Cade waved a finger from Braden to himself and then back. "Just like this. The hard part is the limits. Everyone has a 'no' zone. So, say one guy is not cool with seeing bruises on her, but another is really into some rough stuff. Completely random example here. I'm just saying that being able to admit that you want to spank her hard enough to leave bruises, she's into it, and he's turned off because, I dunno, his mom was abused by his dad. Something like that. You have to figure it out. You have to talk to some other guy about your sex life with her, and we've been told all our lives that it's not cool to kiss and tell."
"How does group stuff fit in?" Braden asked.
"Well, when you know what he's cool with, and he knows what you're cool with, and she knows what everyone's ok with, it's pretty easy. Some guys are just a no, though. I mean, being naked in a room with that many people is kinda intimidating, you know? You're wondering if that other guy's dick is really that much bigger than yours, or if the zit on your ass is showing, and shit."
Braden laughed. "Oddly, I've never thought about that. We've already crossed that bridge, though. I'm just wondering if it's weird to go from group stuff to one guy, one girl stuff."
"Did you have any problem with that?" Cade countered.
"No, but she moved in with me. Until a few minutes ago, I was pretty sure I was the victor here. Now, he's currently the side piece, and I have this feeling it's not going to stay like that."
The words were barely out of his mouth before movement made Braden turn. Riley leaned against the corner of the hall and the living room, watching without shame. The moment she realized he was looking, she lifted her chin.
"Psyc?"
"Please, Riley?" he begged. "Don't make this harder?"
She just lifted a hand. "I'm asking to help, not hinder. I also know that he's been saying he got drunk and passed out on your couch in Denver. It wasn't the couch, was it?"
"No, it wasn't. She'd also never... and he was first..."
Riley nodded like she understood completely. "And you're actually rooting for him?"
"It's complicated," he admitted, gesturing for her to sit and join the conversation.
Riley pushed herself off the wall and made her way over to drop down beside Cade. "It always is."
"She reminds me of Dez sometimes." Braden paused, hoping he wasn't betraying Rhaven's trust somehow, and then decided that he needed to get this off his chest. "Rhaven has fought her whole life to be allowed to be a woman. She's never had a boyfriend, never been chased, or had her heart broken, or any of the things we think are normal. She acts like she can't believe she's worth it, and I want to make sure she knows she is. Somehow, Psyc does that. I mean, I get it. I can rationalize my way through it, but seeing her laugh with him? I know she's happy with me. I also know that what they have is nothing like what we do, and I can't stop thinking that she's going to ditch me for that spark."
"Yet you want to give her the world," Riley realized.
Braden nodded. "And the moon, the stars, the entire universe. I am so in love with her, and I can't even explain it. I mean, for all I know, those two are next door fucking, and even though I'm scared this is going to backfire, all I can think is that I'm thrilled that she can finally understand how amazing she is. Me! I'm thinking like this! I used to be the fucking idiot who'd break a guy for looking at his girl, you know? All my life, I've had this perception of what it means to be a real man, and how that made me fit into the world. And then I met Dez, and somewhere along this shit with Soul Reaper, I just can't. I think about saying she's mine, and it feels fucking wrong. But at the same time, I just feel like this is a bad idea, he shouldn't touch my girl, and all of these stupid patriarchal things that have been drilled into my head!"
"I know what you mean," Cade said. "There's that moment when it stops being about what you want and you start focusing on what she deserves. Or he. It's hard, and