Tease Me (Private Listing #4)

He holds my hand on the way to his bed. Releasing me, he goes to his dresser to put on a fresh pair of boxers. Once we’re in bed, he draws me in close. I rest my head over his heart, snuggling against him. I’ve missed this.

I’ve missed him.

Seth’s fingers stroke through my damp hair.

“You’ve met Elizabeth.” His words are soft, but they still burn into me. Just her name is acid on my tongue. But I don’t need him to confess anything. I’m not sure I want to know.

“It’s okay. You don’t—‍” I start to rise, but he holds me in place.

“Madison, I want to tell you. I don’t want you to worry about this again.” He blows out a breath as I settle back into my spot. “We dated in college. She seemed so sophisticated and smart. We got hot and heavy pretty fast, and soon she was spending almost every night in our apartment.”

I put my hands on his chest and rest my chin on them so I can see him. His thumb trails over my cheek. His eyes take on that faraway look.

“We spent all our time together. I fell in love with the girl she pretended to be. That girl never existed. The whole time she was with me, her actual goal was Coop. But he’d been with Leighton since his freshman year. Probably before then, honestly.”

My brow furrows. What’s that supposed to mean? Were Coop and Leighton childhood sweethearts?

His thumb smooths out my forehead. “Their parents arranged their relationship. Their families took trips together and they were pushed together at every turn. Coop didn’t mind following his parents’ directives back then. As long as they let him be friends with us and do what he wanted in college, he let them believe he was their little puppet.”

“I can’t imagine Coop following anyone’s rules.”

Seth chuckles. “His parents didn’t care if Coop was playacting as long as he toed the line. So the only way to Coop Elizabeth had was through one of us. It should have made me suspicious that she had a class with each of us.”

“Diabolical.” The arranging that must have taken her.

He smiles softly and cups my cheek. “I fell for her trap hook, line, and sinker. Mom had died the summer before after a long battle with cancer. The guys helped me through it, but I was unmoored. Elizabeth was nice and sweet. I thought I’d found someone I could really have a life with.”

“I’m sorry she played you, Seth.” I want to tear her apart for taking advantage of him.

“She used me to get to Coop. One night, Leighton was gone and Elizabeth snuck out of my room and into Coop’s. I woke to find her out of bed and went to look for her. I heard her begging him to fuck her.”

His fingers on my hip clench down. I kiss his chest, wishing I could take away that pain.

“We kicked her out that night. After that, Leighton insisted Coop choose between us and her. It was a fucking mess. The next year, Noah’s girlfriend told Noah he had to choose either us or her. Every time a girl tried to come between us, we dropped her.”

“That’s when you decided to share?” I draw a circle on his chest. The guys really are tight-knit. Some woman before me should have recognized that my guys are family. They could have had wives who understood their relationship and flourished in it. But I’m glad they didn’t. Because they’re mine.

“A woman couldn’t come between us if we were all fucking her. I wasn’t about to let my heart get drawn in again, so I was good with the arrangements.” Seth’s chest rises and falls. “We didn’t continue with it after college. College seemed like a good place to experiment. After, we had enough to do to keep our business afloat at first.

“We found it difficult to maintain anything but business. We created this floor to make it easier on us and figured we could have our assistant live with us for exactly the reasons we first told you. We were working crazy hours. When Andrea came on, she reminded us of our college days and how easy it had been to share a woman. Andrea fucked us all over, but Blake was the one who had brought it up to us as an option. He feels responsible for her and her blackmail because he invited her in.”

My heart squeezes. Blake has always been more closed off with me. Especially at the beginning.

“That’s his story to tell.” His thumb brushes my lower lip and my attention returns to him. “After Andrea, we didn’t think we’d try it again.”

“But then Rachel kissed you.”

He nods. “I didn’t want a woman to come between us again, so I sold the guys on the idea of sharing her.”

“She didn’t like that idea.” The venom in her voice in the bathroom still rings in my ears. “Thankfully.”

He chuckles and smiles. “I didn’t think I’d be grateful to those women who came before, but they all led to you. I thought for sure you’d tell me to fuck off when I gave you our offer.”

My heart beats a little faster. “I didn’t know how I was going to get through the days without trying to fuck any or all of you. Pretty sure that would have been unprofessional.”

“If there’s one thing you aren’t, princess, it’s unprofessional. You would have worked with us just like you do now, but we would have all taken a lot of cold showers.”

I rest my cheek against his beating heart, letting it lull me. “I don’t want any secrets between us.”