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CHAPTER TWENTY

SEBASTIAN

W hen I wake up, I’m in the middle of the bed. I don’t usually sleep in the middle, but last night wasn’t exactly usual.

Leena is all curled up at my side, those perfect pouty lips parted while she sleeps. I smile at that. Especially knowing she’s naked under that sheet.

I look down my body to find Luke, who fell asleep drunk and naked on top of the covers, his head resting on my bare stomach, his arm draped over my waist. I stare, watching the muscles of his back move as he breathes steadily.

I feel this weird fucking need to comfort him all of a sudden. Probably because the news he got yesterday was shit, and I’m getting really tired of seeing this man in pain. Isn’t what he went through with me enough? Aren’t the nights he can’t sleep because of it, enough?

As I’m watching him sleep, something catches my eye.

Colton.

The bastard is standing in the doorway with no shirt, wearing the gray sweatpants Luke let him borrow, a toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He’s studying the position I have currently found myself in with curiosity. He quirks an eyebrow and smirks before continuing down the hall toward the bathroom.

Shit.

I look at the three of us with new eyes, suddenly panicked and trying to determine if the way Luke is lying across me would clue Colton in to the fact that we’re fucking.

I know how this looks. Straight men don’t fall asleep naked on top of each other, and they definitely don’t use their “friends” abs as their fucking pillow.

But here we are.

I eventually tell myself that this is easily explainable. Colton already knows we sleep in the same bed, because we’re fucking the same woman. So we were drunk, and nothing happened between me and Luke.

Even though it did.

Twice.

Fuck.

He has to have figured it out. There’s no way we were that quiet, and I have no idea at what point we left that goddamn door open.

I lay back and stare at the ceiling.

I’m not into guys. But I’m into Luke.

What the fuck does that make me? Is there a word for it? Straight, except for the man you sleep with every single fucking night?

I grumble. It’s apparently loud enough to wake Luke, because his blue eyes open and his head tilts to look up at me. And my heart fucking breaks the moment I see the events of yesterday come back to them.

If there was any way to take this pain away from him, I would do it in a fucking heartbeat.

—

After I shower, I make my way into the kitchen, finding Leena and Colton both sitting cross-legged on the island with their fancy coffees, a fucking crossword puzzle between them.

I stare, pondering why Colton is still here.

Fucking has been all week.

He’s still sporting Luke’s sweatpants that he’s refused to give back, but at least he managed to put a shirt on. Not sure if Leena needs any more muscles out on display in what is quickly turning into a frat house.

“Fisher, get your ass off my counter,” I say as I walk past.

“You’re telling me that your naked ass has never been on this counter?” He looks at me. I turn back to look at him.

Then I look at the counter.

I stare at it, then shrug.

He’s right.

“So, it’s Christmas Eve. What sort of insufferable romantic activities do you three have planned? Cookie baking? Ice skating?” Colton teases. He knows I wouldn’t be caught dead doing either of those activities.

“You want to come to dinner tonight and meet my sister? You’d probably get along. But it might get awkward after I explain I’m fucking two men. So that should be fun,” Leena says.

“And I get to tell my family tomorrow that their son is now The Jack of Spades. Why, you wanna come?” Luke says, and I don’t miss how he closed that cabinet door a little harder than he usually does.

“Fuck no,” Colton says, filling in another answer on the crossword and showing Leena. She looks frustrated that she didn’t get that one herself.

“We should do something with the team,” Leena says and I stare at her.

“We should?” I question, pulling food out of the fridge in the hopes that Luke will make it for me.

“I agree,” Colton adds. “Christmas party, holiday party, Hanukkah party… whatever the fuck they all celebrate, we should do something. Maybe put that barbecue out there to work. You know, the one you’ve literally never touched?” he says.

“I don’t barbecue,” I say, pulling out a pan that I know is the wrong one for what I’m pretending to make.

“You don’t fucking cook, either. Give me that,” Luke says, taking the pot from my hands. He trades it for a skillet, then slams that cupboard shut too.

I glance at Leena, a pleased look on my face. She shakes her head at me.

“What?” I mouth to her and she leans in closer.

“You’re ridiculous,” she mouths back and I close the space to kiss the words away before settling in on one of the barstools. I glance over, noticing they only have one word left on their crossword. I smile, because I know the answer.

I watched Luke do this puzzle yesterday.

“Well lucky for you, I do barbecue. Whenever you’re back from the Campbell’s, we’ll just have a party here. Unless you want to throw it at The Club.” Colton tries to cover his smile with his coffee cup.

It doesn’t work.

“No,” Luke and I both state firmly.

“Why won’t you bring me there?” Leena asks innocently, her brow furrowed as she stares at the page.

I glance at Luke who’s no longer paying attention, then at Colton, who looks hopeful.

“Because. That’s why,” I say, watching Leena hand the page back to Colton, watch his eyes furrow at it too.

I chuckle.

“Do you know the answer?” Leena looks at me, and I sip my coffee to hide my smile. “Oh come on Seb, tell us!” she pleads.

“That’s okay, Leena. We can just chat,” Colton says. “Once upon a time, two guys walked into a club–”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Luke says, snatching the paper from Colton and staring at it for all of two seconds before giving them the answer. “Inane.”