One Ring (Suncoast Society #28)(32)

The rack wiring jobs were a mess, and she couldn’t even tell what went where, waterfalls of wires all over the place. She couldn’t clean up the whole place in the time she had—and that wasn’t her job anyway—but her equipment would have to be completely shut down, the wiring pulled, and re-run the right way.

She suspected the vendor had simply slapped it in without closely looking at the diagrams. Based on how the rest of the server room looked, it didn’t surprise her.

She relaxed in her bed, the TV on, and called the men. She hadn’t had time to talk to them all day, only sending them texts when she’d landed to let them know she’d arrived safely.

Using FaceTime, she called Don and smiled as both men crowded in to talk with her.

“See? You two would look so cute if you’d just turn and kiss,” she teased.

The men laughed. “Not even for you, babe,” Carl said. “Sorry.”

“I know. But a girl can hope.”

“Are you all right?” Don asked. “You look tired.”

She refused to lie to them. “I had an upset stomach this morning. Strangest damn thing. I puked my guts up twice at the airport before my flight.”

Now both of them looked worried, “You did?” they asked in stereo.

“Yeah, probably got a bad egg or something. I doubt it was from dinner last night or you two would have been sick, too.”

They chatted for a little longer, Mel remembering to give them her hotel info before saying goodnight. “I’ll text you tomorrow, but I’ve got a mess on my hands here,” she said. “I won’t be talking much. I’ll make sure to call you guys again tomorrow night. Love you both.” She blew them kisses.

“Love you, too, babe,” Don said. “Be safe.”

“I will.”

“Miss you and love you,” Carl said.

“Suck up,” Don teased. “Just had to outdo me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Stop it. Both of you. Have a good night.”

She ended the call and stuck her phone on the charger. She suspected that, without her home, they’d likely sleep in separate rooms tonight. Which was fine.

Although it was funnier for her to think of them maybe snuggling together in the same bed and missing her.





Don stared at his darkened phone. “This might sound stupid,” he told Carl, “but I wouldn’t object if you wanted to sleep in the same bed tonight.”

Carl let out a wistful-sounding sigh. “I was going to say the same thing. It’s lonely enough without her here. I wouldn’t mind the company even though we aren’t doing each other.”

They looked at each other. “How’d we get here?” Don asked.

“I don’t know,” Carl said. “Figures we find the perfect woman for both of us.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t mind,” Don said. “She damn sure doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Thank god for both of us.”

“Yeah.”

They lapsed into silence for a moment.

Carl finally spoke again. “I don’t know how we got here,” he said, “but I’m glad we did. You’re my friend, and yeah, I love you. I don’t care what anyone thinks about what we have. I’m not jealous of you, not even when you guys have alone time together.”

“Ditto. I’m not jealous of you, either.”

Carl stood and stretched. “All I care about is that she’s happy. I love watching her face when you’re doing stuff to her. That turns me on. I never thought I’d ever say that.”

“Well, like you said, ditto.” Don stood. “Figures that the woman I finally feel right about to risk half my shit on, I’m sharing her with my best friend.”

Carl smiled. “We could mess with her mind and marry each other.”

Don burst out laughing. “That would be a mindf*ck, wouldn’t it?”





The next morning, Mel awoke and let the familiar disorientation settle for a moment after she opened her eyes.

Then she jumped from bed and bolted to the bathroom to puke her guts up again.

As she knelt there, feeling shaky and weak and suspecting another wave was about to hit her, she thought back to the sushi she’d eaten the night before at a place two doors down from the hotel. It’d seemed nice enough, but it would be just her damn luck to get some bad fish.

Fuck.

Once she was steady, she skipped making her usual cup of coffee and instead opted for the hot tea the hotel provided with the coffeemaker. While that was brewing, she brushed her teeth and got her shower, her stomach feeling settled by the time she stepped out and wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror.

Never. Eat. There. Again.

She texted the guys before she headed downstairs to get her free breakfast and drive to the job site.

Morning. Ugh, bad sushi last night, more yakking this morning. Hope ur both well. Love U both.





They didn’t have to be at work until ten. Carl was still lying in bed and staring at the text from her while Don had headed to the bathroom to get his shower.

“Hey, stupid question,” he called out to Don.

“What?”

“When’s the last time Mel put tampons on the shopping list?”