Free Bend by Bailey Bradford Page A

pleaded, worried enough about the situation to not be shocked by the fact that he was begging. “But I never agreed to bringing in a woman just to keep you. I’ve just kept some of them I should have sent off because…because I couldn’t stand to see you hurt when they left. Maybe I didn’t want you to think what you’re thinking now, that I never wanted a triad, and that was why I didn’t tell Mindy to leave. I should have, though. I never should have let her in in the first place. I never trusted her, but you looked at her like that, and I couldn’t tell you no.”
    Evan’s lashes fluttered as he blinked away the moisture welling up in his eyes. He swiped at his cheek and shuddered. “So, does that mean you don’t think Annabelle’s right for us? Is that why you’re not even trying to make us all…together? You’re expecting her to pull a Mindy, or a Jane? Or that first one, Sheila—you think Annabelle will want to hook up with us just so she can go around bragging about bagging two hot guys?”
    Justin didn’t answer right away, giving Evan’s questions serious consideration. In the past, he’d just let Evan have his way instead of listening to his instincts, and every failed relationship had hurt Evan more than it had him. Justin’s greatest heartache was watching Evan suffer. Could he actually open himself up to Annabelle? She was a smart-mouthed, bossy woman who had no tolerance for puffed up egos and bullshit. She was also intelligent, BEND
    Bailey Bradford
    52
     
    caring and sexy as hell, and worth taking a chance on if Justin really wanted what he said he did.
    “I think she could be right for us,” Justin admitted, feeling a weight lift from his shoulders. Evan’s smile was an added bonus that warmed Justin through and through. “We need to talk to her, though, and not this polite conversational shit. She needs to know what we want, what we expect, and we need to know the same from her. And”—this part was tougher to say, but he’d do it, not just for Evan, but for himself and hopefully, eventually, Annabelle—“I need to quit being a coward and keeping myself closed off, or hiding behind a smartass attitude.”
    Evan had this thing he did, it had captured Justin’s heart from the moment he’d first spotted Evan years ago when they’d both been teens. It had been Homecoming, and before the game started, Justin had looked across the football field, his attention snagged by the best sound he’d ever heard. It sent tingles racing over his skin, and fired thoughts off in his head that he’d only just begun to face. He’d spotted the gorgeous kid several yards away, helmet tucked under one arm as he’d slapped at another kid’s back. There was no other way to say it—Evan glowed when he was really happy, his cheeks tinting pink, his eyes sparkling. He lit up, and everything and everyone around him could do nothing but bask in that glow.
    Evan turned that light on Justin now, and Justin felt his knees shake and his bones turn to jelly. He wondered, if Annabelle agreed, how he was going to be able to handle having two partners who could reduce him to a pile of quivering goo with just a smile. Annabelle would be able to do it, too, she may have some things in common with Justin, but she had that same effervescence about her—
    “I think, maybe tonight, we should all spend some time seeing how we feel around each other,” Evan whispered against Justin’s lips. “See if we can be comfortable, get along, joke and tease like lovers do without someone getting pissed or mean. The serious talking can come later, once we’ve all had some time to get to know each other.”
    “And sex?” Justin didn’t want to be an asshole, but he had to know. Besides, Evan wanted honesty.
    Evan kissed him, a hard, deep, dominant kiss that rocked Justin to the soles of his feet.
    “Oh, that can happen as soon as everyone wants it to.”
    BEND
    Bailey Bradford
    53
     
    There was a tap at the kitchen