Stone could’ve told her he’d intended to call her, but that would’ve been a lie. He’d cut all ties when he left town. It was his only option. Otherwise, he would’ve come running back, and it wasn’t the best thing for her back then.
“Yes.” It pained him to admit it. “I left with no intention of contactin’ you.”
Her shoulders remained square, and there was sadness in her eyes, but it was the twinge in her voice that hurt the most. “Why?”
“Because you were too young to get mixed up with me.”
“Too young? But I wasn’t too young for you to share with another man.”
Every memory ofthat nightincluded both Stevie and Nico as willing participants. Hell, he’d even left and come back to find Stevie with Nico’s face between her legs. Had he missed something? Had he pushed her into something she didn’t want to do?
“I thought we were all on board,” he said hesitantly. “Was I wrong?”
God, he hoped not. It would kill him to know that Stevie had felt pressured that night. Stone didn’t regret a single second, but he would if she said she hadn’t wanted to do it.
Her eyes skidded away, landing on the puppy, where they remained for what felt like an eternity.
“No,” she finally said. “You weren’t wrong.”
Thank Christ.
“What about you?” he asked, needing a minute to breathe. “Did you ever have another threesome?”
“Oh, yeah. All the time. Every Friday nigh—No,Jesus. That was the only time.”
He remembered what Nico had said.
You weren’t the only one who was changed by the events of that night, Stone. You left a hole when you left. In both of us. It became a spot that needed to be filled, but neither of us knew how to do that.
“Did Nico?”
Her expression softened. “Not that I know of. Melanie certainly wasn’t the type of girl who’d let some other guy touch her while Nico got off on it.”
He didn’t miss the vehemence in her words. It seemed she was overcome by emotion whenever she spoke about that night, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what she was feeling.
Stone leaned forward and put the coffee mug on the table. “Tell me somethin’.” He looked at her. “Do you regret that night?”
“No.”
Considering the speed at which she responded, he believed her.
He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head in his hands, staring at the floor. “Stevie, that night made me want somethin’ I didn’t think I was ready for. Let alone you.” He forced himself to sit up and look at her. “I wanted to explore more of that. With you and Nico.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“You were too damn young. Shit, you were still in high school.” He put his hand up before she could argue. “And Nico was Chelsea’s fuckin’ boyfriend.”
“Ex.”
“By a minute.”
She opened her mouth but then closed it. A few seconds later, she said, “That’s fair.”
“Think about it, Stevie. I never hid the fact that I was bisexual or that I liked to play the field. And everyone knew Donovan was gay. Back then, it wasn’t acceptable. Not as the norm. People looked at us like we were lepers sometimes. There wasn’t a chance in hell that we could’ve had somethin’ real. Not the way I wanted it to be. We would’ve had a spotlight on us. And the rumors …Jesus. You would’ve been the topic of conversation for months.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Thewomanwho was screwing two guys.” He huffed. “No matter how far the world claims it’s come, women are still viewed differently than men. I would’ve received high fives if I had two women in my bed every night. The same doesn’t apply to you. And certainly not back then.”
