No, screw that. He needed to see the unedited version and get it through his thick skull that he had no claim to Evan. And she owed him no loyalty either. Gritting his teeth, he turned the knob and pushed open the door.
What lay inside wasn’t unexpected, but twisted him up just the same. The comforter was in a tangle, exposing Andre and Evan, both half-dressed and sound asleep. Evan’s shirt had ridden up, and Andre had a hand splayed possessively over her bare belly.
He blew out a breath.
So they’d fucked. Without him.
And then Evan had chosen to curl up with Andre for the night—a stranger to her—instead of with him. Well that was just fucking fine. Perfect.
Andre was the one who was better at the romantic, cuddling shit with women anyway. Shouldn’t Jace just leave him to it? Mr. Suave had probably murmured sweet words to Evan after they’d had sex. Told her how beautiful she was, how happy he was to be next to her. Kissed away her fear of the dark.
Bitterness burned at the back of Jace’s throat.
Whatever.
He resisted the inclination to slam the door and clicked it shut instead. So, problem solved. Let the two of them screw until the sun went down if they wanted. Because each time Jace knew Evan was with someone else, it would help him put another stone back into the foundation she’d rocked by stepping back into his life. Would remind him of what this was. And what it most definitely was not.
He made his way back to the kitchen and put on the coffee, planning to drink a cup on the back deck so he wouldn’t have to hear it if Evan and Andre did decide to have a little pre-breakfast action.
But before the coffee finished percolating, Andre shuffled into the kitchen, sniffing the air. “Mmm, coffee. Thanks, bro. I’ll take one sugar. And how ’bout some pancakes, too? I like mine in Mickey Mouse shapes.”
Jace shot him a deadly glare and shoved past him to grab mugs from the cabinet.
Andre smirked as he leaned against the counter. “What crawled up your ass?”
Jace grunted and turned his back to him to pour himself a cup, trying to get a hold on the jealousy, the anger, the frustration that he was feeling either of those things in the first place. “I’m fine. Just need some caffeine.”
“You and me both.” Andre pushed up from the counter as soon as Jace moved away from the coffeepot so he could get his own fix. “I barely slept last night.”
Jace’s teeth clenched, but he forced himself to look unaffected. None of this was Andre’s fault. The guy had only done what the two of them always did—shared a woman without concerns about jealousy. Jace kept his tone relaxed. “Yeah, well, tough to sleep when you’re too busy screwing.”
Andre turned around and sipped his coffee. “No kidding, she’s got some stamina, that one. Man, so fucking hot. The way she—”
Red clouded Jace’s vision as fuming heat flooded his system. He slammed his cup down on the counter. “I don’t need a goddamned play-by-play, asshole.”
Andre smirked. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
The smug tone made Jace’s fists curl. He’d never punched a friend, but there was a first time for everything.
Andre nodded in his direction. “You can stop plotting my murder. I’m just proving a point.”
Jace barely heard him over the angry buzzing in his brain. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t do anything with Evan—well, besides kissing her. She was reluctant to go further without talking to you first, and I wasn’t going to go down that road if she didn’t feel ready.”
“Oh.”
Oh. Jace’s chest shouldn’t have puffed up, shouldn’t have filled with a rush of relief and . . . satisfaction. He couldn’t stop the idiotic smile that crept to his lips, so he tried to cover it by picking up his mug again and taking a swig of scalding coffee.
“Un-fucking-believable,” Andre said, shaking his head. “Don’t do this, man. Not with her.”
Jace opened his mouth to ask him what that was supposed to mean, but Andre raised a hand to halt him.
“Look, I’m not blind, okay? You’re broadcasting ‘mine’ vibes with a damn bullhorn. This girl means something to you. I get it. And it’s good to see you still have that in you. But this is not the girl to do that with. No matter what happens this weekend, you need to remember she’s not yours, mine, or ours.”
Jace made a dismissive snort, even though Andre’s words dug right beneath his skin. “I’m well aware of who she belongs to.”
“Uh-huh.” Andre gave him a narrow look and then walked around the island to slide onto a barstool on the other side. “That’s why you’re all of a sudden looking at me like I’m the enemy?”