Any Given Sunday (11 page)

Chad turned toward his computer, unable to face his friend as he avoided the truth

of Sean’s words. “Lauren’s my friend. I love her, but I’m not about to thrust her into a ménage relationship.”

Sean was silent for several painfully long moments and then he asked the question

Chad dreaded. “Why not?”

Chad’s temper sparked. Why was Sean leading them down this road? “You know

why the fuck not,” he yelled. “Didn’t we cover this territory in high school? You aren’t
really
talking about a relationship like your brother and my sister share, are you?”

Sean ran his hand through his dark brown hair, the gesture a sure sign he was

agitated, upset, and Chad tried to calm down. This conversation was hard enough

without throwing anger into the mix.

Sean tugged his hair harder and Chad felt a twinge of guilt in his gut. He’d seen

Sean use the same move time and time again throughout the years. Chad recalled

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worrying when they were just nine years old that Sean would pull all his hair out

during the months when Sean’s mother, Sunday, was dying.

“We’d share Lauren,” Sean murmured, looking at him. “Just Lauren. Nothing more.

I swear.”

Chad shook his head. “Please try to understand, Sean.”

“I can’t live without her.”

Chad’s lungs constricted as he saw the pain in his friend’s face. Sean’s feelings for Lauren ran even deeper than he’d realized—and he recognized his own were just as

strong. He’d do anything for her happiness, for Sean’s. “I’ll walk away. Take myself out of the equation permanently.”

Sean looked at him, studied his face far too closely. “You honestly expect me to sit

here and ask you to cut out your own heart?” He shook his head. “No, Chad. That’s not the answer.”

“Then what is?”

Sean rose, exploding with the same frustration Chad was experiencing. “How the

fuck do I know? As far as I can see, there’s only one. We can’t go on like we have been.

That’s not working for any of us.”

Chad could see the sense in Sean’s words and now that so much was out in the

open, he found it impossible to hold back his true thoughts. “The past few years have sucked.”

Sean sighed. “I know.” His friend shrugged and smiled sadly. “Ball’s in your

court.” Then he walked out of the room, leaving Chad alone with his confusing,

agonizing thoughts.

Sean was right. There was one answer to their problem. Only one.

And it was the one Chad could never agree to.

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Any Given Sunday

A couple hours later, Chad looked up from his computer when he heard loud

giggling in the yard. He was almost to the front door when Sean emerged from the

kitchen.

“Is that Lauren?” Sean asked.

Chad shrugged. “Sounds like her.”

He pulled the door open, surprised to find an intoxicated Lauren struggling to put

her key in the lock as Aaron, dressed in his police uniform, stood next to her.

“Lauren? Are you drunk?” Chad asked.

Lauren giggled. “Just a little.”

Aaron rolled his eyes and grinned. “I’m not here in an official capacity,” Aaron said when he spotted the concern in Chad’s eyes.

Sean walked up behind him. “I thought you were at Natalie’s baby shower?”

Lauren laughed again and stumbled slightly as she crossed the threshold. “I was. It

was fun.” She walked into the house and toward the living room.

Chad turned to Aaron, who was shaking his head. “Apparently my wife throws a

helluva baby shower,” he said. “I got off-duty about an hour ago. I’ve been playing taxi driver since then. The mother-to-be was the only sober lady in the house when I got

home. The rest of them were drunk as skunks. For some asinine reason, Riley put

Bubbles in charge of the games. When I showed up, they were doing some beer

chugging contest with baby bottles and from what I understand, it was a rematch

between Lauren and Lily.”

“My
sister
Lily?” Chad asked.

Sean laughed and said, “Sounds like we missed a great party.”

Aaron shook his head. “Jesus, Sean. Only you would be sorry about missing a

drunken baby shower. And no worries, Chad. I dropped Lily off just before heading

here. I’m going home now. Lauren was my last delivery.” He chuckled as he raised his

hand to wave. “Night.”

“Good night, Aaron,” Chad said. “Thanks for bringing her home. I’ll drive her by

your place tomorrow to pick up her car.”

Aaron nodded and walked to the curb where his car was parked.

Chad closed and locked the door. “So much for marriage settling Riley down.”

Sean grinned. “Since my sisters have gotten married and started having kids, they

don’t get many crazy girl nights out. I’m glad Riley threw them a fun party, gave them a chance to let their hair down.”

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“Guess we should go check on
our
crazy girl.” Chad stumbled briefly over the rightness of the word
our
. “Have to admit I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen her drunk.”

Sean turned toward the living room. “I know. She never drinks. Wonder what got

into her tonight.”

“Probably Riley’s influence.”

Sean stopped and looked at him. “Maybe. I think Riley has been a good influence

on Lauren these past few years. She’s less stressed-out, less serious all the time. She was always sweet and nice, but Riley’s softened some of the rougher edges, taught her to

relax a bit.”

Chad gave his friend a funny look and shook his head. “Riley didn’t do that, Sean.

You did.”

“What?”

Chad was surprised Sean couldn’t see it. “You’ve been the calming influence in

Lauren’s life. God knows I’m too much like her to make any significant change in her

personality. She’s loosened up, become more laid-back since dating you.”

“You’re crazy.” Sean tried to cast off his compliment and Chad felt a wave of

annoyance creep in.

“No, I’m not. You’re a good influence on Lauren…on a lot of people.” He added the

last wondering if his best friend would understand that by “people” he meant himself.

He’d been stewing over their earlier conversation, wallowing in guilt for hours. He was hurting Sean because of his own selfishness and fear. It was a treatment Sean sure as hell didn’t deserve, given the unwavering friendship he’d offered Chad throughout the years.

The sound of something hitting the floor, followed by Lauren’s loud “oops”,

distracted them. Sean laughed and the moment passed.

“Better go save our damsel in distress,” Chad said. As they walked into the living

room, they watched as Lauren picked up the magazines she’d knocked over.

“Bit clumsy tonight,” she said as they came in.

“Can’t imagine why.” Sean bent over to help her put the magazines on the end

table. “Have fun?”

“Ohmigod, yeah. Your sister knows how to throw one helluva shower.”

Sean stood before helping Lauren rise.

Lauren rose up on tiptoe to place a kiss on Sean’s lips. “Thanks,” she said,

wrapping her arms around Sean’s neck and holding on.

“Um, Lauren?” Sean said, placing his hands on her hips when she started pushing

herself against him.

“I’ve been thinking about your offer,” she said.

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Any Given Sunday

Chad froze at her words. What offer was she referring to? Submission? A ménage?

Did she even realize he was in the room?

“What offer is that?” Sean asked.

“I trust you,” she said, as if her words answered his question.

“That’s good. I trust you too,” Sean replied.

“I trust both of you,” she added, turning her head to look at Chad. Yep, she knew

he was there. He swallowed heavily at the sensuous look she was sending his way.

He wanted to respond. Fought for the right answer, but remained speechless.

“So I’ve decided,” she continued. “I want you two to teach me how to submit.”

If Chad hadn’t been so shocked, he would have laughed at the image of Sean’s jaw

dropping open at her proclamation.

“Um, Lauren,” Chad said. “Maybe tonight isn’t the best time to discuss this. I mean,

you’ve had a bit to drink and—”

“That’s why this is the best time to talk about it. I want to say this tonight while my inhibitions are low. Then I want you two to think about my proposition. We can decide tomorrow when I’m sober.”

Sean’s gaze narrowed as he studied her face. “How much did you have to drink

tonight?”

It dawned on Chad that she suddenly didn’t seem as drunk as he’d originally

thought.

She grinned. “Enough to give me the courage to make my proposal, but not enough

that my head will hurt in the morning. I’m gonna have a clear head when we start our

research.”

Chad’s heart sped up as she alluded to the three of them starting

research…together.

Mercifully, Sean pulled his shit together and he was able to ask all the questions

Chad couldn’t seem to formulate.

“Research?”

Lauren looked at Sean and smiled. “You offered to be my Dom.”

“You want me
and
Chad?”

“Chad too,” Lauren said. She released Sean and stepped closer to Chad. He could

barely detect the slightest trace of vodka on her breath, mixed with something so sweet he had to fight to remain still, instinct pushing him toward her for a taste.

“You’re asking both of us to come to your bed?” Sean wasn’t allowing for any

misunderstandings.

“Both of you,” she whispered. Then she surprised Chad by asking, “How come you

never asked me out?”

Chad grasped for an answer and for a few foolish seconds, he thought perhaps he

could do this. Could hop into bed with Lauren and Sean and everything would be fine.

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“I beat him to the punch, Lauren.” It was Sean who answered and Chad was

grateful for his friend’s interference.

“How did you beat him?” Lauren turned to look at Sean. “We were all friends for

nearly four years before you approached me for a date. Four years,” she stressed.

“We’re too much alike, Lauren. I knew it would never work out.” Chad’s answer

ranked up there with some of the biggest lies he’d ever told, but he thought it sounded plausible enough.

Lauren stared at him. “Do you want me, Chad?”

The word “yes” flew from him lips before he could consider the consequences. Her

face cleared and he realized Lauren hadn’t been confident that her feelings for him

would be returned. How could she not have known? “I’ve always wanted you.”

Sean stepped forward. “So give us your proposal, Lauren. Lay it out like you said

you were going to.”

She moved to face both of them and she was steadier on her feet than Chad would

have expected. It was clear her initial drunkenness had been at least fifty percent an act.

“Three Sundays. Three days of submission. The three of us. We’ll only play on Sundays.

During the week, we’ll go back to normal. Well, sort of normal. Sean, do you mind

sleeping on the couch for a while?”

Sean shook his head. Chad was surprised by his friend’s easy acceptance, but

obviously all three of them knew things were about to change. Drastically.

Lauren continued explaining her suggestion. “By taking a week’s break in between

each ménage experience, you’ll have time to figure out if you want the Sundays to

stretch into more. Because I’ll tell you both now—I want more.”

“A threesome?” Chad asked. “Forever?”

She nodded. “Oh, and I’ll only submit if it’s both of you…at the same time. No

taking turns. Okay?”

Neither Chad nor Sean responded. Chad wanted to say “hell yes” to everything,

but he knew deep in his heart this was a mistake. However, for once, he couldn’t deny what he wanted. Lauren was offering him a dream and he wasn’t strong enough to

refuse it.

Sean was the first to break his silence, but his words to Lauren caught Chad off-

guard. “Kiss him.”

The second the words left Sean’s lips, it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room.

“What?” Lauren blinked and Chad could tell she was suddenly nervous.

“I want you to kiss Chad. In front of me. I want to know you understand exactly

what it is you’re asking.”

She shook her head, but something snapped inside Sean.

“Dammit, Lauren! If we do this, we’re doing it right. You’re used to Sean, the

easygoing boyfriend, but now you’ve asked me to teach you about submission, about a

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Any Given Sunday

ménage. That changes things.
Kiss him.
I missed the first one. I’m not missing any more.”

“Sean,” Lauren said, but Sean was on a roll.

“This isn’t a game. I’ve agreed to your rules, agreed to try, to sleep on the couch,

but I’m not going to be denied this. Do it.”

“Listen, man,” Chad started, surprised by the strength of Sean’s voice, his needs.

He’d never seen his friend so commanding, so powerful…so sexy.

“Shut up, Chad. It’s time to stop talking. Goddamn it, all we ever do is talk and

analyze. I’ve had enough. You’re going to kiss Lauren and I’m watching you do it.”

Sean’s words provoked a strong reaction in him. His cock rose, tenting the front of

his pants. “Fuck,” Chad murmured, trying to adjust quickly, but his motions were too

slow to hide his hungry response from Sean or Lauren.

“You have ten seconds to kiss him, Lauren.”

“Or?”

Chad grinned at her cheeky question. She wasn’t afraid or unwilling.

Sean gave her a wolfish grin. “Do you really want to know the answer to that