Miss you, sweetheart.
It’s a strange feeling to share a picture of a man I’m crushing on with the man that just ravished me in bed.
Liam snorts and says, “Shameless flirt.”
As I roll my eyes, he catches my chin in a hand and gently turns me toward him. The sudden click of my phone camera when he kisses me has me lurching back. I swipe at my stolen phone, but Liam’s already sent the picture to Beau with a message.
She’s busy.
Despite my nerves over whatever we're doing, I can’t help my smile. “You are such a tease.”
He chuckles. Then he gathers up our trash while I try to wrap my head around seeing two men at the same time. I can’t completely erase the feeling that I’m doing something wrong. As much as I want to be brave and say fuck it to anyone who cares to judge, I’m still working on developing my backbone. Words have done nothing but cut me down since I first understood them. It’s hard to shake that, even as an adult.
I know my parents wouldn’t understand this. And while they’re not on my good list right now with the way they’re treating my twin, it’s hard to say I’m ready to completely sever ties.
Then there’s the matter of Hail. Would he be okay with me sleeping with his best friend? Or would he try to warn me away from Liam?
Sunlight peeks through the back windows, and I groan. I’m gonna need a large coffee to survive the workday on such little sleep.
Liam hangs out until I’m ready to walk out the door. Surprisingly, he hauls me against him and kisses me one more time. “Come by the studio tomorrow?”
“I have to teach a yoga class in the morning.”
“Sounds like you’ve got all afternoon to spend with me.”
And now I’m smiling again. My phone buzzes in my back pocket, breaking the tender moment. Liam rumbles with a low laugh. “He’s good for you, Stas.”
Fisting his shirt in my hand, I use it to pull myself up and peck a kiss to his stubbled cheek. “You are, too. Even if you don’t believe it.”
sixteen
Stasi
Imust be hallucinating.
Too many sleepless nights and long shifts at work are getting to me.
But when I do a double-take through the windows of the group fitness room, I confirm that yes, itisindeed Beau striding across the parking lot toward the gym, dressed in a fitted gray tee, dark athletic shorts, and pink flip-flops.
A flurry of emotions hit me all at once. Happiness that he’s still here. Panic that he’s about to tell me he’s leaving or that Liam doesn’t want us.
Instead, he walks right into class, grabs a mat stacked along the back wall, and rolls it out on the floor.
Heart skipping, I rush over to him. “What are you doing, Beau?”
Blue eyes glitter with warmth as he toes off his flamingo-patterned flip flops. They look like the flimsy kind you’d get from the cheap shelves you have to walk through to get to the checkout.
“Liam suggested I come work out the kinks in my muscles. He told me I hunch too much in the studio.”
“Oh?” My brows raise. “No other extracurricular activities that might be causing muscle pain?”
He shrugs, dimples popping. “Might have to engage in a bit more ofthatactivity to draw aconclusion.”
Shaking my head, I return to my mat at the front of the class. I catch Beau stretching in the mirrors, and I already know he’s going to be a distraction. I can’t just kick him out of class, though.
It hits me that somehow Beau knew where I taught yoga. I don’t think I’ve ever told Liam. I didn’t tell Liam where I live either.
This reeks of twin meddling.
