Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Aspen

Waking up in Ridge’s arms was dangerous for my heart. I felt safe and wanted, hence why I have been avoiding him. I’m not an idiot; I know it was a one-time thing. Zeland sent me the edited video from the carnival, and I forwarded it to Arlo, and I know he has seen my DM telling him to check his email.

Before we left the carnival, Zeland had me look into a camera and record a quick message. “Don’t think this was a one and done. You were mine the moment you stepped through these gates. And you will learn really fast—I always get what I want. What I want is you on your knees for me, begging for my pussy. So be a good boy and wait for me.”

I can see Arlo across the room. He has his earphones in and is watching his phone. I anxiously tap my leg as I wait for a reply, then I see his lips curl into a smile as my heart thumps against my ribs. Does he want this as much as me?

“What ya doing?”

I jump so high my phone flies from my hands, landing in my lap. “Zeland!” I hiss.

“What? Why are you so jumpy?”

I stand, grabbing his tie and using it to drag him out of the room and down the hall to a supply closet before shoving him inside and following him, shutting the door behind us.

“You probably shouldn’t manhandle the boss like that,” he says with a chuckle. “But I’ll let it slide if I can grope you.”

He touches my boobs, and I slap his hand away. “I sent Arlo the video, and he was watching it. What if he doesn’t want a repeat?”

“He will, you’re irresistible. Do you think we could sneak a quickie?”

Zeland’s phone rings and he laughs, holding it up so I can see Ridge’s name on the screen. He answers it with a smirk.

“Oh fuck, Aspen, just like that. Take my cock in your mouth.”

I try to smother my snort .

“You better not be letting the stray suck your cock in the closet at work.”

“And why the fuck not? You asked me to stop fucking your employees, but she doesn’t work on your floor. Technically, she doesn’t even work here—she loiters here of her own free will.”

“About that, I have contracts for her to sign. I want you in my office today, stray.”

“That sounds like so much fun, not . I’d rather watch paint dry.”

“Do I need to bend you over my knee and show you who is boss?”

Zeland wiggles his brows at me. “Yes please, daddy.” And both Zeland and I laugh when Ridge gags over the phone.

“Just get your fucking ass up here on your lunch break, and so help me if I have to come looking for you.” He then ends the call abruptly.

“Do you think he knows I’m avoiding him?” I ask.

“Why did you get that impression? He knows and has been in a pissy mood about it for days.”

I sigh. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“Do what?” Zeland asks, brushing my hair back behind my ears.

“Us. Ridge. Arlo. I’m going to get my heart broken. I shouldn’t like you all so much.”

“Do you want to be my girl?”

I eye him suspiciously and shrug. “Honestly, I don’t know what I want. I know I enjoy fucking you and spending time with you. Ridge scares me the most. Waking up in his arms petrified me because I could see myself doing it more often, and that’s not me. And?—”

Zeland presses his lips to mine, probably to shut me up, but it works. I jump into his arms and wrap my legs around his waist. We kiss for what feels like hours, drinking each other in, not needing it to turn more physical. He is showing me he is there for me, however I need him to be. We pull back, both panting, when the door is ripped open and Ridge wedges himself inside with us.

“Be my girl,” Zeland whispers, and I have a profound “fuck it” moment and nod. If I’m going to get my heart broken, I may as well go out with a bang.

“I thought you two were fucking in here, but you’re asking her to be your girlfriend?”

“What’s up, brother husband,” I say as I slide down Zeland’s body. “I guess we share a man now. You’re never getting rid of me.”

Zeland cackles, and Ridge shakes his head. “I guess you’re about to find out what sharing a man with me entails, stray.” Then he grabs my chin and locks eyes with me. “Now you can’t avoid me. Both of you are expected in my office at lunch.”

“Fuck yes, a Zeland sandwich,” Zeland says with a fist pump.

Ridge lets me go and steps back, twisting the handle, and he walks out into the hall. We follow him, but all skid to a stop when we see Arlo standing there, his mouth wide open. Zeland walks up to him and uses his finger to close it before he leans in close to his ear just as I come to stand behind him. “If you’re going to stand there with your mouth open, I can give you something to put in it.”

“Zeland,” Ridge snaps. “That is sexual harassment. Let’s go.”

Zeland cackles as Ridge drags him away. “See you at lunch, girlfriend. And check your emails, Arlo. I haven’t gotten a reply yet.”

I roll my eyes as I’m left standing with Arlo, who just blinks. I grab his arm and drag him back to our office, closing the door behind us.

“You and him . . . Did he just . . .? I’m confused.”

I laugh. “Welcome to getting to know Zeland. When he is not your boss, Zeland can be very inappropriate. If he made you feel a certain way that you don’t like, I can tell him to knock it off.”

“All three of you were in there,” he whispers.

“Yup. Can I tell you a secret that is just between us?”

He nods and I know he can’t repeat anything about either of them because it’s in his NDA, just like it’s in mine.

“Ridge and I are both with Zeland.”

He makes a motion of his mind exploding. “Good for you. Or Zeland, I guess.”

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

Arlo laughs and I want to step closer to him, to tell him the masked woman was me, that I want him as well. To tell him his smell calms me, even if that sounds fucking weird. But Arlo smells so damn good, like sweet oranges and something spicy I can’t quite put my finger on—chili flakes, maybe?

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a loner. I don’t have friends.”

I gasp and hold my chest. “I’m offended that you don’t think I’m your friend.”

“You want to be my friend?”

“I do. I came here on that first day as a favor to Zeland.” I lie a little because he thinks I have a boyfriend—well, I do now—and I can’t scare the poor guy. “You see, I don’t actually officially work here yet, and that’s why Ridge was in the closet. He’s bulldozing me to sign or I have to leave. And I like working with you.”

“Shit, okay, I guess we are friends, as long as your boyfriend doesn’t mind.”

I laugh because hearing it out loud sounds crazy. “He doesn’t. If you can’t tell by the dynamics, our relationship is not the norm.”

He clears his throat, and I take a step back, realizing I’m standing way too close to him. We both get back to work looking over the notes some beta testers sent us. When lunch time comes, I head upstairs to Ridge’s office, and his receptionist waves me through, telling me he is waiting for me. What I don’t expect as I open the door is Ridge sprawled in his office chair, his hands tightly gripping Zeland’s hair, who is on his knees.

“Well, isn’t this a nice surprise,” I say, closing the door and flicking the lock. “I think I’m really going to like having a boyfriend who has a boyfriend.”

“You know we come as a package deal, stray.”

I hold Ridge’s stare, but it’s like trying to break through solid stone. He doesn’t smirk, nor give anything away, just watches me with a dark, unreadable intensity that makes it impossible to tell if he wants to push me away or pull me closer.

“A package deal,” I repeat, my voice quieter, like I’m testing the weight of his words. He doesn’t explain, but he doesn’t need to—the way he looks at me tells me he’s not joking. I keep my expression neutral, refusing to be the first to crack. “And what exactly does that mean, Ridge?”

The silence stretches between us, thick and unyielding, until I’m not sure if I want his answer, or if I’m afraid to hear it.

“It means exactly what you think it does. If you’re his, you’re also mine. But be warned, I’m possessive of what’s mine, and I don’t do love.”

Heat coils low in my stomach, sharp and unwelcome. I should walk away, tell him I don’t belong to anyone, I’m no one’s possession. But with the way he says it, the way he owns it, I don’t know if I want to fight him or make him prove it.

“Prove it,” I say, deciding to call his bluff.

I get not doing love, it’s also not for me, not when the one person who was supposed to love me the most left. It’s why I don’t do relationships and yet these men have somehow made me want one. Even when in the end they will leave me—everyone does, but this time I want to see if the pain is worth it.

Zeland lifts his head off Ridge’s cock. “Hey, baby. Want some lunch? I can confirm his cock is a great snack.”

“I hate to break it to you, but his cock is a whole meal. There is no snack about the size of that thing.”

“Get your sexy ass over here. I have fifteen minutes until I have a conference call, so I’m going to fuck you while Zee strokes himself and comes on your face.”

I want to tell him to make me, but his words hit me straight in the clit and I’m already removing my clothes as I walk toward them until I’m naked and drop to all fours.

“This won’t work—she is too small,” Zee says, picking me up around the waist. I flail like I’m about to die, and he swipes everything off Ridge’s desk. I chuckle, knowing the mess is going to give Ridge an aneurysm.

Zeland lays me face down and Ridge grabs my hips, pulling me back and up onto my knees, which he urges me to spread wide. “This is just right.”

He swipes his cock along my pussy, and I moan. Zeland kneels on the desk, and I’m thankful for the quality of the timber as it holds both our weight. He strokes his cock as Ridge thrusts deep inside me.

“Oh, fuck!”

“You need to be quiet, stray. I can’t have anyone knowing what I’m doing right now.”

Biting down on my lip muffles my whimpers as Ridge grips my hips hard, pulling me back as he moves forward. I want more—no, I need it—and I can’t help the noises I make the closer my orgasm comes to spilling over.

“That’s it, baby. Take our man’s cock. You’re so perfect.”

Zeland praises me until I can’t hold on anymore, and just before I can scream, Ridge reaches around, covering my mouth with his hand and stifling his name beneath it.

I feel Ridge pull out of me, and within a moment, wetness hits my back and my face.

“So pretty letting us claim you,” Ridge says, rubbing his cum into my skin. Zeland does the same until I fall stomach-first onto Ridge’s desk to catch my breath.

Zeland jumps off and retrieves some tissues to wipe the cum from my body, then Ridge helps me off his desk. I expect him to disinfect it, but he doesn’t. We all get dressed, then he simply puts everything back where it belongs and I smile as I watch him.

“This is for you to sign,” he says, pushing a folder across his desk.

I open it and read through the contract. It all seems fairly straightforward until we get to the payment.

“You can’t be serious!” I gasp out.

“Do you want to negotiate your salary? I can pay you ten percent more.”

“What, no! This is way too much. I can’t get special treatment.”

“On that note, I’m out. I will be at your office to pick you up at five. We have something special we need to plan for your other boyfriend,” Zeland says.

“He isn’t my boyfriend,” I say defensively.

“No, but he will be ours if we play our cards right.”

I hear Zeland’s words but look at Ridge. “Not mine, stray. It’s you two with feelings for the kid.”

“More dicks for me, but that doesn’t mean he can’t watch. See you in a few hours.” Zeland winks at me and leaves Ridge’s office.

I wait until the door is closed, then face Ridge, who hands me a pen. But as I reach out to grab it, he pulls me onto his lap.

“I know this is new for you, and while I might not believe in love, I still like spoiling what’s mine. Zeland is hard to spoil because he has as much money as I do, but something tells me you are going to be just as hard.”

“Does Arlo earn this much?”

Ridge leans in and whispers, “He earns more. Zeland is going to call him up to his office to give him a promotion. Apparently, the nerdy gamer boy has caught his eye, just as you have ours.”

Leaning forward, I sign on the dotted line and then stand, turning around to straddle his waist. “I know I’m a complication you didn’t want, but before you decide anything more, you need to know I’m broken. I don’t want love—getting close to anyone makes me feel sick to my stomach. I will forever be waiting for the other shoe to drop, then for all of you to leave me.”

“It’s too late, stray. For some reason, you weaseled your way under my skin so deep I need to see you. We can be broken together, and on the bad days, Zeland will be the glue that holds us together. He has been my rock for years now.” Ridge places a hand on either side of my face. “You’re mine now, stray, and if you feel the need to leave, just try it, because you won’t be able to hide from me. I’m not going anywhere—not now, not ever. Once I let someone in, it’s forever. ”

“So you’re like a wolf, the leader of our pack.”

Ridge smirks. “I’ll be your alpha.”

He nips at my lips before pressing his against mine. Maybe having people around isn’t a bad thing. What if my mother was the defective one, not me? She was supposed to love me unconditionally, but what if those who choose to be around you are the ones you need to hold close?