Page 13 of Compelling Urges

“That sounds promising,” Bodhi laughed. “Let’s go.”

Cooper still looked embarrassed as he followed Ivy back into the house. Bodhi was right on his heels.

Chapter 12

After assessing the various places where they could get comfortable, they ended up sitting outside. The sunny patio had cushioned chairs that faced each other in a conversational grouping. It somehow seemed important that they sit alone for this chat rather than piled together in bed or on the couch where touching would distract them.

As soon as they were seated, Bodhi asked, “Ivy, do you still haveanyfeelings for me? I know I messed up horribly, but sometimes love isn’t all that easy to erase.”

She looked at him thoughtfully before she answered. “You trashed my heart, Bodhi. It hurt so badly to give my love to someone who acted as callously as you did. That said… maybe I do have some lingering feelings for you. But I don’t completely trust you. I honestly don’t know if I could ever love you again the way that I did.”

He nodded sadly. “I get it. I’m so sorry. You have no idea how badly I’ve regretted my actions.”

Ivy looked at Cooper, who appeared crestfallen and added, “I’m sorry, Cooper. I hope it doesn’t hurt your feelings that I haven’t given up on Bodhi completely. It doesn’t diminish my love for you one iota.”

Cooper blew out a breath. “It’s something I’ll have to get used to. I can’t sit here and say I love two people at the same time, but you’re only allowed to love me. I can’t be that selfish.”

Bodhi’s eyes lit up as he asked, “Are you saying you have feelings for me, Coop?”

Cooper blushed and stared at his hands for a beat. “I guess that’s true. I’ve tried to suppress them for so long, it seems odd to finally voice my feelings, but I can’t deny that I have a deep desire and… affection for you, Bodhi. I tried to stay so strong when you left because I was trying to help Ivy through her feelings of abandonment, so I barely acknowledged my own emotions through it all.” He breathed in and bolstered himself before he said, “Yes. I love you as much as I love Ivy. I have for a long time.”

Bodhi’s jaw dropped for a second before he gave a fist pump and whispered victoriously, “Yes!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m completely done being pissed off at you, though,” Cooper added with a wry smile.

Everyone took turns speaking their mind after that, and Ivy became aware of both men’s wishes to pursue a sexual experience with each other without excluding her. Their desires came out haltingly and tentative at first, but finally Bodhi spelled it out. Both men watched her closely, as if waiting for her to burst into tears. But in truth, the idea of Bodhi and Cooper together was so arousing to her, Ivy discovered she was on board with it completely.

Ivy pressed her lips together and leaned forward, looking back and forth between the two men. “Okay,” she said at last.

“Okay?” Cooper repeated. “Ivy, is that… Does that mean…?”

Ivy nodded. “I’m up for it, if you guys are. I can see how it might work for us.”

Cooper reached out tentatively and slid her engagement ring back onto her finger. They smiled at each other for a moment.

Ivy let out a little sigh. “I have a friend— a gallery customer—who comes in whenever I get a new exhibit. He’s in a triad relationship. You might have heard of them—they live in La Jolla. The famous romance writer and her two men? The guy I know is Casey Melrose. He’s the nicest guy and, even though their private business was plastered all over the internet by some lunatic, he always seems so happy.”

“Who wouldn’t be ecstatic in that situation?” asked Bodhi with a wicked grin. “He has his cake, and he can eat anyone he wants… or however that saying goes.”

Cooper finally laughed. He seemed to be relaxing now that the ring was back on Ivy’s hand.

Wiping the smirk from his face finally, Bodhi implored them, “Let me in, you guys. For real. I want to be a part of you. I love you both, and I promise I’ll do everything to earn your trust. I’ve been the biggest fool on earth to deny my emotions for so long, but now I…” his voice cracked, “need you.”

Ivy looked skeptical and asked, “Just what changed for you all of a sudden? One minute you’re a hotshot financial wizard in London, and the next you’re showing up here out of the blue with no job. What happened?”

Breaking eye contact, Bodhi got a faraway look on his face before he answered quietly, “I realized, as I said before, that the pace I was keeping at work was about to kill me, and my social life was a wreck. I just had to get out of there. I missed everything and everyone.”

“Care to be a little clearer so that those of us who weren’t there can understand better?” Ivy asked.

“Not really. It’s not a pleasant story.” He looked at Ivy and then at Cooper and said, “I’m just really happy to be back here with you two. I can’t express that enough.”

“I have one more question for you, Bodhi. You contacted Cooper from time to time, but if you supposedly missed me so much and felt so awful about leaving, why didn’t you ever…” her voice cracked, “get in touch with me?”

Bodhi’s eyes were pools of regret when he answered, “I was afraid I’d lost the privilege, and…” he looked down and then back up at her, “quite honestly I was scared to death to hear how much you hated me.”

She nodded thoughtfully and tried to not looktoosympathetic. He’d dumped her pretty unceremoniously, after all. No one said anything for a while.

This was apparently as much of an answer as Bodhi was going to give them, so Cooper looked at Ivy and they had another one of their silent eyeballs-only conversations. After a moment, they both smiled, and Cooper announced, “I guess as long as you agree to take it slowly and don’t go trying to break Ivy and me up so you can horn in on her by yourself, we can try it.”

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