More heat swamped his sinuses. “I wanted to tell you,” he said quickly.
Fire burned in her eyes. “The hell you did. Your ass wouldn’t have hopped on a plane if that was the case.”
Fine. She had a point.
“You can’t do shit like that, Logan,” she snapped, waving her hands in the air. “That’s not how this works. How thethreeof us work. Without trust, we’ve got nothing. And you broke that trust by proving you don’t trust us. If you did, you would’ve talked it out.”
Her words felt like a slap, but he took it like a man because she was right. Sam had always been open about everything. From the moment Elijah came into their lives, and they decided they wanted something permanent with a third, she’d ensured they were always on the same page. Rather than take a page from her book, Logan had taken the coward’s way out, using excuses to put space between them.
“I’m sorry, Sam.”
“For what?” She put her hands on her hips again. “For leaving? Or for not telling me you were?” Her eyes narrowed. “Or for holding back when you know I deserve better than that.Wedeserve better than that.” Her gaze shot to Elijah. “I’m not the only one you owe an apology to.”
Logan exhaled heavily. He owed them both more than an apology. It wasn’t until the flight home that he’d realized what he was running from was the same thing he stood to lose because of his actions. He hadn’t known whether either of them would even talk to him when he returned, so the fact that he was here now was something of a miracle. He’d half expected to be bunking at his brother’s house tonight.
He heard a door shut, and he turned back to see Sam had disappeared, the bedroom door now closed.
He was about to go after her when Elijah moved past him. “Give me a minute.”
One minute turned into two, then a few more. Finally, Elijah returned, but Sam didn’t appear.
“You want a beer?” Elijah offered.
Logan met the man’s gaze, nodded.
A few minutes later, with a beer in hand, Logan followed Elijah out to the pool.
Without preamble, Elijah began stripping off his clothes. “I’m getting in the water. You can sit out here, or you can join me. Your choice.”
Logan watched Elijah as he undressed completely. He let himself openly admire rather than look away, which he’d done many times over the past seven months. When he saw that Elijah’s cock was semi-hard, something loosened inside him. He figured that wouldn’t be the case if Elijah were appalled by his presence, so he took it as a good sign.
When Elijah descended into the water, Logan set his beer aside, stripped out of his clothes. He grabbed the bottle and joined him, sitting opposite him in the shallow end the same way he had the first night they’d explored. He couldn’t believe it had been over a month ago when he’d touched this man for the first time. That night had been a turning point for him in so many ways. What he’d anticipated being a pleasurable encounter had been so much more than that. It triggered something inside him and made him want something he’d never expected.
“Did you find what you were looking for, at least?” Elijah prompted.
Logan took a long pull on his beer, forced himself to hold the man’s stare. “No.”
A slight nod was the response he received.
“What I was looking for was right here all along,” he admitted.
“Did it at least give you clarity?”
Logan considered that. “Somewhat, I guess.” Figuring Elijah deserved some explanation, he continued. “I didn’t go to play.”
“I didn’t figure you did.”
“I went to see the dynamic of the relationships.” Logan relaxed, stretching his arm out behind him. “Thought maybe if I understood more, I’d be able to rationalize this … feeling.”
“What feeling might that be?”
Logan could see the interest on Elijah’s face. It was more than curiosity. There wasn’t an ounce of amusement on the man’s face, and Logan realized then that Sam hadn’t been the only one he’d hurt by leaving.
“It’s not just sex for me, Eli.”
“Yet you went to a sex club to find the answers.”
“Only because I knew they all went there.”
