by Mari Carr
Despite his desire for food, he didn’t give the menu a second glance. He knew Bryson too well. Knew it was up to him to start the conversation or it would never be had.
“Are we going to talk about last night?”
Bryson shook his head. “Not interested in doing a bunch of analysis, Aiden. Running through the song, line by line, until you’re satisfied we’ve got every damn word just right.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. Bryson would exist in permanent jam-session mode if left to his own devices. “We can’t ignore what happened. Can’t pretend we both didn’t just fuck our best friend last night.” Aiden ran his hand through his hair as he spoke the truth aloud. “Jesus.”
“It’s fine, Aiden. It was good. Shit, it was better than good. But you heard Dani. It was a one-time thing. She’s not looking to expand on it.”
Aiden frowned. “That’s not what she said.”
Bryson set his cup down. “Yes, it is. She said we couldn’t do it again.”
Leave it to Bryson to hear what he was expecting to hear rather than the more subtle truth. “No. What she said was we shouldn’t. That’s different.”
Bryson snorted. “Only to you, Mr. Semantics.”
Aiden refused to be deterred. “Regardless of what Dani said, what did you think about it?”
Bryson looked down at his coffee cup, toying with the rim. Aiden had known this would be a difficult conversation for his friend. Bryson was the visceral one in their trio.
While Dani and Aiden wrote the love songs and broken-heart ballads filled with introspection and self-awareness, Bryson’s music and lyrics were simpler, running along the lines of “Friends in Low Places” and “Red Solo Cup”. His songs were destined to be feel-good, do-whatever-the-fuck-you-want, barroom staples, while Dani and Aiden wrote music that lent itself to weddings or was most likely to be accompanied by a tub of Ben & Jerry’s and a crying woman.
“It was hot.”
It was a simple answer. Exactly what Aiden expected for the first pass. “You didn’t mind that I was there?”
Bryson let out an exasperated groan and picked up his cup, walking to the couch. “Why do you do that? Why do you always have to go there? Why can’t we just say it was fun and move on?”
Aiden took a deep breath, trying to keep a cool head. He’d spent nearly a decade figuring out how to have difficult conversations with Bryson. It required a lot of patience, which Aiden usually had in abundance. This morning, however, he was on edge and struggling to figure out why. “Do you want to move on?”
Bryson narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
“What if we didn’t just forget it? What if we expanded on it?”
Bryson didn’t reply immediately and Aiden thought he was looking at his own face reflected back at him. The desire to keep going was definitely there. Neither of them wanted last night to be a one-night stand.
“Doesn’t matter what we want. Dani doesn’t want that.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
Bryson slammed down his coffee cup, ignoring when it splashed onto the table. Aiden should have expected the response. If he was feeling like a powder keg about to explode, no doubt Bryson was reaching critical mass. “No, I’m not okay with that! But I don’t remember us being given a choice. She said it couldn’t happen again, so that’s it.”
“No. That’s not it. There are three of us with a vested interest in how we proceed from here and we’re all capable of voicing our opinions. Neither one of us spoke up last night.”
Bryson raised an eyebrow in accusation. “You shut down the conversation. Pretty damn quick.”
Aiden dropped down into a chair, leaning back wearily. “We weren’t going to solve anything last night. We were still lust drunk.”
Bryson’s lips tipped up. “That would be a good title for a song. Remind me of that when I’m not still suffering from the condition. That was…just…fuck me.” His words were spoken so reverently Aiden almost laughed.
“Yeah. I didn’t see that coming.”
Bryson tilted his head, curious. “Seriously? I mean…you’ve never thought about doing it with Dani?”
Aiden lifted one shoulder then confessed, “I’ve thought about it a lot. Too much. But you were never there with us, bro.”
Bryson chuckled. “Ditto.” They fell silent for several minutes, sipping their coffee. Aiden wasn’t sure what was going through his friend’s mind, but he was replaying the previous night. Which was a mistake, as his cock twitched, stirred.
Finally, Bryson shifted, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked at Aiden. “I didn’t mind that you were there. It sort of made it better.”
Aiden nodded slowly. He felt the same way.
Bryson continued, “It was like being on the same basketball team, passing the ball, the assist, the layup, the rebound. We were working together to score, to win.”
“We’ve always made a pretty good team. Onstage and on the court for those pickup games.”
“And apparently in the bedroom,” Bryson added quietly.
“Yeah.”
Bryson crinkled his nose. “Does this mean we’re bisexual or something?”
Aiden laughed loudly. “Jesus Christ, no. Did you want me to touch you sexually?”
Bryson stood up quickly. “Fuck no. I’d have punched the shit out of you if you’d tried.”
“Ditto,” Aiden said.
Bryson calmed down briefly, but his concerns about his sexuality were clearly not the only thing bothering him. He started pacing across the room. “If Dani doesn’t want us, there’s not a whole hell of a lot we can do about that.” Bryson’s fists clenched. “Fuck. Listen to me. Us. If she doesn’t want us! Since when is that even a thing? We don’t do threesomes any more than Dani does. I’ve always been a one-man show when it comes to sex. And no matter how fucking awesome it was, last night was…”
“Was what?” Aiden prodded when it appeared Bryson wouldn’t finish his thought.
“A fluke.”
Aiden had to admit that word was better than the one he feared Bryson was going to say. He couldn’t stand to hear his friend call it a mistake. Because it wasn’t. Maybe Bryson and Dani were okay with trying to forget it all, but Aiden couldn’t do that. Couldn’t give up on the feeling that they’d be wrong to walk away from this.
“No. It wasn’t.”
Bryson frowned at him. “What are you saying?”
Aiden didn’t reply. He wasn’t sure Bryson was ready to hear what he was thinking.
“Nothing,” he said, as he walked back to the kitchen counter. He picked up the menu. “Beignets and bacon?”
It took Bryson a few seconds to switch gears. For a moment, Aiden thought his friend might press him for an answer. But then, true to form, Bryson’s stomach took precedence. “Yeah. Get a lot. I’m starving.”
***
Bryson had just taken a seat at the small table set up by the window overlooking the river and loaded his plate with half a dozen slices of bacon when the bedroom door opened.
Dani took a couple steps into the room, and then stopped when she realized he and Aiden were eyeballing her like a seven-course meal. They were going to have to rein this shit in before they spooked her and ran her off for good.
Maybe that would be easier if she didn’t look so adorable. Her long blonde hair was tousled, messy in a way that was too sexy for his sanity.
She’d put her t-shirt and panties back on—her standard sleeping outfit. Like her, he and Aiden had opted for the usual and were only wearing their boxers. While he’d pretended to be indifferent to her sleepwear for years, the truth was he’d lie in bed more nights than not with a half-hard cock, resisting the urge to jack-off to that image. Something he’d never been able to do because she had always been just a few feet away, curled up on a rollaway.
Last night had opened a door he wasn’t sure he could close again.
Dani glanced back toward her room. “I’ll grab a pair of shorts.”
“Freeze,” Bryson said, louder than he’d intended.
Dani jumped at the sound of his voice.
“Come get some breakfast. You look fine.” There was no way in hell he was letting her cover up one more inch of her smooth, silky, lickable skin.
She hesitated until Aiden smiled and held out his hand. “Too late to play the shy card, Dani. We’ve bared all—all three of us. We don’t need to make this awkward. Mainly because it’s not.”
She considered that, and then shrugged. “I guess it’s not. Are those beignets?”
Bryson nodded. “These things are fucking addictive.”
She laughed then fairly skipped to the table, her enthusiasm for their meal selection evident. “I swear there wasn’t much I missed about New Orleans, but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night dreaming of these things.”
She took a seat, picked up the largest beignet on the plate, dragged it through the mountain of powdered sugar and took a bite.
Bryson tried to ignore the satisfied moan she made as she slowly devoured the sweet treat. Mainly because the sound was a hell of a lot like the one she made when she was coming. Aiden’s hand slipped beneath the table, no doubt to adjust his boxers to hide his growing erection. Bryson recognized the action because he needed to do the same.
“What time is Sunday dinner?” Bryson asked, trying to find some topic of conversation that might distract him from the sprinkle of sugar that had landed on Dani’s t-shirt. It was as if the powder was drawing him a map to her nipples. They were budded, tight. Which told him she wasn’t wearing a bra. She was clearly feeling the lingering effects of last night too. The headlights were on high beam.
The sexual tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Bryson forced his gaze back to her face when she replied, “Jett suggested we arrive at two. He wants to make sure everyone is there before us. He’s got this grand entrance thing planned. It’s sort of silly.”
The grin on her face told him she didn’t find it silly at all. She looked delighted, excited. Which made Bryson even more confused about her reasons for staying away for so long. Why would she have delayed a reunion she clearly wanted so badly? She may have been young when she’d left, but there was no reason he could see for her not returning as an adult anytime in the past decade.
Aiden glanced at his cell phone. “It’s a little past ten now. Did you want to do anything this morning?”
Dani flushed, her eyes fixated on her plate. Her pink cheeks told them exactly what she’d like to do, and it had nothing to do with the beignets.
Bryson considered Aiden’s comment from earlier. His friend believed last night wasn’t a fluke. Clearly Aiden refused to accept there wouldn’t be a return engagement.
Bryson hoped he was right. Then he decided to test the theory.
Reaching for her chair, Bryson tugged on it until he’d turned it away from the table and toward him. Dani’s knees were between his outstretched thighs. The quick movement caught her unaware, so she reached out to steady herself, her hands gripping his upper arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked when he lifted her t-shirt over her head.
Bryson fought to appear nonchalant, casual, as he replied, “Eating breakfast.”
He picked up a beignet. However, rather than take a bite, he shook some of the powdered sugar from it, letting the white flakes rain over her breasts. Then he handed it to her. “Here, hold this.”
She took the beignet he shoved into her hand. Once again, he moved quickly, not giving her time to guess his intentions or counter them.
Bryson leaned forward and ran his tongue over her breasts, the sweetness of the sugar nothing compared to the salty tang of Dani’s skin. They’d worked up quite a sweat the previous night. He liked that there was still evidence, proof that he hadn’t imagined it.
Once he’d cleaned off the powder, he leaned back to study her response to his touch. Her cheeks were red, her eyes heavy-lidded.
“Bryson,” she whispered. If she wanted to tell him to stop, it didn’t look like she could form the words.
That thought made him more determined to keep her speechless. He shifted so that his knees were inside hers, pressing her thighs open.
Aiden had been a quiet observer, but Bryson hadn’t worried about his response. His friend wanted this as much as he did.
When Bryson reached for her pussy, Aiden stood, no longer content to be apart. He positioned himself behind her chair, his hands wrapping around to cup her breasts.
“I thought we weren’t…” Dani’s words faded when Bryson shoved her panties aside and pressed two fingers inside her pussy. Denial was pointless. She was soaking wet.
Her eyes closed as she blew out a long breath. “Ganging. Up. On me,” she gasped.
Bryson chuckled. “I want to see you come again, Dani.”
Her lids lifted and he gave her a look that said he wouldn’t be denied.
She raised one eyebrow, her expression pure smartass. “You don’t really expect me to say no to that, do you?”
Aiden laughed softly, then squeezed her breasts. Dani inhaled, her head falling back to rest against Aiden’s stomach.
“Do your worst,” she dared.
Bryson preferred to give her his best. Hoped that she’d want what he gave her as much as she craved those damn doughnuts. Even twelve years later.
He stroked his thumb against her clit as his fingers continued to move inside. Aiden had released her breasts, turning his attention to just her nipples. He circled the areolas with his forefingers, and then added his thumbs, pinching the distended tips. Bryson watched as his friend slowly added pressure. They’d both seen traces of Dani’s wild side last night.
She wasn’t afraid of a little pain and there was definitely a healthy amount of kink behind her inexperience.
As Aiden’s pinch tightened, Dani’s breathing sped. Bryson sucked in the sweet scent of her breath, however, he resisted leaning in for a taste.
His preference this morning was for something a little stronger, coffee over doughnuts. Sliding off his chair, he dropped to his knees between her legs. Dani’s hands flew to his head when he tugged her panties to her ankles, placed his lips around her clit and sucked.
“Holy mother.” Dani’s fingers tugged at his hair. Not to dislodge him, but to urge him on. He didn’t need the provocation. Nothing short of her climax on his tongue would compel him to stop now.
With his head between her legs, he lost sight of what Aiden was doing to her tits, but he could tell from her soft moans, she liked it. A lot.
Adding his own fuel to the fire, Bryson nipped her clit with his teeth, testing some limits of his own.
Dani’s grip in his hair became almost painful, but Bryson didn’t bother to tug her hands away. She wasn’t fighting, wasn’t resisting this. That was a pretty heady realization.
Aiden had been right. It wasn’t a fluke. And Bryson didn’t want this to be all that they got. Somehow, they’d sort this out, find a way to make it work because he wasn’t about to give up the heaven to be found in Dani’s arms.
For the first time in his life, he felt like writing a damn love song. Even caught the inkling of a tune in his head.
He pulled his fingers from her, enjoying her soft cry of regret and the way her muscles clenched in an attempt to hold him in. She wanted this. Him.
Bryson ran his tongue along her drenched flesh from clit to pussy, then pushed it in for a taste. Dani jerked slightly, but clearly Aiden had anticipated her response and held her steady.
Bryson found a rhythm with his tongue, as his thumb played with her clit. He wasn’t sure what Aiden was doing above his head, but their combined ministrations had Dani gyrating on the chair, a long string of sighs, moans, and reverent curses flowing from her lips.
Bryson tugged her closer to the edge of the chair so he could thrust his tongue deeper. Then he gathered her juices with his free hand and used that moisture to press one finger into her ass.<
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Dani jolted as if struck by lightning and came—hard and loud.
Bryson continued to stroke her with his finger and tongue until her aftershocks melted away. Then he lifted his head.
Dani’s head was thrown back, resting on Aiden’s stomach, her eyes closed. Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Bryson caught Aiden’s gaze. While their lovely songbird was sated, they were both sporting raging hard-ons.
“Shower.” Aiden lifted Dani’s limp form from the chair. She offered no resistance as she wrapped her hands around his neck.
Bryson rose and followed. Once they entered the master bathroom, Bryson turned on the water. The shower was large, with dual heads on opposite ends. Steam filled the room as Aiden set Dani down and they stripped off what little clothing they wore. Bryson stepped in first and turned to reach for Dani, who accepted his embrace instantly. Aiden was the last to join them.
Bryson gently pushed Dani under the showerhead, running his hands over her slick skin. Then he picked up the soap and made a thick lather on his hands. Aiden reached around, dragging Dani back to the middle. As Bryson washed her body, paying special attention to the fun parts, Aiden shampooed her hair.
Dani giggled.
“What’s so funny?” Aiden asked.
“I’m not used to all this pampering. You might want to ease up or I’ll get spoiled. Start expecting you guys to carry my luggage and such.”
Bryson narrowed his eyes. “I always offer to carry your suitcase and your guitar. You won’t let me.”
She moved back into the jets and rinsed the suds from her hair and body. “That’s because I’m perfectly capable of doing so on my own. Besides,” she slipped back to the center once she’d sluiced all the soap away, “sometimes it’s nice to be the one doing the spoiling.”
She wrapped her hands around both of their erections. He and Aiden gasped in perfect harmony at her unexpected touch. She ran her hands along their flesh as the hot water eased her path.
Then, she went down to her knees. With gentle tugs on their cocks, she pulled them closer, until the heads of their dicks were just an inch or so from her pretty mouth.