Of course, I could hop in my truck and head over to Edge’s. I could use the excuse of wanting to see if it was a place I was willing to live for the foreseeable future. He’d see right through it, but I’d be there at that point and could probably play it off. Or I could go over to Edge’s and do what I wanted to do. See if we could pick up where we left off the other night. Between the incident at Edge’s place and the kiss we’d shared here in my hotel room, I didn’t think he’d be too opposed to the idea.
It was when I was trying to decide which fast-food joint I was going to hit up that my cell phone rang. I glanced at the screen, noticed it was Edge, and answered immediately.
“What’s up?”
“Hey.” His voice was low and there was noise in the background. “You busy?”
I glanced around the bland room. “Not at the moment.”
“I’ve got a proposition for you.”
Hmm. I definitely liked the sound of that. “What’s that?”
“I’m out with Jamie right now and we thought maybe you’d want to join us.”
I frowned. “Seriously? You want me to tag along on your date?”
“Preferably, no,” he said quickly.
I laughed despite myself. “Well, fuck you, too.”
There was an answering laugh and something relaxed inside me.
“Since I don’t consider you a third wheel, Cav, it wouldn’t be like that. We want you here with us.”
Before I could respond, there was shuffling, and then Jamie’s sweet voice sounded. “Hey, Cav.”
“Hey, cupcake.” I stared out the window at Chicago’s skyline.
“Are you doing anything exciting tonight?”
Just hearing her voice made me smile. “Define exciting.”
“Oh, you know. Maybe you’re two hours deep in a game of Monopoly and you’re not sure whether to sell all your hotels or not.”
I chuckled. “No Monopoly tonight.”
“Maybe you’re gearing up to play This or That. The naked version, of course.”
“Hmm. That sounds like a good game. You’ll have to give me instructions on how to play.”
“It’s pretty straightforward, actually.”
“Have you played it before?”
“No. But I’m not opposed to exploring new things.”
Jamie’s sexy laugh made my dick hard.
“Better yet, maybe I’ll teach you how to play. You and Edge.”
“I won’t turn you down,” I told her. “But seriously. Aren’t you on a date?”
She sighed heavily. “So, here’s the thing. I think we’re ready to graduate to the next phase of our … uh … situation.”
“The next phase, huh? What would that be?”
“The three of us hanging out. Together.”
“So, you’re not interested in the one-on-one dates anymore?”
There was a smile in her voice when she said, “I didn’t say that at all. I happen to enjoy spending time with each of you. But I think we’re trying to fit this into a traditional box and we’re all adult enough to admit that’s not going to work.”
I laughed, couldn’t help it. That was one thing I highly admired about this woman. She didn’t beat around the bush. “Agreed.”
“Good. So, please come down here. We’ll have a couple of drinks, watch some people pretend to be comedians, then maybe we can … play naked This or That afterward.”
Not willing to think on that too hard, I said, “May I speak to Edge one more time?”
“Of course.”
Edge’s deep voice sounded.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked, my thoughts drifting back to what happened the other night, when I’d had to refrain from fucking Jamie in the passenger seat of my damn truck.
“Very.”
“So you’re up for naked This or That?”
Edge chuckled. “I could be, sure.”
I never knew which direction that man was headed. But who was I to argue? “All right. Shoot me the address and I’ll be there in twenty.”
“Uber over here, will you? That way we’ll only have one car.”
“All right.”
The call disconnected and I headed for the shower. It took ten minutes to get myself presentable. The Uber arrived in the time it took me to get from my room down to the front desk. And ten minutes after that, I was walking into the bookstore/bar, a place that surprisingly reminded me of the two people I was coming to meet. It wouldn’t have been my first choice for date night, but I could see how it would appeal to the two of them. And considering Edge’s sister owned the place, it was probably familiarity that had him selecting it. Gregory Edge was the type of guy who liked to play it safe whenever he could.
I, on the other hand, was not.
I found Edge and Jamie sitting in a corner, watching a hefty, middle-aged man on a small, makeshift stage ramble into a microphone. I took a seat on the opposite side of Jamie, all three of us facing the stage, and kept my mouth shut while the guy made people laugh with his self-deprecating humor. He wasn’t half bad, but I was grateful when he finally concluded his act.
