Page 41 of Nailing Studs

I hadn’t minded that she was with Taylor first—in fact, I’d actually preferred it. I had to make things clear to both her and myself that I wasn’t in competition with Taylor. That I was okay with her wanting Taylor, as long as she wanted me, too.

And from the way she’d stared into my eyes and touched me the morning after they were together, I knew she still wanted me. Bad.

Apparently, however, she also wanted Logan. I’d seen glimpses of it at the diner, and I’d simply confirmed it when I saw her and Logan again at the house together.

To my surprise, that hadn’t bothered me either. I hadn’t been jealous. It was as if, somehow, despite my shitty history with women, I knew that there was always going to be a special place for me in Kayla’s heart.

Yes, her heart. Wasn’t that just fucked up?

Here Taylor and I had gone and made it crystal clear to her that we both wanted her physically, and that she could enjoy us both physically, yet deep down I was already imagining so much more between us.

I didn’t want a temporary thing with Kayla. I wanted to get to know her. If things worked out for us, I wanted it to be real. And as much as she seemed more open now to trying new things, I could tell that Kayla was more a relationship kind of woman.

I wanted that. I wanted commitment. I wanted deep emotional connection. I wanted vulnerability and openness and tenderness. Pursuing that had bitten me in the ass. Hard. But what if?

What if what I’d gone through with Laura and Ada had happened because they weren’t the ones for me, and fate had just been waiting to give me Kayla? And her me.

And Taylor. And hell, maybe even Logan, too.

Smoothing spackle on the patches of drywall Taylor had already screwed into the wall, I pondered the best of all possibilities, not just for me, but for Kayla.

Wouldn’t it be best for Kayla if she had all of us? I mean, truly, no one man could ever give a woman everything she needed. We could each bring something different to the table, something special she needed or wanted. Taylor would bring his humor and his ability to be your best friend no matter what, I’d bring realness and my sense of knowing exactly what someone wanted and needed, and Logan…well, Logan would bring his dick.

Nah, Logan would bring his sophistication and his loyalty. He came off as the arrogant asshole in his pinstripe suits, but he had this way of connecting with people. He was loyal, hardworking, and would give Kayla the world if she demanded it. He liked going to the opera and shit like that, the sort of stuff I wouldn’t want to do, but I’d love to take her on motorcycle rides or to the movies. Old movies were one of my weaknesses. I made a mental note to ask Kayla if she’d go to one with me sometime.

It was hard not to feel worked up, excited, horny, and full of possibility. I’d already told Kayla I wanted to be braver, and even thinking this way showed progress. Yes, Laura and Ada had hurt me, but I was tired of living in the past.

All I wanted now was to make Kayla happy. And if the other guys could help me do that, I was okay with it. Didn’t mean I wasn’t impatient to taste her and I was going to do exactly that the first chance I got.

Taylor worked tight-lipped for the rest of the day. I’d never seen him so tense, and I knew he was struggling with his own feelings for Kayla, and how I, and possibly now Logan, would affect things.

We were all walking into dangerous territory and we all could feel the intensity of what was building, what would come. This could end in the destruction of all of us: me, Taylor, Logan, and Kayla. Taylor might not be convinced yet, but I knew it was worth the risk.

Crash and burn or happily ever after.

With any other woman? Nah. But with Kayla? Fuck. I was in.

15

Kayla

Logan left after breakfast, and although I wasn’t exactly happy about that, I felt excited to get my chance to be with Dominic. I wanted to move on with what had almost happened between us in the hallway before Logan had shown up. Dom had made such an effort, putting aside his naturally possessive, alpha nature to let me explore my new wanton ways.

I couldn’t wait to kiss him.

I needed to kiss him.

The fact that I hadn’t kissed him yet was driving me a little crazy, to be honest, and part of me wondered if he deliberately hadn’t kissed me yet. Just like I’d wondered whether he’d deliberately stepped aside so I could be with Taylor first.

It made sense. Even though outwardly Dom had given the impression he was “all in” to a threesome arrangement with Taylor and me, I hadn’t forgotten how he’d once described our arrangement as “dangerous.” I suspected that, consciously or unconsciously, he was holding himself back. Testing the waters. Testing me to make sure I wouldn’t hurt him, the way other women had in the past.

The thought made me sad and anxious, and I wanted to reassure him, my Dominic, that I would never do anything to hurt him. But that was the rub. Sometimes we hurt those we loved and it didn’t even have to be intentional…it just happened. And though I didn’t love Dominic yet—I’d only known him a few days, after all—I knew I could love him. After all, I was already thinking of him, and Taylor for that matter, as mine.

Rubbing my chest with how my thoughts had made my heart ache, I went in search of Dom, but though he winked, and smiled, and flirted with me, it was obvious he was focused on fixing those holes in the walls and not continuing what had almost happened between us. I ultimately gave up and went upstairs to check my e-mail.

I had a message from the prospective employer I’d contacted about a remote writing position for a food magazine located about an hour away in Pleasanton, a small city in the East Bay. I scanned the e-mail quickly and replied back, accepting the offer for an interview in two weeks. The pay was low, so while the job wasn’t something I saw myself doing long-term, it would be a start to getting on my feet again. In some ways, I felt like things were coming together.

The job wouldn’t pay much, but it would pay enough for me to live off of while my men made my home saleable. That’s all I could ask for.

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