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I chuckle, imagining what he’d say if he was here right now. “What? Tell him he’s a hall pass? Invite him to join this little scenario? I can’t imagine he’d turn that down.”

Joy looks between the two of us, her eyes wide. “You can’t just ‘invite’ someone. How would that conversation even go? Come join our threesome? What would that even be? A foursome?”

“I think anything over three is an orgy,” I say, tickling her sides.

“Shut up! It so isn’t!” She tries to smack my hands away, but I just grin and try to slip my fingers up under her sweater.

Aldo lurches forward and grabs Joy, dragging her from my lap to the safety of his. “My sister’s brother-in-law, Carter, is in a polyamorous relationship. There are four of them.”

Joy turns and looks at him over her shoulder, her eyebrows raised. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “They’ve been together for years. They have two kids.”

“Wow.” Joy leans back against him.

I reach for her legs, pulling them onto my lap. “We can’t ask him. You know that, right? Not any time soon. You saw him today. He’s a mess.”

Aldo huffs. “He’s always a mess.”

“And whether he agreed to this or not, there’s still the matter of his job,” Joy points out.

“Yeah, well, I’m risking my job right now,” I admit. “You’re both seniors, so we only have to keep things under wraps for a few more months. If Doug ends up becoming a part of this, then we can figure it out.”

The statement hangs in the air, marinating for a minute. Then Joy pulls out of Aldo’s grasp and reaches for her mug.

“Let’s table Doug for now. If something happens, it happens. But for now, it’s just us.”

I reach for my own mug, taking a tentative sip.Perfect. “Just us.”

“Just us,” Aldo echoes, lifting his mug in a salute before taking a sip. “Holy crap. This is phenomenal.”

My chest inflates with pride as he takes another sip, his eyes drifting shut. When Joy moans around her first mouthful, I squeeze her leg. “You’re going to need to stop that, or you won’t get a chance to finish it.”

Joy gasps and holds her mug to her chest. “Don’t think I won’t put up a fight if you try to take this off me.”

Aldo laughs and for the first time since we left this morning, there’s a light behind the rich brown of his eyes.

ALDO

Lane turns the volume back up on the film, but I’m not really watching it, too busy lost in my own thoughts. Joy has moved off my lap, cuddled into my side, while Lane absentmindedly rubs her feet, and it feels nice. Right.

Lane is engrossed in the film, laughing at lines before they’re even finished, but I can’t stop my mind from going over things. I’m not even sure why I kissed Doug today. I have Joy, who is the sweetest, sexiest woman I’ve ever met,andLane, who is like some sort of sarcastic, commanding, Norse god come to life. But still, I can’t stop thinking about the hot mess that is Doug McMann. My only comfort is it seems Lane and Joy can’t either.

Lane smacks Joy lightly on the ass and stands, stretching so his sweater rises, and I’m treated to the sight of a slice of his toned stomach. “I’m gonna get a drink. Anyone want anything?”

“Got any more secret red wine?” Joy teases, and I laugh.

“No.” Lane grins down at her. “But I have been shopping since, and I stocked up. What would you like?”

“Surprise me,” I say. “Preferably not something cold, though.”

“Ugh,” Joy says, nuzzling against my chest. “That hot chocolate was the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”

“Rude.” Lane mock gasps, clutching his chest. “Second best surely. My cock,thenmy hot chocolate.”

Joy groans. “Shut up and get me a drink.”

Lane’s laughter follows him all the way to the kitchen, and I take the opportunity to admire the view. His faded jeans cling to his perfectly shaped ass and thighs, his black sweater stretching across his broad shoulders. He’s cut his hair recently, and it’s a little shorter on the back and sides, the thick blond length on top still messy from spending a day buffeted by the wind. I bet his hair goes really light in the summer.

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