Ty would take care of Lucy if Michael needed to leave. That had to be enough. She was accepting him as he was, and he couldn’t ask for more.
“Besides, I wouldn’t send you away for anything in the world now that I know the two of you throwing down is on the table,” Lucy said, a hint of a smile on her generous lips.
“I was really more talking about how I wouldn’t be all freaked out if our dicks touched in the middle of fucking you,” Michael pointed out. “I don’t know. We were there with Max and Rye and James and Noah and they were all sanctimonious about stuff, and I thought I should point out how we would be different.”
“He’s comfortable enough with his sexuality that he’s okay acknowledging that I’m extremely handsome and my appeal goes across all genders,” Ty said, his lips moving over Lucy’s neck and down the curve of her shoulder.
That was something he definitely hadn’t said, but Ty amused him. “I meant that if we’re going kinky, I’m not going to feel awkward about anything that happens between the three of us. And that means anything. Including what I’m about to ask. Ty, when was your last checkup?”
“Six months ago,” he replied. “And I haven’t had sex since, but I do have condoms.”
“Of course you do,” Lucy murmured.
“No, these are new condoms,” Ty vowed. “I bought them a week ago at the Trading Post, and Teeny even commented on how I was buying the brand name ones and that the person I was buying them for must be special.”
Lucy flushed a pretty pink. “Ty, she’s going to know they’re for me.”
“Well, yeah, because I told her,” Ty admitted.
“Everyone knows.” Michael thought Lucy should understand that by now. “Trust me. They know what we’re doing right now because everyone saw us walk out of Trio with you. We don’t have anything to be ashamed or feel weird about. Any ribbing we’ll get will be good natured or I’ll deal with it. I mean that for both of you.”
He wasn’t worried about their friends. Stef had been overbearing and obnoxious today, but he would back off now that he knew Michael was willing to work with Ty, willing to take care of both of them.
How can you take care of them if you aren’t willing to be open to them?
He stiffened because that hadn’t been his voice he’d heard.
Fuck. He wasn’t going to think about her. Jessie had no place here between them.
“Hey.” Lucy went on her toes and brushed her lips against his. “Don’t go.”
“Go?”
“Yeah, sometimes you go somewhere else, and I don’t think it’s a good place.” She smoothed back his hair. “I think too much and Ty reacts too much, and you do both. So stop thinking about the past. Stop worrying about the future. Be here in the moment with the two of us.”
“I wasn’t…” He wasn’t going to lie to her. “I was thinking of the past. It flared up on me. I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not, but that’s okay, too,” Lucy promised. “You don’t have to be fine with me. You get to be Michael with me. Whoever you are in this moment.”
Could he find a new version of himself? One who didn’t wallow in guilt and rage? One who could live a life and find some semblance of contentment? If he was going to, it would be with this woman. She calmed him down.
It was weird, but Ty did the same. Once they’d stopped fighting, he’d discovered that Ty’s presence was soothing to him, amusing. He liked them both.
Do you like them because they aren’t Jessie? Because they’re as far from Jessie as possible?
He had the choice to make, to retreat and do exactly what Lucy accused him of. Or he could take that first step back into the real world.
He lowered his mouth down to hers, reveling in the warmth that flooded his system the minute he touched her.
He kissed her, letting their tongues tangle, feeling the rush of arousal hit him.
He didn’t have to go to bed alone. He didn’t have to be cold. He could wrap himself around Lucy and know that he was welcome in her life, that even if he somehow fucked up, Ty would be there to catch her.
He let his hands play over her curves, and sure enough, his hands bumped against Ty’s. They were both touching her, and he’d been right. It didn’t bother him at all. He simply skimmed over Ty’s callused hands and kept exploring.
Lucy moved in between them, her breasts brushing Michael’s chest while she rubbed her backside against Ty.
He moved back and loved the way Lucy’s gaze had gone soft, like she was intoxicated by the intimacy.
He could definitely get addicted to that look. Ty’s hands came up, cupping Lucy’s breasts even as her eyes remained on Michael.