Heat & Desire (Surrender to Them 4)

“When I was eighteen, I stayed at your house as much as possible, but there was one weekend… one weekend when I showed up while Beth was out of town.” Wendy’s eyes locked on mine for a moment, and then they immediately looked away.

“I—don’t remember that.” I tilted my head in the opposite direction, quickly trying to find any memory of it, but nothing came to mind.

“You didn’t see me.” Wendy sighed and her shoulders slumped. “But I saw you—both of you.”

“Huh?” Micah let go of her hand and I saw his face twist into a perplexed stare. “You did?”

“You were both upstairs…” Her words trailed off.

“Oh my god.” I looked at Micah and saw the realization spread across his face.

“Fuck…” Micah exhaled sharply. “That weekend.”

“I do remember something about that weekend—I got a message from Beth that said you were stopping by, and then another one that said you changed your mind.” I blinked as a blank stare settled on my face. “Fuck!”

“I saw your truck parked in the garage, and I tried to knock. I’ve asked myself a million times why I didn’t just ring the damn doorbell.” Wendy sighed and shook her head. “Beth told me where the key was, and said you might have gotten a ride with a friend, so I let myself in the house.”

“I’m so fucking sorry you had to see that.” I moved my chair closer and grabbed Wendy’s hand. “That was a hard time in my life. I was dealing with so much shit, and Micah was…”

“I was the enabler, I suppose.” Micah sighed and let go of Wendy’s hand. “I saw that Brody had a lot of the same internal conflicts I had, and we found our own way of dealing with it. A crisis can do strange things to people.”

“I planned to keep the secret forever.” Wendy sighed again. “Then I met the other man in the room.”

“That’s why you were so hesitant to go out with me.” Micah nodded and leaned back in his chair. “I can’t say I blame you. Hell, I probably would have been a little skeptical too if I saw that.”

“We haven’t done anything like that in several years.” I squeezed Wendy’s hand. “Micah promised me that he was looking for something serious with you, and I believe he’s telling the truth.”

“I think so too.” Wendy turned her head towards Micah. “I had a great time tonight, and I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. When you kissed me…”

“You kissed her?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“Yes, he did.” Wendy nodded in confirmation.

“I guess it was a really good date.” I exhaled sharply through pursed lips.

“I realized that I was probably going to want to see Micah again, but eventually, I would have to tell him the truth.” Wendy’s eyes met mine. “If I told Micah, it wouldn’t be right to ask him to keep the secret, so I had to tell you as well.”

And yet she still wanted me, even after witnessing that.

“At least things are already awkward.” I forced a smile and tried to break the tension with a joke. “Now they can be awkward with good reason.”

“They don’t have to be awkward—not anymore.” Wendy shook her head back and forth.

“Thank you for telling me, but I really am sorry you saw that at such a young age. If I had any idea you were stopping by, I wouldn’t have brought that woman back to my house.” I let go of her hand and sighed.

“I’m sorry too—even though I didn’t know you back then. We were so focused on what we wanted that we didn’t stop to think about much else. He said Beth was away for the weekend, and I thought his house would be more impressive than my apartment.” Micah leaned forward against the table.

“I’ve come to terms with what I saw. Trust me, it wasn’t easy. I was so infatuated with you…” Wendy looked over at me.

“Nothing like a threesome to shatter the image you have of someone.” I nodded in understanding.

“Well, I asked both of you to listen—and I’m not quite done.” Wendy looked over at Micah. “I like you. You’re much different than I expected, and that kiss… I definitely wasn’t expecting it to make me feel the way it did.”

“I like you too, and I’d still like to take you out again sometime.” Micah’s lip twisted into a half-smile. “If that’s even possible now.”

“Perhaps, but the situation may be a little different.” Wendy turned her attention back towards me. “Because I still haven’t completely shaken my feelings for you.”

“We talked about this…” My words trailed off.