Chapter Forty-Three
Ménage á Trois
JP
Watching Rez walk off with Knox, fills me with hope. I know his guilt has been eating at him since he fucked up in her Familiars class. I didn’t even have to pick the minds of the students for that information. Some of them were talking about it in the hall. I didn’t need a hint to figure out that the joke was on Rez. I feel horrible that she had to endure that and it fucking came from Knox, of all people. He’s the most fierce and loyal person I know, so it was a shock to learn he even went along with it. Thankfully, the guys had a chance to talk to Knox and set him straight. I’m hoping he’s taking her to apologize.
Feeling someone move into my bubble, I look over and watch Zeke coming up to me before he hands me a drink. “Thanks,” I smile and take a sip of the sweet drink.
“What do you think they’re talking about,” he asks, nodding his head in the direction Knox and Rez headed. A small smile appears as I turn to him.
“Hopefully, he’s apologizing and she’s accepting. It sucks that he’s started off on the wrong foot already,” I chuckle but quickly cut it off when I see Zeke’s look of longing. “What’s wrong?” I ask with concern.
“It’s nothing,” he avoids my question and takes a drink. But I’m not going to let it go. I’ve seen how he’s looked at Rez and it’s about time I ask where that leaves us. We’ve never defined our relationship, never had a reason to before. I don’t like to be blindsided and I’d rather have everything out in the open.
“Okay, well if you don’t want to talk, I will,” I exclaim, turning to face him fully. “If I’m correct, and you know very well that I’m not often wrong, you are interested in Rez.” I pause giving him the opportunity to answer, but he just looks at me and takes a sip letting his thought hit me.
“Duh.”
He’s reverting back to his old ways of communicating with me when something is uncomfortable. “So it’s going to be like that?” I tease and give him a smile. He returns it and allows a fang to pop before hiding behind his cup. “I need to know on a scale of 1-5 how serious are you about Rez?”
I don’t even get an answer as I watch Zeke’s cheeks turn bright red and he starts to walk away from me. “No, Zeke. Wait,” I rush to stop him from taking off. Gently grabbing his arm, I pull him back to me. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I’m asking because this is the first time we’ve ever been interested in the same person before, and I’m not sure where that leaves us,” I plead with him. I don’t want to lose what I have with Zeke and I don’t want him to think I’m picking Rez over him either.
“I think I’m falling for her,” he admits, dropping his voice as his eyes take on a glassy look. “But I’m scared of what that means.”
Without hesitation, I pull him into a hug, making sure not to spill our drinks. “It’s okay to be scared, Zeke. But it’s important to talk about those feelings too. Remember what we’ve worked on. Communication is key,” I whisper, squeezing him a little harder. Exhaling, he pulls back and gives me a sheepish look.
“Okay,” he concedes, knowing we need to take the next step and talk. Grabbing his hand, I pull him down to the lapping surf and we sit in the dry sand. I quickly pull off my shoes and socks and Zeke follows suit.
Digging my feet into the wet sand with a sucking noise, I decide to try this again. “So, would you consider Rez off limits or would you be up for a ménage á trois?” I ask nonplussed, and then promptly bust out laughing when I see Zeke’s eyes pop out of his head.
Zeke’s mouth starts flopping like a Venus fly trap and I decide to stop playing with him and just lay everything out. Looking out over the water I confess all my hopes and fears.
“Look, Zeke. I love what we have and honestly, I don’t want it to stop. I know you’re falling hard for Rez, and I’m interested in her too,” I glance over meeting his eyes and continue on. “I just want to make sure we are on the same page, you know? I want to know what will change, if anything between us,” I admit and wait on bated breath for his answer.
I feel like I wait for hours when in reality it’s no more than a few seconds when Zeke entwines his fingers with mine and squeezes them.
“I’m okay with sharing Rez with you, if that’s what she wants,” he points out and I can’t help but smirk. “What? Why are you looking like that?” He chuckles and the serious moment is gone.
“Oh believe me, she’s interested,” I tease him.
“What do you mean? Has she talked to you? Do you know how she feels about the rest of the guys?” Zeke throws out questions one after another and all I can do is laugh until he tackles me and demands his answers.
“Okay, okay,” I relent and he helps pull me back up to a sitting position. “Let’s just say, she’s open to the idea as long as she doesn’t have to guess in the relationship or who’s interested. She’s straight from what I’ve gathered, but she seems to like all of us in more than a platonic way. The only one I haven’t been able to know for sure is Knox, but by the look of it, it seems he might be a part of it also.” I nod in the direction down the beach and I catch sight of Knox and Rez walking back.
I lean against Zeke’s shoulder for a few minutes just watching the surf and the moon shining down on the water. It’s peaceful and it’s been awhile since I’ve had time to enjoy the comfortable silence with Zeke like this. After some time, I stand up and wipe the sand off my legs and feet, putting my socks and shoes back on. “I think it’s time we get the guys together for a little powwow. What do you say?” Not waiting for an answer, I continue. “If we are going to do this, I think we should do it right. We need to make sure everyone is in sync when it comes to Rez. Then we can approach her together and let her know that we’re all on the same page if she’s interested,” I explain, pulling Zeke up and giving him a deep kiss.
Zeke pulls away and responds back with the most genuine smile, “Let’s go claim our girl,” he announces and it’s the best feeling in the world.
Chapter Forty-Four
Lies R’ Us
Rez
After I get back with Knox, I fill Moni in about the confrontation she missed, and we gossip about how she and Knox made up. I even shared Knox’s apology. Granted, we’ll have a long way to go, but at least I don’t want to fucking rip out his eyeballs and feed them to Lynx. Where is that cat anyway?
I feel lightheaded, so it’s hard to communicate to Lynx that way. When I stand up, the ground moves just to amuse itself. Woah, my arms shoot out to help keep me upright.Dude, I need some water.I walk, more like stumble, to the drink table and grab a closed water bottle.
