When he hit the bottom of the stairs, he glanced into the living room and froze. Then he blinked, sure he wasn’t seeing what he thought he was seeing.
Cam was flat on his back on the couch with Reggie’s naked body draped across his chest. The blanket was in a ball at her feet, and Cam’s hand was cupped over her smoothly rounded ass.
But she’d been naked last night when they’d gone to bed. Could be she’d just come down in one of her late night forays and ended up snuggled up with Cam.
His gaze drifted to Cam’s clothes lying on the floor, and he quickly disabused himself of that notion.
He was simultaneously bombarded by a whole host of emotions. One part of him wanted to jump and do a fist pump, but then what kind of a moron did that make him? The other part honestly wanted to go drag Reggie off of Cam, wrap her in that blanket and take her upstairs, where he’d lock her in his room for the better part of a week.
The second option sounded better and didn’t make him as big of a pussy as the first.
Hope bubbled up in his chest. Was she any closer to accepting them? Obviously Cam had succeeded in getting past her barricades. As relieved as he was, he was also jealous as hell that it hadn’t been him. That she hadn’t trusted him enough. That she’d chosen Cam over him.
Even as the dark thoughts crept over him, he pushed them aside. He wasn’t going to go there. He didn’t want to feel the bitterness that licked at him. The hard edge of resentment that had his fingers curled into fists at his side.
He walked into the kitchen and quietly took out the skillet for scrambled eggs.
A few minutes later, Sawyer walked in just as Hutch was pouring the eggs into the pan.
He didn’t offer a greeting or smart-ass remark. Instead he flopped down on a bar stool and propped his elbows on the counter. Hutch glanced sideways at him and saw him just about bristling with the need to say something. A vein was about to pop on his forehead, and he rubbed his hand over his freshly shaved head.
But he remained silent. Tension was heavy in the air. So thick it made Hutch uncomfortable.
Was Sawyer having the same thoughts he was? Was his mind traveling down that dark road? It didn’t bode well for the future of their arrangement if after the first time Reggie had sex with one of them, the other two wigged out.
With a resigned sigh, he picked up the skillet, carried it over to the trash and scraped the dark brown eggs into the can. So much for not burning shit. He dropped the pan into the sink and went to retrieve another from the cabinet.
He was cracking more eggs into a bowl when Cam sauntered in and sat down on the bar stool next to Sawyer.
Both Hutch and Sawyer stared at Cam. He was wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing the night before, his hair hadn’t been combed, and dark stubble dotted his jaw. He looked rode hard and hung up wet.
Cam didn’t usually walk out of his bedroom in the morning until he’d showered and shaved, dressed and made his bed. Right now he didn’t look like he gave a shit.
There was a contented light in his eyes. He looked . . . happy.
Sawyer looked over at Hutch and raised one eyebrow. Hutch shrugged and turned back to the stove, determined not to burn the eggs again.
Silence continued as he plated the eggs and pulled the biscuits out of the oven. He set the food on the bar then went to the cabinet to get plates.
“Good morning,” Reggie said brightly as she walked into the kitchen.
Hutch looked up to see her smiling at him. Her blue eyes shone with lightness he’d missed. The shadows were gone.
Her hair lay damply at her neck and around her ears, forming a curly cap. She moved with ease, as though she experienced no pain or stiffness today.
“Good morning,” Hutch returned. “Sleep well?”
As soon as he said it, Sawyer coughed discreetly, and Hutch could have swallowed his tongue. His perfectly innocent question sounded staged. Damn it.
She frowned, and Hutch braced himself to dig his foot out of his mouth.
“I didn’t at first. Bad dream. Cam made cocoa though, and I slept great.”
The smile returned and she bounced—good grief, she actually bounced—over to Sawyer, stepped on the rung of his stool, hoisted herself up and placed a big kiss on top of his bald head.
“Morning. I see you’re as verbose as ever.”
He regarded her strangely. Actually he was looking at her like she’d just descended the alien mother ship.
