Page 31 of Satisfying the King

Eve sat up straight and said, “I kiss Stefan and Carlo when you’re not around.” Her voice held a tone of righteousness. And I thought she made a good point. I kissed Nick, even when we weren’t all together. What Eve and I had done on the couch wasn’t much different from that.Was it?

“Showing affection is one thing. Making each other come—well, that’s something else completely different.” Nick stared back at his wife. His business-like tone made me nervous. I felt my palms start to get all sweaty.

“We didn’t exactly—plan for all of that to happen,” Eve explained and grabbed my hand. “We just—” She looked over at me like she was at a loss for words.

So, I helped.

“We got caught up in the moment.” I squeezed her hand and gave her a smile. Then I looked at Nick. “I didn’t think you’d disapprove.”

Nick chuckled in a low voice and raised his eyebrows. “Giselle, I doubt either of you were thinking of any of us.” His hands motioned to Carlo and Stefan.

I mean—he was right.

At least for me, anyway.

Nick’s hands clasped together, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “If our little—arrangement is to work. There needs to be a clear set of—boundaries. And rules. That we each abide by.”

I didn’t know what to say. And suddenly, I felt guilty for what Eve and I had just done.

Nick stood and strode toward the liquor cabinet at the front of the room. “So, what we need to know is—” Nick cleared his throat and made himself a drink. The ice clinked together violently as he dropped it into the glass. “This thing between you two.” His index finger pointed from me and then to Eve. “Is it—romantic? Something you two want to—explore with each other?”

I’d never felt more confused in my life. I gazed at Eve and asked, “What is he talking about? I’m not sure what he means?”

Eve grabbed my hand and held it. She looked at her husband and her eyes got watery. And then my stomach sank—but I wasn’t sure why.

Eve turned more fully to me and said, “I think he’s asking if we want to become a couple,” she nodded her head at the men, “and dump these idiots we live with.”

Laughter I didn’t know I was holding back came bubbling out. Just the thought—of Eve and I—oh, my goodness. That had not even occurred to me. Like not at all.

Eve started laughing, too. And we kept it up until both of us wiped away our tears from laughing so hard. “Could you imagine?” I barely got out and Eve snorted. Her arms went around me, and we hugged while our bodies jiggled with laughter.

“The shit fit they’d have—” Eve laughed and held me tighter. Her hug felt nice. And comforting. I was glad we were definitely on the same page.

Not that I imagined we wouldn’t be.

“Enough!” Carlo bellowed in his pissed-off-listen-to-me-now voice. “Nick asked you a question, and he deserves an answer.”

Eve and I let go of each other and stopped laughing. I used my fingers and wiped my wet cheeks while Eve started talking.

“We were—” she peered at me and gave me a soft smile, “curious about each other. That’s all, right? I mean, I love you—you know that. But neither of us even thought about leaving our families.”

When she said, “families,” my heart squeezed. I hadn’t thought about what I had with Carlo and Stefan as a family.

I shook my head. “No, we were just—messing around.” I smiled at her and then looked at Carlo.

Yeah.

He was definitely pissed off.

Stefan’s expression wasn’t much different.

And Nick—

Well, let’s just say he wasn’t in a great mood either.

“I see,” Nick said and tossed back half of the contents in his glass. “Then we need to discuss the rules of engagement. I suppose this was something we could have done at the beginning of our—” he tossed back the rest of his glass and filled it up again, “arrangement. But to be honest, it never occurred to me that this might be a variable.”

Stefan shook his head and sat down in a chair. “Fuck, neither did I, man. Not in a billion years did I think this would be a discussion we’d be having.”

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