***Charlie***
Themoodinmy truck was dark as I drove us all towards August’s house. I had a feeling we all wanted to go our separate ways and spend some time to ourselves, but Theo’s truck was still parked at August’s and I’d driven, so I needed to drop them both off. We’d tried drinking a few beers at my house, but we were too down for that to keep. It was more of a drinking-alone kind of night. None of us had said a word since getting in the truck and with the silence stretching on, I felt my anger growing on itself.
“He bought her a house in the hills? What kind of bullshit is that?” Theo sat in the back and his fist made a dull thud as he slammed it into the seat next to him. “That’s not the kind of shit Reagan wants.”
August kept his face turned away from us. “How do we fucking know? She was gone for ten years. Maybe she wants a man who can give her stability.”
“And we can’t give her that?” I gripped the wheel tighter. “He hurt her. He cost her the job she liked and embarrassed her. He made her the other woman. That’s not stability.”
“We can’t even claim her in public.”
The air in the truck turned dangerous as August’s words settled over us. The way Ben had claimed Reagan in public, standing up to Russ, had left us all feeling like shit. The asshole had been able to find more backbone than any of us. He’d faced off with a furious Russ and didn’t back down. Because he wanted Reagan that much.
“I thought I had it bad when she was eighteen and off-limits.” Theo spoke quietly from the backseat. “I’m fucking ruined already.”
“I just promised that asshole ex of hers that I would spend my entire fortune to make sure his body would never be found if he touched her again. It didn’t even occur to me that it was extreme until right now. What does it say about me that it was easier to stay away from her when we were kids because no one was allowed near her? Now that she’s not off-limits to other assholes, I can’t handle it.”
“Still a cop, Charlie.”
“Lock me up, then, Aug, because that little shit is safer if I can’t get my hands on him.”
“And if she picks him?” August slammed his fist into the dashboard, leaving a crack, and turned a fierce glare on me. “What then? What the fuck do we do if she decides that a man who can give her everything is better than three who can’t?”
“She’s not going to pick him. How can you even sit there and say that without it eating you alive?” I pointed at my dash and scowled at him. “You’re fixing that.”
“You don’t think it’s eating me alive? Not knowing where she is throughout the day is hard enough, but knowing that she could be talking to her ex right now? I feel like my insides are crawling. Fuck! I shoved this shit away for a decade. All just for it to come slamming back into my head the second I see her.”
“What if she doesn’t pick her ex? Does it really matter? What’s the next step? We keep sneaking her around?”
I looked back at Theo and then over at August. “Is anyone going to fucking point out that we’re all obsessing over the same woman? This shit isn’t normal.”
“I’m not backing off.” August shook his head and looked at us. “Neither are you, I can tell.”
Theo grunted. “Not a chance in hell. More than that, she doesn’t seem to want us to.”
“That was before Hollywood showed up.” I turned into August’s drive and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Looks like we know nothing, have no plans, and are fucking shit out of luck if she wants a real future with someone.”
“We’re shit out of luck, no matter what. Either she leaves us and we lose her, or she wants to stay with us and we self-destruct, lose each other and Russ, and then her. What’s the other option? We come out to Russ, he’s happy as can be that we’ve been secretly fucking his sister, and we lead a happy life as a…quad-couple?”
“Don’t say quad-couple. That makes it sound like I’d ever want to date either of you two fucks.” Theo shoved August’s shoulder and groaned as he collapsed against his seat. “I need whiskey. I’m taking Iris to a play tomorrow, though. Daddy can’t show up hungover and smelling like depression.”
I frowned when August’s house came into view, with most of the bottom floor lights on. “Afraid of the dark suddenly?”
August sat up. “I didn’t leave the lights on.”
A figure moved by the window and my breath caught. I would’ve recognized those curves anywhere. I slammed the truck into park and looked over at my best friends. “She didn’t choose him.”
August ran his hand down his face and I could see his nerves. “Let’s go be sure.”
He went first and as soon as his foot hit the first step of the porch, the front door flew open and Reagan launched herself out the door and into his arms. He caught her and stumbled back a few steps. “Baby. Are you okay?”
She pressed her face into his neck and inhaled deeply. “I don’t want to talk about any of it. I just want to be here with the three of you.”
Theo moved closer and Reagan moved into his arms next. He grunted when she squeezed him tight. “You’re choosing us?”
“I can’t help it.” She moved to me next and gasped when I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder. “Charlie!”
I cupped her ass and stomped into the house. “Today has officially driven us all a bit insane. How about we skip the talking all together?”
The guys followed me inside, all of us content to stick around after finding Reagan waiting for us. August went straight to his bedroom and the light dimmed before he came out shirtless. “Do you need time to settle in, Rea?”
She wiggled in my arms until I put her down. Seeing August, smiled and shook her head. Moving to stand in front of him, she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. “I know what I need.”
I turned the stereo on and followed them into the bedroom. Theo was behind me, his energy wild as he leaned against the doorframe and watched Reagan. Reagan gently pushed August to the bed and then turned to face me and Theo while swaying her hips. I watched as she sat back on August’s lap and ground her ass into him.
He gripped her hips and then skimmed her sides as he moved to cup her tits and squeeze them. She took one of his hands and pushed it down to her jeans, still grinding into him while he unbuttoned them and forced his hand inside. I could see his knuckles moving through the tight denim as he cupped her sex and then rubbed her.
Reagan’s head dropped back onto his shoulder and she leaned into his neck, kissing him and running her tongue over the shell of his ear. “I need to come and then I want to show all of you how much I appreciate you.”