“How thefuckdo you do that?” Josh asked. “You didn’t even say anything.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, clapping him on the back and pushing off the rail to sit on one of the couches.
We spent the next hour lost in conversation, the champagne flowing freely and the music thumping through the air around us. The more I talked to the dark-haired woman (we’ll call her Kristin), the more I realized she was different from the usual crowd. She wasn’t over-the-top or too eager for attention. She had a confidence about her that made it feel like we’d known each other for years.
I caught Josh and Max laughing across from us as they talked to her friend, but my focus kept drifting back to her. There was something about her, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but something that I was more than willing to explore.
Eventually, the conversation turned toward what we did for a living—she and her friend were trauma nurses at a nearby hospital—and when I told her about the band, she smiled.
“Iknewyou guys looked familiar!” she said. “We tried to get tickets tonight, but it sold out too fast.”
“Ah, so you’re a fan,” I said, moving my arm to rest on the couch behind her. She smiled and nodded as she leaned back into the couch, giving me the green light to wrap my arm around her shoulders.
“God, yes. Music is my lifeline after a tough day in the E.R.,” she explained.
“See, that’s exactly what I love most about what I do,” I said, leaning in a little closer and moving my middle finger in slow circles on her bare shoulder. “It’s all about the way you make people feel.”
She met my gaze, her lips curling into a knowing smile. “It’s all about connection,” she said softly, touching my knee before slowly sliding her hand up my thigh.
Max and Kevin, who were happily committed to their significant others, sensed the turn this night was about to take and excused themselves to head back to the hotel. Josh and his girl were already making out on the couch across from us, and when Kristin asked what I was waiting for, I stopped holding back.
When she broke the kiss and called her friend over to the couch, my eyes went wide when they started kissing each other. I looked over to Josh, who looked as shocked as I felt.
“So,” Kristin said as her friend sat in her lap and began kissing her neck. She closed her eyes and let out a soft moan before returning her attention back to Josh and me. “Do you boys want to get out of here?”
Despite my reputation, I don’t kiss and tell, so I won’t go into explicit detail about what happened after we left the club that night, but I will say that it was a very pivotal moment for me. I’d always wondered what being with more than one person would be like, and once I’d experienced it, I also knew it wasn’t something I’d choose to do again.
Not that it didn’t inflate the fuck out of my ego or wasn’t some of the best sex I’d ever had, but because I realized that I was happiest when I was in a relationship. Getting to know someone on more than just a carnal level. Sure, sex was great, but I missed being committed to one person.
This part of my life was proving to be hectic and unpredictable, and the honest truth was that it wasn’t what I wanted for my personal life. I wanted stability. Commitment. Trust.
Love.
And it became abundantly clear that night in Miami that love wasn’t what I was going to find out on the road.
TWENTY-FIVE
Ty
? Closer – Nine Inch Nails ?
If I thought hearing about Eric’s wild night in Miami had affected me in the moment, I was completely unprepared for how it affected my subconscious. I had a very detailed dream last night about being in a hotel room with Eric and Josh, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t suddenly curious as fuck about what it’d be like to have them both. I already knew what Eric was capable of, and Josh just oozed sex appeal, so there was no way he wouldn’t also be incredible.
It started as a passing thought. One of those fleeting, reckless ideas that slink through your mind when you’re exhausted—or, in my case, delusional—but once it rooted itself, it refused to leave.
It felt so real. I could still hear their filthy words in my ear, feel the touch of their hands on my skin—both familiar and thrillingly unfamiliar.
I can blame Eric’s story for planting the seed, but I also blame the way Josh looks at me sometimes. All teasing smirks and knowing eyes, like he sees right through the careful lines I draw around myself. And Eric?God, Eric is already in my veins and under my skin, woven into me in ways I can’t undo. He’s possessive in a quiet way, always watching, always lingering a second too long. I shouldn’t want more. Shouldn’t want something impossible. Hell, I’m the reason none of this can happen.
But what if?
Eric and Josh, two halves of the same reckless, beautiful thing. Eric would be controlled and deliberate—he always is, even in his chaos. He’d anchor me with his steady hands and whispered reassurances. Josh? I bet he’d push. He’d provoke. He’d absolutely ruin me. I can almost hear the way their voices would clash, teasing me, edging me, seeing how far I’d let them go.
There’s something so thrilling about the idea—the weight of them both. The warmth, the intensity. Being wanted that much, being taken apart in different ways.
I know it’s just a fantasy. Know it’s going to stay locked in the depths of my mind, a secret even Eric won’t ever get to know. But still…
“Alright, what’s on the docket today?” Eric asks, sliding into the booth across from me and handing me a mug full of fresh coffee, jolting me out of the mental bed we were currently tangled up in.
