Page 67 of Bound By Secrets

“Holy shit, dude. That’s amazing.” I trace every intricate detail with my eyes, marvelling at the precision on each part of the feathered wings that cover his whole back.

He peers over his shoulder at me and mutters a thank you before opening the freezer and looking for Callie's ice cream.

Callie steps closer to me, her arm brushing against mine. When I face her, she’s looking at me with a goofy smile on her face.

“He has my name tattooed on him as well, and my eyes,” she whispers. My eyes go comically wide, and my jaw slackens. Whipping my head around, I study Ryker’s body, and when he turns, I spot her name instantly.

I’m not sure how I missed it when he walked in earlier. Callie’s name is scrawled across his heart in big, bold, swirling letters.

How am I meant to compete with this guy?

As if Callie can hear my internal voice, she pats my hand and rests her head against my shoulder.

“I love his tattoos, but I think he’s stupid for having them.”

Ryker tuts and playfully glares in our direction.

“Can you stop talking about me as if I’m not here? Also, your ice cream is gone, twins must’ve eaten it.” Callie frowns and juts her bottom lip out. Ryker chuckles, walking over and placing a gentle kiss on her lips, his hair brushing against my chin in the process.

“I’ll go get you some more, then I’m going home. My dad’s back this weekend so I’m gonna sit down and talk to them both about everything.”

He strolls out of the kitchen, whistling a tune, and I watch Callie as she ogles his backside.

“Can I ask why he was topless?”

She blushes and rolls her eyes, pushing away from me and walking over to the sink.

“It’s not what you think. He was fixing something in Callum’s bathroom earlier and his top got wet.”

“You know I wouldn’t be mad if anything happened between you? Remember our conversation by the lake?” I ask. She nods, glancing towards the open doorway before walking over to me.

“I think I want to try it out,” she whispers, avoiding eye contact and fiddling with her fingers.

“Want to try what out?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I’m waiting for you to say it, cutie.”

“I’m interested in all of you and I don’t want to have to choose one of you to pursue, so I want to give it a go. This polyamorous thing.”

I smile victoriously and stand from the chair so that I can wrap my arms around her.

“Do you think Ryker would be into that? He seems like the territorial type.”

She snorts and rests her head against my chest.

“He told me that he’d be okay with it. I’m more worried about whether Nate would want to be involved.”

I kiss the top of her head and pull away from her slightly so that I can tilt her face up to mine.

“Like I said before, he’ll be alright with it. You should still talk to him about it, but I don’t think it’d be a problem.”

“Hmm, okay… So, now that you’re not distracted, I’ll ask again. Why are you here, Brad?”

I scan my eyes across her face and brush my thumb against the faint bruising.

“I wanted to check up on you and I also want to talk to you about some plans that I have in mind.”

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