Be With Me(34)

Chapter 13

Hutch pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and stepped barefooted into the hal way. He paused at Reggie’s door to look in, only to find her bed empty.

He walked on to Cam’s room, where the door was also open, and found it empty as wel .

Everyone was up early this morning.

He headed for the stairs but stopped at Sawyer’s door when he glanced in and saw Sawyer, Reggie and Cam al in Sawyer’s bed asleep. He leaned in, his arm resting against the door frame, and grinned at the sight.

Reggie was cuddled up close to Sawyer, who was laid out in an uncomfortable-looking position with one arm above his head and the other tucked under Reggie. Cam was relegated to the sliver of bed left by Reggie and Sawyer and was spooned up against Reggie. Part of his ass hung off the bed, and if he so much as moved, he’d probably land on the floor.

Hutch shook his head. No tel ing how this had al come about, but if he had to guess, he’d lay odds on Reggie seeking out company in the middle of the night.

He stood there staring for a long time, waiting for jealousy to come. Waiting to feel resentment toward Sawyer and Cam. But it never came.

Instead he felt the prickle of anticipation, as if they were one step closer to achieving their goal. And he supposed therein lay the reason for his acceptance.

As ridiculous as it sounded that wooing a woman would be a team effort . . . Hel , it didn’t sound ridiculous, it was ridiculous.

He needed to have his head examined.

With a shake of his head, he turned and headed back into the hal . He walked down the stairs and rounded the corner to go into the kitchen to start breakfast.

That team effort thing—it bugged him. Even as he knew it was something he and Cam and Sawyer had agreed upon, had talked about for many long hours, it stil made him cringe. Maybe he wasn’t as accepting as he’d thought. But no. It wasn’t the idea of sharing her with two other men—no, not just two other men—people he was closer to than anyone.

Guys he trusted. It was the idea in general that the woman he loved would never be completely his.

Was he real y okay with that? And if he was now, was there any guarantee he’d be okay with it a year from now? Two years?

Children. Jesus. That was one angle he hadn’t discussed with the others, primarily because Reggie had never real y expressed a strong desire to have kids. But what if she wanted them? Did they draw straws to see who fathered her baby or did they just leave it to chance, and if they were al living together, did it matter anyway?

He was giving himself a kil er headache, and he was talking himself in circles. He dragged out the ingredients for pancakes then took the ham out of the refrigerator.

It had been a lot easier when this was al in theory, an arrangement discussed in the hypothetical. Now that they were actual y trying to make it work, he wondered if they weren’t the biggest dumbasses in the universe. No wonder Reggie was having such a hard time with it al . No sane person could wrap their brain around the fact that three normal men would consent to sharing the woman they loved with one another.

“Dude, if you don’t let up on that batter, there’s not going to be much left for pancakes.”

Hutch’s hand stil ed from the vicious rotation, and he looked up to see Sawyer standing there, eyeing him with open curiosity.

“Reggie stil asleep?” he asked.

Sawyer sat down on one of the barstools and leaned his arms on the counter. “Yeah, she and Cam are stil passed out.”

Hutch resumed mixing the batter then stopped to slice the ham into thick breakfast steaks.

“So what’s eating you this morning?” Sawyer asked casual y.

“Nothing. I’m good.”

Sawyer snorted. “You’re not pissed because Reggie was in bed with me are you?”

Hutch looked up and met Sawyer’s gaze. “No,” he said honestly. “I think . . .” Hel , what did he think? But then they’d always been honest and up front with one another. There wasn’t a reason to deviate from that now. “I think I’m pissed because I’m not pissed.” Sawyer crooked one eyebrow. “That’s some messed up logic.”

“Tel me about it,” Hutch muttered.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Think about it, Sawyer. What normal guy wouldn’t be pissed that the woman he loves is curled up in not one man’s arms, but two? His two best friends. I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t lost my damn mind. I stood there in the doorway this morning looking at the three of you, and al I did was grin. How f**ked up is that?”

Sawyer pursed his lips thoughtful y. “So you’re more messed up over the fact that you’ve accepted our arrangement than you are over the idea of sharing Reggie with me and Cam.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Wel , if I had to guess, I’d say that it’s very similar to what Reggie is struggling with. I don’t think the idea of being with the three of us freaks her out nearly as much as her considering the possibility.” Hutch nodded. “Yeah, I can relate to that.” He put the knife aside and turned on the electric skil et. “As much as we’ve always given less than a damn what other people think about us, as much as we’ve always gone our own way, I can’t help but wonder over the fal out over our . . . relationship.” He pulled out a frying pan and set it on the stove then plunked three slabs of ham into it. Then he returned to the electric skil et and held his hand over the griddle to test the temp.