Three to Tango Page 8

  Spent, he pulled out and collapsed on Jace, cum smearing between them.

  Alec rolled off and padded to the bathroom. He returned minutes later and flopped back down beside his lover, wiping his stomach with a damp towel. Jace looked up him with adoration in his shining eyes, then chuckled sheepishly.

  “What?”

  “Best. Dinner party. Ever.”

  Alec smiled, then leaned down and kissed him, slow and tender, while rapturous warmth spread deep within his chest. He was a goner.

  Jace turned onto his side, pulling Alec’s arm with him, tucking it against his heart. Alec settled in behind Jace and thought, yeah, best dinner party ever.

  Jace bounded up the steps with winged feet, feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. Alec was up there, and he couldn’t wait to get back into his arms. It had been so hard to leave him this morning, but the kids counted on him. The Mad Hot Ballroom classes he taught for underprivileged kids were one of the most rewarding things he’d ever done. Seeing their confidence and self-esteem grow with each class gave him hope and reinforced his belief that the world at its core was fundamentally good.

  It had been tempting to stay in bed and wake Alec with a very special breakfast course. Instead, he’d pulled quietly away, not wanting to disturb him.

  Mel would be home by now too. He wondered if Alec had told her or if he was waiting for him to come home so they could tell her together. His elation faltered briefly, and something akin to loss niggled at him. No, he wouldn’t lose Mel over Alec. Why couldn’t he have his lover and his best friend? Nothing would change, nothing had to change, so there wasn’t anything to worry about. Yet that little seed of doubt didn’t tumble away with the wind.

  He opened the door and stepped into an empty living room; then he heard Mel’s laughter on the patio. He moved toward the open glass doors and caught sight of Mel and Alec. His feet tangled under him, and he stumbled. He grabbed the corner of a chair for support. The smile that had been giving him cheek cramps for the better part of the day fell like an overdone soufflé.

  Alec was leaning against the patio railing, his legs spread—with Mel between them. Alec’s arms were wrapped around her waist, holding her tight to his chest.

  And they were kissing.

  What. The. Hell? Sharp, cold pain lanced his temples, and the air in his lungs froze.

  They stopped, and Mel’s mouth was moving. Jace couldn’t hear what she was saying over the frenzied buzzing in his ears and the stabbing needles in his head. He focused on pushing past the buzz to hear the tail end of whatever Alec was saying, but all he caught was “was amazing.”

  “More amazing than me?” Mel asked, her voice seductively playful.

  Alec nipped at her lower lip. “A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, sweetheart.”

  Sweetheart? Jace dug his fingers into the back the chair, keeping him upright.

  “Dog,” Mel groused, and then she stretched up and kissed him soundly.

  Flashes of her lips against his, and of his on Alec’s bombarded Jace’s mind. Was it just yesterday that he’d kissed the both of them? A sudden wave of lust rushed through Jace’s body to battle with the hurt, startling him with its intensity. And right on the heels of that unexpected hunger came the crushing weight of betrayal. The conflicting emotions were too much to bear. Pain pinched deep in his chest as a cold fist squeezed the life from him. It might not be so horrific if he didn’t love the both of them so much.

  “I didn’t get a chance to talk to him yet, but I’m sure it’s going to work.”

  “Didn’t talk? What kind of games were you boys up to?”

  What the hell? Mel knew? He had just spent the most incredible night of his life with Alec, and Mel knew, and there she was kissing him. The both of them laughing about it. Big joke on Jace.

  Anger welled up from his belly, scalding, burning his throat and his eyes.

  “Yeah, just what kind of games were you up to, Alec?” Jace asked flatly as he stepped through the patio doors.

  Startled, Mel and Alec broke apart, each with a vivid mix of shock and guilt on their faces.

  “Jace…” Melody gasped. “It…it’s not what you think.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Melody,” he spat. “Spare me your lame denials of the obvious.”

  “No, Jace. We wanted to talk to you about this. About something Alec and I think will be perfect for us all.”

  “You and Alec?” he mocked. “So what, he sleeps with both of us to decide who he wants? After…after…” The fist squeezing his heart twisted, tearing it fiber by fiber. The pain burrowed deeper. Wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t let him breathe. How could Alec do that to him? Jace had thought last night meant something more than just a cheap fuck, that it was the start of something amazing. But Alec wasn’t playing for keeps after all.

  “What was it? Give Jace a thrill before pulling the rug out from under him? A pity fuck?” Mel recoiled as if he’d actually slapped her, then stumbled back a step. Regret slammed into him, but he couldn’t stop. Anger and pain and humiliation had pushed him beyond caring that words could cut deeper than any physical weapon.

  They’d used him.

  “And then you gave me open court yesterday. After you kissed me. What the fuck, Mel?” His voice cracked on her name.

  “Jace…” Alec stepped forward, moving his body slightly in front of Mel, protecting her from…him?

  “And you…” Jace clenched his hands into fists, holding his arms rigidly at his sides. “What the fuck are you playing at? Taking us for a fucking test drive?”

  “Jace, don’t. I know this looks bad, but it—”

  “Fuck you!” Jace roared as hurt and loss scraped his throat raw. His vision blurred and narrowed. He had to get off this emotional roller coaster. Had to get away from here, away from them. “Just fuck you,” he whispered, the wind sucked from his sails. He turned on his heel and charged out of the house.

  “Shit,” Alec muttered.

  Mel stared at the door Jace had just slammed. She resisted the urge to chase him. He wasn’t ready to listen to anything she had to say. Panic lapped at her as she contemplated the possibility that he might never really come back.

  To be fair, his accusations weren’t so off the mark. She had kept her relationship with Alec a secret from him. And rather than just going to him and talking about the three of them together, she conspired behind his back.

  She closed her eyes, but the image of his face, stark with pain, was burned into her lids. She’d seen him hurt before but never like this. And never by her. When the chips were down, she was supposed to be the person he ran to, not from.

  Dimly, she realized that Alec had moved to stand in front of her.

  “Hey, it’s going to be okay. He just needs some time.”

  Melody’s pain welled and overflowed, morphing into a volcano of molten fury, ready to consume anyone in its path. “Don’t tell me what he fucking needs. I know what he needs. Jesus, don’t you get it? Everything was fine until you came here,” she shouted.

  Alec jerked back, his face paling.

  The anger seeped out of her, and suddenly she was exhausted, like someone had drained her battery. She wrung her hands in front of her.

  “I’m sorry, Alec. I’m sorry. But a week ago I had my best friend, and we were fine. We didn’t have a worry in the world. And then you put all these ideas in my head, fantasies of something that could never happen, and I started to believe in them.” Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to swallow past the lump of regret wedged in her throat.

  Alec pulled her stiff body into his arms, rubbing her back and making soft noises in her ear until she found herself hugging him in return. The tears that had threatened broke free, and Alec held her tight as she cried.

  “I know you’re hurt. And maybe you aren’t giving me enough credit here, because I am too.”

  Melody pulled back and looked up into his wounded face. Those captivating green eyes were stormy and reflected the pain she felt. There
was no denying he spoke the truth.

  “I love Jace, and I love you. I know you’re afraid right now, but his reaction was the result of a misunderstanding. Yes, we hurt him, and yes, he’s angry, but it wasn’t a rejection. He hasn’t even been given the choice yet. Once we explain, once we tell him how much we care, I think we still have a chance.” Alec cupped her face tenderly in his hands and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

  An ember of hope began to burn within her. She gave Alec a tight squeeze before breaking their kiss. This wasn’t his fault; she’d been a willing participant. She couldn’t remember why they’d thought this was a good plan. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. And now, they had to try to fix what they’d broken.

  Straightening her spine, she pushed her fear to the side, focusing only on her goal and what she needed to do to get there. “Okay. So let’s show him how we feel. He’s got to come back sometime tonight. He has a competition tomorrow, and all of his stuff is here. And when he does, we’ll blow his mind.”

  It was almost dark out as Jace walked into his studio, soaked to the bone and shaking. A mild sixty degrees, but the unseasonably chilly rain had leached the last of his warmth.

  He didn’t bother with the lights, making his way to the CD player in the shadowed room. By the glow of the stereo, he made out the cover of the disc he wanted, popped it in, then hit Play. Danny O’Donoghue sang the words Jace’s heart couldn’t speak.

  What am I going to do

  When the best part of me was always you?

  What am I supposed to say

  When I’m all choked up and you’re okay?

  I’m falling to pieces

  He pressed his head against the mirror and banged it one time.

  “What the fuck?” he shouted to no one. His heart sat in his chest like a shard of glass, cutting deeper with every beat.

  Jace had been in love before. At least, he thought he had. But this…this was unlike any pain he’d ever felt, and he didn’t know if he’d ever recover.

  He peeled off the shirt the rain had almost glued to his body and kicked his sopping shoes onto the mat in the corner of the room as the music seeped into his bones, drowning out his thoughts. He closed his eyes and sank into the vocals and haunting accompaniment that filled the studio until his body found the rhythm and began to sway.

  Then he started to dance, pouring all of his sadness and anger into the movement.

  The thump of the bass drum vibrated the floor. “He’s back. I’m going to get him,” Melody told Alec.

  “I’ll come with you.”

  She took his hand in hers and held it to her cheek. “Please, Alec. If this works out, I’ll never ask you to step aside again. But I need to do this myself. No matter what happens here, things are going to be different between him and me, and we need to talk about it. I’m sorry if that hurts you.”

  He nodded, his face grim. “Okay. Hurry, though. It’s killing me that he thinks last night was just some game to me. Can you at least tell him how sorry I am and that I love him?”

  “Of course I will. I’ll—we’ll be back up soon.”

  “You have twenty minutes, and then I’m coming down. That’s more than fair, Mel. I can’t be in the dark much longer than that. I’ll lose my mind.”

  “That’s fair. Twenty minutes.” Melody pressed a hard kiss to his mouth, before heading down the stairs to the studio, her pulse pounding in time with the music. Stopping just outside the door, she tamped down the nausea that threatened. This was Jace, her Jace. Everything would be okay. It had to be.

  She opened the door and saw him dancing in the near dark, a man possessed. This was no polished ballroom routine, but a lyrical free-form expression of heartbreak.

  The tears that had been locked and loaded since he walked out finally broke free and streamed down her face. Salt stung her lips where she’d nibbled them raw. She pressed a hand over her mouth to keep from sobbing out loud. She’d done this to him.

  When the music finally ended, so did he, on his knees, arms at his side, bare chest heaving. The room was silent but for the tapping of rain on the windows and Jace’s labored breathing.

  “I know you’re there. I can smell you, Melody.” His voice barely a whisper.

  “I—It’s not what you think.” She cleared her throat and tried again. “I should have told you. I know that now. But I love you. We love you.”

  “We. Who the fuck is we? You and your boyfriend?” He let loose a bitter laugh and stood, tense and guarded. “Is this the part where you tell me that neither of you meant to hurt me and that you hope we can all stay friends? God, Mel, I slept with him! And somehow, between last night when he had his dick in my mouth and today when the two of you were sucking face, something changed, and I didn’t get the memo. So great for you. You win. Send your clothes to a professional laundry service and send me the bill.”

  The pain in his voice shattered her soul. If she didn’t convince him right now, she’d lose him forever.

  She walked toward him slowly, tears still flowing. “I didn’t win. Either we both win or we both lose.”

  “I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean, and I’m not in the mood for word games. I’m going upstairs to take a hot shower and get some clothes. I’m going to stay at my sister’s until I figure out what to do from here.”

  “Dammit, listen to me!”

  He met her gaze with a challenging stare.

  This was it, her one chance to make him understand.

  “I knew you and Alec were going to hook up. In fact, he and I talked about it for a couple of days beforehand. He overheard us talking about our bet last weekend, and we…had a moment. We ended up sleeping together. I was going to tell you, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a onetime thing, because I knew you’d be hurt. Then, we got to talking the next day. Alec told me he really cared about me, loved me in fact.”

  Jace’s indrawn breath made her rush to finish. “But that he loved you too. He said that he wanted to be with both of us.” This next part was going to be the hard part. The ‘Melody is raw and vulnerable, soft underbelly exposed’ part.

  Rip it off, like a Band-Aid. “He said he knows how much I love you too, and he could tell by our kiss that we wanted each other. See, he doesn’t want to take turns or toy with us. He wants us all to be together. An exclusive threesome.” She swallowed hard and added. “And I want that too.”

  The silence was louder than the music had been, and endless moments passed.

  “Why didn’t you tell me that you slept with him when it happened? You could have told me. You know me better than anyone. I have an open mind. I would’ve listened to what you had to say.”

  “It’s because I do know you so well that I couldn’t tell you straight-out. If you knew that I’d already slept with Alec, you’d have never agreed to the idea. You’d have automatically put him on your off-limits list and stepped down gracefully. But don’t you see? It’s the three of us that works. And I wanted to make sure we were all on level ground. If you felt like Alec and I were an established couple, it never would have worked. I know you want him.”

  Jace bobbed his head once, then averted his gaze to fix on the liquid lightshow that played out against the studio windows.

  “The question is, do you want me too? If the answer is yes, then I want you to think about it.”

  He didn’t turn to look at her as he spoke. “And that’s why you kissed me yesterday morning.”

  Melody nodded, then took a step closer, drawing his attention back on her. He still seemed hurt and confused, but the anger that had vibrated around him was gone. She lifted a hand to his damp, bare chest and pressed it to his heart.

  “I love you so much, Jace. I always have. You have to believe that. And I wouldn’t risk our friendship if I didn’t think this could be something amazing.”

  She leaned into him, her breath suspended as she waited for him to pull away. He didn’t. His heart raced beneath her palm. Closer she move
d, until their hips touched. And still he didn’t move. Melody slid her hand from his chest up his neck, past his pounding pulse to his face, where she brushed his perfect lips with her fingertip.

  Gazes locked, Jace opened his mouth, capturing her finger with his teeth, nipping gently. He groaned and closed his eyes. A heady mixture of elation and desire coursed through her, but a second later he pulled away.

  “Mel, I still—I’m not sure. I don’t know if this is something I can do, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Can we at least try?” Mel knew she was pleading, but she didn’t care. She’d get down on her knees and beg if she thought it would help.

  “She’s right, Jace.”

  Startled, they both turned to face Alec.

  “Sorry. You had a few more minutes, but I couldn’t stand it,” he said to Melody with a shrug.

  She nodded. He’d lasted a lot longer than she could have in his shoes.

  He turned his attention to Jace, and the warmth in his eyes reflected in the sincerity of his voice. “It probably doesn’t mean much, but I’m so sorry. I know now that we handled this wrong. All I can say is that we never intended to hurt you. I really do love you. I am playing for keeps.”

  She nodded at his words, and it took all her strength not to hug him, try to comfort him, because he was hurting too. They all were.

  The three of them stood quietly as the rain continued to fall.

  Jace spoke, his voice a whisper. “Okay.”

  She and Alec’s eyes met. Okay? Had he just said okay?

  His voice was stronger the second time.

  “Okay, we’ll try.”

  He couldn’t fully make out their expressions in the dim light, but Jace felt the fearful tension in the room dissipate as another, different kind of vibe took its place.