Take What You Want (61 page)

“
Here's
our woman,” Alex said, pulling Danni in for a light brush of
lips and Chase's arm slid around her waist from the opposite side.
“I wanted you to meet Dagger Drummond and his partner, Ryan
Pierce.”

Danni smiled at them both,
extending her tiny hand for them to shake. “Pleasure to meet
you,” she said.

“
She's
stunning, Zander,” Dagger said. “Not sure you deserve
either Chase or Danni, but there are plenty of people that say the
same thing about me and Ryan.”

“
That
is true,” Alex chuckled.

“
Listen,
since we have all three of you here,” Dagger said. “Ryan
and I wanted to invite you to our wedding.”

“
So,
for once the rumors
are
true?” Alex asked. “Fantastic! When's the big day?”

“
New
Years Eve at our place in L.A.,” Dagger said. “We want
to ring in the new year with a big bang. Think you can make it?”

Alex looked at Chase and
Danni and saw their smiles. “Yeah, of course,” Alex
said. “We wouldn't miss it for the world.”

More
guests arrived and pulled Dagger and Ryan away. Alex gave them a
wave as they disappeared, then saw Cooper and Wheland tussling beside
the pool and a few seconds later, Cooper was flung through the air
and into the cool water; landing with a loud splash. The action
sprayed water on several of the guests standing nearby – more
so, after Cooper climbed out of the pool and shook himself off like a
shaggy dog beside Wheland.

“
Coop!
Behave yourself,” Alex hollered, the smile never leaving his
face. “You're getting my guests all wet.”

“
That
was all Wheland's doing,” Cooper yelled back. A beat later,
Cooper managed to shove Wheland into the water. “Payback,
dickhead!”

Alex chuckled to himself and
watched Cooper disappear into the house, he guessed to go change into
dry clothes. A short time later he saw Cooper reappear in the
opening of the French doors in the kitchen. He was still adjusting
his clothing and finger-combing his damp hair; and as usual, he paid
no attention to where he was walking. Alex knew the train wreck that
was about to happen and nudged Chase.

“
Take
a look at that,” Alex said to Chase.

Chase
looked at the house in time to see Cooper plow into Jayson, just
barely managing to catch Jayson's beer bottle before it broke on the
stairs at their feet.

“
Wow!
Jayson will be thrilled to bump into Cooper,” Chase said.
“He's a huge fan.”

“
Seriously?”
Alex asked, and then he grinned mischievously. “Well, judging
by the look on Coop's face right now, I'd say he's a big fan of
Jayson.”

Chase's gaze snapped to
Alex. “Is Cooper gay?”

Alex brushed his lips
against Chase's cheek. “Let's just say Coop knows how to make
the best of every situation.”

“
I
didn't know that,” Chase said. “And, you think Cooper
would be interested in Jay?”

“
Look
at him,” Alex said. “I can see the blush in his cheeks
from here and the boner growing in his pants. Jayson doesn't stand a
chance against Cooper's charm.”

“
Oh,
boy,” Chase said. “Think I should warn Jay?”

“
Fuck,
no. It'll be fun to watch the fireworks,” Alex said.

“
Why
do I feel like I'm throwing my best friend to the wolves?”
Chase asked.

“
Cooper
isn't part of a pack,” Alex said. “One man. One wolf.
I think Jayson will be able to handle him.”

Chase turned a cautious eye
on Cooper. He watched Cooper's subtle lean-in to talk to Jayson and
his casual shoulder to shoulder bumps. It was obvious Cooper was
flirting with Jayson. But from this angle Chase couldn't see
Jayson's face to read if he was being receptive. Chase was
contemplating the outcome of a hook-up between Jayson and Cooper,
when Alex drew away his attention. When he glanced back at them a
few minutes later, Cooper and Jayson were leaving the party together
heading in the direction of the beach.

“
Are
you sure I shouldn't be worried about that?” Chase asked Alex,
pointing at Jayson and Cooper.

“
Ahhhh,
Cooper's charm wins again,” Alex said and laughed, then he saw
the concerned look on Chase's face. “Your friend is a big boy,
Chase. Unless Jay is the type that falls in love with every guy that
sucks his dick, he'll be fine.”

“
You're
forgetting I've only known Jayson is gay for a few weeks,”
Chase said. “I have no idea what
type
of guy he is.”

“
Cooper
is harmless,” Alex said. “He's probably taking Jayson to
the beach to get stoned or something. He knows we're performing
later, so he won't wander far with Jay.”

“
You're
still doing that acoustic set?” Chase asked.

“
That's
the plan,” Alex said. He reached for Chase's hand and squeezed
it. “Who's the sexy blonde talking to Danni?”

“
That's
Danni's friend, Allison,” Chase said. He gave Allison a quick
head-to-toe visual inspection; approving of the tight, teal-colored
cocktail dress she was wearing.

“
Allison?
Isn't she the one you had the threesome with?” Alex asked.

Chase nodded, watching the
interplay between Danni and Allison.

“
Hmmm,
you've got good taste,” Alex said.

“
Don't
get any ideas, Metcalf.”

“
No
worries,” Alex said. “My dance card is already full.”

“
Good
to know,” Chase said.

They started walking toward
Danni and Allison, stopping along the way to grab two more chilled
beers from the bar.

“
Are
you cool with Allison knowing about the three of us?” Alex
asked.

“
I'm
not sure what she already knows,” Chase said.

“
Okay,
then we'll keep the introductions simple,” Alex said.

A knot began to form in the
pit of Chase's stomach. In the days leading up to the party, he and
Danni had discussed how they'd handle telling their friends about
their relationship with Alex and they'd both agreed there would be no
big announcement. They'd simply tell those closest to them one at a
time, when the moment felt right and, if it felt right tonight,
they'd start by telling Allison.

They knew living in this
type of unconventional lifestyle would involve exposing themselves in
ways they hadn't ever done. They'd be opening themselves up to
judgments from the people around them; possibly from people they
didn't even know. It wouldn't be easy and Chase still wasn't one
hundred percent at ease with doing it. He wasn't convinced anyone
needed to know what they were doing in the privacy of their bedroom,
but he knew completely hiding this relationship wasn't right, either.

As they got closer to Danni
and Allison, Alex pressed his fingers to the small of Chase's back.
“Take a breath,” Alex quietly said leaning in to Chase.
“You're not headed to the electric chair.”

“
Easy
for you to say,” Chase mumbled.

“
Let's
not forget how I was publicly outed not so long ago,” Alex
said. “And, I survived.”

Chase
smiled at Danni, then turned his attention to Allison. “Good
to see you, Alli,” Chase said. He reached for Allison and
tugged her in for a tight hug, partially lifting her off the ground.

“
You,
too, Chase,” Allison said. “It's been quite a while
since I've seen you.”

“
Yeah,
I've been busy,” Chase said. He saw Allison's eye's flick to
Alex and turned slightly. “Allison, this is Alex Metcalf.
He's the host of the party.”

Allison's face flushed. She
extended her hand to Alex and nearly swooned when he pulled her into
an embrace.

“
Nice
to meet you, Allison,” Alex said.

“
Thank
you for the invitation,” Allison said. “I had no idea
your band was vacationing on the island.”

“
Well,
technically my band isn't staying here with me,” Alex said.
“They're visiting for the weekend, whereas I'm living here for
a while.”

Allison faced Danni. “So,
this is the new neighbor you wouldn't tell me about?”

“
You
know how those non-disclosure things go,” Danni said with a
shrug.

Alex brushed along Chase's
backside and bent to kiss Danni on the temple. “I'm gonna go
mingle a bit,” Alex said. “Allison, it was a pleasure to
meet you.” He squeezed Chase's shoulder and disappeared into
the crowd.

Allison stood there with her
mouth agape. Chase and Danni exchanged looks, wondering what to say
next, then decided to see what Allison had to say.

“
Either
of you care to explain that?” Allison asked.

“
Explain
what?” Danni asked.

“
The
kiss. The touching. The knowing looks bouncing between you three.
Explain away,” Allison said. “Please. I'm all ears.”

Danni stepped closer to
Chase and he quickly slid an arm around her waist. “Since Alex
moved in, we've become friends,” Danni said.

“
Friends?”
Allison asked. “Looks like a lot more to me.”

“
We're
…
close
friends,” Danni said.

“
Maybe
the word you're stumbling over is: lovers,” Allison said.

“
It's
complicated, Allison,” Chase said. He rubbed at Danni's back.
“Yes, we're … involved with Alex, but we'd like you to
keep that to yourself. For now.”

Allison
covered her mouth. “Holy shit! Now I remember the articles
that printed a while back about Alex. He's into women
and
men,” Allison said, then she looked directly at Chase. “Does
that mean you and Alex have sex, too?”

Chase felt the blood drain
from his face. He inhaled slowly, trying to get a grip; struggling
to find the right words and then Danni saved his ass.

“
We're
all intimate with each other,” Danni finally said.

“
Seriously?
All three of you … together?”

Danni nodded, then smiled
mischievously. “Having two men pleasuring me at once is not a
hardship.”

“
I
can't begin to imagine,” Allison said. “The only time
I've done anything like that was with you two. But, what you're
describing sounds even better.”

“
Better
than your wildest dreams,” Danni said.

The
expression on Allison face turned serious. She tipped her head up to
see Chase. “And, do you and Alex …?”

Chase hated the pause he
gave Allison's question, nor did he like the way he stumbled over the
words he knew should come easy for him. If he wanted this
relationship to work he needed to be honest about it. And, if he
couldn't be open about it with – of all people, Allison, what
could he expect of himself when it came time to tell his parent's or
his co-workers; or anyone else wanting clarification of who Alex was
to both him and Danni. If he didn't have the balls to face this with
Allison, there was no hope he'd be able to do it with anyone else.