“That went well,” Loren drawled sarcastically the moment Braxton shut her door. I already knew she was smart, but when I heard the snick of her bedroom lock turning, I realized she had great instincts too. “Great idea, Rich. I’m so glad you talked us into this.”
“I didn’t talk you into anything. You were already thinking it. We all were.”
Loren sighed rather than argue. “Back to the drawing board, I guess. Fuck this three-musketeer shit. I’d rather be all for me and none for you anyway.”
“She never said no.”
“She never gave us the middle finger either, but the fuck you was implied.”
“We iced her out for two months, Lo. Just give her a couple of days. We can try again.”
Loren’s sneer that he directed at Rich told me we’d already lost him. It seemed there was no hope for a plan that didn’t fail when it came to Braxton Fawn. She was too complex to strategize, and we still weren’t worthy opponents.
Rich’s suggestion of not making her choose had so many holes in it, I couldn’t blame Loren for jumping a sinking ship. There was only one option left, but I couldn’t help wondering if the cost was too great. Not one of us would stick around and watch her be happy with whoever she chose. It would mean the end of our friendship that was barely hanging on. It would mean the end of Bound.
“Why the hell are you pushing this so hard anyway?” Lo grilled Rich. “It was a crap idea, to begin with. Share her? Do you know how much that makes my balls itch? Fuck you.”
“I don’t see you coming up with ideas.”
“Sure, I have.” Loren grinned, kicking his legs up on the suite’s coffee table and lacing his fingers behind his head. “My plan is to make her fall in love with me. Whichever one of you cries the least about it can be my best man at our wedding.”
Rich, who had more patience than was wise, looked ready to swing on Lo. “What makes you so sure she’ll choose you over one of us?”
“Have you seen my rock-hard abs and gorgeous hair? What am I saying? Of course, you have.” The look Loren gave him was mocking and knowing, which Rich avoided by turning his head. Naturally, Loren wasn’t ready to let it go. He’d push every button necessary to get the reaction he needed. “Oh, no, don’t be ashamed, Jericho. I’m honored, you being so straight and all, took it up the ass so that I’d stick around.”
Rich shot to his feet, his angry gaze like liquid silver as he fixed it on Lo. “I’m not ashamed,” he snapped. “I’m just wondering why I bothered.”
Something in Rich’s gaze made Loren hesitate before he said, “Me too.”
Rich stormed off and closed himself up in the room they were supposed to share before Loren got himself thrown into the doghouse. Again. Now he’d be sleeping on the couch instead of the spare bed, and I doubted the opulent piece of furniture had been designed for comfort.
Feeling Loren’s gaze, I found him silently attempting to pry open my mind so he could piss me off and push me away too. He probably thought it would make it easier when he tried to take Braxton for himself. It hadn’t worked out for him the first time but being pigheaded was at the top of his vices. I had yet to figure out how he’d gotten so smart learning shit the hard way. Maybe it was because he insisted on having to be told everything twice.
I sighed. “Unless you want the room’s security deposit taken out of our cut for this tour, I suggest you swallow whatever you’re about to say to me, Lo.”
“I’m just wondering how you sleep at night.” Unlacing his fingers from behind his head and lowering his arms, he spread them once again along the back of the couch. “First, you convince us Savant’s shitty deal was a dream, and then you let Rich believe that sharing a woman was actually possible.”
“Why are you so sure it’s not?”
“Because that’s not how love works.”
“How do you know when you’ve never been in love, Lo? Our only knowledge of it is what we’ve been told. It’s second-hand information.”
“But have you thought about what happens when this gets out? Don’t kid yourself into thinking it won’t, and I’m not keeping Braxton a secret.”
“Neither will I, but whose opinion are you so concerned about? Strangers we pass on the street? People we’ll never meet? Our families who don’t give a shit if we’re sad, much less if we’re happy? We get to define what true love is for ourselves. No one is entitled to do it for you. Once she’s mine, I’d never hurt her, neglect her, or let her forget that she’s the axis on which I spin. I can do the same with my best friends hanging around. We were already family, Lo. We built a career together. We share a house… We don’t even have separate bank accounts. What’s mine has always been yours. This world is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and the people in it would rather you be miserable as long as they’re comfortable. Why not carve out our own piece and be free to love how we choose?”
Loren was quiet for a moment, staring at the wall ahead of him before muttering, “Maybe.”
Afraid I might be forcing him into something his soul couldn’t take, I continued. “I’m not telling you that it’s wrong to want Braxton for yourself. It doesn’t make you anything other than who you are. But if your only objection is what other people will think—”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” he said, cutting me off.
It was probably for the best since I could feel my heart racing inside my chest. This was the closest I’d come to keeping us all together. It wasn’t just about Bound. Besides my grandmother, Rich and Loren were the only family I ever truly cared about. I had to seize the opportunity Brax had unwittingly given us. I never thought sharing my woman was something I’d ever do. It contradicted everything I thought I knew about myself as a man, and I had the feeling no other woman could have convinced me to take such a leap of faith. No one.
“The girl always gets the most shit during a scandal,” he pointed out. “Men will pat us on our backs while Braxton is belittled by the same women vying to take her spot. Guys will assume she’s easy game. It—” A frustrated look twisted Loren’s features. “I already want to commit murder, and nothing’s even happened. She won’t even hear us out.”
“She will.”
“How?” Loren returned skeptically. “We buy her diamonds and flowers? You know Braxton better than that. She’ll just find the highest window and throw them out.”
I scratched my chin because he had a point. Braxton could hold a grudge and had the temper to keep it going. It definitely made me think twice about crossing her in the future.
“We’ll figure something out.” I tipped my chin toward the closed door of the spare bedroom. “Go make up with Rich. He’s always been Braxton’s favorite, and three heads are better than two.”
