Page 40 of Christmas with my Three Best Friends

“Yes.” I take another deep breath. “But Vincent isn’t the problem anymore. It’s how you seem to think you own me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you said something Vincent used to say. You have me as long as you want me. No, you don’t have me. None of you have me, and I don’t have any of you. We agreed to keep this strictly physical.”

Realizing the mistake he made, Jax glances to the side. The weather outside is cold and gray, and there is barely any light coming through the window. He’s standing in a heavy shadow as he tries to analyze this moment. I make a move to head back out, determined to get on my treadmill in lieu of an unfinished orgasm, but Jax isn’t done with me.

He grabs me and kisses me—softly, this time, despite his sudden grip. I wish he’d say something to maybe reassure me that we’re okay, that we’re going to be okay, but our bodies are doing the talking now. It’s primal and shameless, yet I cannot stop it. My own flesh responds, the heatwave rising as it blows through my veins.

“We should…” My voice trails off as he pulls my gym tights down with a single, swift move, then turns me around and bends me over the desk.

“Take care of yourself,” he commands me, guiding my hand so I can touch my clit.

I try to object, I try to get up, but I can’t. My own body won’t let me. I hear the shuffling sound of Jax’s shorts hitting the floor, followed immediately by his gargantuan cock slamming deep inside me. I cover my mouth to muffle the gasping scream of raw pleasure as he starts pounding into me. The desk jiggles with each thrust.

My hand, my fingers… they move without my permission as I rub my clit and push myself into a much-needed release. It’s quick and explosive, my pussy tightening around his cock and rippling relentlessly as he fucks me into the stratosphere.

He goes deeper, faster, harder. I can barely stand yet I don’t want him to stop. I keep flicking my clit, squeezing every drop of this orgasm as I bite my lower lip. He has me. He has me, and I hate to admit it. I feel his cock throbbing, I listen to the sweet sound of his moans of pleasure as he comes, filling me with his warm, salty seed.

I crumble over the desk, covered in sweat, as Jax claims me. He has me for as long as he wants me.

Dammit.I was adamant that he doesn’t have me. None of them have me, and this will never work out in the long term. Yet as I feel Jax stretching and filling me to the brim, as I surrender to him … I understand the horrible truth.

He does have me. They all do.

15

Jax

Aweek has passed since I last touched Shay in her office after seeing her with Vincent. I still can’t shake the rage. I have punched the sand out of the punching bags in my training hall, and I have yet to release the pressure that’s been building up since. I took her so hard and so mercilessly… she loved every second of it, but I couldn’t give her the reassurance she was probably hoping for. How could I, when the four of us have repeatedly insisted we’re just fucking around and making Shay’s naughty list come true? Nothing more, nothing less, because we’re friends and business partners before anything else.

Then again, the business side of things isn’t getting better, either. It’s bad enough there’s tension between the four of us on an intimate level. The gym’s low performance in this financial quarter has only made it worse.

I sit in one of the guest chairs in Richard’s office. Marius occupies the other one, while Richard shuts his laptop down and leans back in his recliner. The soggy Thursday afternoon has impacted my mood, and not for the better.

Things were easier in Chappaqua. It was just us. Four bodies and souls that made sense together. They still make sense, but the world around us is different. Colder. Meaner. Rougher. And Richard’s constant shifts in attitude toward the gym are concerning.

“It’s not looking good,” he says. “If this quarter continues in the same fashion, we won’t be able to cover our rent.”

“We haven’t implemented all of our new programs yet,” Marius replies. “We only need a bit more time.”

“Time isn’t something we have much of,” he says.

I scoff, cracking my knuckles in a bid to relieve some of the tension. “Rick, we’ve got enough on our plates as it is. Marius is right. We’ve been working our way through the new programs, trying to kick start them in a way that actually draws new customers in. We did the soft launch on that fitness and cardio evening program on social media. We did the soft launch on my kids only training on the weekend. We’re doing full launches next week.”

“I’m well aware and grateful to you both for all the effort you’re putting into it,” Richard replies. “I’m just not sure how we’re going to manage.”

“You could cover another month or two,” I suggest. “We’ll consider it a business loan and pay you back as soon as the new programs lead to new sign-ups. Shay wants to do a six-month subscription offer where the seventh month is free. That should get us some hard cash in advance before spring.”

Richard thinks about it for a moment while I let my gaze wander around his office. Unlike mine or Marius’s or Shay’s, Richard keeps very few personal items in this room. There are plenty of fitness and bodybuilding books, business and finance books, sure. A couple of his bodybuilding awards gather dust on a single shelf. A few photos and his fitness certificates on the eastern wall. But other than that, there isn’t much to suggest this is his office, his sacred place within our gym.

I remember his old office. I remember his home office, too. Both were infinitely more intimate and welcoming than what’s in this room—oddly enough, it’s the first time I’ve actually noticed what should’ve been a rather telling detail before. Richard’s heart isn’t into this place, not as much as it should be. No wonder he keeps considering the possibility of dropping out. It’s a bothersome thought I can no longer shake, especially in light of this uncomfortable conversation.

“How would you go about paying the loan back?” he asks me.

“We’d do even rates on a monthly basis as soon as business starts picking up,” I reply, then look to Marius for approval.

He nods slowly. “I think we’d be able to start paying you back from June onward.”

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