Four days and four unbelievable nights later, Annie walked into the condo. A lightness filled her steps. The thoughts of what could go wrong still flooded her every other minute, but she’d found a peace of sorts in being with both of them.
They were so different. Jasper, easygoing and hard to rattle. Dave, a bit compulsive with a need for order. They complemented each other, even as they joked and gave each other shit about almost everything.
Dave had skipped the hotel and slept with them ever since the night. Their first time. Since then, they’d had her together and taken her one at a time. But other than touching each other and some kissing, Dave and Jasper hadn’t actually had sex with each other. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but she intended to ask.
The comforting mumble of voices and deep male laughter greeted her as she dropped her bag and kicked off her high heels. She was pretty sure she smelled bacon, nature’s perfect food.
She tiptoed across the family room, thinking to surprise them. Hoping they would give her a special kind of welcome home.
She turned the corner and stopped. They stood in the kitchen. Jasper was stirring something in a pan on the stove and Dave was standing behind him. They were touching everywhere. Dave rested his front against Jasper’s back and had his arms wrapped around Jasper’s waist.
Dave leaned in, kissing the space behind Jasper’s ear. “I missed you.”
It was a whisper but she heard the words. They shot right through her, waking every doubt and shining a glaring spotlight on them.
Jasper must have heard or felt her, because he looked up. He didn’t disconnect from Dave or push him away, but he did smile at her in his usual warm welcome-home way.
For Jasper, this was normal. He’d already come to accept what the three of them had and had sorted through any problems he had with it. That realization hit her and nearly knocked her over.
“Hey, baby.” His smile slowly fell. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She forced the word out over whatever was clogging her throat.
Dave stepped back then. His eyes narrowed as his arms fell to his sides. “Annie?”
“Seeing you two together.” God, she didn’t even know how to explain, especially since she had wanted this relationship. She loved when they touched. But that was in the bedroom. For some reason, seeing their hands on each other while doing something as mundane as cooking had her insides tumbling…and not in a sexy way. “You fit.”
Jasper nodded. “We all fit.”
The words rolled out of him and she knew he meant them. Jasper rarely said anything he didn’t mean.
“Is it really that easy for you?” The question spilled out of her before she could call it back. She didn’t even know she thought it until it was out there and then it was all she could think about. “You proposed to me and now you slip into this relationship with both of us, and…”
She heard her sharp tone and knew she was being bitchy and unfair. She started over. “I’m weirded out that you can accept all of this without question.”
Jasper took a step toward her. “You think I’m not treading carefully through this, trying not to ruin what we have and destroy Dave in the process?”
She tried to be reasonable. “We knew this wouldn’t be easy.”
“For you?” Dave’s voice rose. “I’m the extra. I’m the one walking into a happy relationship.”
In just a few sentences she’d cracked the thin shield holding them together. All their insecurities spilled out. The warmth seeped out of the room and Annie wasn’t sure how to get it back.
“What’s going on? I thought everything was fine.” Jasper reached for the knob on the stove and turned the burner off.
“Me, too.” She did, but now she was shaking. She didn’t know if it was fear or something else. Panic, maybe? She leaned against the couch and tried to catch her breath.
“Should I go?” Dave asked.
“You can’t do that.” Jasper practically shouted at him. “We promised we’d be honest and talk things out. You can’t run whenever doubts arise.”
All the color drained from Dave’s face. “Is that what this is?”
She wanted to reach out to him to reassure him, but her muscles refused to move. Her body locked up and the start of a massive headache pounded at the back of her brain.
“Dave…” That’s all she had.
Pain settled in his eyes. “We can still turn back. We can call this off.”
“Absolutely not.” Jasper shook his head, clenching his jaw. He looked from Annie to Dave, then back again. “Everything was fine ten minutes ago. We talked twice today and you were happy.”
“I know.” She did. She was…she probably still was. Hell, she didn’t know what was going on or why it was punching her to the floor right now. “I just need…”
She had no idea how to finish that sentence. Her heart ached. Dave’s expression, which held a mix of confusion and fear, crushed her. So did Jasper’s frustration. It bounced off the walls and thumped all around her.
“Give me a minute.” She didn’t even know what that meant, but she said it anyway.
“For what?”
She had no idea how to answer Dave. She had to move. Somehow, she put one foot in front of the other and shuffled away from them. Ignored them when they called her name and pleaded for her to come back.
She broke out of there and headed for the bedroom. She’d spent her entire adult life refusing to run away from things…and now she couldn’t leave fast enough.