back up at me with a grimace. “I’m sorry, this isn’t how I pictured this going.” She reaches down and grabs my hand again. “Let’s back up, okay? I do like Jericho—”
“Love,” he cuts in, looking smug before sliding his gaze over to me. “She totally fucking loves me and shit.”
“I swear, I will kick your ass if you don’t shut up,” she threatens him.
“So feisty,” he says, looking really pleased about that fact. “Cliff and I can fuck that out of you later.”
My eyebrows shoot up all the way to my hairline, and my eyes widen. My brain does a full stop, screeching tires and all.
What?
Jetta lets out a peevish sigh before looking up at me. “I wish I could say he’s not normally this obnoxious, but I’d be lying,” she tells me. “But Jericho...he helped me settle in here. He came for me that night with Kaazu.”
“You’re with him,” I supply, needing to just cut to the chase. All of this dragging it out is just making it worse.
“I’m with him, yes,” she says, watching me warily. “But...I’m with you too.”
I frown. “What?”
“I don’t want you to go anywhere, Cliff. I want you to stay with me. With...us,” she replies, motioning between the three of us.
I search her face, trying to grasp what exactly she means. Jetta doesn’t talk feelings, so I have to translate. I have to read between the lines, I have to—
Jericho cuts in. “What Jetta means is, she loves the shit out of both of us, and she wants us both. She’s a greedy female, what can I say?” He grins. “But I like her, so I told her yes. I told her you’d say yes too, because she’s kickass and we’d be lucky to have her, am I right?”
I gape at them both.
I went from elation at waking up and having her with me, to utter misery when I thought she’d found someone else, to...to…
“Is this true?” I ask her.
“Yes, it’s true,” she answers nervously, and Jetta is never nervous. “Just hear me out, Cliff,” she rushes in to say in uncharacteristic rambling. “I know this is weird, and it’s a lot to take in along with all the other shit on top of it. I didn’t expect this either, but it just happened. And now...I don’t want to lose you. Either of you. You both fucking mean more to me than the world, and I just hope you can consider it at least. Talk about it. Because I think we can figure it out if we try. If you want to try, I mean.”
“You’re not leaving me for him?” I ask dubiously.
She shakes her head. “No. Never.”
I glance at Jericho to see how he takes that news, but he just shrugs. “She told me right from the start that she loved you. I told her she didn’t have to choose,” he says, looking at me like he isn’t sure how I’m going to react. “It might seem weird, but it’s more common than you think, at least with shifters. And I’m male enough to know that she needs you.”
My head is spinning. What they’re talking about...sharing...is a completely foreign concept to me.
When I don’t say anything for a moment, Jetta swallows hard, and her eyes go shiny, which just kills me. “Cliff, please, don’t leave. I can’t take that. Just let me—”
I grab her chin and kiss her, cutting off the plea before it can finish leaving her mouth. She never needs to beg me. Ever.
I pull away again, still keeping my hold on her chin. “You still want me?”
“Always,” she promises, and relief fills me.
“But...you want him too?” I ask.
She nods slowly, like she’s worried it’ll crush me, but honestly, I’m just trying to understand. “The two of you fill in all my hard edges. Like having you both balances me out. I can’t explain it.”
I stroke her cheek before dropping my hand, my brain soaking in all the emotions and thoughts whirling around. There’s a jealousy there, sure. There’s a worry that I wasn’t enough. But...
She still wants me. She still loves me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted or needed. And if Jetta needs us both, what kind of male would I be to deny her? I ensured her freedom. I knew that meant that she would find love. Hell, I hoped for it. So I would be a hypocrite now if I denied her that or if I walked away. Dread surges in me just at the thought of