Page 14 of Give Me Three

I rolled my eyes before snorting at the beginning of Eros’s next message.

Eros:Can you stop being a dick for two mins, Zep? Jax, we would like the opportunity to take you to dinner as a second date.

Zeppelin:I’m not being a dick.

Me:Idk. I’ll think about it, I guess.

I locked my phone before either of them could respond and tossed it onto the table with a loud clatter. Leaning forward, I braced my elbows on my knees and stared out over my freshly-cut backyard, then glanced over at the overgrown flowerbed.

I was not in the headspace for this shit with them. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Getting up, I headed over to the flowerbed, smiling when Ash began wandering through the overgrown weeds, meowing and occasionally launching herself at a bug she found.

At least I could rely on my adorable fur baby to make me smile. She was the only non-complicated thing in my life at the moment, and I needed that.

CHAPTER 9

Zeppelin

Dr. Clancy eyed me over the rim of her black glasses. “I know you hate these appointments, Zeppelin, but we need to talk about this.”

I sighed, staring up at the ceiling of her dimly lit office. I slouched further down the couch so my neck wasn’t bent back at such an awkward angle. “Why?” I demanded, still staring up at the ceiling. “It’s been almost ten years, doc. I don’t know why I have to keep coming here twice a month over something that happened that long ago.”

She made atsking sound. That was one of the things I truly appreciated about her. Out of all the other therapists I’d tried, only Dr. Clancy had been the one that fit what I needed. And it took me six years to find her. She called me on my shit without hesitation, and she knew how to handle me when I was in one of my moods—like I was now.

Therapy always put me in a bad mood because we always went over something in my past and somehow found a way to tie it tosomething that had to do with my present. And since I’d blurted that Eros and I had met someone to add to our relationship—someone webothwanted desperately—but he was being particularly stubborn about it all, she’d wanted to deep dive into why that bothered me.

Why couldn’t she just take it as a normal man pursuing another man? Why did it have to have such a fucking deep meaning?

“Because it’s affecting you now, remember?” she asked, crossing her legs at the knee. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “The two years that you were being trafficked, you never got to have anything of your own. So, when you found Eros, you latched onto him. Now, you’re also doing the same with… What’s his name?”

“Jaxon,” I grumbled. My belly clenched. Fuck, my fingers burned with the need to claim him. “His name is Jaxon.”

“Right.” She cleared her throat. “Chasing someone when they’ve clearly said no is a toxic trait, Zeppelin. Boundaries are a thing.”

I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t care.” She sighed. “I haven’t wanted anyone or anything like I do him since Eros. And I know Eros is ready to find someone that fits with us. IknowJaxon fits. He’s just being a stubborn ass.”

“But he’s telling you no,” she reiterated. “He’s pushing both of you away.” I frankly didn’t give a fuck.

I shook my head. “He’s just confused.” I knew he was. Because a man who wastrulystraight didn’t moan and fuck my fist the way he had the other day. A straight man would’ve punched me in the face or attempted to kick my ass. They would’ve called the police for assault. But Jaxon? Nope. He’d moaned and kissedboth me and Eros like he needed us to breathe. Like we supplied the oxygen he needed to live.

He’d allowed Eros to take over the kiss and had chased his orgasm, coming in my hand and making beautiful, sinful sounds that made me want to bend him over that table we’d just eaten on and fuck him raw. Paint his insides with my cum. Cover him in my bruises.

“Did it occur to you that you assaulted him?” she asked me calmly. “You essentially did to him what was done to you over and over and over again. Just because you orgasmed doesn’t mean you wanted it.”

I swallowed bile as it crawled up my throat, threatening to choke me. I hadn’t fucking assaulted Jaxon, had I? He’d been moaning. He’d never tried to stop me.

But ithadstarted as an assault.

Fuck.

My gut churned, and I jerked to my feet just as her timer went off, signaling our session was over. I didn’t bother saying a word to her. I just threw open the door to her office and stormed down the hall to the lobby. They had my credit card on file and could charge me later.

I had to get the fuck out of there before I lost my mind.

Eros was sitting at the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room when I walked in, two plates of food sitting in front of him, though they looked like they’d gone cold a while ago.I swallowed thickly, hating that I’d made him wait so long and hating the worry in his eyes, too. I always did this. Always hurt him. He knew therapy sessions were rough for me, but he stilltried. And I loved him for it. But I wished he’d just… stop. So it wouldn’t hurt when I came home and found him waiting for me like this.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” I rasped as I quietly shut the front door behind me.

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