Page 79 of Tickled Pink

He kisses my neck. “I love you, Phoebe.”

A throat clears from the hallway.

We part to find Thad smiling in the path to the kitchen, leaning casually against the wall.

“Are we okay?” he asks.

I smile. “We’re okay,” I say with a smile. “Of course we are.”

“See?” Thad turns up his hands as he pushes off the wall. “I told you,” he says to Max.

“I had to hear her for myself,” Max says, his hands resting gently on my waist.

“Fair enough.” Thad opens his arms. “Can I get a hug, too? I haven’t seen you for a week.”

I chuckle as Max releases me. “Yes,” I say, happily walking into his arms. “Please.”

Thad pulls me close, his clothes cold from the February chill outside. He kisses my head, prompting me to look up, and he plants a firm kiss on my lips as well. “How was the flight back?”

“It was fine,” I answer with a shrug. “A little turbulent in spots, but nothing I haven’t weathered before.”

“Good.”

And then, for the first time since the first time, the three of us fall into a tense silence. It’s delightful, in a way. The beginning of something new for us after being so comfortable for so long.

“So, you two had sex, huh?” I ask, breaking the silence.

Max shifts on his heels. Thad just smirks.

“Yeah, we…” Max pauses, clearing his throat.

“I’d say we fooled around a little,” Thad says with a nod.

“Was it nice?” I ask.

“It was all right,” Max says.

“All right?” Thad asks, offended. “I rocked your world.”

“Oh!” I grin at Max. “Did he do that thing where he curls his fingers around your hair and pulls back? I love that.”

Max thinks for a moment, then frowns. “No. He didn’t.”

Thad scoffs. “I can’t whip that out on night one, Pheebs.”

“Oh, good point,” I say. I smile at Max’s blushing cheeks. “Now, is there anything else you guys need to tell me? Thad? If you’re in love with Max, too, now would be a good time to say it.”

Thad regards him with a pensive stare. “All I can say now is that I have everything I’ll ever need right here in this room,” he says.

Max smiles. “I’ll second that.”

My heart grows as I watch them. The way they look at each other, full of love and brotherhood. It’s different from before. Undetectable to others, I bet, but I know them so well.

“Well, I smell like airplane, so…” I decouple from Thad and reach for my suitcase on the floor. “I need a shower.”

Max steps forward and slides the suitcase from my hand. “I’ll take that for you.”

“And I will duck into the kitchen,” Thad says. “You’ve gotta be hungry.”

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