Page 77 of By All Accounts
“Two days is nothing,” I reminded him. “We spent eight years existing on stolen weekends. A quick trip to Boston to wine and dine a cranky client isn’t going to be the thing that breaks us.”
The trip had been more than last minute, an unhappy client on the verge of a contract renewal that could suddenly go either way. Daniel had mentioned it to me a couple of weeks before, but neither of us had thought anything of it…until we had to.
“I know it won’t break us. I just don’t want to go.”
“You can video chat me anytime you want. I’m supposed to meet with Marshall to go over this new project, but other than that, my day is surprisingly clear.” I rolled onto my back and stretched my legs, kicking one to the side so I could get my toes out from beneath the sheets. The day wasn’t completely clear. I had a three p.m. appointment at a bridal boutique in Beverly Hills to try on wedding dresses, but I didn’t want Daniel to know a single thing about that part of the planning.
“I know,” he grumbled.
“And you can call Finn too. You should call him.”
“I know.” Daniel said again, nodding. “And I will.” He paused, worrying the corner of his lip. “Do you have plans to see him when I’m gone?”
“I didn’t, no. But we just found out you were leaving yesterday. I might see if he wants to come over, but it depends on how the day goes.”
Finn had come over Friday night after dinner with his brothers. He’d been tired and a little buzzed, but in a better mood than I’d ever seen. He shared that he’d told his brothers about us, not by name, and the announcement had gone as well as it could have. He wasn’t hiding my identity from his brother, but we were both mindful of the potential minefield that could exist because of it.
“Why?” I pressed Daniel. “Are you jealous?”
He made a quiet noise in the back of his throat, frowning. “Not in a bad way, I don’t think.”
“Did youwantme to invite him over?”
A dozen emotions raced across his face, an endless cycle before he settled on something that looked a little like curiosity and a lot like horny. Daniel sat down on the edge of his bed and checked the time on his phone, shoulders slumping.
“He didn’t want to be a toy,” Daniel said gently. “If he comes over when I’m gone…I want it to be because you want to see him. Not because I want to know you’re seeing him. But I think Idowant to know you’re seeing him?—”
I cut him off, “You’re overthinking this.”
“Am I?”
“I don’t know the details of what he’s been through so I don’t have the full context, but I think it’s one thing to use someone to irritate or get back at your partner…that feels manipulative, like using someone as a toy. It’s another to…” I paused, swallowedhard and gently pressed my fingertips against the small of Daniel’s back.
“Cuckold,” he said. “Consensually.”
I dragged my teeth across my bottom lip, waiting to see if Daniel had more to say. He didn’t, and in the end he stood and pulled up the handle on his bag.
“Let’s just see how the days go, okay?”
He nodded and leaned down, brushing a kiss against the corner of my mouth. He lingered, and I parted my lips for him to kiss me harder. He did, also taking my hand and pressing it against the hot and hard bulge between his legs.
“Please don’t think I hate the idea,” he murmured. “I might like it too much.”
I squeezed him, letting the tips of my nails search out the softness of his sac hidden behind his growing erection.
“Go to work and come back to me when you’ve saved this deal, okay? The rest of it will be whatever it is.”
The rest would be a test, and we both knew it. One that, if passed, would irrevocably change the course of our relationship with Finn into something much more than either of us had planned. Not that either of us had ever considered things with him casual, but it was a new facet of the relationship that would only make the foundation of things between us stronger.
“I love you.”
I smiled and nipped Daniel’s lower lip. “I love you. Be sure to let Finn know you’re leaving.”
Daniel gave me one last kiss and was out the door to get his rideshare. He couldn’t have been gone for more than ten minutes before my phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Resigned to the fact I was not going to get back to bed, I checked it to find an unread message from none other than Finn himself.
Finn
I hear you’re on your own for a couple of days
