Oh, he might never pick up a paddle or a flogger, but he was definitely going to be in charge of this.
He settled back onto the sofa, watching them both. He’d been right. They were gorgeous together, and his cock did not have a problem watching Ty at all.
Ty, however, had stopped. He’d stepped back from Lucy and seemed awkward, as though trying to figure out what to do next.
Because for all his experience he’d never made love to a woman who mattered to him. It was a harsh way to put it, but true. There was nothing wrong with mutually satisfying sex, but when real emotion was in the mix, there was nothing better.
Ty was as worried as Lucy was.
This was precisely why they needed him. “Have you ever kissed her before the other night?”
Lucy turned to Ty, putting her hands on his chest and looking into his eyes. “He kissed me at a party once. He was trying to prove to this jerk that I had a boyfriend so he would leave me alone.”
“I would have kicked his ass, but I already had a sprained wrist from football, and she wouldn’t let me fight,” Ty revealed. The awkwardness fled and there was nothing but warmth in his tone. “So I kissed her. I figured a guy who was that tied up in his own masculinity would respect dibs.”
Lucy’s nose wrinkled. “Dibs?”
Ty winced. “You know what I mean. But you should also know that I kissed you for a long time after he walked away. I pretended he was still watching us because I didn’t want to stop kissing you.”
“I didn’t want you to stop either,” she whispered.
“But you two dumbasses didn’t get together then?” He wasn’t going to pull his punches.
“It was the last day of sophomore year and I went to visit my cousins the next day,” Ty admitted. “I was gone for six weeks, and when I came home we pretended like nothing happened.”
“I was scared to talk to you about it.” Lucy’s hands found the nape of Ty’s neck. “And then we fell back into our habits and we let it go. I don’t want to let this go now.”
Ty let his head drop gently against hers. “I don’t want to either, baby.”
“Then kiss her.” Michael sat back and let all his other cares go. They were right about being in the moment. He’d spent the last two years living in the past. He wanted the here and now. Lucy and Ty had wasted far too many years. They only had today, and he wanted to make it count.
Which meant not hating himself for a night. Which meant letting them in even if it was only for a little while.
“Kiss her,” he repeated. “And take her clothes off so we can show her how good it can be to have two men worship her. So we can show her exactly how we both feel about her.”
He was ready to be with her, ready to share this moment with Ty.
For the first time in forever, it felt right to simply be.
Chapter Eight
Lucy watched as Michael sat back. He was so big and gorgeous she couldn’t take her eyes off of him, and then there was Ty. They were polar opposites, one dark and brooding and the other pure masculine sunshine.
She wanted them both. It hit her then and there that not only did she want the pleasure she could get out of this encounter, she wanted them. Wanted their emotion and their trust, wanted to be able to believe in what she felt for them.
Wanted a future with them.
And that was probably a bad thing because Michael had promised that he couldn’t love her.
He’d told her, but she was willing to take that chance. He’d been through something awful with the last woman who’d held his heart. He was afraid. She’d considered a relationship with him from every angle, including one where he was interested in her for the simple fact that she was as far from Jessie as possible.
This could all end in heartbreak, but she’d let that fear steal years from her and Ty, and she couldn’t do the same now.
Or perhaps she and Ty couldn’t work without Michael here. They were too similar and needed his commanding presence to bring them out of their shells.
Of course now Ty was starting to try to get her out of her actual shell, and that was a little scary.
His hands tugged at the T-shirt she wore, the one with the Trio logo. She wasn’t ready for this. She hadn’t prepared the way she had the night before. “I’m wearing terrible underwear.”
“It’s okay,” Michael assured her. “You won’t be for long.”
“I’m saying I was wearing the nice stuff the other day. I put on my laciest bra and undies for our date,” she argued. “And now I’m wearing the plain stuff because I didn’t expect either of you to show up today. You didn’t call or text or anything.”