Page 8 of Rules Of Our Own

We’re silent as the reality of tonight settles in. I’d planned on cornering her somewhere to get her to finally speak to me. Instead, she just walked right in and took my fucking breath away.

“Have things changed for you? Because they haven’t for me,” I ask and take another long drink of my beer and try not to tense up.

“No.” River’s tone is final, and I nod as dread settles low in my gut. We’re still in the exact same position we were back at university, with us both wanting her and her refusing to come between us. I’d admire her for it if it didn’t hurt so fucking bad.

I turn toward him and lower my voice, letting him know how serious I am. “I’m not giving up on this. Not when it’s likely my last chance.”

He faces me, one brow raised. “Neither am I. Will that be a problem?”

I slam my head back and wince when it connects to the villa behind me. “Considering that’s how we lost her the first time? Yeah, that’s a problem.”

“What if it wasn’t?” River faces the sky. “A problem.” He seems tense. Maybe even nervous. He doesn’t look at me when he says. “What if we share her instead?”

A jolt runs through me, and I freeze, a nervous energy buzzing up my arms and down my back.Does he mean together? Do I want that?I clear my throat. “What do you mean? Like having separate days?”

“No, not like separate days.” River’s deep, rumbled reply commands my attention, and I meet his intense black stare. The air around us grows thick, and suddenly, I crave what he’s suggesting.Fuck.

We’ve casually shared girls before, but something tells me that everything would be different with Mia. Every dirty fantasy of Mia pressed between us has my pulse beating in my ears. Even the thought of seeing him fuck her has my cock stiffening, and I have to reach down to pin it under my waistband. The two of them are both so hot they’d be like fire together. “What if she doesn’t go for it?”

River’s gaze follows the path my hand takes before piercing mine, and he straightens, confidence returning with the set of his shoulders. “What if she does?”

“You serious?” I have to check.

Black eyes pierce mine. “Dead.”

“Then we’d better start warming her up to the idea.” My smile grows, and I know my dimples are showing when I turn.

All the blood drains from my face when I walk inside, and my breath catches in my chest. River barely covers his groan when he comes up beside me and sees what I do. Mia’s standing backlit in the bathroom doorway, blonde hair cascading around her shoulders, in a gold slip nighty that grazes her thighs. The world could end, and I wouldn’t notice.

“Bathroom’s all yours.” She travels to the bed and pulls back the sheet, acting like she’s completely unaffected, but the goose bumps running up her neck give her away.

My gaze catches on the skin where her hem rides up while she gets into bed, and I take a step forward, only to have River grab me by the arm and haul me into the bathroom.

I’m totally fucked.

* * *

She watches River pull the foldout bed from the couch and lifts a brow. “The bed’s bigger. I can take the couch.”

“Not a chance, Mia,” River says, voice firm.

She huffs and faces away on the bed, her covers pulled up over her ears as if she’s afraid we’ll see a single inch of her. Too late. A slow smile warms my mouth as I picture the little piece of gold fabric she put on for bed. I’m never getting that out of my head.

I strip down to my boxers and grab a few pillows from the sofa, lining them up in the middle of the pullout bed. It’s significantly smaller than I thought now that I’m really looking at it. Couldn’t be larger than a double on a good day. Hell, the thing may collapse under the weight of two grown-ass NHL players.

“You okay?” River steps up to his side of the bed and raises a brow at my pillow divider. We’d flipped a coin, and the lucky bastard scored the side closest to Mia. Still out of touching distance but no more than a few feet away. Are we a little creepy looking at her? Probably. Am I going to sit here and pretend I haven’t been more than a little obsessed with her since senior year of university? Absolutely not.

My brows pull together in confusion. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

He scans me over, and his features relax. “Do you want the sheet or the duvet?”

I bite my tongue against a smile at how this six-foot-four, two-hungry-fifty-pound man says duvet.

“Can’t we just share?” I fold the covers back and get in and immediately realize the problem. My hand slides easily to the other side of the bed since my little pillow barrier is above the blanket.

“We can, but something…” River looks at my makeshift wall, and the corner of his lips lifts. “…tells me you’re afraid we may accidently touch.”

I roll my eyes and toss the pillows to the ground. “Hey, now, I’m just stopping you from cuddling me. You know how I hate that.”

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