The Chase

Beck and Seth hunted her down early that day—she still had no idea how they were so uncanny—and led her to Lover’s Cove, where they just held hands and kissed while watching the waves and the other tourists go by. Late in the afternoon, they took a private Jeep ride up the island’s peaks for an amazing three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the Pacific Ocean. They found a cozy steakhouse, indulged in filets, lobsters, and wine, before retiring to a charming hotel on the water and their suite with a full view of Avalon Bay.

They ended the night not by exploring her sexuality and pushing her boundaries but by wrapping themselves around her and making slow, sweet love to her that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.

After a leisurely breakfast, they took the ferry back to Long Beach together. Beck drove the two of them to his place, Seth following in his SUV. Heavenly was glad not to be driving. She’d had enough California traffic to last her a long while. Besides, she was beginning to feel far more settled when she was with one or both of the guys than when she had time alone.

What does that tell you about where your future lies?

She wasn’t ready to answer that voice. It would be so, so easy to tell Beck and Seth she loved them, too, and wanted to stay forever. But her father had only been gone two weeks. That wasn’t long enough to decide the rest of her life.

The bigger problem? She hadn’t given any alternative future a chance. She needed the comparison…but it was getting hard for Heavenly to picture any future without them.

* * *

Sunday, April 14

They wokeSunday morning to rain—and an absolutely empty refrigerator.

As Seth spooned Heavenly while Beck pressed good-morning kisses to her face, he was perfectly content to enjoy the sound of the drops hitting the roof…until his stomach rumbled.

Heavenly giggled as she looked at him over her shoulder. “I’d offer to make you breakfast, but…”

He kissed the tip of her nose, then settled his mouth over hers. God, he loved the way she smelled in the morning—feminine, fresh, musky. The scent of last night’s sex clung to her and made him eager to violate her again.

On the other side of the bed, Beck must have had the same idea since he palmed her breast and took her nipple in his mouth. Just the sight of her, soft and naked and being aroused by the surgeon, was enough to turn Seth’s morning wood into something real and urgent.

“Again?” she breathed.

“Are you complaining, angel?” Seth asked as he dipped his hand between her legs to find her already wet.

Beck was too busy with her tits to participate in the conversation.

“No,” she gasped.

He smiled. “I didn’t think so.”

“But you’re hungry.”

“I am. So why don’t you roll onto your back and spread your pretty thighs for me?”

On her other side, Beck grunted his approval and took her untended nipple onto his tongue.

“I meant for breakfast,” she all but moaned as she complied, her back arching.

Seth loved that she was already panting as he positioned his mouth above her slick flesh. “Food can wait. I’d rather have you.”

As he feasted, Beck swallowed down her cries with his kiss, then kept her mouth plenty busy after Seth put his condom to good use.

A sweaty, screaming while later, Seth fell back to the mattress, breathing like a bellows following a spine-melting orgasm—and barely caught himself from rolling off the edge of the mattress. “I know this bed is king-size, but it’s too goddamn small for three adults.”

Between breaths of repletion, Beck glared at him. “We need something bigger. You take up a lot of space.”

Between them, Heavenly seemed to curl into herself. “It’s fine. Besides, finding a bigger bed seems like a lot of effort.”

Seth heard her subtext loud and clear: she might not be here seven weeks from now. Yes, they’d given her until the end of the semester to make up her mind, but after the week they’d just shared, he’d never pictured her leaving. Her reminder—almost like a warning—felt like a slap to the face.

His mood went to hell. He jackknifed out of bed. “I’m going to take a shower.”

As if on cue, Beck’s phone went off. He reached for it on the nightstand and scanned the screen. “I’ll hop in after you. Looks like I might get a case the surgeon on call can’t handle.”