As he entered the kitchen, Javier was burning toast—clearly not his first slices. The air smelled acrid. The coffee brewing in the pot looked like tar. Xander winced, but what could he do? He wasn’t any more capable in the kitchen than Javier.
“Hey,” Xander called.
Javier turned. He hesitated. The silence dripped awkwardness. “Hi.”
Wow, the elephant had charged into the room as fast as a sprinter seeking an Olympic gold medal. Xander had hoped . . . Yeah, well, hopes were useless. They just needed to hash this out.
“I think London is happy with the way everything went down this morning.”
Cutting his stare over, Javier nodded slowly. “I think so. You and I, we . . . made a good team.”
He’d noticed that? Xander breathed a little sigh of relief. “We did. First time in a long time.”
How did he say what he wanted to next? Just blurt that they could be good partners in a lot of things? Xander wondered if he should just vomit out that he’d never tried to abandon his brother in any way—not even with Fran. It would probably open up the whole can of worms again and end their current pseudo truce.
It didn’t escape his notice that for once, Javier looked relaxed, almost happy. Now it was pushing noon, and his brother didn’t look like he was in any hurry to find a bottle. If sharing London contributed to Javier’s current Zen-like state, good. Watching her and his brother together had done something unusual to him. He’d been in ménages before, but always for fun. Everyone got off, and no one took anything seriously. Today had been entirely different. What they’d shared this morning had meant something to all of them. He’d expected that with London since it was her first time. Javier . . . being with her seemed to click his dominant gene into place. Xander had known his brother possessed it, but today it had finally roared to fire-breathing life.
Xander figured he’d been thrown for a loop most of all. Thousands of women in his Done column, and he’d really begun to believe that one was much like the next. Then he’d met London. Who knew that a virgin just coming out of her shell, possessing a huge heart, would blow him away the moment he took her under him? Everything had felt simply right. He being London’s first lover; Javier being there to watch and help her achieve climax—the three of them completing some circle he didn’t really comprehend.
But back to now. Xander swallowed nervously. If he didn’t handle this conversation with his brother delicately, he’d jeopardize the possibility of continuing everything they’d shared this morning.
More toast popped up out of the toaster, smelling charred and looking every bit as black as the granite countertops.
“Damn it!” Javier grabbed and tossed the slices in the trash can he’d dragged over by his feet, now filled with half a loaf of burned bread. “This contraption is defective.”
“Give up. The two of us together can’t work a toaster.” Xander shook his head.
“No shit.” Javier sighed, then sipped his coffee with a grimace. “This is terrible, too.”
“We should take London out to eat. Otherwise, we risk poisoning her.”
There it was again, Javier’s momentary hesitation. Something was running through his brother’s head.
“We could do that.” Javier tossed the coffee down the sink, slammed the mug down, and closed his eyes. When he turned back, he dragged in a deep breath. “What happened this morning, is all that over now?”
Xander didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I’m winging this, just like you. But I don’t think so. We really did make a good team for her.”
“Damn it, I’m not ready to let her go.”
That wasn’t a news flash to Xander. “It may surprise you, but I’m not ready to, either.”
“I know. I watched you fuck her. I saw your face. You’re invested.”
Javier had always been a good judge of people, so the fact that he’d caught on so quickly shouldn’t be a shock. “Yeah.”
“Why did you share her with me? To atone for not helping with Fran?”
Xander reared back. Jesus, always back here . . . “No. You may not believe it, but I really couldn’t have done anything to save Francesca.” As Javier frowned, Xander’s temper spiked, but he refused to let this line of communication close without a fight. “You started the day thinking of London as mine, right?”
“Yes.” Javier gritted his teeth. Clearly, he hated to admit that.
“Imagine what would happen if she didn’t like you and I’d ordered her to submit to you anyway.”
Javier paced as he sorted through his thoughts. “It would have been ugly.”
“Yep. Do you think that would have made her at all happy?”
“No.” Javier squeezed his eyes shut.
“Even if I’d told her that she didn’t have to have sex with you, just submit? Would she have liked it all right then?”
His pause was longer this time. Finally, Javier sighed. “It would have been emotional rape.”
Inside, Xander wanted to cheer. But no way did he want to appear to be rubbing in the fact that he was right. “Exactly. Fran wasn’t submissive and she loathed me. Don’t ask me why I didn’t explain this to you because I tried.”
Javier thrust his hands over his face, grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes. He came up with an apology on his face. “Damn it, I’m sorry. I’ve been an ass. How are you not furious with me?” He frowned. “Why did you share London with me?”
The truth was, he needed his brother, his brother needed London, and she wanted them both. Not to mention that he was falling fast for her, too.
Xander opened his mouth, but London walked in, looking fresh-faced and glowing, hair in a sleek ponytail. “You two look awfully serious. What’s going on?”
Javier looked at him. This conversation wasn’t over, and it would be interesting to see what the rest of the day brought, especially when his brother put on his CEO hat. For now, Xander shrugged and grinned. “We were lamenting Javier’s lack of cooking abilities.”
London wrinkled her nose and stared at all the burned toast in the trash. “I see. Thank you for trying.”
“Sorry I wasn’t more successful. Hungry?” Javier asked.
She nodded. “Famished.”
Xander felt pretty pleased about the morning’s activities and figured that his expression was a smiling equivalent of his brother’s. “So we helped you worked up an appetite, huh?”
Then she blushed and mock punched his shoulder. “Stop trying to embarrass me.”
Even Javier cracked a smile at that. “There’s a great place to grab some eggs on the way to the office. Can we take you there?”
She sent them both a sweet smile. “That would be nice.”
Xander exhaled a sigh of relief. After all, she’d given him the wrong number once. He’d worried that maybe she really just wanted sex from him, and it was Javier she actually cared for. A glance at Javier told him that his brother had been worried that she wouldn’t want him around, either. Fran aside, neither of them had ever worried about whether a woman wanted to stay or go. The moment was so fucking surreal.
It hit Xander that maybe he’d been invited along simply because he had the only car available. But whatever. He was going to work the situation to find the best outcome for them all.
First, he and his brother both needed showers if they were going to go anywhere and look halfway respectable. Thankfully, he and Javier could wear the same clothes for the most part. His brother might be an inch or so taller, but most things in his closet fit just fine. So he swiped a few garments, grabbed a shower in the hall bath, then hunted London down in the kitchen a few minutes later as she answered a text message with a frown.
Javier came into the kitchen from the other side of the house. “Everything all right?”
She lifted her head, and regret passed over her face. “It’s Alyssa. I had my phone on vibrate, and I didn’t let her know that I was staying here with you guys. She’s been worried.”
“Should we stop and see her after breakfast?” Javier asked.
“No. It’s fine. I’m sure she’ll have a million questions, but that’s for another time. We have breakfast to eat and work to do, right?”
Javier nodded. “Absolutely.”
Xander wondered again if that included him.
They made their way outside into the sweltering Louisiana summer, and Javier groaned. “I will never get used to this damn humidity. The whole town is long on laid-back and short on charm, and now I know why. How can anyone be happy when it’s stifling?”
“Remind me to make fun of Logan for voluntarily choosing to live here. Stupid fuck.”
Together, they climbed in the car and stopped at a twenty-four-hour diner. Technically, it was lunchtime, and the place was a bit crowded. Within a few minutes they had a booth in one corner. As they sat, Xander realized that he and his brother had unconsciously put London between them. No one seemed displeased with the arrangement.
They ordered, and as their drinks arrived, Javier looked too occupied with holding London’s hand and kissing her fingers to notice that he wasn’t drinking vodka. His brother whispered in her ear. She blushed, and Javier brushed his lips over her prettily glossed ones. Xander wanted some of that. He scooted closer to her, palmed her thigh, then crooked a finger under her chin to bring her face toward his for a kiss of his own. The press of lips lasted for a long heartbeat. He couldn’t resist repeating it again. They hadn’t been out of bed long, and already he wanted to drag her back.
Suddenly, London gasped into his mouth.
Xander lifted his head reluctantly. Right away, he realized that most of the diner’s patrons were staring at the three of them.
“We need to lay off,” Xander murmured. “This is the Bible Belt, and she lives here.”
His brother scanned the room with a tremendous frown, but gave a jerky nod. He inched away, but Xander noticed that under the table, his brother still had his hand under her skirt. Why the fuck the sight turned him on so much, Xander had no idea, but damn . . .
“We have another problem,” Javier murmured, his voice low. “She didn’t take us seriously. Did you, little one?” His brother’s arm moved, and Xander heard a snap of elastic. “She’s wearing panties.”
Xander turned a scowl to her. “Belleza?”
Her lashes fluttered down. Her breathing picked up. His cock throbbed for her.
“I thought it was just talk in the heat of the moment. They aren’t hard to remove. I just have to—”
“Reach up under your skirt while staying hidden beneath the table and take them off without anyone knowing?” Xander challenged. “How do you propose doing that?”
London opened her mouth once, twice. Then she snapped it shut. “We’re in public. I didn’t imagine that—”
“We imagined it, and you’re making it impossible.”
“It’s not like we can have sex here,” she argued. “We’ll get arrested.”
“That’s true, but your panties make us touching your pussy under the table very difficult. And that makes us unhappy.”
“When we’re unhappy, that means we’ll make you having orgasms more challenging, little one,” Javier cut in.
But his fingers were still under her skirt. London stiffened and bit her lip, then squirmed in her seat.
“Be still,” Xander warned.
“But . . . he’s—”
“Got his fingers on your clit?”
She blushed and looked around to see if anyone had heard them. “Yes.”
“Because that’s where he wants them. You have two choices, belleza. You can either use your safe word. If you do, we’ll stop everything and have a long conversation about trust. Or you can be a good girl and open your pussy like you’re asked.”
He was pushing her hard, and he knew it. She was still more innocent than not, and they’d overwhelmed her. But she liked it. London was breathing fast, her nipples pressing against her shirt. She was simply having difficulty getting out of her own head and putting herself into their hands.
“We would never put you in a position to be in trouble with the law, little one. No one knows what’s happening under the table besides the three of us. Right?”
London looked around the room. “R-right.”
“Good. Now spread your legs wider.” Xander helped the cause by grabbing her thigh and pulling it toward him.
Javier leaned over the table to nod at him. “Thank you.”
“Your pleasure, I’m sure.” He cracked a smile.
These easy moments he and his brother were sharing . . . they needed more. London wasn’t just a girl they could both care about, Xander realized. She was someone who seemed to be slowly bridging nearly twenty-five years of divide between them. With her here, animosity and resentment weren’t ruling their tempers. They united for the common purpose of giving her pleasure and keeping her happy. To some, it might not make sense. If they fought over everything else, why not fight over the girl, too? But London had a big enough heart for them both.
