Page 108 of Forged

“This might sound crazy, and apologies if I’m completely off here, but every time we spend time together, it feels more and more natural. I haven’t felt this way with anyone in,” I exhale a heavy breath, “a really long time.”

Neomi places a hand on my thigh. “You’re not the only one that feels the connection.”

I glance up to see both of them focused on me. I shake my head. “Like I said earlier, I dated a couple in the past, but they weren’t married. There’s still part of me that’s hesitant with that fact. I don’t want to disrupt anything.”

Lars rises from the couch and moves to sit by my side. I canfeel the heat of him and fuck, I don’t want to mess this up. I just want them closer, I want more time.

Lars takes my hand. “This is new ground for us too, Gabriel. We’re newly married, but we haven’t made the decision to see you without thought and purpose.”

Neomi leans her head on my shoulder, and my eyes burn with the contact. I feel surrounded, and I want more of it.

“We can figure this out together. We don’t have to put labels on anything, but if we want to see where this goes, I want us to be exclusive to each other,” Lars tells me.

“No worries there,” I say, because fuck, why would I look anywhere else if I had the two of them by my side?

Lars leans back into the couch.

“If we’re going to continue this,” he says calmly, “it won’t be casual.”

I look in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t want it to be.”

The movie has been playingfor at least twenty minutes before I realize I have no idea what’s happening on the screen.

An action scene plays out on the television. Cars are racing through city streets, someone shouting over the sound of tires screeching, but I can’t be bothered with a movie when I have the two most beautiful men in the world cuddled up beside me.

Dinner turned into wine. Wine turned into a movie that none of us seemed particularly invested in. Now the lights are low while the quiet comfort of the evening settles over us.

Gabriel sits beside me with one ankle resting loosely over his knee, his attention moving between the screen and the skin of my thigh.

I try to focus on the movie again. Something explodes on the screen, a car flips over another car, someone yells something dramatic. My eyes blur and I blink, realizing I’ve just missed another entire stretch of the plot. A yawn slips out before I can stop it.

Lars glances down at me. “Are you tired?”

“A little,” I admit, rubbing my eyes before stretching my legs.

“A little? You’ve been half asleep for the last ten minutes,” Lars teases.

“I have not.”

“You definitely have.” Gabriel’s quiet laugh drifts from the other side of me.

Lars shakes his head with a small smile before reaching for the remote and turning off the TV.

“Let’s get you to bed, Bella.”

The room falls quiet once the television goes dark. Gabriel glances toward the windows, then toward the clock on the wall before pushing himself forward on the couch.

“I should probably get going.”

The words come easily, the way someone says goodnight after an evening that’s run its course. But I don’t want him to go. I look into Lars’ eyes trying to silently send the message.

Lars grins and looks at Gabriel. “You can stay if you like.”

Gabriel pauses.

Lars gestures toward the hallway. “We have plenty of space.”