Was he sure? Of what?Oh, right. Was he sure he was okay?
“Yes,” he said, even as he shook his head.
“We thought this might work better if you were in here.”
How exactly did they think that would be better? He didn’t voice the question because neither of them moved. Maybe this was a test. To see if he could stand seeing the two of them together. Or perhaps they wanted to tell him to leave because it was weird that he was hiding in his bedroom while they were clearly about to get busy on the couch.
Atticus’s gut twisted. “I … uh … think it’d be best if I—”
“Sit,” Slade insisted, gesturing toward the recliner.
“I don’t want to.” Even as he said the words, he was exasperated with himself. He wasn’t a liar, yet here he was, spewing nothing but. “That’s a lie,” he added. “I want to. That’s not true, either. What I want is—”
“Sit,” Slade repeated, his tone firm and so goddamn sexy Atticus’s feet moved of their own accord.
“Are you two … you know … uh…”
“Talkin’? Yes,” Carson said.
They were on Slade’s couch, both of them dressed. Mostly. Slade didn’t have a shirt on, but from what Atticus could tell, he didn’t wear one much when he was home. Not a hardship, though. The guy’s chest should be bronzed and put in a museum.
“At the moment, wearejust talkin’,” Slade explained.
“About?”
“You,” Carson said.
“Me?” That both pleased and terrified him in equal measure. “What about me?”
Slade glanced at Carson, then said, “We were talkin’ about how you weren’t supposed to be here tonight. Yet, that’s exactly where we want you to be.”
That was good. Right? They wanted him here. They weren’t going to kick him to the curb so they could do whatever they were gonna do.
“Do you want to be here with us?” Carson asked.
“Yes.” Atticus didn’t understand it and couldn’t explain it, but he also couldn’t help himself. “But I shouldn’t be,” he tacked on. “You two should spend some time alone.”
“There’ll be plenty of time for that,” Slade said.
Atticus shook his head. This was wrong. He shouldn’t have intruded on their time together. He’d specifically told Carson to come over here to be with Slade. It was selfish for him to interrupt.
“Atticus?”
He glanced at Carson. “Hmm?”
“If this is gonna work, we’re gonna do it together. All three of us.”
“I don’t know what that means,” he said, realizing how stupid it sounded as soon as the words were out of his mouth.
“We’ll keep you in the loop,” Slade promised. “But first…”
“You need to get undressed,” Carson finished for him.
Atticus frowned. “What? Why?”
“It didn’t require a comment,” Slade said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Atticus’s breath slammed to a halt. God, he loved dominant Slade.
