“Let’s get this meeting started,” Christian said, shuffling papers on the kitchen table.

“You got the PowerPoint?” Trevor asked.

Christian set up the screen and plugged the projector into the laptop. “Yep, it’s right here.”

Trevor rolled his eyes. The comment was meant as a sarcastic joke, but Christian actually did have a PowerPoint. He glanced up to see the title of the first slide: Can we convince Rebel & Justin to stay?

Trevor snorted, sat back in his chair, and crossed his arms. “She’s staying.”

Last night he’d finally fucked her. In front of a mirror they could both watch every detail. It was something he’d always wanted to do and being with a woman who wanted it as much as he did was a huge turn on. It was the best sex of his life. He’d come so hard, it bolted down his spine and sent sparks of electricity into his goddamn toes. It bled him dry, leaving him gasping for air, wanting more. Wanting to keep her naked and locked in a room with him for a week—fucking, eating, talking, and then fucking some more.

This morning he was in the kitchen of the main house waiting for their usual Wednesday usual “staff meeting.” Sebastian sat across the table, quiet and pensive. Trevor wasn’t sure why, but he had an idea it had to do with Phoebe, who sat beside him, also playing quiet.

Josie was standing next to Christian, who was letting her help him focus the projector. Christian was good with kids. Sometimes Trevor forgot that he’d been a father before the end.

Adam and Rachel strolled in, last as usual, giggling like teenagers. Rachel’s hair looked mussed, her lips were swollen and her eyes bright. Adam had a smug look on his face. For once, this didn’t stick in Trevor’s craw. There was no feeling of being left out. He had his own woman, who he assumed was still feeling the recent pounding of his cock between her legs.

He leaned back in his chair, warm thoughts of Rebel entering his mind. She was in the RV with Justin, clueless to the fact that this meeting was even happening. He hadn’t wanted to tell her about it, considering she was the topic of conversation.

He needed to get back to her ASAP. He didn’t like being apart from her. He was happier when they were in the same space. Even just driving down the road with her following him in the Mustang had given him a sick stomach.

He met Adam’s gaze and grinned. Adam gave him a chin lift, helped Rachel to her own seat and sat down too.

“Josie, come and sit here next to me,” Phoebe said. “The meeting is going to start for real now, honey.”

Josie walked over, sat down and smiled at Trevor. He smiled back. She was a damn cute kid.

“I’m really happy we’re having this meeting,” Rachel said. “Thank you for putting this together, Christian. This is an important topic.”

“I’m confused,” Phoebe said. “I thought the whole reason why they came here was to find other survivors. I thought Rebel and Justin were coming here to move in with us. Why wouldn’t they want to stay? It doesn’t make sense for them to meet us and then leave.”

Sebastian snorted. “I didn’t want to stay at first.”

Phoebe muttered something under her breath Trevor couldn’t hear, but Sebastian obviously could, because his cheeks flushed red.

Sebastian shook his head. “Not everyone wants to live together; some people like to live by themselves. Also, maybe they don’t want to live here. Maybe they like it on the coast better.”

Christian clicked to the next slide. “That brings me to the first topic. Why would they want to stay? You can see that I put together a list of reasons I could think of off the top of my head.”

“I agree that the number one reason would be to live with other survivors,” Phoebe said.

“I think the number one reason would be for Rebel to stay with Trevor.” Rachel winked at Trevor.

He grinned.

“Well, and the other reason,” Christian said, “while Justin is recovering, is that Rebel feels secure with the rest of us caring for Justin, so she’s on board staying here for right now. But when Justin wakes up and is well again and the two of them can talk and plan again, I don’t know if they’ll choose to stay or not, and we have to convince them to stay. Agreed?”

This was Trevor’s number one fear. The issue he’d been playing over and over in his mind with no answer on how to fix since the moment he’d stepped in that RV and driven onto the freeway. “They’re staying,” Trevor snapped.

“Are you sure?” Phoebe asked. “Has Rebel told you they’re both staying?”

“I don’t know about Justin, but Rebel is staying. With me.”

“Did she tell you that, or did you tell her that?” Adam asked.

“I want Rebel to stay,” Josie pouted.

“We all do, honey,” Rachel said, and gave Trevor a sharp look. “We all do, and we’re working on talking her into staying with us.”

“Well?” Adam asked again. “Did she say the words, ‘Trevor I’m staying here on the farm with you and your friends’? Or is that just an ultimatum that you’re stating?”

“No,” Trevor admitted. “But I told her I want a permanent relationship with her and I want her in my bed and that I want her to stay.”

“What did she say when you told her that?”

Trevor exhaled. “She basically said she’s thinking about it.”

Rachel leaned forward. “Did she say why she’d have to think about it? What are her reasons for not wanting to stay?”

“Well, first of all, she’s living on a seaside cliff on 17-Mile Drive in Carmel, where the weather is gorgeous and the Pacific Ocean is right there, and we’re living on this farm that’s hot as hell in the middle of nowhere.”

“It is pretty hot here,” Sebastian admitted. “San Diego was a thousand times better.”

“Right?” Rachel sighed. “You can’t fault her for that. We all feel the same. What else did she say?”

“She says she has to wait and ask Justin how he feels when he wakes up.”

Adam nodded. “That makes sense.”

“What else?” Phoebe asked. “There’s got to be more.”

Trevor pursed his lips. “She keeps referring to our relationship as temporary. Like it’s a quick f—” He glanced at Josie’s wide eyes and amended his words. “Like we’re a fling or an affair and this will end. And she keeps sayin’ I’ll tire of her soon. That I don’t know her well enough yet to be talking about forever.”

“Forever? You were talking to her about your future? Oh wow,” Rachel breathed. “That’s so romantic, Trevor. Did you ask her to marry you?”

“What? No. I just told her I want her in my bed permanently.”

“Well, that’s not as romantic, but still sexy,” Phoebe said.

Sebastian frowned. “Trevor, don’t fuck this up.”

Trevor slammed a fist on the table. “I’m not fucking this up.”

Josie whimpered.

“You guys!” Phoebe shouted. “Language. We have a child here.”

“Sorry,” Trevor mumbled.

“Okay, let’s get back to the PowerPoint,” Christian said.

“When did you even have time to make this PowerPoint?” Trevor asked.

Christian shrugged. “When I was sitting in the RV with Justin. I just opened the laptop in there and worked on it. The topic was on my mind.” He clicked to the next slide. “As you can see, the next topic is how do we convince Justin to stay, once he’s recovered. What will be the reasons that will convince him?”

Adam leaned back in his chair. “Your slide has good tips on how to talk Justin into staying. But personally, I don’t think Justin is going to be the one to convince. I think he’ll go wherever Rebel goes. As long as he feels he’s brought her somewhere safe, he’s good to go.”

“I’m so confused,” said Phoebe. “Is Justin Rebel’s boyfriend, or is Trevor Rebel’s boyfriend?”

“I am,” Trevor snapped. “I’m Rebel’s boyfriend. Justin is her friend.”

Sebastian crooked an eyebrow. “Are you sure? I mean, she seems really close to him, they seem to care about each other, and they’ve been living together since the end, but they aren’t together? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah, so what? Sounds like you’re also describing you and Phoebe and you aren’t together either, right?”

Phoebe gaped.

Sebastian growled and clenched his fists.

“Come on, break this up,” Adam interrupted. “Justin can’t be Rebel’s boyfriend because he’s gay. Okay? He’s gay.”

Everyone looked surprised.

“Didn’t see that one coming,” Rachel muttered.

Trevor tensed for a minute, worried he might have to fend off a homophobic comment or two, but no one said anything. Then he remembered why these were his friends. They weren’t assholes like the Aryan Brotherhood. These were normal people without prejudice or racism running in their veins. None of them felt the need to constantly put down others to make themselves feel better. Their openness and their honorable behavior was the main reason why he liked these people. The reason he stayed with them despite the fact that they were living on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

They represented the best in people, and fuck, he loved being around it so much. A breath of fresh air.

“If Rebel leaves I’m leaving with her,” he announced.

Rachel did a head desk and groaned. “Another reason why we have to convince her to stay.”

Christian clicked to another slide. “I have some ideas on how we can talk her into staying.”

Sebastian ignored the screen. “This is all on Trevor,” he said.

“Not just him,” Rachel said. “The rest of us have to be on our best behavior, too.”

Christian pointed at the slide. “Number one, we have to show her how she can fit in. Then, number two, show her and Justin where they could live and what they could do. Number three, how they can contribute.”

“She’s living with me.”

“Okay, how about Justin lives in the RV,” Christian said.

Phoebe pressed her lips together. “If he’s okay with that. I mean, he’d be exchanging a mansion on the beach for an RV in the Valley.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

“And we need to tell her everything. Everything.” Rachel said with deep meaning in her voice.

His jaw clenched. “Not yet.” He glanced at Adam for support, but he was staring at his woman.

“What are you two talking about?” Phoebe asked.

Trevor growled. He knew exactly what Rachel was talking about and he wasn’t telling Rebel about the threesome with Rachel. No fucking way. He had his hands full keeping his criminal past on the down low. His past relationships with other women and couples needed to stay gone, too.

“That’s up to Trevor,” Christian said. “I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not saying a word.”

“About what?” Phoebe pressed.

Rachel glanced over at Phoebe and shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t say anything. I guess it’s not my story to tell.”

“But it is. It’s our story, too,” Adam broke in. He met Trevor’s gaze. “But we’ll take Trevor’s lead on this. It will get told when he’s ready.”

He lifted his chin. “And I’m not ready,” Trevor said. “So, thanks.”

“Shoot,” Phoebe whispered. “I hate being out of the loop. I hate secrets.”

“I hate secrets, too!” Josie announced.

Rachel crooked an eyebrow. “I doubt it’ll remain secret for long.”

“Trevor,” Rachel called.

He turned. The meeting had ended and he was trying to get back to the RV. “Yeah?”

“I need to talk to you,” she whispered. Rachel looked to make sure no one else was watching and pulled him into the small downstairs office they used for Adam’s daily radio broadcasts. She nodded for him to enter and pulled the door closed behind them.

Rachel stood straight, the door against her back, and looked him in the eye. “Trevor,” she said with a firm tone. “I’m just warning you, at some point I won’t be able to lie to Rebel anymore about our threesome. I can’t do this forever.”

“You’re not lying to her.”

“Yes, I am. Or at the very least it’s a lie of omission, and it’s wrong. It bugs me. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If I came into this group and I was hooking up with Adam and becoming friendly with Rebel, you can bet I’d want the inside information that she’d been having a threesome with Adam and you. That’s important. If she didn’t tell me, I’d think she was a bitch and that we must not have been friends at all for her to keep that secret from me. I’d be sure she was hiding something.”

He exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck. He took a few steps away and turned back toward her. “What if she hates threesomes and thinks it’s her hard line, that thing she can’t get past? What if I tell her and she decides that’s her number one reason for getting the hell outta here the moment Justin is better?”

Rachel sucked in a breath. Her lips pursed.

“I can’t take that chance, Rachel. I can’t.”

She looked at him with pity, which he fucking hated. “I know there’s always that chance, Trevor. I’ve thought of that, too. I worry about it. Not everyone is down with that kind of lifestyle. And I don’t know about you, but I’m not ashamed of what we did. Not for one second. It was all wonderful, and I’m so grateful that you gave that to me, and to Adam. I’ll always remember it. But now we’re all moving on and I want you to be happy. I want Rebel to be happy. You want your own woman, and I want that for you, too.”

A wave of tenderness hit him in the chest. He smiled at her, grabbed her hand and pulled her in. He bent down and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I swear you’ve got to be the most kind-hearted person I’ve ever met in my life. Always thinkin’ things through carefully, trying to do the right thing.”

He could feel her body move as she chuckled.

“But listen, if I tell her, I’ll lose her.”

Rachel pulled out of his embrace in order to step back and meet his gaze. “But, Trevor, come on, in order for you and her to have hit it off so well, I’ve gotta think she’s not exactly prudish, right? We’ve already established that despite the fact that she used to be the poster girl for sweet and innocent, she’s…not.”

He grinned. “No, she’s not.” She was his fantasy come to life. “She’s smokin’ hot and knows what she wants.”

“See, there’s got to be a reason why you two hit it off so well. Maybe she’d take this whole threesome thing, which is in the past anyway, and not be as upset about it as you think.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m not taking that chance.”

Rachel exhaled. “Leading with the truth is always best, Trevor.”

Her words hit like stones.

She had no idea.