I nod. “Yeah, me too.”
Taryn considers our words for a moment. “Would you really do this for me?”
“Isn’t the point of dating someone being happy?” I ask. “So you date me and Colsen, maybe Nash. Until you know who’s the one who makes you happy. That’s the way I see it.”
“Exactly,” Colsen agrees.
“Thank you, guys.” Taryn says. “But in the spirit of full disclosure, can I ask you if you have another person you want to pursue aside from me?”
I don’t even have to think about it. “Nope.”
“You’re the only one I’m interested in.” My best friend says.
“Does it make me a horrible person if I tell you that I feel relieved to hear that? I hate double standards, and here I am dating both of you and potentially a third guy. But if one of the other girls tried something with one of you, I don’t think I could take it.”
Maybe her admission should bother me, but for some reason it doesn’t. “No, it means you care.”
Colsen takes her other hand. “I agree with Tucker. And it’s not like we’re telling you that you can date anyone you want. We think it should be just us while we’re figuring this out.”
I know exactly what he means. “Yeah. If you were into anyone else, I would lose my shit. But Col is my best friend, and I love him. So I can’t blame you for liking him. And you liked Nash before you met us. It’s ok to see if there could be something with him. But that’s it. If you realized that you liked someone other than us or Nash, you’d have to break up with us.”
“You know,” Colsen says to me. “You’re annoying when you show all this emotional intelligence. But Taryn, Tucker is right. If you realized that neither of us is the one you want, you’d have to break up with me too, before you move on. Nash is the only exception.”
Taryn looks at each of us with a glint in her seafoam green eyes. “So right now I have two boyfriends. I would be surprised if that didn’t make Nash run for the hills. Of course, provided he was into me.”
Colsen pulls her into his arms. “If he does, maybe then he isn’t right for you. If you’re honest with him like you’ve been with me and Tucker, he should give you space to figure out your feelings. After all, when people date, it isn’t intended as exclusive until you have ‘the talk.’ This isn’t very different from that. We’re just a little more open about it.”
He kisses her.
It isn’t a shallow kiss. It’s deep and passionate, and I brace myself for jealousy to hit me at the sight of my girlfriend with my best friend.
It doesn’t come.
I’m not jealous, but I can’t take my eyes off them. They’re fucking hot together.
“See you tonight, pretty girl,” Colsen says, releasing her from his embrace. “I would love to spend the afternoon making out with you, but Tucker and I promised Mack to go lift some weights with him in the gym before we have to get ready for the party.”
Fuck, that’s true. I had almost forgotten.
It’s my turn to pull Taryn into my arms. I’m dying to kiss her like Colsen just did, but rather than taking her mouth like I want, I brush my lips on the corner of her soft pink lips.
Her fingers trace my jaw. “Last time we were out together, you said you didn’t want to kiss me unless you knew I wanted you to. I want you to kiss me, Tucker.”
I must have taken a puck to the head during practice or something, because I don’t close the distance between us. “I’m dying to kiss you too, baby. But when I do, I want us to be alone.And I don’t want to be in a rush to meet a teammate in the gym. Because when I kiss you? I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
TRUTH OR DARE
TARYN
I’ve never been much of a party girl. College for me was about getting my degree so I wouldn’t need to juggle three jobs to make ends meet like my mom.
I’m grateful to her; she worked hard to help me get the best start in life, and I never doubted that I was loved, not even for a second.
“Holy shit,” I whisper to Jodie as we enter the corner unit on the ground floor of our building. “And there I thought that the party at the Gamma house was the quintessential college party. These guys take things up several notches.”
Jodie is definitely the party animal between us, but judging by the look on her face, she’s impressed too.
