11. Callum

Islipped into a chair on the opposite side of where Landon and Zack sat together by the breakfast buffet. Somewhat hidden unless they directly looked my way, I watch them. A deep discussion kept them focused on each other, and even with the distance separating us, I could feel their combined sexual energy radiating clear across the restaurant like a teasing whispered breeze over my skin.

Zack studied Landon as though trying to dissect him. Good luck, without a few weeks' worth of Landon sharing about his seriously messed up past.

Landon stared at Zack with longing in his eyes, the way I dreamed of him looking at me.

My heart sat heavy in my chest at the clear attraction between them. I wanted to do right by my Landon, but it hurt. And while seeing the two of them spread arousal through my blood, the needy ache wasn't entirely pleasant.

I'd failed my brother in making the right choices while he'd been entrusted to my care, and I didn't want to get this wrong. Not speaking up and taking action when my instincts had demanded I do so had landed my only living relative in jail and a young woman broken both emotionally and mentally.

But this time, I'd listened to my gut instincts rather than ignoring them. The urge to give Landon the chance for closure with the man he was still in love with spurred me on. Yes, Zack had been right to deny him and walk away when they'd been kids, but he needed to hear Landon's truth.

So far, it appeared as though the conversation went well between the two men. No angry red faces or heated words rose like from the night before when surprise at seeing each other had caught them both unaware.

Perhaps since they'd calmed enough to think rationally, they were making amends, and my hiring Zack would pay off.

But what if the outcome left me along the sidelines, my heart cracked in two?

Landon stared at Zack, his body leaned toward the other man as though drawn by a magnet, and I couldn't deny understanding the feeling. If Zack forgave him and they returned to what they'd had as teenagers—and more—would I lose life as I knew it? There would definitely be no more shared home, since the house was in Landon's name. I would have the options of either getting my own place and withering away from a broken heart while continuing as Landon's PA or moving back to New York and trying to pick up where I'd left off in that sad, lonely existence.

Zack sat back in his chair, thick thighs spread wide, hands on his knees. Whatever Landon told him caused a semi-smile on Zack's gorgeous face that made my gut clench. He was so fucking hot with those broad shoulders and all that muscle beneath golden skin.

But so was my best friend with his pale complexion atop a more lithe build.

Pink flushed Landon's cheeks, and I could imagine the sparkle in his eyes that always caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach.

Zack nodded and stood.

Landon pushed up from the table and held out his hand.

Zack hesitated, his focus on Landon's fingers, and what I wouldn't have given to know his mind. Fear? Resigned to burying the hatchet between them? Or did he pause because he recognized things would change once he touched Landon again?

It seemed the three of us teetered on an edge of the unknown.

Their palms finally slid together, fingers clasped, and the electrical current of something potent shivered over me, raising the hairs on my arms. They both seemed caught up in a world of slow motion where every heartbeat throbbed with promise.

Of what exactly, I wasn't sure, but I longed to share in it, for that feeling to go on and on.

As if sensing my stare, Landon glanced my way, shattering the breathless moment hovering over us.

He dropped Zack's hand as though burned, his face flushing. A quick glance at Zack, his lips moving, and they both started toward me.

My gaze flitted between the two men as they drew closer, my inhales too quick. Zack's gaze promised sexual satisfaction if I asked for it. And Landon's held a tenderness I was well acquainted with but also a question that had me shifting on my seat in delicious torment.

The cells in my body vibrated, making me want to shed the discomfort of my skin. Or better yet cause an eruption from my dick that would empty my tight balls when they'd been taken care of an hour earlier.

I needed answers so I could figure out how to move forward in calming myself one way or the other. "You've made your peace?" I asked as they stopped before me.

Landon glanced up at Zack whose hazel eyes remained fixed on my face as though seeking out my deepest desires and hidden thoughts.

"For now, I suppose," Landon answered, and Zack didn't argue, but the tension, both anger and lust, still lingered around them enough that I could taste it on my tongue. "We've agreed to a truce for the remainder of our stay."

"I came here for you, Callum, so what now?" Zack asked before I could, his question directed at me with sexual expectation in his eyes.

Oh, the ideas flitting through my mind, the images of the three of us—him and Landon while I watched…

I swallowed hard, shoving against any and all thoughts of fucking. "Keep us company," I demanded as his client, my tone ragged from the lust attempting to rule my body. "Enjoy a shared vacation. Snorkeling. Swimming. Air surfing, or whatever it's called when they hook you up with a parachute behind a boat. Let's relax and enjoy ourselves before returning to the real world."

If only I knew what life back home would look like in advance so I could prepare my heart.

"You hired me for more than companionship in paradise," Zack murmured, his voice low and definitely hinting at an agreeable option for some seriously needed physical gratification.

Landon shifted on his feet and placed a not-so-discreet hand over his groin. My cock throbbed at the evidence he was on board with Zack's unspoken suggestion—but where did I fit into the equation?

I shrugged as though indifferent when I was anything but. "My goal in bringing you here was to make Landon happy. I told you, whatever he wants, he gets." I had to swallow again before forcing myself to continue. "If that's the use of your body, then who am I to deny what he desires?"

"And what do you want?" Zack asked, his gaze boring into me, flaying me wide fucking open.

"What I can't have," I whispered my heartbreak, glancing at my best friend.

Landon's lips parted, his eyes darkening as he stared at me.

I fought off the need to move again as I watched ideas go off behind Landon's eyes like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

He licked his lower lip, leaving behind a sheen I longed to taste.

"Lan?" I rasped, my insides clenched up tight as though on the brink of falling off a cliff with no bottom in sight. Fathomless depths. Unknown consequences. Scary as hell. Breath once more held, I waited for his answer that would dictate where I landed.

Tension radiated from Zack too as everything once more stilled around us. But this time, the heartbeats sounded like a countdown to what I feared would be a soul-crushing answer.

Landon blinked, tearing his focus off my eyes for the table between us. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his head. It appeared as though he tried to put his thoughts back in order when they'd been focused on the same type of chaos that had been his demise years earlier.

I sagged, my body suddenly exhausted in knowing what he would choose—and why. He'd learned his lesson about messing around with more than one man at a time the hard way and would never push his luck again.

"There's a snorkeling class in an hour," I broke the silence with something that wouldn't bring about questions I expected Landon had no wish to answer. Even he and I didn't talk about his past unless absolutely necessary. "Why don't we take advantage of the buffet then head over there?"

"Sounds good to me," Zack said, lightly elbowing Landon.

"Yeah—okay," Landon agreed, his voice no more than a whisper.

I released a slow exhale, wanting to grab my best friend and hug the hell out of him—and latch onto Zack with my needy mouth.