Page 64 of The Agreement

And that was at the root of my hesitation. Most of it. I forced a smile. “It’s not that I’m not enjoying this, but people talk, and the twins and…”

And Deacon was watching us and I didn’t dare look at his reaction, after the way he reacted to Quentin.

“Deacon isn’t people,” Adam teased.

Deacon cleared his throat loudly. “Thanks.”

“Not what I mean.” Adam turned to him. “I mean you’re not a fucking town gossip who’s going to spread this everywhere, and Dylan’s not either. You’re not a generic being, you’re Deacon.”

I should better explain my reaction, but I wasn’t sure I understood it myself. With Deacon next to me and Adam reaching for me, my brain stopped working when everything I wanted collided with everything I wasn’t supposed to have.

It wasn’t just about people talking, though I did worry about how gossip would come back on the twins, but it was about Deacon, which made me a freaking hypocrite. I adored what I had with Adam and wanted more.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve dated—as we’ve discussed—and I’m feeling my way around how it works.” That sounded reasonable, didn’t it? It was the truth, so it had better.

And the way Adam wove his fingers with mine and squeezed my hand was both reassuring and warmed me with promises of more later. “It’s perfectly reasonable,” he said.

Deacon nodded. “I get it. Not that I need to, but I do.”

Good.Greateven. And maybe next time I was alone with Adam, we’d make it all the way to third base. A whisper in the back of my mind reminded me that probably meant giving uplessonswith Deacon. That I was most likely already at that point. And the thought of that…

When did I turn into a sex fiend? Was this what a fifteen-plus year dry spell did to a woman?

Both Adam and Deacon were watching me. Crap, one of them had asked me something. “I’m sorry, what?” Did I need more sex or less to make sure I could pay better attention next time?

“Do you want the basement grand tour?” Deacon asked.

Are you hitting on me?The teasing question didn’t make any sense, and even if it did, I had no idea how it would land. A few weeks ago, that kind of joke would’ve been normal, but now… “I’d like that, yes.” I hid a wince at the formal language.

Neither of them looked fazed and I probably needed to stop thinking so much.

We headed toward the basement, and I could tell from that first step that things were different. For instance, I wasn’t afraid I was going to fall through a stair on the way down. When we reached the bottom, Deacon flicked one of the switches I’d installed, and light flooded the entire room.

They led me through the new maze. There were a few walls in place, and the supports had been reinforced and made pretty, but mostly they’d left the entire place open, similar to upstairs. There was a lot more order to the furniture now, though. It was obvious that certain styles were grouped together and there was a flow to the room.

“I love it,” I found myself saying over and over again. And when we reached the end of the tour, I asked, “When are you opening it to the public?”

“Unofficially on Monday, and we’re making a bigger deal about it next weekend,” Deacon said. “Adam’s going to do a big series of videos.”

It was perfect. I had so many questions. “Did you ever figure out how it all got down here in the first place? Do you know why no one told you there was a basement? Are you keeping any pieces for yourself?”

“No, no, and no.” Deacon gave a faint smile.

This entire exchange felt stilted. I wanted him to make a joke. To flirt with me in a way I didn’t know how to deal with. For Adam to pull an obscure movie reference out that I loved understanding. What were the odds the three of us could go back to the way things were without me giving up the new things as well? “I think I need another lesson.”

White-hot embarrassment spread through me when I realized what I’d just said. Deacon and Adam looked shocked. I needed to back the heck up. “Not like that.” Exactly like that. How horrible was I being? “I meant to go back to normal. Before…” I didn’t want to dig this hole I was in deeper. “That was the original point, right? Teach me how to date without…” I sighed. “Without making an idiot of myself and alienating you.” I looked at Deacon.

Adam brushed his lips over my cheek. “You’re not being an idiot. This is weird for everyone.”

“Speak for yourselves.” Deacon deflated. “Yeah, okay. It’s gotten weird, hasn’t it? I have a solution, though.”

Not that long ago, I would’ve expected a statement like that to lead to innuendo, that I wouldn’t have known how to handle. I would’ve blushed, he would’ve winked, and the conversation would’ve moved on. “What are you thinking?”

“That.” Deacon pointed to a couch. “That.” He pointed to a wood and silk tri-fold screen.

Adam grinned. “Dim the lights, grab the projector.”

The pieces clicked. “Movie night.” Not something I’d ever done with them before. Nothing like back to the way things had been, but it felt right. I neededright. “I’m in. What are we watching?”

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