Beck scanned the page. “Son of a bitch. She didn’t intend to tell us about this, either.”
“No. Remember, she tried to keep me out of her papers.” Seth slanted a sideways glance at the doctor. “Anyway, I’m saying we could give her the encouragement and support she needs until she’s feeling steady without ever laying a finger on her. After all, we did that on a smaller scale for Raine when Liam and Hammer asked for our help. That turned out all right.”
Beck scoffed. “Tell me lying next to Heavenly last night wasn’t absolute torture and it didn’t take you right to the edge of your control. Go on,” he prompted. “I’ll wait while you find the balls to tell me that whopper.”
“It did. I said ‘in theory.’”
“Uh-huh. Realistically, there’s no way we both keep our hands off her for weeks or months… And just like the care we give her, if we touch her, we have to do it together.”
A couple of big objections screamed through Seth’s brain. “Logically, I suppose you’re right. But I still don’t know how the hell I’m going to handle watching you put your hands on her.”
“How about my hands on her while you’ve got your mouth over hers, swallowing down her moans?” Beck challenged. “Remember, last night in Raine’s kitchen, you were tugging on Heavenly’s hair and looking into her eyes while I damn near dragged my lips up her neck. You didn’t look like you gave two shits what I was doing, just that she was engaged and aroused.”
Seth froze and replayed the moment in his head. Beck was right. In fact, he’d thought even then that he and the good doctor would most likely be fucking her together soon. And that hadn’t bothered him at all.
“Holy shit,” he muttered.
“Exactly. If we both have her naked and screaming in pleasure, I doubt you’ll be thinking about anything else.” He sighed. “Think about it, man. We’re too smart not to have learned something from Hammer and Liam. We have to put our petty jealousy aside.”
“Of course they got on the same page. They’ve been friends for a decade. They’d shared a woman before. Granted, it didn’t end well…but they knew each other better than anyone on the planet. You and I don’t have that going for us.”
“We don’t, but Liam and Hammer’s friendship started over a woman, right? I’m not saying we’ll find it easy, but we’re doing all right at the moment. The truth is, if we’re serious about helping Heavenly, then we have to keep the focus on her feelings, not ours. If we can’t do that, we’ll lose her for good.”
Yeah, Seth had been there when Raine threatened to walk forever if Liam and Hammer didn’t stop snarling like a pair of dogs fighting over her as if she were a juicy bone. He still wasn’t entirely sure why Heavenly thought she couldn’t have a future with them, but he did know that Zelda and the dead body pranks had pissed her off enough to put on her clothes and walk out his door.
“You make valid points. But I still may end up punching you at some point.”
“And I could suture your mouth closed in your sleep. It might make me feel better for a minute or two, but that won’t make Heavenly happy.”
Fuck. Beck was right. Again. Even so, that didn’t help Seth’s other major objection to this cozy plan. “All right, look. I don’t know if I can do the ménage thing. Back in New York, not long after Liam separated from his ex, he and I found this sub one night…and tried it. Like I told you, I’m not a fan of swinging junk. It was awkward as hell.”
“Hammer and Liam’s first attempt at sharing was a disaster, and they both say it’s because they had the wrong woman between them.”
“Juliet was a fucking head case, definitely wrong for them both.”
“Maybe…you weren’t meant to sandwich a random sub between you and your Irish pal. Maybe it would be better if you had a different wingman and if we were putting Heavenly between us.”
A smartass reply zipped through his brain, but it wouldn’t help the conversation. The truth was, if he didn’t give this a try, he already knew what would happen. Hell, Heavenly had already slammed the door on their future three weeks ago. Life had been shit since then. If he didn’t want to lose her, he had to step up and complete her. He couldn’t claim to love her if he refused to even try to give her what she needed.
On the other hand… “What if you’re right and the sex is decent and we manage not to kill each other? And what if it takes weeks or months for her to choose between us?” Seth stared out at the endless ocean again, realizing that Heavenly’s indecision could drift into infinity. “What if she never does?”