Page 10 of Love By Design

“Thank you for my wine, Micah,” I said, angling my glass toward him before taking a drink.

“You’re welcome, Marshall,” he muttered.

I could tell there was more that he wanted to say, but instead he rubbed his thumb over the tattooed wedding band on his left ring finger.

“Are you having a rough go of things?” I asked.

He worked his jaw back and forth.

The couple in the corner moved away from the wall and toward the spanking bench. They kissed loudly, hands roaming over bodies.

“Do you feel like a dash of voyeurism tonight?” Justin asked, glancing toward the corner with the furniture.

“Not quite yet,” I said.

He nodded his agreement and helped Micah to his feet. Micah took Keith’s drink, and the three of us made our way out of the new private suite and onto the dance floor. Justin led the way and Micah hung back, but whatever the tension was between them, avoidance wasn’t going to sort it out. I gently bumped the back of Micah’s shoulder and propelled him forward.

“Dance with your husband,” I whispered into his ear, reaching out and catching Justin to drag him back. Their bodies crashed together, and it wasn’t anything more than muscle memory for Justin to lift his hands and grab Micah before either of them stumbled.

“Did you trip? Are you okay?” Justin asked.

Micah narrowed his eyes at me but turned his stare toward his husband. “I’m fine.”

“I’m going to go find your third,” I shouted over the music, making sure the two of them stayed aligned before leaving them in the middle of the dance floor and heading for the bar.

If Keith was with Verity, he’d be easy to find. Verity was always a beacon in the crowd, whether they were dressed masculine or feminine or, in extremely rare occasions, in nothing more than their underwear. But this time, I found Keith first, leaning against the bar, nodding along while Verity talked to him, gesturing with long and elegant hands and an animated face.

I approached from behind Keith, dropping my chin on his shoulder and smiling at Verity until they blushed.

“Stop using me as a tool to seduce unwitting strangers,” Keith said, dropping his hand and smacking my thigh.

“Verity is hardly unwilling, and they’re far from a stranger.”

Verity waved me off, rolling their eyes at me.

“You look good enough to eat, Verity,” I said with a sly smile.

“Aaron already has,” they countered, “repeatedly. But thank you for the observation.”

“Mind if I cut in and steal this handsome third from you?” I knocked my head into Keith’s curly mop of dark hair.

“Please, take him.” Verity leaned in and kissed us both on the cheek, then spun on their heel and headed off toward the back.

With my chin still on Keith’s shoulder, I walked around until we were facing each other, immediately seeing the worry lines around the corners of his dark eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Micah is just…I have no idea. I was asking Verity for some advice.”

“Get anything helpful?”

“Maybe.”

“The three of you are my favorite throuple and I hate to see you like this,” I said, grabbing Keith by the shoulders and steering him toward the dance floor.

Micah and Justin were easy to find. They’d gotten close, and Justin had a possessive hand around Micah’s throat while Micah gyrated suggestively against his hip. I fit Keith in at Micah’s back, pushing the three of them together like a sandwich.

“Don’t come back until you’ve fixed whatever is wrong,” I said, smacking Justin on the ass for good measure.