Ink Enduring (Montgomery Ink #5)(43)

Jake nodded as he walked in and set the glasses and bottle on the table. “One shot to warm us up. Think of it as a toast. Then we’ll drink more if we want. But I think we need to do something to start this so it’s not awkward as shit.”

Border smiled fully then. “It’s going to be awkward as shit at first no matter what.”

Maya snorted and moved toward them, letting her hips sway as she did so. She had curves and knew how to use them. Usually, she swayed no matter how she walked though with the size of her damn hips. Tonight, however, tonight she wanted to use them to her advantage. These men were so much bigger than her and seemed to fill the room with just their presence, so she needed to work what she had so she was on equal footing. There would be no other way to go about it. She refused to be the one they passed between each other, the one they looked over and disregarded.

She was Maya Montgomery, and she would not be ignored.

And now that she’d gone all Fatal Attraction in her mind, it was time to take the next step before she f*cked it all up.

Maya deftly poured three shots and hand them out. She raised her glass and looked them both in the eye. “To not f*cking this up and seeing where we go.”

The guys’ lips tilted upward at that, and the three of them threw their heads back to take the shot. The tequila was a smooth burn down her throat, and she purred at the taste. There was a reason this was her favorite liquor.

When she let her head fall back down, she had to swallow hard at the looks on Jake’s and Border’s faces.

“What?” she asked, her voice husky.

Border licked his lips, and she pressed her legs together since her clit seemed to take that moment to start throbbing in time with the beat of her rapid pulse. If she’d had it pierced as it had been before, she’d have probably come right then from his look alone.

Okay, then.

Border shrugged at her, not looking relaxed at all, even if he was trying to be. “You look f*cking sexy taking a shot like that. I just don’t know how Jake has kept his hands off you for so long.”

She just shook her head and sank into the couch behind her. That left the guys standing near the other couch, but they didn’t sit down; instead, they prowled toward her, coming in on either side of her. Because she wanted to see their faces, she wiggled back until she could lean her back on the couch and cross her legs underneath her. The guys sat at the edge of the couch and turned so the three of them faced one another.

“Jake and I are best friends,” she started, then held up her hands when both men opened their mouths to speak. “Let me say my piece, and then each of you can. Then we’ll continue to talk until we’re talked out. After that, we’ll either fall on to each other like heathens and f*ck until we’re exhausted or take our leave because it’s too much. That sound okay?”

She had to press her lips together as the guys’ gazes met over her. There was nothing sexier than two men who wanted each other looking at one another. And when they turned that same look on her?

Maya Montgomery was one lucky bitch.

She cleared her throat. “Jake and I have already slept together. Maybe we should have waited to talk more, but we didn’t. Instead, we did it, and I don’t want to quit sleeping with my best friend.” She looked at Jake, who smiled at her with such emotion, she had to blink back tears. Damn man for knowing her inside and out. He just got her. “I told Jake, and you Border since apparently the phone was on speaker at the time, that I think the two of you should be together, as well.” She sighed, this was the complicated part.

“We waited for you, Maya,” Border added softly.

“I know you did. I’m thankful even if I’m a little sad that you two had to wait for me. Or, at least wait for each other. I don’t know. That’s why we’re talking. This is going to get complicated. Because I want Jake.”

“I want you too, Maya.”

She reached out and gripped Jake’s hand. “And Jake, you want Border.”

Jake nodded and reached out for Border’s hand.

Border gripped it and clenched his jaw. “I want Jake, too.” He turned and met Maya’s gaze. When he held out his hand, Maya blinked. “And I want you, too.”

She looked down at his hand, and Jake squeezed hers. “You don’t know me.”

“I don’t have to,” Border bit out. “I want you, damn it. I don’t know why it’s coming on so quickly, but maybe it’s not. Jake’s talked about you for f*cking years, Maya. So I don’t think this is overnight. I came back to town for my job, which I’ll talk to you about later, but I didn’t come back just for that. I came back to see Jake. To see what he wanted and to see what I’d missed out on by leaving. And I came back to see this Maya Montgomery Jake talked about so often. I didn’t just come back for Jake, Maya. I think I came back for you, too.”

Emotions clogged her throat.

“You think, or you know.” She wasn’t sure why she’d said that, only that she needed to. This was all so crazy, and yet it fit. There was something there, something she couldn’t quite name, and she needed to figure it out with not only Border but Jake, as well.

“I know. I came back for both of you.” Border closed his eyes and shook his head. “That sounds like I believe in fate for some of this, and I don’t know if I do. But what I do believe in is that no matter what happens, we need to work for it. Things happen for a reason sometimes, and other times we make them happen because we need them to. I don’t want to step in whatever you two have, but I also know I can’t walk away now.”