Page 9

Phoenix turned toward me and I watched his eyes widen and his mouth drop open. Rather than look away, his cheeks brightened with a peach blush as his gaze, which felt like a caress as his eyes moved over my neck, down my chest, and over my abs until he landed on my crotch and blinked. Torn between my naked skin on display and my dick trapped behind the tight denim, those blue eyes darted around, never focusing on one part of my anatomy.

Then, without looking, the younger man reached out, grabbed Luka’s tee and dragged the amused man closer.

“Yeah, I got nothing. Let’s stare at Burton. Unless…”

“Unless, what?” Luka asked.

He unclenched his hand from Luka’s shirt, but didn’t let go.

“Do you want to join him? But, if you do, take it off with excruciating slowness.”

My head dropped back, and I groaned. “And now I’m hard.”

The younger man’s eyes snapped to where the outline of my dick was dangerously close to the zipper and back to Luka, where I noticed my friend wasn’t immune to the younger man’s curiosity. His nipples were taut and the white tee did nothing to hide his arousal. At that sight, again, my dick jumped in my pants.

Phoenix gulped. “Are you going commando?”

I nodded before we both peered at Luka.

“Sometimes, but not today,” he replied.

Phoenix grunted while Luka laughed.

“There is nothing more that I want than getting naked with you and exploring every inch of you and Luka. But I’m going to be the responsible one here, put on a shirt, and we’re going to talk about our relationship and a lot of what that entails.”

A whimper slash whine sounded from Phoenix’s throat and the sound did nothing to calm my raging hard on, so I shuffled toward the closet near the bathroom and snagged a shirt from the last time I did laundry but didn’t bother to carry any of it upstairs.

When I got back to the dining room, Phoenix’s face was a shade darker. He blinked up through his eyelashes at me.

“What?”

Exhaling a considerable sigh, he leaned back in his chair and lifted his gaze to meet mine.

“There’s more to you than your sensual, muscled, ripped body and the significant bulge I wanted to reveal inch by delicious inch… but that’s beside the point. You’re a person, not a sexual being in your prime who knows how to please several men, me and Luka in particular, and I shouldn’t objectify you. Sorry?”

The silence grew between the three of us, only broken when Luka laughed. The sound rumbled through me, along with Phoenix’s lighter giggle, and I settled into a chair with a smile on my face.

“Why, thank you, Petal. I appreciate the compliment. But compared to you; all pale skin, bright white hair, pouty lips that have fueled more than one wet dream since I laid eyes on you, next to Luka, who’s your physical opposite in every way with his scruffy beard?—”

“Hey!”

I continued, despite the obvious objections.

“And his dark, messy hair, towering over both of us, and that’s on top of his wide shoulders and perfect bubble butt… yeah, now I forgot my point. Oh, I remember. At least for me, I’m tempted by both of you, but there’s the possibility of so much more than our simmering physical attraction, despite three opposing personalities.

“Luka is purposeful with everything he does, takes responsibility for things in and out of his influence, and is a grump on the best of days. You, Phoenix, work harder than the both of us, but you don’t see the beautiful and positive things about yourself that Luka and I do. And I take fuck-all with the seriousness the issues deserve. Well, at least that’s the image I project. I’ve been dismissive, harsh without meaning to, and an outright shit when I was too lazy or uncaring to find it in myself to understand another person’s point of view.”

Luka cleared his throat. “I think what B is trying to say is that despite all our flaws, which are in abundance, we crave a relationship with you. We’ll take it at your pace. But the important question we want to know is if you want to try being with us?”

“So, what does it entail? I’m not… experienced with relationships, so I’m not versed in what you expect.”

“What?” I asked, surprised.

Phoenix’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, as if debating with himself.

“For the longest time, I believed I might have been ace. But thinking back, I was too busy to notice anyone. Arthur pointed out, on various occasions, men to me whenever he found one attractive. I’d examine the man with an unbiased lens, but soon my thoughts wandered to a new recipe or which plant I should propagate next. Until you two came into my bakery.”

His statement caught my attention. “What do you mean, you were too busy?”