I put the plates in the cupboard and hum along to the song that's playing on the radio. I took Corey’s warning seriously when he told me to take a walk, but instead of leaving the house, I returned to the kitchen and put on some music, turning the volume in the hope of blocking out any noise coming from their room. I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but the thought of hearing Corey with Niko makes my stomach churn with a feeling that I need to ignore. No, I'm not getting turned on by imagining what Niko and Corey look like together, or at least that’s what I'm desperately trying to convince myself of.

I know I've been attracted to Corey since I got here, I mean, who wouldn’t be? He’s gorgeous and funny, and even though he's off limits, it doesn’t stop my dick from reacting when he's near. What I didn’t expect was the beast that is Niko to also make my heart race. When I turned to find him standing there, his huge presence almost filling the kitchen, I found myself unable to look away. He is fucking gorgeous in a man mountain sort of way. He’s tall with wide sexy shoulders, and a go-fuck-yourself attitude that spoke to the part of me that likes to be told what to do.

Now imagining what Niko might be doing to Corey is turning me on to the point that my cock is aching. I can picture Niko pinning Corey to the mattress and fucking him with all that obvious power and force. I groan as I reach down and rub my erection through my jeans. Fuck, I need to think of anything other than the two guys in the other room.

Moving to the coffee machine, I try to distract myself by grabbing a mug and spending a few minutes making myself a perfect coffee. Once it’s sweet and with the right amount of milk, I turn and head to the back door that leads out to the back of the cabin. It’s a chilly day and I wrap both hands around the mug to keep them warm. I let my eyes flicker over the area in front of me as I try to clean my head of all the thoughts I shouldn’t be thinking of. I think I'm doing quite well until I hear someone approaching me. I listen carefully as I try to work out who it is. I've become used to the way that Corey moves so I know that this isn’t him. My body tenses as the heavy footsteps get closer and I try to cover my nerves by taking a sip of coffee.

Niko’s large body stops next to me, and it takes everything in me not to turn around and look at him. I need to show him that he doesn’t hold all the power and that he doesn’t make me nervous, but that would be easier if neither of those things were true. It’s almost a relief when he speaks, but then the interrogation starts, and I wish for silence again. “Why are you still here?”

I take another drink before answering him because I have a feeling that making him wait will irritate him. I don’t know why that thought thrills me so much, but when he crosses his arms over his chest, I want to fist-punch the air knowing I'm affecting him. “Corey asked me to stay.”

“Corey is too nice.”

“He is, but I'm grateful that he helped.”

Silence follows and it finally gets to me, so I turn to look at Niko. As soon as my eyes connect with his, I wish I’d stayed looking at the trees. He must have had a shower when he was with Corey because his hair is damp and slicked back like he's run his fingers through it. I try not to stare, but when I reach his eyes, I can’t look away. God, he’s beautiful.

A bird calling from the trees finally pulls me out of my staring contest with Niko and I take a step back. My heart is racing, and I'm struggling to keep my body still. Shit, I need to get out of here. The urge to run is building and I don’t know what’s causing it. I don’t know if it’s this strange attraction I’ve developed for two men, or if it’s because I have a feeling that Niko is the kind of guy that will be able to find out I’m a policeman looking for Drake without too much trouble. I need to get to my phone that I stashed in my car and contact Sam so I can find out exactly who Niko is. “I should probably get going.” It’s all I say before I retreat into the kitchen and place my still half-full coffee mug in the sink. It won’t take me long to pack and then I can get out of here. I can be back at my car within the hour, and I won’t look back as I drive away. I’ll find another way of locating Drake.

A hand grabs my arm as I turn away from the sink and electricity shoots over my bare skin where his hand connects. I turn, and I find Niko standing to my side with wide eyes. Did he feel that too? No, no, no. I'm reading too much into it. It was nothing more than static electricity. I want to grab my arm away but instead I just stand there staring at Niko, wondering what he's thinking.

“Hey guys, everything okay?” The sound of Corey’s voice breaks the tension between me, and Niko and I finally have enough sense to pull my arm back.

“Yeah. Its fine. I was just telling Niko that I should probably be on my way now. You’ve let me stay here long enough, and I’m really grateful, but I should give you both your space.” I can’t seem to stop talking even as my mind is screaming at me that I need to stay so I can find out if Niko knows anything about Drake.

A strange look passes over Corey’s face as he glares at Niko, but I ignore it and try to walk past the two of them so that I can get out of here. I’m just leaving the kitchen when it’s Corey’s turn to reach out and grip my arm. Another round of electricity spreads out over my skin, and I barely managed to hold in a whimper. What the fuck is happening to me? This time I pull back straight away, not wanting to deal with the confusion that’s running through my head.

“Niko, talk to him.” I hear anger in Corey’s voice and it adds to my already confused state. I don’t know why Corey is angry, but I know that I don’t want Niko to talk to me. I just want to leave. I take a step back when Niko moves towards me, his presence next to Corey being far too much.

“Grant, I want you to stay.”

A few minutes ago Niko was acting like he wanted to run me off but now he’s telling me to stay. He’s flip-flopping like a fucking fish out of water, and I can’t get my head to work out what the hell is happening. The only important thing is to put distance between these men and me. “I need to leave.”

Niko takes another step towards me, and this time so does Corey. “We want you to stay.” I look to Corey when he speaks.

“I need to go find my friend.”

Corey’s eyebrows furrow in confusion and I wonder what I just said since my brain doesn’t seem to be connected to my mouth anymore. “What friend?”

A warning screams out in my head as I try to remember what I told him in the past. There must have been something that explained why I'm here but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it is. Thankfully Corey helps out, but it only causes panic to rise.

“You said you’d lost a friend. I thought you meant that he died?”

Everything that we spoke about comes rushing back. “I'm sorry you misunderstood. My friend went missing, and I want to find him, that’s why I keep moving. I've stayed here too long, and I need to get back to tracking him down.” It feels good to be able to stick to almost the whole truth. Lying to Corey has become something I try to avoid as it leaves me feeling hollow inside.

“We can help. Niko has friends who can help locate people. Give him the information and we’ll find him, I promise.”

Shit, I really need to get out of here. This whole situation is running away from me, and from the look on Niko’s face, he knows that not everything I'm saying is the truth. He’s studying me like he is trying to put puzzle pieces together so he can get the whole picture. Oh god, he's going to guess. If the truth were ever to get out about what I'm doing here, Corey would be hurt. He would look at me like I was stranger and that would hurt. Niko would have a very different response, and it would also hurt, but in a very different way. Niko is the unknown factor here, but he is the one that is the real threat.

“Stay.” Niko’s tone is gruff, and it causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. He takes a step closer to me as his eyes change from cold and calculating to warmer, softer. I wonder if this is how he looks at Corey when he slips inside him.

My eyes widen as the thought tumbles through my head. I need to stop listening to Corey and Niko, just ignore their voices and get the fuck out of here. I don’t even want to take the time to pack. This whole thing is turning into a fucked-up pile of confusion. I came here hoping to find a clue to finding Drake and here I am lusting over not one, but two men who are also in a relationship with each other. I should just walk out that front door and go back to my old life. Maybe ask Captain for my job back? Probably ask to see the Force shrink because apparently, I'm losing my fucking mind.

Stepping closer to the door I keep my eyes averted so I don’t make eye contact with either man because apparently I can’t make sane decisions when I do. “I'm sorry. I really should go.” That’s it, Grant. You’ve said goodbye, so just keep walking and don’t look back. I almost make it out the door when Niko’s voice booms behind me, making me stop instantly.

“GRANT!”

It’s like I have no control over my body when he says my name. I stop instantly, waiting for him to tell me what to do. It’s Corey that comes to stand in front of me though, and I do the wrong thing. I look up into his eyes, and the moment I do, I know I'm not going anywhere.

“Please stay.”

He looks so innocent standing there with a pleading look on his face, and I just can’t say no. It’s the wrong thing to do, but I nod my head, unable to put into words the fact that I will stay.

I make myself feel better by telling myself that I can spare a few more days to find out about Drake. That the first chance I get I will make a run for it and not look back. I'm not a prisoner, and they can’t keep me here if I don’t want to stay. I think that’s the problem I'm having with this whole situation. I want to stay.

“What's your friends name, Grant?”

I don’t turn to Niko as he asks me for information because it’s easier to lie to him if he can’t see my face. “Tommy Reardon.” I have no idea where I got the name from, but I hope I said it quickly enough that it sounds believable.

“I’ll go talk to Clay, see if he can find anything.” It’s all Niko says before he leaves the room.

My eyes are still trained on Corey who hasn’t looked away since he stepped in front of me. It’s just the two of us left, and even though Niko took some of the tension with him, it still feels more uncomfortable than it has since I arrived.

“Why don’t we go and make something for dinner. I'm sure Niko will be busy with Clay for the rest of the afternoon now.” He doesn’t wait for a response before walking behind me into the kitchen where I hear him opening the fridge.

I use the few minutes on my own to take a deep breath. This afternoon hasn’t exactly gone the way I anticipated it. Actually, the last few weeks haven’t gone the way I had planned. I was meant to spend the day with Corey, get all the information I needed and planting the dummy phone, before taking off so Sam could do his magic and find Drake. Instead, I let my attraction for Corey keep me here, even if I am trying to convince myself it’s something else, something more innocent. Adding to the whole clusterfuck that was already happening, I now have to deal with my attraction to the very scary-looking Niko. I get it. I mean he is exactly the kind of guy I’ve always dreamed of picking up if I was at a pub or club. He’s strong, built and has a give no-fucks-attitude. It presses all my buttons, but it’s guys like Corey that I usually go home with because my nerves typically have me shying away from more dominant partners.

I laugh at the mess that I've managed to create in my head because of the two men in this house. I didn’t think it was possible to fall for two men at the same time, I mean isn’t this sort of thing only for porn. Yes I’ll admit I've watched threesomes before, and yes it was hot enough that I came fast and hard, but even in those staged scenes I always thought one guy looked left out. That left me not wanting to experience something like that in real life. Well, until now.

“Grant?”

I turn towards Corey and realise that I'm still laughing at myself and my situation, but I just can’t seem to stop. All the stress of the last week has caught up with me, and it’s coming out in laughter. Even when tears start streaming down my face I can’t stop, it just makes the whole situation just becomes funnier.

Corey steps slowly in front of me and gives me a look which has me laughing harder. He looks worried and confused, but under all that, there is the look of a man who thinks he's in the presence of a lunatic.

“Should I be worried?”

Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and try to focus on not laughing. I concentrate on clearing my mind and calming down, but it’s difficult when I can feel Corey’s stare on me. I take one final deep breath and brave opening my eyes. Corey has lost the worried look, which is a blessing. Now there’s a smile telling me he's amused. “I'm fine. I don’t even know what was funny.” Liar. “I just couldn’t stop once I started.”

“Okay.” He still doesn’t look convinced by my explanation, but he changes the subject. “Do you want to help with dinner?”

“Yeah, tell me what you want me to do.”

We start preparing vegetable for a stir-fry in comfortable silence. I'm cutting up the peppers while Corey concentrates on the beans and carrot ribbons. It feels very domesticated, and it should have the earlier feeling rising again, but I just feel relaxed. Settled.

“Niko does want you to stay. He just has a hard time … well, not being an overprotective cave man.”

I look at Corey and laugh. That’s the perfect description of Niko, and he says it in such a way that it doesn’t sound anything like the insult it should be. “I kinda noticed. He's a little … scary.” I don’t mind admitting that to Corey because he has eyes, so I’m sure he knows how intimidating his boyfriend is.

“It comes from a good place. He was just worried when he found out you were here. I may have kept it from him until today.”

Well no wonder the guy looked ready to beat me into the ground. “Corey!”

“I know, okay. I just knew that he would lose it and I didn’t want him to drive home because he was worried. He was away trying to keep me safe, and I invited a stranger into the house. He's over-protective, but I could tell you weren’t going to hurt me.”

I look away from him, guilt thick in my throat. He’s right, in a way, I would never hurt him physically, but Niko is right not to trust me. The whole reason I'm here is a lie, and if he were ever to find out, it would hurt him so badly. Corey likes to tell people that he's strong and capable, but you can see that tenderness in his eyes. I think his past has probably thickened his skin but he isn’t the fighter he thinks he is, and this is clearly the part that Niko is trying to protect. “He loves you, that much is clear.” I turn in time to see a goofy smile appear on Corey’s face and I try to ignore the empty feeling in my chest.

“And I love him, more than I expected to. We met in … unusual circumstances that should have kept us apart but they didn’t.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask Corey if Niko was one of the letters but I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself. I'm not meant to know about Corey’s past so I can’t mention it, but it doesn’t stop my mind from racing with all the possible links Niko had to this Ryden guy and possibly Drake. Common sense tells me that there’s no way that Niko was one of the prostitutes. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy that would let others treat him like that, so that means he was part of the business and that realisation has my pulse racing. God, Niko might be the most obvious way to find out about Drake. If he worked for the company, then there is a chance he knew Ryden personally, and if he did, then he can find out about Drake’s location. Unfortunately, that means hanging around longer. Fuck my life.