Stefan gestures regally, bestowing the floor on me. “Have at it. I feel like whatever rules you establish, I come out ahead.”
Such a cocky fucker. “How do you figure?”
The Danish man waves a hand at Hayes then me. “You two have to go to these events. Charity luncheon, wedding, whatnot. I basically get the fun end of things. Correct?”
Hayes rolls his eyes. “Yes, you do. What a shock.”
With a casual shrug, Stefan turns to me, those ice-blue eyes sparkling. “I’ve got a packed schedule with the upcoming Sportsman of the Year award anyway. Meetings with sponsors and The Sports Network. I don’t need more public events.”
“Humble brag,” Hayes says, coughing under his breath.
Stefan turns to me. “Besides, being your secret boyfriend seems a lot more fun than being the public husband.”
I blanch at that term. Secret boyfriend? I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend at all, let alone a clandestine one. But I wasn’t seeking a husband either.
Maybe I didn’t hear him right. “Secret boyfriend?”
“Sweetheart.” Stefan gives methe look. The confident one that saysdon’t argue. “I’m your secret boyfriend and you know it.”
Well then.
Arousal shimmies through me at his declaration and the certainty of it.Secret boyfriendseems reasonable.
“Fair enough,” I say, hiding a grin. I like his possession. I didn’t see it coming, but it’s impossible to deny.
“As the captain, I’ve got enough on my plate with promos and whatnot,” Stefan adds. “Seems I get to have my cake and eat it too—at night.”
“Am I cake?” I ask.
His eyes pin mine. “Yes, Ivy. You’re the cake.”
Hayes tosses his napkin on the table. “I’m definitely ready for dessert then.”
Me too, but there’s one more thing. I hold up a hand. “So, we’re doing this…arrangementfor the course of the”—I glance around, lowering my voice more—“the marriage?”
“Yes,” Stefan says, as surely as ever. But he shifts to legitimate concern when he adds, “if that works for you.”
“Does it, Ivy?” Hayes asks, checking in too.
The man can learn. And I like it.
“Yes. That works for me.” I’m no expert at group dynamics. I’m a total novice, in fact, but I wrote my top questions in my new notebook today. It’s not in front of me now, but they were pretty damn easy to memorize. “Just a few things though. Little details.”
“Hit us up,” Hayes says.
I swallow, then begin. “How does it work if I want to spend time with one of you when the other’s not around? Like, if I want to sleep with my boyfriend when my husband isn’t around? Or vice versa?”
Judging from their faces—both pairs of eyes are blazing—I’ve asked the right question.
Stefan lifts a finger, a sign that he’ll take this one. “Thanks for asking, but you don’t need to check with me if you want to fuck Hayes. I don’t want to check with him if I want to tie you up, kiss you slowly and sensually all over your delicious body, and make you come hard again and again. We’re not jealous guys.”
I’m a little caught up in the images, in the promises of pleasure. It takes me a few seconds to absorb this new world order.
“You’re really not,” I say, kind of amazed but still curious. “Why not though?”
“Why would I be? I like it when you’re getting all the attention. That’s what turns me on,” Stefan says matter-of-factly.
“Same here,” Hayes puts in. “I like getting you off. I like watching you get off. I like watching him get you off. It works out well for me when you’re coming.A lot.”