Page 37 of Jordan

Gripping his chin between my fingers, I waited until his eyes held mine. “I don’t do things I don’t mean to. I wanted to touch you. Given the chance, I would have buried myself deep inside you after I tasted every inch of you. Do I desire Hartley too? I do. The problem is, I shouldn’t go near either of you, yet I can’t seem to fucking help myself. You’re both here and I never want to let you go. I don’t know what it means, if there’s anywhere for us to go, but don’t leave. And don’t think I desire you less than him.” I took his hand from his cock and placed it on mine. “I want you.”

“That could have been in the moment.”

I growled low in my throat. “Vail, hear me when I say I fucking want you.”

He nodded, though uncertainty still swam in his eyes. “Go talk to him. I don’t want him to be upset.”

“Don’t leave.” I worried the moment I walked into the other room; he’d disappear.

17

HARTLEY

How stupid could I be, thinking Jordan would want anything to do with me when he had Vail here? He might have wanted me before when it was just the two of us. But I was nothing compared to Vail. He was wealthy, had his shit together, and could cook and bake rivaling a Michelin chef.

What did I have?

Debt and a rundown rental with Jordan as my only client, while I tried to build my business back to what it was. Logically, I knew I was more than that. Seeing Jordan and Vail together, kissing, touching, just like I longed to do with them, it was more than I could handle.

My crush on Vail had come back full force now that I’d spent a day with him. One fucking day and I was ready to show him I was no longer the awkward teen I used to be. No, I was the awkward adult still trying to wade through life.

I groaned and planted myself face-first on the bed. If it wasn’t for the flu, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t feel like this. Sure, I’d still want Jordan, but I wouldn’t have had to witness him devouring Vail.

A knock on the door drew my attention, but I didn’t bother to lift my head. I’d sooner breathe into the comforter than move.

Jordan’s voice floated through the door. “Hartley?”

“No,” I mumbled.

He opened the door, ignoring me. Figured. I didn’t really mean it, anyway. I was stupid and still wanted him. Fuck my life.

I sniffled against the bed, willing this flu to go away so I could leave. It was the only thing keeping me here.

The bed dipped beside me, and a gentle hand touched my back where my shirt must have ridden up. Jordan’s palm grazed over my skin, up beneath my shirt. A full body shiver went through me. “I wanted to touch you before,” he murmured. “My skin on yours. But I resisted.”

“Why?”

“I’m not someone you should want.”

Turning my head, I kept my cheek pressed to the bed so I could look at him. His hair was still wet and combed back. He wore a pair of slacks and a white button-down shirt. No tie or jacket. This was as casual as I’d seen him, if I didn’t factor in when I got an eyeful of his hard body with just a towel covering him from the waist down. “That’s not for you to decide.”

“No, but you don’t know enough about me to decide for yourself.”

“And Vail does?” I sounded jealous. The sulking part of me didn’t give a shit.

“He was here when I had it out with my son. When I said things I didn’t share with anyone. Dexen and Greer heard as well.”

“Yet they live.”

“Hartley…”

“Tell me. I want to know.”

So, he did. He told me what happened to his wife. How she was going to have him and his son killed. If she would have still been alive, I would have tried to end her. How could someone want their child dead? Jordan thought he was the monster. The reality was his wife had been.

“What else?” I asked. By the way his story abruptly stopped, I knew it didn’t end there.

“Malik was my second-in-command.” Then he shared what happened on the last day of Malik’s life. How Jordan had to choose between the man he loved and his son. “This can never leave this space, nor can anything else I’ve said. There’s more to the story. When Malik’s attorney had the reading of his will, I went there and encountered one other person.”

---