Rhythm of Three (Rule of Three) (3 page)

“Eleven. Any of those gonna bring a date?”

“Maybe.”

“So ten to fifteenish people?”

“I’d invite my parents, but Mom’s not up to it, obviously. Oh, I know, also James and Vickie.”

“Up to seventeen.”

“If they can all come. I’ll let you know for sure as soon as I can. Now I have a meeting to get to.”

“Perfect timing. I just arrived at the hotel.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later, babe.”

He ended the call, paid the taxi driver and strode into the hotel lobby.

Add one more thing to his to-do list for the day. He grinned.

“You should have told me what you needed,” Dag said to Kassidy as the three of them moved around the small kitchen that evening, making dinner. “I could’ve picked stuff up.”

Chris watched his buddy—correction, his lover—Christ!—talking to his girlfriend. A hot swelling feeling in his chest threatened again, as it had all day. What the fuck had happened? What had they gotten themselves into?

Not that he had regrets. But, holy fuck, this was game changing. This was life altering. Did he even know who he was anymore? Jesus.

He’d let his best friend fuck him.

He closed his eyes briefly, his hands going still, one holding a loaf of bread, the other a knife. Jesus fucking Christ.

He opened his eyes and shot a sideways glance at Dag, standing at the stove stirring the pot of pasta.

He’d
wanted
his best friend to fuck him. And he wanted him to do it again.

Heat pooled in his groin.

He’d been so fucking distracted all day, drifting off during important meetings, having to ask people to repeat what they’d said. He’d looked at his boss and bizarrely wondered what the CEO of RBM Technologies would think if he knew Chris had taken it up the ass from another man last night. He was trying to make sense of it all, questioning his sexuality, trying to decide if he’d just come out of the closet, or if he’d ever even been in the closet, for fuck’s sake.

He hadn’t known.

And yet, somewhere in the very dark recesses of his consciousness, he had. He had known all along that he wanted Dag.

He’d just closed that part of his brain off.

“I think I need to see a shrink,” he announced.

Kassidy and Dag both turned to level him with wide-eyed looks.

“What?” Kassidy said.

Dag choked. “What the fuck, man?”

He let out a short breath. “I’m kidding. Sort of. I’m just trying to figure out what’s wrong with me.”

Dag’s eyes narrowed and his eyebrows pulled together.
“What’s wrong with you?”
he asked very slowly, jaw tight.

“Oh, Chris.” Kassidy set down the plates she’d lifted from the cupboard and scooted over to him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him. “There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Fuck that bullshit,” Dag said roughly. “She’s right. There’s nothing wrong with you. Don’t even fucking go there, because if there’s something wrong with you, then—”

“That’s not what I mean!” Christ rubbed his forehead. “I don’t mean now. That’s not what I’m saying. I mean…why didn’t I know? Why didn’t I ever let myself admit how I felt? What I wanted…from you?”

“I think you know why,” Dag said quietly.

Kassidy tipped her head back and gazed up at him.

Chris circled his arms around her and met her eyes. “There are some things I didn’t tell you. Yesterday.”

She nodded, holding his gaze steadily. “That’s okay. We have all the time in the world.”

“Kassidy didn’t tell me about her conversation with Hailey either,” Dag said, moving toward them. He did that triad hug thing again, a hand on the middle of Chris’s back, big and warm and strong, another arm around Kassidy. “We still have a lot to talk about.”

“Not good at that,” Chris reminded them.

“We know, honey,” Kassidy said. “We’re here to help you.”

“Yeah,” Dag affirmed. “But, Jesus, if there was ever a time for communication, this is it, man.”

“Let’s eat dinner first,” Kassidy said. “And talk after. And, Chris…if you seriously want to see someone for help making sense of all this, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just don’t…don’t think there’s something wrong with you. Please.”

He nodded and gave her a squeeze before releasing her. “Okay.”

Shit. He was gonna fuck this up. He resumed slicing the bread, then spread it with the garlic butter Kassidy had whipped up.

“Wrap it in foil,” she told him. “We’ll warm it up in the oven.”

“Pasta’s done,” Dag said.

“Perfect.”

They were soon sitting down at the dining table with steaming plates of pasta primavera and garlic bread.

“Okay,” Kassidy said. “Birthday plans.”

Chris’s head jerked up. “Birthday? My birthday?”

“No, Halle Berry’s birthday,” she said with an eye-roll.

Chris couldn’t help but smile. “Halle Berry’s coming to celebrate my birthday with me?
Sweet.
”

“You wish.”

Chris relaxed a little. “Damn.”

“Big three-oh,” Dag said. “Old fucker.”

Chris smirked. “I’m less than a month older than you. And I’m in better shape.”

“Fuck that.”

“Better start taking your vitamins.”

Dag snorted. Kassidy laughed. And a little more tension eased out of Chris.

“We’re having a party here Friday night,” Kassidy said.

“We are?” Chris lifted his eyebrows at her.

“Yes! It’s going to be so fun! Dag’s hiring a bartender.”

Chris blinked at Kassidy, then turned his gaze on Dag. “Uh…okay.”

Dag grinned.

“He’s already talked to a caterer,” Kassidy continued. “So it won’t be much work. That was sweet of you,” she added, fluttering her eyelashes at Dag.

“You’ve been busting your ass looking after everyone else,” Dag said. “I got this, Kass.”

Warmth spread in Chris’s chest. Fuck, he liked that Dag cared so much about Kassidy. “Thanks, man,” he said quietly. “When did this all come about?”

“Today,” Kassidy replied cheerfully, stabbing a piece of penne with her fork. “I knew your birthday was coming, but things have been so crazy lately—”

“There’s an epic understatement,” Dag said.

She grinned. “I just realized this morning that it’s Thursday. So Dag and I talked about what to do and we decided to have a party. Casual, just our friends. I’ve invited everyone already. They can all come, except Hailey, she has to work.”

“Maybe just as well…?” Chris said.

Kassidy looked down at her plate. “You know, she was pretty helpful the other night when I was so upset. I didn’t know who else to go to, to talk about this. I didn’t think I could go to Danielle about it.” Kassidy’s best friend, who had no idea what was going on.

“Danielle coming to the party?” Chris asked.

“Yeah.”

He set down his fork. “Guess we’re going to have to talk about how that’s going to go.”

“Add it to the list of discussion topics,” Dag said.

“Jesus,” Chris muttered. “Should we create an agenda?”

“You’re the businessman,” Dag said. “Also, you’re the oldest. You might need an agenda to remember everything we need to discuss.”

Chris couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. “Oh man. I meant, do we have to make this so complicated?”

“Uh…dude,” Dag murmured. “This
is
pretty fuckin’ complicated.”

Chris rubbed the back of his neck where tightness was again starting to climb up his scalp. “Yeah,” he said on a sigh. “I know. I just don’t want to talk about all this shit.”

“What do you want to do?” Dag asked, eyes gleaming.

Heat burst and rushed through Chris’s body. What the hell. Might as well be honest. “I wanna fuck around.”

Chapter Three

“Right, then. We’ll talk later.” Dag pushed his chair back.

Kassidy’s eyes moved back and forth between the two men. Heat had been building all through dinner. She’d been tense about Chris, concerned with some of the things he’d said, worried about him not opening up to them. Of all of them, this was the most momentous for him.

Well, maybe for her too. Wow. Weird that she was all worried about Chris, and here she was in a ménage à trois relationship with two guys.

Yeah, that was significant. But for Chris…definitely more so.

“Guys,” she said. “Cool your jets. We need to talk.” But even though she said it, her pussy was pulsing and warm, thinking about being back in their bed with two hot, naked men. Two hot, naked men she loved.

Chris looked at her. “Sweetheart. Seriously?”

She rolled her eyes and pushed her own chair back. “Someone has to be sensible.”

“Fuck sensible,” Dag said. “I was never a big fan of sensible.”

“I was,” Chris muttered.

Dag grinned and moved toward him to slide a hand around the back of Chris’s neck. “You also were a fan of being in control. You hate not being in control…don’t you?”

Kassidy watched the two of them, a sweet ache developing low inside her. God, she loved seeing them together. She had from the first night Dag had come to their place, the day they’d gone to a baseball game and come home a little drunk and sunburned, having so much fun. She’d loved watching Chris easily give Dag a one-armed hug, their trash talking, their obvious comfort with each other, which she’d never seen Chris display with another guy.

And now…now he was able to show his real feelings for Dag, the feelings that went way deeper than camaraderie or friendship. She loved that for him.

She also loved it for Dag. Her heart had broken for him when she’d learned that he’d been in love with Chris for so long. He’d never found anyone else, even in all the years he’d lived in LA and San Francisco. He’d hidden it under a layer of cynicism and toughness, but she knew he wanted love just like everyone did.

“Yeah,” Chris agreed roughly, eyes focused on Dag’s face.

She loved how much Dag got Chris. She’d thought she knew Chris better than anybody, knew his flaws and his strengths, knew how to communicate with him. But since Dag had been back, she’d seen that he too knew all those things—perhaps instinctively, since they’d known each other for so long. Or maybe he’d taken the time to think about Chris and analyze him. Whatever it was, she didn’t feel jealous that someone else read him as well as she did—she felt pleased and satisfied. Happy for Chris. And lucky. So damn lucky.

Chris was the one who usually controlled their sex. And Kassidy liked that. Last night, she’d ached for him, how he’d submitted to Dag—and to her, really. He’d been overwhelmed and this had been new to him and he’d been hesitant and maybe a little scared. They’d taken care with him. They’d made it good for him, that she knew. That had been their goal. The newness hadn’t only come from the fact that he was having sex with a man for the first time in his life, but also from the fact that he wasn’t the one in control.

“You want control?” Dag whispered to him. “Take it.” He leaned his forehead against Chris’s, hand still wrapped around the back of his neck.

Jesus, sparks practically flew. Kassidy watched the show with rapt attention.

Was Chris ready for that?

“Um…guys?”

They both turned their eyes on her.

“Do you two want to be alone?”

They stared at her. They looked at each other, then back at her.

“Kass,” Chris said, his forehead creasing. “Don’t you want…?”

“You know I do,” she said hastily. “I just thought…this is new for you two…maybe you two should have time together.”

“Fuck.” Dag closed his eyes. “Kass. You kill me.”

She blinked.

“I love that you want to give us that,” he said. “I seriously fucking do.”

“Me too,” Chris said quietly. “But tonight…I want you with us.”

She nodded, her heart squeezing. “Okay.”

“That is gonna happen,” Dag said. “We
are
gonna be alone. Me and Chris. You and me. You and Chris. Right?”

Chris and Kass both breathed out a soft, “Right.”

“And we’re all gonna be okay with that.”

“Yes.” Kassidy nodded.

“Yeah,” Chris muttered. His gaze shifted back to her. Hot. “Tonight I’m gonna get to know Dag. But you’re gonna be there with me.”

Her lips parted. “Okay.”

Chris grabbed Dag’s face and gave him a fast, hard kiss. “Get into the bedroom and get naked.”

Kassidy’s eyes widened briefly. Whoa.

Dag gave a slow, sexy smile, with that wicked arch of one eyebrow, then turned and left the kitchen.

Chris lifted his chin at Kassidy and she floated across the room and into his arms. “Need you there, sweetheart,” he murmured before his mouth found hers.

“Yeah.” She knew. Her heart swelled again with love for him. She hugged him tight and kissed him back, then together they turned to follow Dag to the bedroom.