Chapter 12

All of Layne's abdominal muscles down the length of her torso were on fire. Her forearms were pressed firmly into the gym mat underneath her, supporting the weight of her body. The short span of her body was suspended in a rigid plank inside the home gym around the corner from the kitchen.

Her forehead donned a scattering of sweat droplets as she squeezed her eyes shut. She had to have been holding this plank for at least thirty minutes. Her body was beginning to tremble as her muscles felt pushed beyond fatigue.

When her eyes opened to take a peek at the timer between her wrists, she was sorely mistaken. The last bit of air in her lungs was forced out in a huff as she dropped her body down flat onto the mat with a groan. Almost two minutes. Her hand slapped the timer off as she laid her cheek against the cushy texture of the mat.

Layne lifted her head to look in the mirror affixed to the wall ahead of her. She saw Joey's reflection where he was seated on a weight bench at the back of the room. He finished the last shoulder press in his set before he set the heavy dumbbells down. "You're thinking about it too much." He said it like he knew exactly what was going on inside her head.

She groaned as she continued to lay there. "What else am I supposed to be thinking about when my stomach won't stop screaming at me?"

Joey stood and walked past her to the mini fridge filled with bottles of water. Her eyes watched each movement, appreciating that he had done his workout in a pair of navy gym shorts, sneakers, and nothing else. All of his tattoos were exposed for her to admire as they sprawled across the hard muscles of his body which were currently coated in a light layer of salty perspiration.

While he pulled two bottles of water out of the fridge, Layne shifted her position so she was up on her knees and sitting back on her ankles. Her hand reached out to take the water Joey offered her. Twisting the cap off, she welcomed the sting of the icy temperature of the first sip filling her mouth before being swallowed down.

The only other thing plaguing her mind besides her abs being on fire was what had been said at the strip club the other night. "We still haven't talked about the night at Cassidy's." She finally initiated the topic that she had been unable to just let go of. Lord knew she had tried to forget it, but the words spoken between the two men replayed over and over in her mind.

Joey already chugged nearly all his water down in a matter of two large gulps. "Gage is going to be your shadow when I'm not around. There's nothing else to talk about." Perhaps it was wishful thinking that Layne wouldn't press the issue about the other elephant having a tea party in the room with them.

"You know damn well that while I disagree with it, that's not what I'm talking about." She pushed herself up onto her feet. "What did you mean that I'm not Rosie?"

He sighed and sucked down the last little bit of water before tossing the bottle a few feet into the open trash can. "Nothing, Layne. It's self-explanatory. You aren't her." Joey did his best to play it all off as nothing but a matter-of-fact observation he had made.

He must have thought she clunked her head and suddenly was stupid enough to accept that explanation. Her eyes narrowed at him as her temper kicked up a notch. "Don't fuckin' go there, Joey! You don't just drop the name of a dead girl randomly and make a comparison like that for the hell of it. What did you mean by it?"

There was nothing but silence from him in response and the tension in the air was palpable. Layne locked her eyes on him, waiting for him—begging him to explain himself.

Losing faith, he was going to clue her in, she began to walk away from him toward the door. "You know what? If you're not going to tell me, I will be spending enough time with Gage and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to share."

As her hand started to draw the door open, Joey rushed over to her shoving it back shut again. The look on his face was a flurry of emotions ranging from panic to desperation and even agitation. "I don't get why you're so hellbent on this. It's all shit from the past. I'm doing my goddamn best to let past shit go with Gage, so why can't you just drop it?"

Her hand jerked on the door again and to no avail, it remained shut as his hand made sure of that. "Because I see the look in your eyes when you say her name. Because there's clearly something I'm not being told. Call me fucking crazy, but I thought it's reasonable to expect you aren't going to be keeping any more secrets from me." Her anger pricked at the back of her neck in response to the emotionally charged topic at hand.

Joey looked down and for the first time she saw a pinch of shame in that handsome face of his. "Because it's not fair to you." His voice lost its edge as his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose while gathering his thoughts.

"She was our girlfriend." The proclamation was seemingly harmless on its face, and it left Layne wondering why the hell he had been so hesitant to say something.

"Who was dating her when everything happened?" Layne didn't quite put it all together on his first attempt at an explanation.

The depths of his cocoa eyes pulled up from looking at the floor and when they connected with hers, he made it clearer. "We both were."

Oh. Oh. She hadn't been expecting that. Any responses she had expected to say to him hadn't been prepared to learn that he and Gage had been seeing her at the same time. Her mind began to jump through a series of thoughts and emotions. Rosie had been with both the guys, and at first, that unveiling was a surprise. Then, Layne was filled with something that was an even bigger shock. She found herself envious and thought about how Rosie had been one lucky bitch.

Furthering down the web of thoughts, she thought back to her first meeting with Gage and the fight that broke out. Joey's possessiveness had come exploding at an all-time high. After mentally going through the story of his history with Gage, she was able to fill in some of the gaps and unspoken truths. Fast forward to their most recent meeting where the odd response from Gage about asking Joey about sharing suddenly made sense.

All the puzzle pieces clicked into place in her brain and she was unsure of how long she had been standing there stuck inside her head. What does one even say to this? Joey must have been having his own internal string of thoughts, and fortunately for Layne, he spoke up first.

"Layney." He reached out, taking hold of her arms gently. "I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want you thinking—fuck, I don't know." Joey found himself frustrated that he couldn't cohesively put together a decent explanation for her. He wanted to give her what she deserved to hear without leaving her full of disappointment in him. Even worse? He couldn't fathom losing the trust she had in him.

Out of all the emotions that were rolling through her, anger wasn't one of them. When she looked up into his face, she found herself looking for answers. "Did you love her?"

His Adam's apple bobbed in the center of his throat as he gave a hard swallow. "Gage will tell you that I didn't, but I did, in my own way." He moved his hands up to draw her face into his hands. "Not in the way that I love you though, Layne. You are the spark that keeps my heart pumping blood through my veins."

She shook her head at him. "You don't have to defend your feelings, Joey. I will always be here making sure that you know you will always have my heart." Layne wrapped her arms around his waist, stepping up against him. "I will love you so hard for the rest of your life that you won't ever have to worry about losing that spark."

When Joey saw the curve of her lips as they lifted into a smile, he fell into a sense of ease and relief. His mouth sought hers out, and before he could fuse their lips, Layne pulled back with a smirk. "One question, though."

His brow arched at whatever was nagging at her brain. "Hm?"

Layne's eyes looked at him full of curiosity. "Did you both… at the same time?"

He responded with a dark chuckle. Coyly, he responded to her, "Did we both, what?" Oh, he was going to make her say it just to see her reaction.

It could be counted on one hand the number of times Layne blushed from a mere thought. Now, here she was, fucking blushing. The spread of pink on her cheeks made her either want to hide her face from him or punch him so he didn't get the chance to see how flustered she was.

Joey could have made her life all the easier by stating the question for her, but he was enjoying seeing the warm blush spread over her fair cheeks. He began to walk back toward the weight bench, tugging her along with him. He dropped his hands down onto her hips. "You're going to have to be more specific, Layney. Now, be a good girl, and don't make me ask twice."

With his hands now locked firmly on her, he spun her around so her back was to him and the bench in front of her. Joey used a hand to bend her over so that her firm ass was nudged against the front of his shorts where it was clear his cock was very much coming alive with excitement.

She had nowhere to run and hide from her discomfort at the question niggling at her. Her teeth scraped over her bottom lip as she looked back over her shoulder at him. "Did you and Gage both have sex with her? Together?"

His eyes filled with a mischievous twinkle and his grin spread wider. Joey's fingers stretched the material of her workout pants down over the curve of her ass until she was bared to him. "Mm, of all the questions you could ask and you want to know if she got stuffed with two cocks?"

Not releasing his tight hold on her, he dropped down to his knees behind her. A growl rumbled in his chest as he saw just how wet she was talking about him and Gage sharing Rosie. He leaned forward his tongue dragging along her slick pussy, drawing in a long line of her taste into his mouth.

Layne moaned out as his tongue snaked out and sampled her arousal. "Yes…" Her hands grasped onto the edge of the bench her forearms were resting on.

There was a slight saltiness that enhanced her sweetness from the leftover perspiration from her workout that had made it to her center. He groaned out, "Fuck, Layne. You're the best-tasting post-workout I've ever had." His hands grabbed her thighs, spreading them wider for better access to her needy cunt. Joey hungrily put his mouth on her again, this time his tongue diving inside her.

The swell of pleasure immediately had her squirming against him as she made a sound of approval of the sensation. One of his hands left her thigh and found her throbbing clit. With just one swipe over it with his finger she wanted to collapse down on him.

He swirled his tongue inside of her tight pussy to collect more of her flavor before he pulled back enough to talk. "She got whatever amount of cock she wanted from us." Joey's finger circled over her highly charged nub again, extracting more gorgeous moans from her throat.

She felt her knees shake underneath the weight of pleasure collecting low in her stomach and expanding throughout the rest of her body. Layne cried out as she felt Joey give one last lick of her folds before his presence and his touch both left her momentarily.

Before she could whimper as the sinful sensations ceased in her body, she felt Joey behind her again. Now, he was standing and his shorts were down at his feet. The swollen head of his cock teased her entrance.

"Fuck, Joey, I need you in me," Layne begged with a neediness to chase back after her release again.

His hands braced her hips, holding them steady for him. "Just me or are you thinking about how it'd feel to have more than one dick inside of you?" Pushing forward, he began to invade her pussy with his hard length. Her body tightly encased each inch of him.

Out of desperation to be filled with him, she tried to push her hips back to take all of him. Joey held her still so that he had full control of how much of him was inside her perfect cunt. "You can say it, Layne." His words were filled with encouragement.

Her breaths came out quicker as he took his entry nice and slow. Listening to how his words were spoken instilled a sense of confidence and safety to confess. Layne nodded. "I'm thinking about how good being filled up would feel."

Joey moaned out behind her as he sank into her until he was pressed flush against her round ass. His cock glided into the warmth of Layne's body which felt like the closest thing to heaven he would ever get. Hearing her admit to getting turned on by the thought of getting two cocks had his dick hard as steel.

Her body rocked forward gently as he seated himself inside her. She cried out enjoying the full sensation his size always gave her. Joey pulled back and thrust back into her, this time more vigorously. "Fuck, yes!"

All the thoughts of the many combinations of how two guys could ravage her already caused her to succumb to her body's trembling. The cusp of her orgasm swiftly approached as Joey began to ram himself into her.

Getting lost in his thoughts, he envisioned Layne as she was now but with her pretty mouth filled with dick, swallowing down a large load of cum while her pussy got filled. The imagery had rekindled a desire in him that he hadn't felt in years. His hips slammed against Layne over and over as he replayed those fantasies in his mind.

The sound of their bodies smacking against each other filled the space of the home gym; Layne, now screaming out in absolute ecstasy as her climax took her body hostage. Her release exploded as she came hard and furious for him. Her vision blurred at the edges from the instant state of immense bliss her body fell into.

Layne's inner walls squeezed Joey's dick so tightly he swore he would be lost inside her forever. He gave a raw growl as his cock pulsated before his seed shot deep inside her body. He gave small grinds up against her ass as he continued to fill her up with more of his thick cum.

After several moments of heavy breaths filling the air and the cloud of intense orgasms subsided, they were both seated on the floor. Layne was settled into Joey's lap with his arms wrapped lovingly around her waist. He kissed along the line of her exposed shoulder. She leaned back against his bare chest in total contentment.

"You will always and forever be mine, Layne. Don't you ever forget that," he murmured against her skin. Even if he were to ever share her, that would never change.