“Good.”
“Do you think he’s okay?” she asks.
“Yeah. I don’t think he would have done that if he didn’t want to. But…”
“But what?” she replies. I curl her hair behind her ear and kiss her forehead.
“But when he gets into bed, would you be comfortable cuddling with him instead of me? I just want him to know that you want him for more than sex.”
She lifts her head and gives me a puzzled look. “More than sex?”
“Yeah. I think it would make him feel better. To know you really care about him.”
Her touch travels over my cheek as she takes a deep breath. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
“You care about him, don’t you?”
“Don’t you?” she replies.
More than she understands. Fuck, more thanIunderstand, and I know what my wife is worried about, but everything in my gut is telling me this is right.
“Of course, I do.”
“Okay, because you keep sayingmeand how much I want him, but you want this too, Hunter, and I think he needs to know how much you care about him—as much as I do.”
Sometimes I feel like Isabel can see into my thoughts. I swear she knows things I keep hidden in my head, even before I think them out loud, but that’s just what makes us so perfect for each other. She is in my head as much as in my heart.
A few minutes later, Drake emerges from the bathroom, hits the light, and climbs back into bed behind Isabel. She stays cuddled against me for a moment, and I’m about to start worrying that she can’t do it. That letting him eat her pussy was one thing, but cuddling with him while they fall asleep is too much.
And I can’t stop thinking about what he said to me earlier, about not wanting to get hurt. I just need him to know he’s not just a quick fuck to either of us. That for some fucking reason, him getting attached to Isabel is exactly what I want.
Then, just when I start to lose hope, she kisses me quickly on the lips and rolls away, resting her head on Drake’s outstretched arm. He hesitates for a moment, gazing at me through the darkness. But when I don’t protest, he relaxes his body, laying his arm over her, and slowly falls asleep.
Rule #13: Establish the rules early on and never, ever break them.
Isabel
The hotel gym is empty,which is nice for a change because I can’t seem to get enough miles on the stationary bike.
My head is a mess. I just keep reliving last night and how absolutelyinsanethat was. Letting another man go down on me while my husband watched. I must be crazy because this is not something normal twenty-seven-year-old women do—and enjoy, entirely too much.
I should be ashamed of the thoughts that are running rampant through my mind today. Like how Drake kisses differently than Hunter. How his mouth feels different with slightly poutier lips. How his mouth felt differentdown there.Not better or worse…just different.
How I haven’t come that hard in a long time.
I would have never done that without Hunter literally telling us to—never. But God…I’m glad he did.
I’m rounding my eighth mile on the bike when the door to the gym opens and I do a double take when I notice it’s Drake. Quickly, I pull out my ear buds and slow my pace on the bike.
“Hey,” I mutter.
“Hey,” he replies. “He’s working, so I figured I’d get a workout in.”
I nod with a tight smile. A week ago, I would have made an inappropriate joke to Drake, maybe something about how he gets plenty of workouts in, but I can’t make those jokes now. After last night, I can’t do or say anything around him now that doesn’t feel awkward and loaded.
He’s hovering awkwardly around the weights, and I try my best to act natural, but it’s impossible. I hate this. I hate that we aren’t us anymore, and Ilovedus.
Let’s be real—Drake is my best friend too, even if we don’t claim it the same way he and Hunter do. I don’t have close girlfriends, just a few friendly acquaintances. Drake is the guy I want to hang out with on the weekends and invite to the movies and drink with and sit around with doing absolutely nothing, at least he was before it got awkward.