He nodded. Then shook his head.
“I think— I think we need to talk about this, or someone is going to end up hurt.”
I nodded.
Sonny said, “I’m vers.”
I hadn’t been thinking along those lines, so I turned to him in surprise. I nearly missed the incredulous look that Declan shot him before saying, “Really?”
“Yes, I am!”
Declan frowned again. I had to think about it. I wasn’t sure what they knew about each other’s preferences, considering they’d never slept together, but I hadn’t got those vibes from Sonny.
“It’s okay to be whatever you are,” I said.
Sonny looked down, and even though we were all pressed so closely together, a sticky triangle of people, I felt him fiddling with my tentacle, rubbing his thumb over the outside and the underside.
“Whatever you are, we still want you,” I assured him.
“Really?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Because I’m actually a bottom. I don’t like topping at all. Are you sure you still want me?”
I tugged him closer. “I’m very sure. I’m vers, and I’ll happily top you. If this is what we want,” I added, suddenly realising I might have got ahead of myself.
After all, they hadn’t actually decided anything yet. They might have changed their minds, now their lust was dissipated and we were standing in the pre-dawn light, in the chilly bedroom, covered in each other’s come.
Sonny looked at me, suddenly smiling directly at me, and it was like the sun had risen and was streaming directly in through the window to bathe us in its light. I’d never actually got the full force of Sonny’s smile before, not like this. He looked at mewith so much sunny happiness that I suddenly understood what Declan had meant, one day when he’d let slip that he called Sonny his ray of sunshine. It warmed me from the inside out.
He leaned forward slightly and pressed a quick kiss to my lips, and it was such a casual, intimate action that it almost floored me.
He looked at Declan. “What about you? Are you a top or a bottom?”
“I’m vers, with a preference for topping.”
Sonny beamed. “So are we all happy now? Is that it?”
Declan cleared his throat. “I actually didn’t mean we should talk about sex positions. I meant we need to talk aboutthis.”
He nodded down at the three of us, entwined with my tentacles.
“You mean the fact that I’m a shifter.”
“Actually, I meant about—” He took a breath and carried on, and I was proud of him for saying what he needed to say, even when it was difficult for him. “I suppose I meant about our feelings. I-I think we all need to decide for ourselves what we want, and see if we can make it work.”
Chapter 23
Sonny
“My phone doesn’t work, even though I charged it,” I said, shaking it as though that would solve the problem, as though I could shake it awake or something.
Erik reached over and plucked the phone out of my hand and popped the back open.
“It’s wet,” he said.
“Oh, I assumed it hadn’t gone into the lake with me. I suppose it must have, though, if it was in my pocket.”
