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OSCAR

“ W hat the hell were you thinking?” I ask, my blood boiling.

I was already nervous about seeing her again after all these years, and this certainly wasn’t the reunion I had in mind. My brothers should’ve known better, too. Then again, in their defense, Makayla has grown into something breathtaking.

Dammit.

“We thought this over, brother—more than once. The more we talked, the more we… did,” Kellan says, a faint smile tugging at his mouth. “I’m not going to say Makayla started it, but come on—we’re all adults here. And you can’t deny it. Have you seen her?”

She oozes sex appeal. “Yes, I saw her.”

“It happened fast,” Alex concedes. “Oscar, she’s something else—I’ll tell you.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m all for sharing our love lives, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to hop into bed with every woman who comes along. And Makayla Dwyer is not just any woman,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. “She’s… Kay, man. OUR Kay.”

I really like her, which makes all this harder to swallow. Even when we were young, I could see how sweet and smart and funny she was. And now, I’m positive she is all of that and so much more.

“And our Kay was the one who hit the gas on all of it,” Alex says. “Oscar, I think you hurt her feelings just now.”

“All I did was slam the brakes on something that was clearly moving too fast. How the hell did it get to this? I thought you slipped out of the meeting to hit the ski slopes,” I say. “And can you please put on some pants?”

My brothers take a moment to slip into their rooms and return, each with a pair of sweatpants on.

I give both a stern look, but Kellan responds with a critical glare of his own.

“What’s your deal?” Kellan asks. “You barge in here and act like the principal.”

“You and Alex, of all people, know that precisely because of our personal lifestyle, we need to be particularly careful about who we let in,” I say.

“Who we let in… Makayla, that’s who. She’s anything but a stranger, and she’s more than into it. She is incredibly responsive. Does this bother you?” Kellan asks, crossing his arms.

“Yes, a little,” I admit.

“You’ve never had a problem with our lifestyle before. What about Sheila? She was new to the idea of three guys, and you were the one who convinced her it would be fun,” Kellan reminds me. “Granted, she wholeheartedly agreed, but you can’t claim that you’re uncomfortable now.”

“That was different,” I say.

“How was it different?” Alex asks, giving me a puzzled frown.

“For one thing, we didn’t have somewhere to be in an hour when we hooked up with her,” I quip.

Kellan lets out a heavy sigh. To be fair, I feel the same. Part of me would’ve gladly joined the fun, but my engine isn’t revving as hot as my brothers’; my head is still in control.

“And we didn’t know Sheila since we were in high school ourselves,” I continue. “Are you really going to make me say it?”

Kellan cocks his head to the side. “Say what?”

“Makayla is special, okay,” I snap. “I haven’t seen her in a lifetime, and the first glimpse I get, she’s standing between you two, naked under that towel and about to go past the point of no return. The three of you let yourselves get carried away. She deserves better, and you know it.”

“She was genuinely enjoying herself,” Kellan says.

Alex gives him a doubtful look. “We should woo her,” he says. “Oscar’s right—we need to let the blood settle first. I wouldn’t have regretted a single moment, and neither would Kay, but now that we’ve cooled off a bit, I see his point.”

I glance around for something to focus on while my thoughts bolt every which way. The balcony door hangs open, letting the warmth escape. I close it, grateful for the few seconds it buys me to think.

Outside, several half-full glasses ring the tub. A bottle of champagne is on the table and there are two unused towels hanging over the back of one of the lounge chairs.

“Maybe we skipped a few steps,” Kellan admits. “In my defense, Makayla didn’t help much with that, either. The girl is hungry for us. As hungry as we are for her.”

“We owe it to Bryan, too,” I say. “I will not deny the chemistry here.”

“You felt it, huh?” Alex says, scoffing as he gives me a half smile.

I nod slowly. “It’s delicate. Whether this lasts one night, only this trip, or something deeper—something beyond what I’m sure will be mind-blowing sex—we need to handle Makayla carefully.”

“Good luck swaying her back into the fold,” Kellan says, shooting me a look. “Your approach was a tad abrasive, to say the least.”

“I’ll make amends.” I pause and level him with a hard look. “Are you going to lunch like that?”

“You’re unusually cranky. Did somebody forget to get in a power walk this morning?”

I follow him out to collect the glasses and bottles from the balcony. The hot tub is still bubbling, and for a moment I wish I were in it.

I pause over the kitchen sink, bottles in hand, then pour the remaining champagne into a clean glass and down it in one hearty gulp.

“Feeling better?” Alex asks, holding back a chuckle.

“My apologies,” I say. “But I’m not sorry that I stopped this.”

“We should apologize, too,” Alex says, and Kellan begrudgingly agrees with a nod. “We share everything. It wasn’t our intention to keep Makayla from you.”

“In fact, she did ask about you,” Kellan adds.

My eyes widen. “She did?”

“Yes, she did,” he says.

“I know what this is about,” Alex says, cutting in. “I can still read you like an open book, Oscar.”

I raise a skeptical eyebrow. “Go on.”

“Well, you’ve already pointed out that you want us to take our time wooing her, and I agree.

But it runs deeper for you. You want to know what Makayla’s like all grown up.

You want to know how we managed to convince her to go all the way with us so soon.

You’re wondering if she didn’t feel something for you way back when, and if so, why she’d be so eager to get it on with Kellan and me. ”

“I don’t,” I insist. “None of those things are relevant. I’m just glad I stopped the three of you from making a big mistake.”

“The only mistake was not bringing you in sooner,” Kellan concedes.

“It still wouldn’t have happened like this,” I argue.

I head back into the lounge, not caring whether they follow.

He’s hit a sore spot and he knows it. I never saw Makayla as a likely romantic partner, but I was always very aware of her whenever she was around.

I’m not sure if Alex and Kellan felt the same way, but I definitely don’t want her to do anything she might regret with either one of them.

She’s not like the other girls, and that’s what scares me.

“Makayla can make her own decisions, and did it ever occur to you that maybe this isn’t the first time she’s thought of us that way?” Alex asks, coming up beside me.

I release another heavy sigh and flip on the TV, aimlessly scrolling through channels. I’m not sure there’s anything I want to watch, but I welcome the distraction.

“I understand that we surprised you,” Alex admits.

“We haven’t seen her for years,” I reiterate. “I leave you alone for five minutes and you’re already all over her.”

“You didn’t see her in the hot tub,” Alex says. “We talked. We got reacquainted. We didn’t just pounce on her.”

I don’t want to argue with him. I’m tired and the meeting ran late.

“I’m getting a headache,” I say. “It wasn’t bad enough that we’ve got too much work while we’re out here—now there’s this, too.”

“Take some aspirin,” Kellan suggests, nowhere near ready to fully concede. “It will be fine.”

I nod and wander away from the chaos my brothers have created. This is a disaster. We’re supposed to split this holiday between light work and relaxation, enjoying the luxurious comforts of this Swedish resort, yet all I seem to be doing is work.

Why can’t I just take the afternoon off and lounge naked in a hot tub with one of the most beautiful women on the planet? Why do I always choose to be the righteous one when every inch of Makayla promises the sweetest kind of sin?

“I’ll see you both in a bit.”

Leaving Alex and Kellan to get dressed for our lunch with Bryan and his fiancée, I retire to my room for a while. It crosses my mind that I’m next door to Makayla. She’s probably in there cursing my name.

I need a moment to breathe and refocus.

I stare at the wall between us and catch a soft hum. A hesitant melody takes shape, and I inch closer. She’s singing something. I don’t know what it is, but she misses a few notes. It brings a smile to my lips.

“It’s for your own good,” I whisper, even though she can’t hear me.

It’s for her own good. We can’t rush this. We won’t let anything happen unless we’re sure it’s leading somewhere. Makayla is different, and I intend to make sure she gets everything she deserves.

We may have been apart for all these years, but I never took my eyes off her.

Even from afar, I’ve kept my ear to the ground.

She’s been on my mind for so long.