Page 26 of Claiming Ours (Anchor Bay #2)

BAYLEE

T he truck rumbled down the road, vibrating beneath me where I sat between Liam and Memphis. Since the fun lunch, I hadn’t stopped smiling. The two men had gotten along better than I’d expected, Liam seeming to have acknowledged that Memphis wasn’t a threat to my safety or our relationship.

“Bay,” Memphis sighed. “I don’t mind staying at The Nest.”

I cut him a fake glare and shook my head like I had the last few times he suggested going back to the resort instead of staying with me. He blew out a controlled breath and leaned forward to see around me, eyeing Liam in the driver’s seat.

The resort was not only expensive, but the distance would be annoying now that I knew Memphis was in Anchor Bay.

We had too much catching up to do and reminiscing about old times, and that couldn’t happen with him there and me at home.

I wanted to laugh about the dumb shit he, Dean, and I did as kids, about his life and mine.

Lunch together was just a preview. I had laughed harder than I had in much too long.

Somehow, seeing Memphis and talking about the good times made missing Dean a little less heavy.

Not sure why or how, but I didn’t want that peace his presence brought to end.

“You’re okay with this, Liam?” Memphis asked, studying him.

Liam draped an arm over my shoulders and sealed me even tighter to his side. “I already explained what would happen if you hurt her,” he responded as he turned the wheel, directing the truck down Main Street. “Plus, I’ll be there too.”

“What?” I exclaimed, choking on my spit. I coughed to clear my throat, staring wide-eyed at Liam’s profile. I didn’t mind that he’d be there too. I actually loved the idea. As long as he slept in my bed and not on the couch with Memphis.

Liam’s gaze slid from the windshield to me.

I swallowed down the soft gasp that wanted to escape at the heat and promise in those gray eyes.

Flush warmed my cheeks as desire slithered through my veins.

With that single look, I knew he planned to repeat our morning, which I was totally down for even with Memphis on the couch.

Or maybe that caused the surge of desire, making my panties damp, knowing Memphis would hear us, that he’d know exactly what was going on in the bedroom.

“You good with that, Little Bit?” His deep voice rumbled through the truck, distracting me from the dirty fantasy. He chuckled and sent a knowing glance to Memphis. “Thought so.”

A sheen of sweat coated the back of my neck.

I squirmed on the seat, an uncomfortable throb pulsing between my thighs as memories of those times in high school when I caught Memphis watching Dean and me flashed in my mind.

More than once, I’d held Memphis’s intense stare with Dean’s lips on my own and his hand between my thighs.

And more than once, I’d hoped he’d join us.

It had made me feel horribly, being in love with Dean but also attracted to his best friend. But things were different now. I was different, and I lived in a poly community that supported those desires, the need for more than one partner.

“You have a girlfriend back home?” Liam asked out of the blue.

The tip of my ponytail whipped me in the face with how fast I twisted to see Memphis’s reaction to Liam’s probing question. His pale green eyes searched my face as he shook his head. A relieved sigh escaped as I slumped against Liam’s side.

Both men chuckled.

“You seem pleased that I don’t, Bay,” Memphis murmured, a knowing smirk pulling at his lips.

Fuck, what did these two talk about when I wasn’t around? It was one trip to the hardware store, for God’s sake.

“How long do you plan to stay?” I asked, my voice squeaky from the tightness in my throat and the rapid pulse that pounded in my ears.

Liam’s question and Memphis’s response had threesome fantasies playing out in my head.

I didn’t know if I should be upset with Liam or kiss him for making my thoughts go down that path.

His suggestive tone and questions threw gasoline on my roaring desire.

That morning had flipped a switch inside me; all my thoughts now revolved around the need pumping through my veins.

This craving and desperation for his touch was like nothing I’d ever felt before.

Memphis searched my warm face, his grin growing. “Not sure.” He offered me a wink before glancing over his shoulder to where Elvis rode in the truck bed. Paws on the edge and face in the wind, he seemed to be living his best life.

“Maybe you should’ve asked that before you invited him to stay with you.

” Liam’s wide palm engulfed my thigh, fingers tightening in a reassuring squeeze.

I studied the single finger that traced circles on the inside of my leg, leaving trails of heat in its wake.

“What do you do for work back in Florida, Memphis?”

Memphis relaxed against the door as if the question put him at ease. “I’m an EMT in Orlando County.” A wicked gleam made his eyes sparkle. “You’d be shocked as hell what crazy places people stuff those damn mouse ears.”

The cab was silent for half a second before Liam and I erupted in loud, genuine laughter. Memphis watched us with a soft expression and longing behind his eyes. Without second-guessing the urge, I rested my palm on top of his leg and squeezed.

My gaze shifted back to Liam’s hand still wrapped around my thigh to my own wrapped around Memphis’s, and instead of guilt, a flood of need had that earlier desire surging back to the surface. Pulse racing, my lips parted to accommodate my quick breaths.

Both men’s attention zeroed in on me, making the blush from before come back with a renewed vengeance.

Forcing my focus out the windshield, I pressed two fingers to each hot cheek and blew out a slow breath.

Liam hummed a response beside me while Memphis continued to stare at my profile like he was attempting to solve a puzzle.

“What?” I demanded.

“So, you’re in a poly community now?” I nodded in response to Memphis’s question, unable to speak. “And you’re happy here?”

I blew out a slow breath, hoping it would keep the trembling out of my voice.

“Very happy.” Liam’s hand gave my leg a reassuring squeeze.

“I still have bad days when I miss Dean so much that it physically hurts. But thankfully—” I shot Liam a smile.

“—those days are few and far between lately.” I chewed on my lip and peeked over at Memphis through my lashes.

“You apologized for not being at the funeral. Why weren’t you there? ”

Memphis ran a hand through the long section of his hair and turned to look out the window.

“Besides being too fucked up to travel or even remember the date,” he bit out, his anger and frustration at that clear, “Dean and I had somewhat of a falling-out.” He shook his head.

“I really thought I’d have time to make things right with him, thought we’d work it out and go back to being best friends, but we never got that chance.

Three years later, after our split, he was gone, and in some ways, so was I. ”

“I know what it feels like when that time you thought you’d have later is taken away.” His misty green eyes met mine. “Not regret but also not guilt, more just sad to your core that all the stuff you thought you had time for would never happen.”

My voice broke at the end, and it was Memphis’s turn to lend a comforting touch. He laid his hand on top of mine that still rested on his jeans-covered thigh and threaded our fingers together.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that alone,” he rasped. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed a friend, that I was too fucked up to even show up.”

I could only manage a nod in response. Because I had needed a friend, anyone besides my parents, to lean on in my grief and as a buffer to the words and looks from Dean’s mom.

The rest of the drive to our compound was quiet, the three of us lost in our own thoughts. When Liam parked the truck and cut the engine, no one moved.

“What was it about?” Liam probed, twisting to lean against the driver’s door.

Memphis blew out a breath, sealing his lids shut and tapping the back of his head against the headrest with a frustrated groan.

“It’s a long fucking story. One that started way before that night when our friendship ended.

” He turned to me with a forced smile and pointed to our community out the windshield. “Ready to show me around?”

I eyed Liam, whose features were tight, clearly not liking Memphis’s response. It was curious for sure, but nothing that needed to be uncovered within the first few hours of Memphis being back in my life. We had time to figure out his evasive answer later.

With a smile and nod, I stretched across Memphis and pushed the heavy metal door open.

“A tour of the compound will happen, but first stop, the cabin so you can drop your stuff off and meet BamBam if he’s around.”

“BamBam?” Memphis questioned as he stepped out of the truck and stretched his arms high into the air, exposing a sliver of his inked abs.

I slid across the bench seat and followed him. “Yes, he’s an ermine that I rescued?—”

“Kidnapped,” Liam cut in around a fake cough as he rounded the hood.

Once he was beside me, I gave his shoulder a hard shove. “I did not kidnap a wild animal. I would never. BamBam would’ve died out in the elements, so rescued is the perfect word for how he came into my life.” I scrunched my nose and stuck my tongue out.

Liam’s thick fingers gripped my jaw, holding me in place. “Little Bit, don’t show me that tongue unless you’re planning to use it.”

I snapped my lips shut. Renewed heat filled my veins, shooting straight between my thighs and making that insistent pulse return. Behind me, Memphis grumbled a string of curses, but I didn’t dare break Liam’s intense stare.

“Say you understand.” I nodded, but his grip on my jaw tightened. “Words, Baylee.”