Looking Dale in the eye proved a little difficult the next morning, the erotic dream Mike experienced still weighing on him.

Since when do I fantasize about getting into a threesome with my buddy and a girl?

Since when did he lust about a girl he wasn’t even sure he liked?

While his mind might not yet know exactly how he felt about her, his body did. The moment they’d shared had left him unsettled. Wanting.

Hungry…

And he didn’t hunger alone.

Usually, knowing Dale or Sebastian also lusted for a chick would make him back off. He wasn’t into macho games of posturing or vying for affection. Mike wasn’t a guy looking for a permanent entanglement, and yet…something about Brenda drew him. Something about her made him want to throw his usual misgivings to the side.

He wanted her.

But so did Dale.

Only one could have her, though.

Or could they manage to share?

Mike couldn’t help but recall the sense of rightness from his dream, the erotic pleasure of worshipping a woman with his best friend at his side.

Had he suddenly turned bi without knowing it?

Eyeing Dale as he entered the kitchen, Mike didn’t find himself engulfed in lust. Didn’t want to grab his buddy by the ass.

What did it mean?

I’m the shrink. Shouldn’t I know? Could it be that, in this case, he could perhaps find it in him to share?

Then again, it wasn’t just up to him. There was Brenda to consider, and then Dale himself.

Could Dale come around to the way of thinking that so many around the world already had, that sharing one woman, without jealousy, was possible?

Interesting tidbit…Mike noted that Dale had a problem meeting his gaze.

Did he also have the dream? Surely not. Dream walking was something for witches and Native Americans, not a modern-day wolf.

Mike must be imagining things. Then again, maybe he wasn’t because Sebastian, after a moment of silent eating, asked, “What’s up with you two? You’re both acting like you had a fight.”

“A tiny one. No big deal,” Dale replied. “We’re all good now.”

Were they? Yes, they’d stopped fighting enough to get into a car together and go do some investigating for Pete, but they never actually talked about anything.

There wasn’t really any time. All too soon after leaving Brenda’s, they found themselves engrossed in a new witch killing across town.

Either the wizards had fucked up destroying the demon, or there was another one on the loose, or so the evidence indicated.

The crime scene had one body, that of a witch, torn apart. Blood missing. Chunks of flesh gone. However, the bite marks were much smaller than in the previous cases. And Pete indicated a few, stating, “I think there was more than one creature here.”

More than one, with a smaller dentition, a different bite mark entirely, which made them all wonder, was it a demon or something else?

“What did you fight about? Was Mike making you listen to his jazz channel again?” Sebastian teased, oblivious to the source of tension.

Since he kept enough secrets because of his work with disturbed patients, Mike didn’t like keeping any at home. “We ran into Brenda yesterday.”

“What?” Sebastian straightened from his slouch. “I thought she was off-limits on account she was Pete’s girlfriend’s best friend.”

“Yes, was, is,” Mike emphasized, “off-limits. I didn’t hunt her down on purpose. I ran into her at work.”

“And she kissed him,” Dale added.

“She kissed Mike?” Sebastian didn’t have to sound so incredulous.

Mike glowered.

“Don’t be too worried. She called it nice,” Dale mocked.

“Don’t be so smug,” Mike snapped. “She said the same thing about you.”

“Hold on a second, you both kissed her?”

“Kissed and groped. But we didn’t go all the way if that’s what you’re asking,” Dale replied.

No, they hadn’t, though Mike didn’t admit that had she not walked away, he would have totally claimed her. On his desk. The very idea of it so wildly out of character, yet he hoped she’d come back to finish what they’d started.

Sebastian slapped his hand on the table. “Totally unfair. I thought we’d made a pact to stay away from her. And now I find out you’re both making out with her behind my back.”

“Not behind your back since it only happened yesterday and we’re telling you now.”

“So, who’s getting her?”

While the word “me” sat on the tip of his tongue, Mike held back. “No one.”

“Let’s not be hasty,” Dale interjected. “She’s obviously interested.”

“So you want to let her choose?” Mike wouldn’t fare so well in a straight-up competition with Dale. He lacked some of the suave moves and pretty words his friend used so easily.

“Hey, if we’re letting her decide, then I should get a turn, too. After all, I was interested before Mike was.”

Add Sebastian to the mix with his long hair and flirty manner?

It wasn’t just Mike who growled, “Fuck no.”

Dale continued. “Let’s not make this more complicated than it has to be.”

“In other words, two’s company but three’s a crowd,” Sebastian bitched.

Actually, three was a ménage, but Mike kept his mouth shut. Despite today’s laws encouraging women to have harems to keep the male population in check, he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

How would he handle jealousy?

Sharing her body?

I can’t. He wanted her to himself.

Still, that dream…that fantasy almost made him think another way was possible.

Madness.

Or the only way to win her over?

One thing’s for sure, if I want any kind of chance with her, I’m going to have to be nice. Even if it killed him.