I rubbed a free hand over my face. "Yeah. Sorry, I didn't text. I got caught up with work."
There was a pause where words were not necessary. We both knew that I always remembered to text even if I was caught up with work. First lie I had told to my partner of six years. I wondered if this was me starting to travel down the path of treachery. But that was ridiculous. I had not done anything.
Skye's face hovered in my vision again. Was she okay? Now I was regretting taking the day off. How will I make sure she was okay after the way I turned her down without even saying anything? She probably hates me.
"Cole."
Jerking out of my thoughts, I cleared my throat and realised I had missed part of the conversation. "I'm almost home. See you in a couple of minutes okay."
Silence again. Then I heard the call end tone instead of hearing some kind of verbal response.
Shit. I was in trouble.
~~~
Jasper
My laptop lay open in front of me as I tried to work on editing the latest photos I had taken during an exclusive, high-class party in Finale Ligure. These needed to be ready by early tomorrow afternoon although Cole's latest antics had blown my concentration for most of the day.
My eyes kept drifting to the time shown at the bottom of the laptop screen. 11 p.m. Where the fuck was he?
That was when I heard footsteps outside the door, the sound of keys jingling and despite my irritation, my heart softened at the sight of Cole entering the living room. He threw his keys on the kitchen counter carelessly which acted as a divider between the living room and where all the cooking took place. Then he shrugged off his jacket and headed to the fridge for a drink. I pretended to get back to focusing on the laptop again, waiting a few seconds.
As expected, Cole shut the refrigerator door with a sigh. "Did we run out of lemons?" he called out.
I leaned back against the couch and watched him through narrowed eyes. "No. Why?"
He frowned slightly then shrugged. "Nothing," he muttered, his lips thinning before he stalked off into the bedroom.
I ran both hands through my hair then, my head falling back against the couch and I closed my eyes feeling like my world was slowly slipping through my fingers. Why was he acting like this? I had been noticing it for about two weeks now. He seemed absent-minded and came home later than usual. He never rose to the bait and fought with me when I tried to get under his skin. I was losing him. I was fucking losing him and the thought made me sick to my stomach. Why wouldn't he just tell me what was wrong?
I heard the volume of the TV being lowered and then felt a hand clamp on my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I saw Cole glancing down at me with a tender look in his eyes, now having changed into sweats and a t-shirt.
"You coming to bed?" he asked me gently.
I let out a heavy sigh. "In a minute."
Nodding slightly, he disappeared into our bedroom again and I snapped my laptop shut before walking into the kitchen, my determination to stay mad at him fading at the mellowed way he had chosen to deal with my anger. Cole was in bed reading a book when I placed a glass next to his bedside table before starting to undress. He glanced at the chilled lemon juice which he loved so much, especially when I made them from fresh lemons and then grinned at me. I threw him a frown just to show him this did not change anything before getting in bed.
Putting the book away, Cole took a sip from his glass and smacked his lips at the tangy, citrusy flavour. "Thanks, wifey."
"Shut up. I'm not in the mood," I grumbled. He always liked to tease me about being the feminine part of our duo since I worked from home and liked to cook for us which was just so sexist and ridiculous because we both knew I was the very definition of alpha male.
I heard the thud of the glass on the table and then the mattress dipped some more as Cole lowered himself next to me.
"There's pizza in the fridge," I could not help but say even though I knew he usually ate something on the way whenever he was late coming home.
"I'm not interested in the pizza," he told me in a low voice before pressing his chest into my back.
He had taken off his shirt and the feel of his hot skin against mine after hours of being apart was too much. I turned abruptly, grabbed the back of his head and clamped my mouth on his in a rough, absolutely brutal and completely desperate kiss, my tongue meshing with his furiously.
When I finished, I drew back and pinned him with an intense look as he breathed heavily from my assault.
"What the fuck are you hiding from me?" I growled and for a second, he looked guilty. Then he laughed a little and grabbed my hair so that he could kiss me this time.
"I've had a really long day, Wells. You can either put me to sleep by questioning me about something that's just you being paranoid or you can fuck my brains out so that we can both go to bed satisfied," he said, not really giving me a choice as he started grinding his lower body slowly but deliberately against mine, his green eyes flooding with lust. We were both hard and panting with need by now.
I found it hard to think then. He was all that mattered. Him and this moment where he only wanted to be consumed by me. Maybe I was just being paranoid and reading too much into his exhaustion from work. Maybe we just needed a change of scenery to get things back on track.
Yeah, that was probably it. Cole would always belong to me. He has from the moment we met six years ago and nothing was going to change that.
~~~
Chapter 2
Skye
Mateo served me an iced mocha, presented me with a lascivious smile and retreated behind the counter at Moleskine cafeteria. He was fifty six and married with four grown-up kids but he flirted with me every chance he got. I didn't do anything to encourage him but it got me thinking. Older men really seemed to gravitate towards me. As though they wanted to daddy the fuck out of me or something.
I wasn't into all that shit. Yeah, I had daddy issues after never having received the love of my father but I didn't treat that as some sort of kink. No. Eeuw.
Sipping my cold beverage, I ignored Mateo's lingering glances as usual and turned my face towards the street, observing the world around me for a long time. I loved coming here after work in the afternoons. Sometimes I people-watched and other times, I just read. My apartment was nice and all but then it got so lonely in the evenings.
Living alone in a foreign country was hard and I didn't want to make it harder on myself by remaining cooped up at home all the time. That was why I took myself out. Treated myself whenever I could. Olivia made time for me sometimes and that was also nice.
But the ache in my soul....
Nothing could make that go away.
Not one single thing.
Sighing a little, I looked around for Mateo to indicate I was leaving and to put the bill on my tab which I would settle at the end of the week but my eyes locked with a pair of green ones instead.
Oh my God. What was Cole doing here? My heart skipped several beats as I blinked at him sitting at a table in the corner with some other guy. He had not shown up for work today so seeing him this way, dressed casually in jeans and a grey t-shirt in a place I was sure he did not usually frequent had me flustered.
Nodding at me slightly, he lifted his hand in a wave. My response was a weak smile. I was still so embarrassed about yesterday. Do I have to stop at his table and say 'Hi' now? It seemed like the proper thing to do instead of simply leaving. I thought about it as I gathered my purse and phone, glancing his way tentatively.
Fuck, he was staring. Like full on intense 'you-are-so-fucking-mine' kind of staring. There was a pleading in his eyes and it called to me. God, what was this? He was confusing me with all these mixed signals. Screwing with my head.
Standing abruptly, I stalked over to his table, intending to say a few words to him and then leave but his eyes widened a little and he shook his head at me firmly. I frowned. Now what? He had practically reached out to me with that longing expression on his face just to warn me o
ff. What the hell was going on with this guy?
As soon as the question popped in my mind, the man who accompanied Cole lifted his head and then turned without warning to look at me.
My mouth fell open in shock. I would know him anywhere. He was my pervert. The one with the camera on the hotel balcony two weeks ago.
Recognition dawned on his features before his eyes shifted to Cole and then back to me. Then he let out a low growl. Yes. He actually growled in my direction, appearing extremely pissed off and making me gasp at the hostility I witnessed in his expression. What had I ever done to him?
Abruptly, Mr. Pervert turned Angry Man pushed back his chair, stood up and stalked off. Cole rubbed a hand over his jaw with a pained look on his handsome face. My heart ached at the worry I saw tightening his features and he caught my look and gazed at me for a long, spell-binding moment. He did want me. He did. I could tell from the way his eyes devoured me. But something was wrong. I knew it now. And it had nothing to do with his lack of interest in me.
~~~
Cole
I knew the moment I stepped inside our apartment that Jasper was not going to back down from interrogating me this time. He knew. He fucking knew I had feelings for Skye. He had seen it plastered all over my face in the cafeteria.
Was it fate or coincidence? When Jasper had suggested that we go out for a coffee date after being too busy with work the past few days to get out recreationally, I had jumped at the idea. I needed things to be okay between us. I needed Jasper to be okay because his uneasiness increased my guilt tenfold.
He had driven us to some new place which he had discovered during one of his photo shoot gigs a couple of weeks back and we were just sitting there having a laugh when I had spotted her.
Alone again. Gazing at the crowd as though she wanted to lose herself in it forever. I tried like hell to pretend to be unaffected but my heart had other ideas. I couldn't stop looking my fill as Jasper got busy on his phone. She was so fucking beautiful. I realised with a jolt how much I had missed her today and the flirty, lavender halter-neck dress she wore made my dick stir in my jeans.
When she finally made eye contact, I had gone still, a wild mixture of emotions churning inside me. I knew I should look away after acknowledging her once but I did not. I could not. It had been a mistake. A flare of panic had gone up inside me when she had moved to approach me. I knew I would not be able to act like she was just somebody I knew at work if she talked to me in front of Jasper.
My emotions were too raw. The fucker would see right through me. Turns out, he did anyway. He sensed my movement while I indicated to Skye not to come closer and that was when I realised my secret was out.
"Wells?" I called him by his last name, the one he liked coming from my lips.
He was standing in the kitchen bare chested, his hands gripping the wooden counter hard and he looked positively furious. Shit.
"I'm sorry," I said to him quietly and meant it.
Fuck. I loved this guy so much. He had been my rock for six solid years. We had built something strong together and yes, there had been women now and then whom we had brought back to our bed after some wild, drunken night but it had only happened a few times and we both had participated in the act. It had been done through mutual consent and the understanding was there that it was nothing but casual.
There was no room for a third in our relationship. That was the deal. Jasper was mine and I was his.
"Do you want her?" he shot at me without wasting words, his dark eyes full of anger and accusation.
I couldn't lie to him. He had loved me through thick and thin and deserved better. But I hated myself for hurting him.
"Jasper-"
"Answer the fucking question, Cole," he barked, the knuckles of his fingers turning white.
My jaw clenched while I battled all the emotions deep inside trying to claw their way to the top. "I...I'm..." I sucked in a painful breath, rubbed my face with my palms and tried again. "I'm in love with her, Wells."
Time stood still for a minute. I could not believe I had said those words out loud to my partner. The one I promised to never betray as long as I lived and breathed. My vision grew blurry with tears because of my colossal mistake. Fuck, why did I do that? Why did I tell him that?
If he had said those same words to me about another man or woman, I would have flipped.
"You don't love me anymore?" he asked me slowly and his voice broke a little.
Horror filled me at his misconception. "No!" I burst out and then shook my head desperately. "That's not what this is. I...I do love you. You're everything to me," I insisted, walking towards him to hold him or kiss him. Fucking show him that me falling for Skye did not lessen my feelings for this man but he just stepped away before I could touch him.
"Apparently, not everything," he muttered darkly.
"Jasper, I didn't ask for this okay!" I burst out, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I didn't ask for her to get under my skin until I couldn't think straight. I never meant for it to happen."
His laughter was short and forced. Bitter. "Did you try to stop it? Where did you meet her, Cole?"
"At work. We just talked. I wasn't having an affair with her."
Jasper shook his head, turning away from me. " At work," he repeated in a monotone. "Your new job? You started that two weeks ago. At any point in time when you realised you were catching feelings for her did you think to leave this job?"
I remained silent. Of course I did not. At first it was just because I loved every project I took up and half-assed jobs were not my style but soon it became all about Skye. Looking forward to seeing her every day.
Jasper turned back to me, his eyes bloodshot as he studied my guilt-ridden expression. I swallowed hard once more. I could not begin to explain how sorry I was. Not for loving Skye. But for having hurt him.
He scowled at me for what seemed like ages. Please don't leave me, I silently begged him even though he had every right to do so if that was what he wanted. I deserved it.
He moved closer to me, both of us breathing heavily and his hand came up to my jaw, his grip firm and unyielding.
"You didn't answer my question," he breathed, narrowing his gaze at me in a way that made my heart flip. "Do. You. Want. Her?"
I stared at him in shock. I had just told him I was in love with another person and he was asking me if I wanted her. Of course I fucking wanted her. I wanted her right here with me every single day for the rest of my life, loving her, taking away her pain. Making her feel for me as much as I felt for her. But I didn't want to lose Jasper in the process. God, I was a selfish motherfucker.
He must have seen the answer in my eyes because he nodded as if to himself and began running his fingers through my hair possessively. Lovingly.
"You trust me, right?" he murmured as he continued to hold my gaze. "You know I would do anything for you?"
I still felt dazed due to this sudden change in his attitude. Why wasn't he yelling at me? Raging? Hurling insults and accusations and telling me to get the fuck out of his life?
"Yes," I managed to whisper.
He smiled slightly. "Cole. I would prefer you to be honest with me and spend time with this chick right here in our own home instead of creeping behind my back and feeling like you have to lie to me to protect me. Okay?"
I couldn't believe what he was saying. What? No, seriously, what?
"You're...you're okay with this, then?" I dared to ask, hope blooming inside my chest followed by something like dread. It could not be this easy. I could not be this lucky.
Jasper let out a breath, his expression serious and nodded after a moment. "Yes. Just don't ever lie to me. About anything. If you want to be with her, I want to know when and where it's happening."
My brow furrowed as I regarded him suspiciously "This isn't about sex, Jasper," I said sharply. "I'm not sharing her with you."
He made a face as if the idea was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.
&nbs
p; "I don't want her," he bit out and glared at me. "You're welcome to her. If it makes you happy, I'm not going to stand in the way. But she better know you're mine. You were mine first and she doesn't get to take you away from me. Do you understand?"
Relief unlike anything flowed through my entire body and I found myself smiling with all of my heart. Damn. This was really happening. Jasper was okay with me bringing another person in this relationship and he also understood that she would be mine and mine alone.
"I fucking love you," I breathed out after a while.
He smirked at me. "I know. What's not to love?"
Grinning widely at him, I pulled him in for a hug. I was a lucky bastard. This guy was amazing. And he really would do anything for me. I knew that without a doubt now.
Three's A Crowd Page 2