“What the fuck was that all about?” I ask.
“Cherri is Ace’s ex. Things didn’t end well,” Cash says.
“Well, yeah, I figured that much out myself,” I mutter. “But what’s her deal?”
“Her deal is she’s a raging bitch,” Gage quips, chuckling before taking a sip of his drink.
“I got that impression too,” I say dryly. “But why is she so angry? What happened between you two? What was she talking about when she told me to watch my back?” I look at Ace, but hedoesn’t meet my gaze. He remains silent, sipping his drink and brooding.
The guys look over at Ace, and when they realize he isn’t going to answer me, Gage does instead. “Cherri and Ace dated for about six months. Their relationship was pretty fiery, and they had a lot of issues from the start. But that isn’t always a problem for Ace, he likes passion, a woman who can argue back, the last thing he wants is some wallflower.” He says this pointedly, as if making sure I know.
Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.
He continues, “Cherri was crazy jealous. If a woman so much as looked at Ace, there’d be a blazing row. She was even envious of me and Cash, of how much time we hung out and the fact that we lived together. She wanted Ace all to herself.”
“Who could blame her when I’m so lovable?” Ace interjects sarcastically.
“Things got worse when Cherri found out that we occasionally like to… umm… share women,” Cash says awkwardly.
I feel as if it all rides on this moment. My reaction will determine how they view me from now on. I opt for a casual, “And?”
“Well, first off, she was jealous as fuck knowing that, and secondly, she realized that she was never gonna have the life she wanted with Ace. He wasn’t the house-with-three-kids-and-a-white-picket-fence kinda guy, at least not the way she wanted to be. She realized then that the three of us are kind of a package deal,” Gage says.
Cash takes over again. “To be fair to her, she said she was willing to try, that she loved Ace enough to give it a go. The only problem was that it wasn’t what we wanted. We don’t want a woman with us just to make one of us happy. We want someone who wants us all as much as we want her. I know it sounds strange, odd, even, but we’ve found that we usually always have feelings for the same women, and that we enjoy… erm, sharing, sexually…” he clears his throat, embarrassed.
“You’re forgetting the biggest problem of all. Cherri was the first woman that we didn’t all want. Even if she could have gotten over it, we didn’t want her. I couldn’t stand Cherri,” Gage admits.
“Why?” I ask, curious. “She’s beautiful, and you said none of you mind fiery women. Why didn’t you want her?”
I’m surprised when Ace finally speaks up. “She’s beautiful, yes, and passionate, qualities we all like. But Cherri is manipulative, controlling, and wildly jealous. She wasn’t right for me, let alone for all of us. When she gave me an ultimatum, her or them, it was an easy decision. I ended it with her.” Ace shrugs, and I’m relieved to know he doesn’t seem to regret his decision. He’s not pining for her.
“Cherri didn’t take the breakup well. She claims we poisoned her against him. She also likes to pretend we’re perverted, and she dumped him because of our sexual preferences, conveniently ignoring the fact that she was open to it before I rejected her,” Gage adds.
It dawns on me then, with toe-curling embarrassment, that I’m basically like Cherri. “Is that why you disapproved of me having sex with Gage? Because you don’t like me and think I’m going to be like her? That I’ll try to come between you?”
A flicker of surprise crosses Ace’s face, and he sits up straighter. “No. Not at all. I disapproved because of your vulnerable position. I didn’t want you to feel taken advantage of, not by any of us.”
The words ‘any of us’ ring in my ears. Does that mean what I think it does? Emboldened by the liquor, I come right out and ask. “Does that mean that all three of you are attracted to me? Not just Gage?”
“Yes,” Cash admits. Candid as always.
Ace frowns and clenches his jaw, grinding his teeth. “That’s irrelevant. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re under our protection, or the circumstances of how you came to be here.”
I get up and walk over to stand in front of Ace. I refuse to back down. We’re past the point of no return. “If I asked to walk out of that door right now, to be granted my freedom, would you grant it?”
Ace takes a moment before begrudgingly admitting. “Yes. If that’s what you really wanted, of course, you could leave at any time. You’re not our prisoner.”
I nod, satisfied. “Fine. Then I choose to stay, but I know I can leave at any time. Which makes your point irrelevant. If I decide to fuck all three of you, it’s because I want to, not because I feel forced into doing so. Is that clear?”
Ace looks surprised by the suggestion that I would want to have sex with them. He looks at me in utter bewilderment. “But you hate me.”
I decide that if this is going to work, if we’re going to try this, then I have to be brutally honest with them and myself.“I don’t hate you. Sometimes I want to throttle you, and you infuriate me. But I don’t hate you. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to all of you, if I claimed I wasn’t intrigued by what you’ve told me.” I can feel Gage and Cash’s eyes on me, waiting to see how this unfolds. With a deep breath, I dive overboard. I walk over to Ace and sit on his lap. I stroke his face, down the scar that slices through his left eyebrow, and into his beard. I look him in the eye and murmur, “What’s the harm in trying?”
My lips are just a fraction away from his. I can smell the alcohol on his breath, and I’m sure he can on mine. “You’re drunk,” he says softly. I can feel his resistance breaking.
“I don’t care,” I whisper, bridging the gap between us and kissing him. He resists for only a second before kissing me back. It’s passionate and intense, and I’m immediately hungry for him, for all of them. “I want you all to fuck me,” I moan in his ear, channeling my inner porn star.
Like a bright light switched on too suddenly in a darkened room, whatever spell I had cast breaks. Ace reacts like I’ve doused a bucket of water over him. He pulls away, gripping my shoulders and scrutinizing me. “Jesus, Naomi! You’re too drunk. You’ve no idea what you’re saying, what you’re signing up for. You’ve only had sex once, for fuck’s sake.”
