefully once I cook for her enough, she’ll get over worrying about what she eats and just give in and enjoy it.

“We should ask Jack to dinner,” she says, following me into the kitchen.

I can tell it took some effort to say it, but I agree. Plus, I want to.

“How about tomorrow night?” I ask, grinning. “You and I can have one more evening to ourselves, then we could try it out again with Jack. See if we can keep everything civil over a meal, talk about the townhouse, and maybe…”

I shrug, smiling without finishing the sentence. I’m not sure what exactly I’m hoping for between all of us, but I don’t want to give up on working something out with our joint ownership of the townhouse, any more than I want to give up on either of them. Sully wouldn’t have. And maybe… maybe… the way things are going with each of us, maybe we can take the connection that’s always existed and turn it into something more.

Maybe.