Page 6 of Before. Then. Now.

Suddenly, the world began spinning.I needed to close my eyes.I only needed a few seconds to get myself together.But when I opened them again, Shaw was still squeezing Violet’s ass.They weren’t kissing any longer, though.

Which was a relief.

Denial was a hard pill to swallow, and fuck if my throat wasn’t still desert-dry.Would I ever be fully hydrated again?

Seeing the glimmer in Shaw’s eyes as she glanced at me over Vi’s shoulder, I didn’t care if I ever got another drink of water.

“I’m curious.”Jagger’s voice dropped lower than normal.“Did Violet ever tell you about the experimenting era?”

“The what?”I garbled, trying to make my tongue work again.Words didn’t make sense to my oxygen-deprived brain, though.Exper…huh?“If I die, take care of my kids.”

He smirked at me.“They really are hot enough to make a man feel like he’s dying.But no worries, bro.I got your back.I’ll adopt them, but only Vi gets to call me daddy.”

“Jagger!”Vi admonished.“That isn’t funny.”

“Good, because I wasn’t joking.”

When had she gotten so close?Grabbing her by the waist, I pulled her down onto my lap.It was her own fault that my cock was still hard and I was covered in enough come to impregnate her at least five more times.

If I got a vasectomy now, would I be recovered in time to start football camp?Lyric had whined for weeks following his, but Mila had said he was fine.I didn’t trust her judgment of what pain was, however.She’d given birth to my nephews without a single drop of drugs.It had been the girls who had required a C-section, because they weren’t in a safe position for her to deliver naturally.

My sister-in-law scared the hell out of me.

Ignoring the mess I’d made, Vi peered those pretty eyes into mine.It took me a moment, but I sensed an ever-so-subtle hint of uncertainty, and my heart stopped.“Did I take it too far?”she whispered, and I couldn’t figure out if she was talking to me or Shaw or herself.

My hands trembling, I cupped her face.Fuck, my entire body was shaking, aftershocks from the most intense release of my life still quaking my extremities.

I hated that she didn’t know nothing she could do or say would ever be tooanything.Somehow—by the grace of God or Remington, I wasn’t sure which–somehow, I’d earned back the right to love this girl.That wasn’t just for life.It was for eternity.There was no room between us for uncertainty ever again.

“That was so freaking hot.You blew my mind, baby,” I told her, still slightly slurring my words, but my brain was quickly recovering in the face of her brief moment of uncertainty.“Now tell me more about this experimenting era Jagger mentioned.”

Relief filled her eyes, and she giggled.Back to being sweet and innocent.And diabolically sexy.Christ, I loved her so damn much.

As if that giggle was her cue to move, Shaw dropped down right beside Vi.

On my lap.

They were both on my lap.

My tongue became glued to the roof of my mouth, my eyes refusing to move away from the sight of Shaw’s tits beneath that small bikini top.How the fuck did she keep them contained?It was a difficult feat, but somehow, I looked at Jagger.If he wanted to beat the shit out of me for ogling his wife’s cleavage, I would let him.

But I saw no rage.No jealousy.Just open curiosity as he tipped his drink back and chugged the last of the Diet Coke from the cup, chomping down on a stray piece of ice.

“How long did the experimenting era last?”I asked, curious.We rarely talked about the years that we’d spent apart.It had nearly killed me to go no-contact with Violet.But she’d needed me to back off.Give her time to heal after I’d torn her heart from her chest.I knew the hard facts.Vi had been in a dark place mentally, with the kinds of thoughts that would have taken her from me permanently.Lyric would give me updates because I begged, but it was only the bare minimum.

I’d thought it had been therapy and then Remington that had gotten her through those lonely years.But now that I had my eyes fully open and I allowed myself to truly accept the chemistry that simmered between Vi and Shaw, I wondered if their experimenting era had been the real cure.

Vi shrugged.“It was pretty steady all the way up until I started dating Remington.You know that one thing you like me to do so much with my tongue?Shaw taught me to do that.”

“Fuck,” Jagger groaned, rubbing the palm of his hand over his groin.

Shaw’s grin was wicked.“Jags loves when I do that.Don’t you, babe?”

“You are killing me right now, dimples.These shorts are strangling my cock.Come here.I need you.”Without hesitation, Shaw stood and walked the few feet over to her husband.

Jagger already had his shorts pushed down, stroking himself.Shaw tugged her bikini bottoms aside and slowly sat down on his cock, straddling his lap.Vi’s breath hitched as she watched.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen them like that.A few double date nights we’d gone on had ended with the two of them fucking in the back seat of my SUV on the drive home.But this was the first time I’d allowed myself to watch.

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