Chapter 25
Reagan was in the shower when she heard voices in the apartment. Ethan was home and he had someone with him. Trey? Her heart gave an unexpected lurch and started to race. The erotic images she’d seen the night before played through her mind. Trey and Ethan kissing. Ethan’s c**k in Trey’s hand. In his mouth. She didn’t know whether to be aroused or jealous. Admittedly, she was a little of both. And a bit put off by the fact that she’d never be enough to keep Trey happy in the bedroom. As long as he loved only her, she’d be able to deal with it. Maybe.
The bathroom door opened. She peeked out of the shower curtain and was blessed with Trey’s orneriest smile. “Can I come in?”
“We need to talk,” she said. Ground rules. They needed ground rules. Her heart thudded even harder when Trey tilted his head and he did that thing he did when he wanted something. That irresistible, ornery-assed, tell-me-no-if-you-dare look.
“Talk?”
“Yes, talk.”
“Okay,” he agreed and entered the bathroom.
Ethan leaned in through the doorway, looking tall, dangerous, and well-fucked. The bastard. “Room in there for three?”
“We’re going to talk first.”
Ethan’s nose crinkled and he moved back in the hallway. Reagan didn’t miss the familiar way Ethan stroked Trey’s hip before he shut the door behind him. Trey closed the toilet seat lid and sat on its surface.
“Okay, talk,” he said. “But make it quick. You’re naked and wet. I can’t be expected to concentrate on words.”
Reagan’s belly quivered with nerves. What if they couldn’t make this work? What if she had to let him go? What if he ended up feeling something for Ethan and she had to pretend like she was okay with that?
“How often do you think you’ll need to be with Ethan?” she forced herself to ask and noticed she’d been rubbing soap over one arm for several minutes.
“Is this about the rules?” Trey asked.
“I think we need to lay some ground rules at the beginning.”
“Can we try no rules, Reagan?”
She peeked out of the curtain to look at him. “No rules? There have to be some rules. I know you need a man in your life to fulfill you sexually, but I’m not prepared to let you sleep with anyone you choose. What’s the point of being in a relationship if you’re not willing to offer me some sort of commitment?” There. She’d said it. Now the ball was in his court.
He sighed and scrubbed his face with both hands. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I think so.”
He looked up at her, his gaze intense. Not at all like Trey’s usual devil-may-care expression. Reagan’s knees went weak.
“I love you,” he said. “I have never said that to a woman in my life. Not in a romantic capacity.”
“I love you too.”
He smiled. “I want this thing between us to work. I think it’s special.”
“I think so, too.”
“The sexual side of our relationship has to be completely open for it to work.”
“Completely open?”
“What happens when I get tired of Ethan?”
“What happens when you get tired of me?” She didn’t mean to sound like a needy banshee, but it was her biggest concern. Not that Trey would find sexual release with a man, but that he’d stop loving her. Or start loving someone else more than he loved her. She couldn’t stand the thought.
“Won’t happen. I already said I love you.” He clutched the fabric of his jeans at his thighs. “You have to be one hundred percent okay with this part of me or you are going to get hurt. That’s why I left the first time. Not because I wanted to, but because I can’t change for you and I don’t want to hurt you, Reagan. I won’t be the cause of your tears.”
“This is hard,” she said.
He linked his hands together and rested his forearms on his thighs. He stared at his thumbs and asked, “Do you need time to think about it? I can go. Give you more time.”
She shook her head. “I’m ready to try this. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be devastated, but at least I’ll know we tried to stay together.”
He offered her a crooked grin. “I don’t think you’ll regret this decision, Reagan. Ethan and I are both here for your pleasure. And mine. And his.”
She knew her body wouldn’t regret it, but she wasn’t so sure about her heart.
“How do you feel about Ethan committing to us?” Trey asked.
Reagan’s eyes widened. The water was starting to grow cold, so she hurried to rinse off and shut off the shower. “He shouldn’t have to. I mean, if he’s just our sex buddy…”
Trey handed her a towel. “He means more to you than a sex buddy, Reagan. He’s your best friend. Be realistic.”
“I can keep sex and friendship separate,” she said and wrapped the towel around her body. “He’s for you. Not me.”
“He has feelings too,” Trey said. He rubbed a hand over his face. “If he wants to be used as a sex toy, that’s his business, but I don’t think that’s the case. Not after last night.”
Reagan’s heart gave an unpleasant lurch in her chest. “Are you falling for Ethan?”
He chuckled. “Not exactly. I like him. If I thought last night was a onetime thing, I wouldn’t be sitting here discussing this with you, but if you’re putting the stipulation on me that if I want a man, it has to be Ethan—nice choice, by the way—then he needs a say in this too.”
Never in a million years had Reagan expected Trey to be worried about Ethan’s part in this. She had been thinking of Ethan as someone she trusted to serve Trey’s sexual needs and leave when she told him to, not as the man she’d been friends with for years. Not as someone who had feelings and wasn’t just a nice body with a big c**k to keep her boyfriend satisfied. “God, I’m such a bitch! I never once thought about Ethan’s feelings in this. He just seemed so eager to take you to bed.”
She grabbed the doorknob, but Trey caught her around the waist. “Ethan and I talked about this already.”
“Without me?”
“We weren’t trying to exclude you. More like protect you.”
“I don’t need to be protected, Trey. I’m a big girl.”
“We both care about you and we like each other enough to commit three ways.”