I stifle a half-laugh, half-groan, burying my burning face in Nash’s neck. He stiffens but doesn’t step away.
“Give me a sec,” Nash calls, reluctantly pulling back and brushing his lips over my temple in apology. I scramble for my composure, tugging my cami back down and trying to slow my ragged breathing. Nash runs a hand through his hair and strides to the door, yanking it open to reveal Cody’s easy grin.
Cody’s eyes flick from Nash’s bare chest to my flushed face, visible over Nash’s shoulder. One brow lifts, slow and knowing.
“I was coming to remind you about the irrigation check in the south pasture first thing,” Cody says casually. His gaze lingers. “But I guess you’re… preoccupied.”
Nash growls low under his breath. “You could’ve messaged.”
Cody shrugs with infuriating calm. “Could’ve. Didn’t.”
Then, with that same wicked glint I’ve come to associate with him, Cody tilts his head and smiles right at me. “If you two are busy, I’ll let you get back to it. Unless… you want company?”
I blink. My brain short-circuits. My mouth opens, then closes again. Heat floods my cheeks and other places that came alive for the first time when Allie opened up to me about her poly relationship.
Nash stiffens beside me. “Cody—”
“What?” Cody raises his palms in mock innocence, his grin wicked. “Just offering. We’re family here. We share. Thought maybe the lady should knowallher options.”
My pulse thrums wildly as I stare at him, stunned by the words and how easily he says them. Is this what Allie meant? This easy blur of boundaries? This casual temptation under one roof? I shake my head faintly, still speechless.
Cody chuckles and backs toward the hallway, his eyes still locked on mine. “No harm, no foul. I’ll see you both at breakfast.”
“Wait,” I say, as his shoulder brushes the doorframe. He stops and pivots back slowly, his mouth curving into something that’s half smile, half dare.
Nash watches me closely, his pretty blue eyes growing cautious. “Are you sure?” he murmurs, his voice a notch lower. “He’s always been too damn bold for his own good.”
I laugh nervously and breathlessly, sounding insane. “Sure? No. But do I want him to stay?” I glance at Cody, then back at Nash. “Yeah.”
Nash closes the distance again, one hand coming up to tuck my hair behind my ear, fingers lingering a little longer than necessary. His thumb brushes the hollow of my cheek, featherlight. “You want to know what it’d be like if you stayed?”
The words settle heavy and sweet in the space betweenus as Cody looks on, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, quietly watching, giving me space but holding his ground.
“Yes,” I whisper, the word catching in my throat.Yes, even though it’s reckless, and I should know better. Even though every breath of this moment is stoking the slow-burning agony of leaving.
But I say it anyway.
And that one quiet syllable is all it takes to tip the balance.
23
CODY
I lean against the doorframe for a beat longer, my arms crossed, watching them. Grace stands between Nash and me, her chest rising and falling fast, her lips parted, her cheeks flushed. I’ve seen this before. Felt it before. The moment before the rules break.
This isn’t the first time I’ve shared a woman with Nash. The last two women who came to “try out” for this life wanted to pretend they could handle all of it, until they realized sharing wasn’t a fantasy they could keep living in.
It never hurt me. Not really. I’ve learned not to get attached, unlike some of my brothers and cousins.
But Grace?
Grace has already cracked a part of me open that I don’t know how to close. Seeing her begin to light up parts of this family that have been living in gloom is something that’s impossible to ignore.
I watch the way her eyes flick from Nash to me and back again. So wide and curious, starving for something she can’t identify yet. My dick hardens at the sight of her biting herlower lip, standing there in those cute, sinful little pajama shorts and that thin camisole, trying to act like she’s still deciding.
I know she’s decided. I practically smell her submission in the air.
I’ve waited too long for pleasure that wasn’t delivered by my left hand, and if what Jaxon says is true, we’ll be doing Grace a damn favor. She won’t be fucking her pillow tonight with me and Nash to satisfy her.
