Page 4 of Give Me Three

He shook his head. “She looks healthy. Her eyes are clear. She’s not sneezing. It’s just routine for kittens, that’s all. I suggest keeping her on formula and maybe introducing some soft food to her until her next appointment.”

“Formula?” I asked, thinking back to when Spencer was a baby. Kittens drank baby formula?

Eros nodded, now over by the counter, drawing some kind of white liquid into a syringe. “Yep. Kitten formula.” Well, I felt fucking stupid. “You can pick it up from Walmart or a pet supply store. Actually—” he turned and grabbed Ash, shoving the syringe into her mouth between her very sharp teeth, and forced the medication down her throat. She clawed at him, digging her claws into his hand until he backed away from her. “I might have some on hand.” He looked at me with a flirty smile on his lips, and my belly clenched. “I don’t mind giving it to a handsome man who’s rescuing an adorable, feisty kitten.”

“I, uhm, I—” I was stammering. What the fuck was happening?

I didn’t know what the fuck to say to that. I’d never been hit on by anyone of the same gender. Well, I had by Logan, but he’d always been teasing. He was head over heels for my son. I could never take any of his flirting seriously.

Eros laughed and shook his head, heading for the door. “Hold on. I’ll be right—oh, hey, babe.”

I turned, blinking in surprise at the sexy as fuck man standing in the middle of the room, carrying a plastic bag containing two Styrofoam take-out containers. His hair was dark and hanging over his forehead inveryslight waves, onlyjustobscuring his vision. Broad shoulders blocked some of the sunlight peeking in through the window behind him, and tattoos covered every bit of exposed skin, apart from his face. In a black t-shirt and black cargo pants with scuffed-up, steel-toed boots, he looked like hethrivedon chaos.

He flicked his hair out of his eyes, revealing dark eyes glinting with mischief. “Nowthat’sa fine ass man,” he murmured, running his eyes over me. My skin heated. He grinned and winked at me before looking at the doctor. “You hungry? I bought your usual.”

Dr. Hendrix nodded. “Yeah, just give me a few minutes.” He looked at his watch, sighing. “Actually, can you bill Jaxon for today? I have no idea where Heather got off to. She gets so easily distracted,” he muttered, heading for another door and pushing through it.

“Jaxon, huh?” the guy asked, raking his eyes over me again. With the way he was staring at me, I felt oddly naked.

“Uhm, yeah,” I muttered, picking up Ash. She cuddled into me, a loud purr emitting from her tiny body.

He smiled and reached out to rub Ash’s head when I stepped out of the room. “Cute kitty.” She opened her eyes, peering at him before deciding he wasn’t worth her time and shutting her eyes again. “Name’s Zeppelin. I’m Eros’s husband.”

But they were flirting with me?

I knew poly relationships were a thing, but my experience with them wasverylimited considering that experience only came from Spencer, Ezra, and Logan’s relationship with each other. I was a bit out of my comfort zone. Too many revelations had happened in awaytoo short amount of time.

I cleared my throat. “I need to get going, if you don’t mind,” I told him, my voice gruff. His smile turned to a smirk, like he knew exactly how much he was confusing me and affecting me. But without a word, he strode over to the counter and rounded it, setting the food down before leaning over the computer.

He got my account set up, and I was handing him my credit card when Eros appeared, holding a plastic bag. “There’s soft food in here and some bottles of formula. I included my card, too. I’ve added my personal number to it. If you have any questions…” He let his voice trail off, but there was no mistaking the hidden suggestion behind his smile.

Zeppelin handed me back my card. “We’re both available,” he told me. “Anytimeday or night.”

Fucking hell.

“Uh, thanks,” I muttered, taking the bag from Eros. And then, I quickly turned and left, overwhelmed andreallyfucking confused about my sexuality.

CHAPTER 2

Zeppelin

“So… who is he?” I asked, looking at my husband as the sexy as fuck man practically ran out the door with the adorable kitten cradled in his hand. That man was a big ball of nervous, unsure energy, and I couldn’t get enough of it. It was so easy to rile him up, even if he did his best not to show it.

Eros leaned over the counter and grabbed the bag containing our lunch. I quickly followed him to his office, shutting the door behind us so we had some privacy in case Heather came back before I left to head back to my tattoo shop. Eros sat at his desk, and I took a seat across from him.

“He’s new to the area,” Eros informed me, his blonde hair flopping over his forehead as he lowered his head to sort our food. “That’s about all I know. He was pretty tight-lipped, and he doesn’t know what to do when he’s being flirted with.”

I snorted, pulling my container of food closer to me when Eros set it on the desk. “That’s an understatement. Pretty sure he’seither closeted, or he has no idea he’s interested in men. I saw the interest in his eyes.”

Eros nodded, glancing up at me from beneath long, blonde lashes. “I did, too. The moment he walked in the door, I saw it clear as day on his face.”

I opened my food container and stabbed a shrimp, eyeing it for a moment. “He’s the first man to pique my interest since you,” I said honestly. Eros reached across the table and covered my hand with his, his eyes tender and soft. My heart squeezed. Flipping my hand over, I brought our hands palm-to-palm, soaking in the heat he was emitting. “I want to give this a chance.”

Eros smiled then, and it was so goddamn warm and pretty, it made my heart clench. “Good. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to convince you.”

I chuckled. Eros had told me from the get-go that he wanted a poly-relationship. And while we’d shared many sexual partners over the past three years of us being together, including our year of marriage, no one had really interested me for something long term. They’d just been another hole to fill. Hell, if it weren’t for Eros being there, too, I wouldn’t have been hard at all.

But there was something about Jaxon Wreath that had meobsessed. I wanted to claim him. Fuckingown him. The need to possess him was like a living, breathing thing inside of me. I hadn’t felt this strongly for anything or anyone since I’d met Eros in that bar when he graduated from veterinarian school. We’d fucked each other stupid, and from there, we’d been inseparable.

---