18. Landon

I'd kissed Zackary Briggs.

While having my hole filled by a man I loved in equal measure.

Stretching, I let out a sigh of pure elation. I'd thought having Callum's mouth on mine had been a culmination of pent-up desire, but years of unquenched need for Zack had proven just as sweet. Everything I'd dreamed of—but I still wasn't sated.

I eyed Zack's weeping slit as Callum left us to get a wet towel to clean me up.

"My hole is nice and relaxed. It's all slick up there too…" I trailed off, begging with my eyes. Shit would have been even better if it'd been Callum's cum leaking out of me instead of copious amounts of lube, but beggars couldn't be choosers. We would get there eventually.

Zack kissed the tip of my nose. "I'm saving my load for later." His gaze shifted toward Callum, who'd returned, a towel in hand.

Heat flushed through me. "I'm going to need a front row seat for that, please."

Both men chuckled, but the sexual tension was thick in the air, promising one hell of a delicious evening to look forward to.

A short while later, we sat down for the buffet breakfast again, and I hated how my skin crawled from my brain's instinct to assume people watched us. Judged me especially. Even worse, the few times I couldn't help but peer around, I made eye contact with two people who glanced away quickly as though they had been curious about who I was and what I was up to sitting between two gorgeous men.

Twice, Callum had touched my lower back as though sensing my unease, causing me to cringe, which I wouldn't have done had we been in private. Thank fuck he hadn't seemed to notice my unintended reaction since Zack had held his attention during both instances.

We took a walk on the beach to allow breakfast to settle, me stationed once more between the two of them, enough shoulder brushes to suggest we were together to anyone who happened to glance our way. At least the open air allowed me a sense of safety in thinking those around us were too occupied with the outdoors to give us a second glance.

While I was no celebrity, nor was my father, my mistake had been plastered across US headlines and social media, and I didn't bullshit myself into believing everyone had forgotten how badly I'd soiled the Matthews name.

Parasailing sat on our to-do list for the day, so we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon taking turns being dragged through the wind high above the ocean waves. I'd always been one for adrenaline rushes, and considering it'd been years since I'd let go and just had some fun, that event didn't disappoint. Add in the amount of sunlight I'd gotten when not used to it, and I ended up crashing on our suite's couch for an hour before dinner.

After sharing three different types of seafood, we sat on a blanket by a small fire pit on the beach, tucked away in a corner lit mostly by moonlight. I snuggled on Callum's lap with my feet on Zack, who sat beside him.

We hadn't kissed again, but I expected it was because he'd only allowed that intimacy in the heat of passion. But we still had a few days left, which I was thankful for.

Even though I'd had a nap, my full stomach and the long day dragged me toward dreamland. Breathing in the scent of cedar and the ocean, I closed my eyes. Callum's heartbeat created a beautiful harmony with the gentle crashing of waves on the shore to my right.

It was the perfect cadence with two sets of hands on me. Callum's in my hair, Zack's on my lower legs, both petting me in a comforting, non-sensual way. Good thing, because I was too exhausted to get it up until I had a solid eight hours of sleep clocked.

"So how did the two of you meet?" Zack's question brought my fading mind back to life and made my heart stutter.

While he didn't have the greatest job according to society, I didn't either. And while I expected he wouldn't ever judge me considering what he did for a living, I'd hidden the truth for so long that sense of needing to protect myself from losing him again made me to hold my cards close.

"Remember how you always encouraged me to tell stories?" I spoke since Callum wouldn't ever spill the tea.

"Yeah."

"Well, I decided to write a book and actually grew the balls to send it off to some big publishing house in New York."

Zack squeezed my calf muscle where he'd been absently trailing his fingers as though proud of me for putting myself out there like that.

"I received a rejection form from one of their acquisitions editors, but somehow, my manuscript ended up on Callum's desk."

"He told me he worked in the marketing department at Walters Whether's Publishing before moving to Rhode Island to be your PA," Zack said.

I nodded, blinking my eyes open.

Zack studied Callum's face with tenderness and a whole lot of interest that boosted my hope. "You saw his potential for greatness when others didn't."

My heart squeezed at Zack's assured words, stated as though he'd never once considered I was anything but talented.

"I did," Callum agreed. "So much so, that within a matter of weeks, I uprooted from my lonely existence to make sure he followed his passion—and thrived in it."

"So you've been living together for what…eight years?" Zack asked.

"Close to it, yes."

"And you've never crossed the line of friendship before this?"

Callum squeezed me.

"I never knew he wanted me," I said, "but thanks to you, I now get to have his dick along with all of his attention and time." I considered preening like a cat in sunlight, and I was sure my face revealed my satisfaction.

Zack snorted. "You're a greedy brat."

"He doesn't mind, do you, Cal?" I made a statement rather than a real question directed at my roommate-turned-lover. But I suddenly realized Callum didn't have a life outside the one we shared. I'd never noticed he had already given me everything and had been utterly devoted to me for years.

Shit.

I dragged my weary body upright, turned and straddled Callum's thighs. "How long has it been?" I whispered, searching his face for any hint of weariness from having waited for me.

Callum's gaze touched me as tenderly as his fingertips did my cheek, his blue-green eyes overflowing with adoration that made my chest ache. "From the first day I saw you."

"Why…" I swallowed hard, grabbing hold of his shirt. "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

Callum glanced at Zack. "Because your heart belongs to him."

"Belonged," I corrected quickly.

Zack's soothing fingertips still mapping out my lower leg paused.

Callum shifted beneath me.

"Fuck, that came out wrong," I rushed to add. "I-I mean, he did back then too as well as now. He'll always own a part of my heart, but it's big enough for the both of you."

The fire popped in the sudden quiet among us. My pulse raced and not in the good way. More like a sixth sense of foreboding. A red flag on the rise.

"This is a vacation," Zack stated quietly. "I'm a hired escort here to please you for the next couple of days. You return to Rhode Island with Callum, and I head to Boston when we leave here."

A solid jab punched my chest, and I blinked against the sting in my eyes. I'd been so caught up in the perfection of us over the span of our day together that I didn't actually think about what Zack wanted or that he might not be on board with Callum and I.

Same as the night I'd betrayed him, I hadn't considered or asked what his plans had been—and look how that shit had ended up.

Zack made it clear he had a life to return to, and while we might be fucking, he'd been paid to do it. Why the hell would he dive into a relationship with a guy I doubted he would ever trust again?

Mentally done in, I heaved a sigh and pushed off Callum. A yawn caught me before I could offer an excuse. The involuntary action of my body added to the truth of my tiredness, making my eyelids heavy.

"I'm beat, and seeing as how I'm going to be spending all of tomorrow in front of a computer working on edits, I better get some sleep. That won't happen with the two of you in a bed with me so…" I shrugged, hoping I appeared uncaring and nonchalant. "Enjoy the rest of the night together." I squeezed Callum's shoulder and winked. "Get your money's worth out of this fine man. I'll see you in the morning."

Either I left the two men speechless, or they looked forward to some alone time they hadn't expected to get with how greedy my ass was because neither argued my ambling off into the night.

Disappointment lay heavy on my chest, and I might have allowed a few tears to slide down my cheeks while enroute to our suite, but I wanted the two of them to connect purely for selfish reasons.

If Zack fell for Callum, that boosted the chance he might consider being with the two of us after we left the island.

Yes, Callum and I would be more than friends going forward, but I felt sure we would move with a sense of loss, a missing piece, if Zack chose to return to the life he'd had before meeting us here.

There would be no one to fit our triad but him.

Love him good, Cal. Show him what he'll be missing if he goes back to Boston.

I smothered myself in my bed's blankets, lonely as fuck and praying for all I was worth that the happily ever after I'd written about dozens of times would come true for me too.