The three of us just floated there, tangled in each other beneath the stars, the world outside the pool falling away. The warm water, the cool night breeze, their bodies pressed against mine, it was surreal. Like a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.
“You were incredible,” Asher said softly, brushing wet hair strands from my cheek. “Even more than we imagined.”
“You imagined this?” I asked, teasing, though my voice was still breathless.
“Every damn day,” Alex murmured, his mouth brushing my jaw. “Usually, during meetings, when you were too focused on your screen to notice the way we stared.”
“You guys are dangerous,” I whispered.
Alex smiled. “And you love it.”
I did.
I loved the way they looked at me now, not with cold, guarded distance, but with raw heat and reverence. I loved the way their bodies curved around mine as if I belonged there. I loved the way they didn’t treat me like I was fragile now that they’d touched me, kissed me, ruined me. They treated me like I was theirs.
“I don’t want this to be just a one-time thing,” I said suddenly, surprising even myself with how quiet but certain my voice sounded.
Asher and Alex stilled for a beat.
Then Asher cupped my chin, turning my face gently to his. “It’s not.”
“It was never going to be,” Alex added, firmer this time. “We didn’t let ourselves have you for two years just to lose you after one night.”
I swallowed, the warmth in my chest blooming.
“I’m not sure how this works,” I admitted.
“It works however you want it to,” Asher said. “No rules. Just us.”
I sighed, closing my eyes again. “Then for now… let’s just stay here.”
They didn’t argue.
We drifted to the side of the pool, and Alex hoisted me onto one of the wide marble ledges, the water still lapping around my thighs. Asher pulled himself up beside me and sat behind me, his chest pressed to my back, legs bracketing mine.
Alex stayed in the water in front of me, resting his chin on my knee as his fingers idly traced circles on my thigh. “You’re glowing again.”
“You keep saying that,” I murmured.
“Because it’s true.” His fingers slid higher, then paused. “You’re addictive, Ivy.”
I looked at both of them. “So are you.”
We sat like that for a while, watching the moon ripple on the water, their bodies close, hearts slower now but no less full.
It wasn’t just s*x. It wasn’t just lust. There was something dangerous happening, something tender in all the fire.
And as Asher wrapped a towel around my shoulders and Alex helped me out of the pool, I realized…
I’d crossed a line I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to go back from.
The pool lights dimmed behind us as we stepped inside, wrapped in thick, plush towels. My skin still tingled, partly from the water and partly from them. My body was sore in the most delicious way, and my heart floated somewhere between disbelief and bliss.
Alex handed me a glass of cold water, and I drank it gratefully. Asher disappeared for a second and then returned with one of his oversized black shirts.
“Wear this,” he said, offering it like a gift. “We don’t want you catching a cold… unless you want us to nurse you back to health.”
I took it with a soft laugh. “I’m already ruined. Might as well look the part.”
I disappeared into the guest bathroom, peeled off the damp towel, and slid the shirt on. It hung low on my thighs and smelled like cedar and clean musk like him. I stared at myself in the mirror for a second, cheeks flushed, lips swollen.
This wasn’t just a hookup. Not anymore.
When I stepped out, Alex and Asher were waiting in the master bedroom, shirtless again, because of course they were, lying beneath crisp black sheets, bodies sprawled like they owned the world.
And maybe they did.
“You’re staring,” Alex said, his voice low and knowing.
“You’re ridiculous,” I replied, but climbed in anyway.
They pulled me between them, Alex behind me, spooning me close, and Asher in front, his hand immediately finding my waist beneath the shirt.
For a moment, no one spoke.
It was quiet. Safe.
Asher’s fingers brushed a damp strand of hair from my face. “You’re overthinking again.”
“How do you know?”
“You hum when you’re nervous,” Alex murmured into my hair from behind.
I blinked. “I do?”
“Every time we gave you a new task. Every time we were too close in the elevator. Every time we said your name, it meant more than boss.”
My heart skipped.
“You watched me that closely?” I asked.
“We’ve always watched you,” Asher said softly. “Every day. Every breath.”
“That’s kind of intense,” I whispered.
Alex chuckled. “We’re intense men.”
I bit my lip. “So, what now?”
Asher’s hand slid down to my thigh beneath the covers, warm and firm. “Now we stop pretending we don’t want you.”
“And we make room for you in our lives outside the office,” Alex added.
“And… in your bed?”
Asher leaned in, lips brushing mine. “Especially in our bed.”
My breath hitched. “This doesn’t scare you? The three of us?”
“No,” Alex said. “But losing you? That does.”
My heart clenched.
These were the same men who used to bark at me for typos and glare when I brought the wrong coffee brand. Now they were here, bare and vulnerable, wrapped around me like I was something precious.
And maybe I was.
“You don’t have to decide everything tonight,” Asher said gently. “We’re not going anywhere.”
I smiled, curling tighter into them. “Good. Because I’m not ready to let go either.”
Alex kissed the back of my shoulder. “Then sleep. Tomorrow, we start figuring it all out.”
“Together,” Asher added, brushing his thumb across my lips before tucking my head under his chin.
Their warmth wrapped around me like a second blanket. My eyes fluttered shut, my body melting into theirs.
I came to their house expecting to work.
Instead, I’d found something dangerous.
Something tender.
Something real.
And for the first time in a long time
I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.