By the time I get to the heated kiss we shared, all semblance of detached cool has fled. I can hear the rough edge of arousal coating my words as I speak in a low rasp, unconsciously licking my lips as I replay the taste and feel of Nancy's mouth moving ardently against mine.

Carlos is watching me with rapt attention, a wicked gleam sparking to life in his intense gaze. "Shit, Nate," he rumbles in appreciation once I've finished. "No wonder you came down here looking all worked up with a story like that burning you up inside."

I huff out a breathless chuckle, shrugging one shoulder. "What can I say? Nancy really threw me for a loop tonight. I didn't expect her to be so bold, you know?"

"Oh, I know," Carlos purrs, giving me an assessing look. "Innocent little Nancy, revealing she's not quite the blushing virgin type. Who would have thought? Gotta say I'm fully on board with this new, adventurous side she's showing us."

His tongue darts out to wet his lips, the blatant spark of lust in his expression mirroring mine from just a few moments ago. Carlos has never made any effort to hide his interests or desires, especially not from me. We've shared enough over the years to know exactly what the other likes, the three of us.

“Jesus, Carlos,” I tease, shaking my head. “I can already see you tossing her around in your head. Sick bastard.”

He shrugs and turns back to the TV. “What can I say? If she’s offerin’, then I’m takin’. Simple as that.”

“You’re shameless.”

“And yet,” he counters, glancing at me from the corner of his eye, “not once did I hear you say you turned her down…”

That makes me laugh. An easy, honest laugh that bleeds out all the pent-up tension I’ve been feeling. “Yeah, right.” We sit in silence a little longer before I add, “I wonder how Drew is going to react to finding out his nanny is trying to fuck him.”

Carlos’ grin is so wide, it reminds me of the Cheshire cat from the kid’s book. “Probably going to throw the book of moral conduct and professional etiquette at her…right after he fucks her brains out.”

I laugh uncontrollably. “It’s Drew we are talking about here.”

“Nathan…” Carlos says, his eyes uncharacteristically serious. “Have youseenNancy?” He whistles low and long, and we fall silent after, both of us no doubt thinking about the very beautiful woman living with us.

“I think it was just the alcohol making her talk crazy, though,” I say after a long silence. “For all we know, she may wake up tomorrow and forget that any of this even happened at all.”

“There’s one thing I’ve come to learn in my life,hermano. People often mean the things they say when they’ve been drinking. Actually, I think they may mean those things even more than the shit they say when they are all sobered up.”

I shrug in response, trying not to settle on those words. “I guess we’d find out soon how serious she was. It’s just so…weird. This is the type of shit you read about in romance novels. Never thought I’d actually witness it in real life.”

“So we both get to fuck the same woman,” Carlos says in a bored voice. “Big whoop. Won’t be the first time…” He eyes me knowingly, and I groan in frustration, shutting my eyes.

“Really? That again? Didn’t we agree to never ever bring that up, for any reason?”

He chuckles. “Boy, the army was fun. I mean, not the part where our entire platoon almost got blasted off the top of a mountain, but the locals…good times.”

“I’m not discussing this with you, Carlos.”

"You remember that little Thai masseuse you were so obsessed with back on duty in Hawaii? How you’d describe her tiny hands working over every inch of your body?"

I ignore him, but his words transport me back to those sweltering nights.

"Or what about that server at the club in Manila?" he continues. "God, I can still picture her in that tiny little skirt, bending over right in front of your face as she refilled our drinks. You wanted to eat her out right there at the table, didn't you?"

And just like that, my mind is back to Nancy, to all the filthy things I want to do to her. I remember the woman Carlos is talking about, although her name is lost now. I remember how the two of us took turns fucking her, and how she still cried for more several hours in.

Déjà vu.

"Dios mio, just look at you," Carlos chuckles darkly. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I get up from the couch, hoping to God that Carlos doesn’t realize how hard I am. “You, my friend,” I say as I head to the stairs, “are one sick man. Get help.”

Carlos snickers and waves me off without looking away from the television. I climb up the stairs, wondering what devil possessed Drew to hire the sexiest woman in the world as a nanny for his kids in the first place.

Crazy as it sounds, that’s not even the most mind-blowing thing about her. She’s…different. I’ve tried to find a word to describe her, but nothing fits. And that—the knowledge that there’s somuch more to unravel about her—is an even bigger pull for me than whatever I may be feeling physically.

And I’m not yet sure what to make of any of it.