That was better thanyou can’t. Justin hated confronting this frigid side of her. It was worse than in those early days, when the two of them clashed. Back then, the last thing he wanted was to like her, even professionally.
Now, if she refused to forgive him, it would hurt as much as Antonio leaving. The revelation hit him like a fist to the gut. “Help me figure it out.”
“You scare me, Justin. No, that’s not quite right. You terrify the hell out of me.” She whirled to face him, and he was stunned to see the red rimming her eyes.
“Why?” Justin would do whatever it took to make this right.
“Because you have the ability to take away the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and you act like it’s nothing. Like that’s not the most important power in the universe. And at the same time, you have the ability to be the other half of that same best thing ever, and that’s chills me to my core.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Antonio’s voice carried from the back of the room.
Emily looked past Justin. “Living it is different than saying it.”
“And I’m not trying to break the two of you up.” Justin poured sincerity into his words. “Though if you’re looking for a third...” No. Stupid. Bad. This was the worst way to go about making this better.
The twist of her lips said she agreed. “I can’t do what we did before. I won’t be an excuse for the two of you to be together without admitting that’s what you’re doing.”
“Never.” Antonio moved next to Justin. “I promised you that, and Idomean it. I won’t break your heart. I don’t want to. I need you.”
The passion in his words threatened to snap Justin’s heart in two. How could he hope to come between them?Wait.He was still looking at it wrong. He didn’t want to drive Antonio and Emily apart, obviously. But he wanted to be a part of this thing they shared. To have them both.
Emily crossed her arms. “I don’t know that letting Justin into our lives works on anything beyond a hypothetical level.”
They discussed him that way? Justin couldn’t ignore the overjoyed feeling inside, but he did manage to keep it from his face. “It can work, if you’re interested.” He was in his element. Shooting from the hip. Letting momentum drive his reply. “The two of you have this deep, passionate bond, and that doesn’t have to change.
“You and me?” He made sure he had Emily’s eye. “That doesn’t have to change either. I miss that heat. I miss you as much as I do Antonio. And all three of us, when we put our pretenses and insecurities aside—we’re brilliant together. If you’re willing to hang onto all of that and let him and me explore what I’ve been slow to recognize, then we can find that intimacy that comes from watching and being part of it at the same time.” He summoned her words from the first night they met.
She smiled. “You remember.”
“It’s only been a few months. God, has it really only been three months? Yeah, I remember.”
Antonio glided his palm down her arm, pulling her out of the defensive pose. “We all have to agree to this,passerotta.Your opinion matters as much as Justin’s.”
“I do want it.” Her confession made Justin’s heart soar. “But it still terrifies me.”
“Like moving to Italy on a whim?” Justin asked. “Or falling in love, in the first place? Do you think it doesn’t scare the fuck out of me?”
“I’m starting to wonder if anything frightens you.” Emily gave a nervous laugh.
“Loving you does, and I do love you.” It felt incredible to say the words. Justin looked at Antonio. “Loving him at least as much—frightening as hell. And I know what I said before you left, and I lied. I was wrong. I love you, and I think I always have, and I’m sorry I was too dense to see it sooner.”
The corners of Antonio’s mouth twitched up. “It’s hard to plan ahead when you spend so much time being impulsive, rash, and irresistible.”
“Not quite what I was going for.” Justin grinned. “But I’ll take it. Can we give this a chance?” He turned back to Emily. “All of us?”
She screwed up her face, and the seconds ticked away without an answer. Finally, her expression softened. “Do I get to watch the two of you make out? Because I’ve never seen that, and I bet it’s pretty hot.”
“It is.” Justin faced Antonio, tangled his fingers in his friend’s hair, and crushed their mouths together. Relief and need crashed around him, dragging a groan from his chest.
Antonio glided his palms down Justin’s back, gripped his ass, and pulled him close until their bodies molded together as one. Antonio’s erection dug into Justin’s pelvis, hard and insistent.
When Emily said this was scary, she had no idea. Justin couldn’t fathom what he was about to walk into. But with his cock pressed between him and Antonio, he couldn’t wait to explore and figure it out.
“Oh, hell. I was right.Youwere right.” Emily’s breathy exclamation penetrated Justin’s haze of enjoyment.
Antonio broke the kiss to look at her. “About what?”
She smirked, mischief dancing in her eyes. “First night we met? Justin told me he had a sexy Italian friend he’d go gay for. And we screwed to a fantasy of you sucking him off.”