“We were talking about how it felt,” Wyatt says finally. “And what it means.”
“Okay,” she says. “And…what did you decide?”
I set my glass down on the table. “We didn’t decide anything,” I say. “We were checking in to make sure we were both okay with everything, but when it comes to moving forward, what any of that means, that’s up to you. We’ll just follow your lead.”
Max’s eyes widen slightly. “Oh.”
She leans forward, elbows on her knees, and the hem of that shirt rides up a fraction. I see skin. Thigh. My brain goes blank.
“So,” says Wyatt, “I guess the question now is…howdoyou feel about it?”
Max’s eyes flick between us. Her mouth twists thoughtfully.
“That night,” she says carefully, “felt like…really being seen. Being accepted. Being loved…It was…beautiful.”
I feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Itwasbeautiful. And it’s a relief to hear her say so.
“I keep thinking,” she continues, lips quirking, “that I’m asking for too much.”
“No, honey.” Wyatt shakes his head. “You absolutely are not.”
We’re silent for a beat, everyone thinking, and then Max breaks the silence.
“So, then, do we…” She looks at me. “Do it again? Or…?”
Whew.Heat licks up my spine at that one. I take a deep breath and raise my eyes to Wyatt. Luckily he answers her, because I don’t think I can.
“That’s sort of what we were talking about,” he says. He looks at me. “I was suggesting that, if it’s something we all feelcomfortable with, we just let it happen kind of organically, you know? Not overthink it if it feels right.”
Max’s eyes flick my way. I’m aware of the subtext here, that both of them keep checking in with me.
“I was also telling Wyatt that I didn’t have a problem with it—surprisingly. Watching you with them…” I take a deep breath. “It turns me on.”
Her eyebrows lift. “It does?”
“Yes. It’s…basically all I can think about.”
She just looks stunned.
“It doesn’t mean I…I don’t feel some kind of way about you belonging to us. With them, with my brothers…it felt like I could watch you in a safe way. You don’t know how fucking hot it gets me to see you turned on, Max. Jesus.”
She blinks at me. I can seeing heat rising on her cheeks. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I huff, almost in disbelief at how strongly I feel it. “Fucking yes.”
“Huh.” She picks up her wine glass and takes a sip, eyes on the ceiling like she’s thinking it through. “So…if I were to get up right now and go kiss Wyatt, you…wouldn’t be upset?”
Fuck.The idea of her walking over there to kiss him, bending over in only a t-shirt, makes molten lava course through my veins.
“No,” I answer, with feigned coolness. “It would not.”
Max’s eyes stay on mine for a few seconds, then her mouth curves slowly. “Okay.”
She puts her wine glass down and stands up. Wyatt’s gaze lifts, shoulders subtly squaring, attention sharpening. He leans forward to put his glass down on the coffee table. Big, rough-looking hands. I have the weirdest, most unwelcome thought that I want to see him handle her.
Bare legs. Soft muscle. She takes her time, stands in front of him, and then bends forward slowly, the back of the t-shirt hiking up her ass as she does.
She isnotwearing any panties. And the hint of shadow between her legs is enough to make blood rush painfully to my cock.
