Lots of Naughty & A Little Nice - Leigh Lennon Page 0,28
between Avery and Knox, and I’m overwhelmed with emotion. So much sensation courses through my body that I pull back from her beautifullness and away from my man.
“Ro, sweetie?” Knox asks.
My attention is on Avery, and if I thought both Knox and I were breathless, she’s thirsty for more, for more of us.
“Ave, baby, are you okay with this? With what we’re about to do. Knox and I want you.” The erection tenting my boxers makes it obvious what I want.
She’s shirtless, her breasts exposed, I’m fully unclothed, besides my boxers, and Knox’s pants are unbuckled, and he, too, is missing clothes from the waist up. We’re ready to take this to the next level, physically, but if she’s not in it—emotionally, this night will mean nothing for a future together.
She touches her cheeks, where we both had first claimed a part of her body. Her eyes swing from Knox and to myself. “I don’t think this is wrong. It’s timing.” In the few minutes I’ve given her, she’s making her choice as she scrambles for her bra and shirt. Running to the powder room, she slams the door behind her, and the heated eyes of my man slaps me with his stare.
“What the hell, Ro? She was ours.” His words are low to avoid Avery’s ears.
My gaze fluctuates between the doorway, wondering if she’ll address what could have been.
His anger grows, the sounds of his footsteps approaching me. “Answer me, Ro.”
I understand emotion. I even experience it. But in the way my brain works, I operate on facts. I know on top of all of this, I can’t meet his anger with my own. “And what good would it do us if she regretted it the next morning?”
“Once she had us…”
“No, you’re seeing this situation in your idealistic eyes, and I love you for being the one with so much hope. But this is too important, she’s too special not to have her fully understand what’s on the line for all three of us. She said it’s timing. She’s not opposed to us, but her sister comes first. And she should. Ave has made a commitment to her.”
Knox knew all of this before I shared it, and he drops his head, his chin connecting with his chest. He fists his blond hair in his fingers, walking toward the edge of the living room to gain a peek of Avery after she vacates the bathroom.
“Is she still in there?” he asks as his fingers reach for my fingers. This causes my attention to focus on him, and away from the door Ave is hiding behind. “You, of course, are right.” His voice cracks. The door to the powder room swings open, startling us both. When she doesn’t face us, I call her name. She doesn’t stop until she gets to our back door.
Her hand rests on it a beat longer before twisting the knob. “Ave, please don’t leave.”
She faces straight ahead as though she’s scared to look at us. “I can’t risk losing Whitney.”
I take two steps toward her, but Knox tries to empty the space between us, and I reach for his strong arms, stopping him.
“We understand. You should put Whitney first, but don’t freeze us out, Ave. This thing, the three of us share, isn’t going anywhere.” I wait for my words to hit her and fully sink in.
The tic in Knox’s jaw is so pronounced, it could slice someone. I take a step, wrapping my long arms around him. He needs love, and when it comes to him, I always have so much love to give. He instantly eases his stiff posture in my embrace.
She’s still standing there, and in her analytical mind, I can imagine the debate she’s having with herself.
“I want you both. It’s not the reason I’m walking away.”
“But you’re walking away, right?” This is Knox, but his words convey a tenderness in how his pitch dips and he shifts in his stance, because he wants to go to her.
“I guess. For now, anyway. But I’ve never wanted someone like I want you two.” She’s not moved, and the knob is in the same position as before.
“Avery, please stay.” I’m surprised by my own words because she has to make this decision on her own. “Let’s talk this out. Maybe we can come up with a solution?”
I work on facts and analytics, so I’m trying hard to keep emotions out of the equation with Avery. But it’s hard because my pull to her is