Page 97 of Craving Consequences
I don’t ask what the plan is if she isn’t as I follow my friend out the front door and into the rain. We chuck our duffels into the backseat as the hard drum of rain soaks our clothes. The drive to her place isn’t more than ten minutes, but Lachlan flips on the heat.
“Jesus,” I breathe, ruffling a hand through my damp hair and shaking raindrops off my jacket. “Glad she’s not driving down in this shitshow.”
Lachlan grunts as he puts the truck into reverse and pulls out of his driveway. “Her little car is fine for around town, but headed into the wilderness in this weather? She’d never make it.”
I steal a peek at the neon glow of the dashboard. It’s still pretty early.
We did tell her we’d pick her up at six just to get a head start on the trip, but that didn’t mean she would be awake afteryesterday. Most people didn’t get up at the crack of dawn, except, apparently Lauren, calling to pull me out of a wildly beautiful dream. But I don’t let my brain remember the view of dream-Everly bent over and begging me to fuck her. It would only lead to a boner I won’t be able to explain.
Lachlan turns down Silver Pines Road.
“Hey...” I shift in my seat, ignoring the chafe of wet denim against my thighs. “About yesterday.”
Lachlan doesn’t take his eyes off the road, but his head cocks ever so slightly in my direction. “What about it?”
“Do we need to talk about it?”
“What’s there to talk about?” His fingers drum once against the leather wheel. “It happened, and won’t happen again.”
I raise an eyebrow he can’t see. “You know we’re about to set off into the wilderness with Everly for several hours,” I reiterate slowly.
His mouth thins. “We have gone five years controlling ourselves. We can do it again.”
I scoff. “That was before we had her, Lach.”
“Well, I don’t fucking know, okay?” he snaps. “I don’t have a damn guidebook. I’m as lost and confused as you are.” He pauses to draw in a breath. “I just know that we can’t. I can’t,” he corrects softly.
I consider that for a long moment. I understand that our circumstances are vastly different and still closely the same, but Ican’t help the tiny voice at the back of my mind wondering what would happen if I took Everly for myself. Obviously, it would only be one of us ultimately. Even if we both sleep with her, we can’t both actually keep her. It’s unrealistic. But what if I asked her out? What if she picked me? Lachlan would be pissed. So would Lauren. In the long run, Everly wouldn’t be happy either and I would forever wonder if she was still pining for my best friend. Or would we continue to share her in private? Do I want to share her? For how long? What did sharing even mean and since when did I want it?
“You okay over there?” Lachlan mutters, glancing over at me quickly before facing forward again.
“Fuck, I don’t know,” I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose where a dull ache has begun. “This whole thing is so fucked up.”
Lachlan barks a laugh. “Tell me about it.”
We sit in silence while the light hangs a steady red over the empty street. I watch a tiny blur scurry down the sidewalk and disappear behind a row of houses.
“If you could, would you keep her?”
“Yes,” says the other man without even letting me finish. “I would keep her. Wouldn’t you?”
“Would you share her?”
Lachlan’s face snaps in my direction. “With who?”
I shrug. “I dunno. Me?”
I’m grateful he doesn’t answer right away. His silence as the light turns green and he resumes our drive is oddly comforting. It feels like he’s really giving it some thought, not just throwing out an answer he might not mean.
“It’s weird,” he says at last. “I was never the jealous sort with Ashley, or any woman I’ve been with. I never felt the need to protect them or kill a man for touching them. But the evening Bron brought Everly over and introduced her as his girlfriend...” he pauses to snarl under his breath. “If he hadn’t been my kid, I think I would have punched him in the throat.”
I try not to be amused when he looks so serious, but I grin as I say, “Are you threatening to punch me in the throat?”
Unamused, Lachlan shoots me a dry glower. “I’m saying, the thought of Everly with another man makes me homicidal in a way that should be studied.” He breaks off, chews on the inside of his cheek before grumbling, “Except you.”
My grin widens. “Love you, too, man.”
“Fuck you, asshole. Don’t make me take it back.” But there’s amusement twisting the corner of his lip.
