Pucking Around: Chapter 34

“Move in?” I cry, pulse echoing in my ears as I lean over the table. “Did you not listen to a word of my speech for the last half hour?”

“Yeah, I did,” Caleb replies. “I also listened to Jake. You guys really messed this up bad,” he says, glancing from Jake back to me. “You put the cart waaay out before the horse, and then you fucked that cart. Without condoms, apparently, which, dude—” He punches Jake in the arm. “You’re a fuckin’ psycho. No rubber, no ride, remember?”

“Ouch—fucker,” Jake growls, punching him back. “I said that in Seattle, but she was all like, ‘condoms are less effective’ and then she felt so good bare that I—”

“Shhh,” I hiss, my eyes darting behind their shoulders.

“More coffee, hons?” calls the waitress, not waiting for our answer before she’s pouring the decaf. “Let me know if you need anything else,” she says over her shoulder.

“Anyway,” Caleb mutters, peeling back the lid of a creamer and dumping it into his coffee. “You both messed this up, and now you gotta backtrack. Cool off and just get to know each other outside the pressures of the job.”

I scoff. “Yeah, and you think moving in together is how we ‘cool off’? Whatever happened to no-strings-attached casual dating or—oh, I don’t know—just hanging out?” I snatch for a creamer from Caleb’s clutch, and he practically snorts at me like a dragon. “Give me one, you greedy monster.”

“I need them,” he mutters, pouring his third creamer into a coffee that is now a sickly beige color Sherwin Williams would probably discontinue.

“Fuck—here—” Jake twits around, using his long arms to snatch the dish of creamers off the table behind us. He slides it across our table at me, away from Caleb’s reach. “He’s not gonna share, and you’ll get a fork in the hand if you snatch at him again.”

“Surly ass,” I mutter.

Caleb just stirs his cream-hold-the-coffee with a rattle of his spoon.

I hold my warm cup between my hands, taking a deep breath. “Look guys, I’m happy for the first time in my life, okay? I’ve got a job that I love, and I’ve got this amazing opportunity to make a big move with my career. And I’m making all of this happen without trading on my dad’s name or his fame. Do you know how much that means to me? Can you even imagine what it’s like to have the specter of being Hal Price’s kid haunting you night and day?”

“But the MCAT didn’t care that I was Hal Price’s daughter,” I go on. “Neither does the Barkley Fellowship. The only thing that got me here is my talent. My hard work. And frankly, I don’t want my work overshadowed by a relationship right now,” I admit. “Do I wish I could see you more and laugh with you more and just exist where you are? Of course, I do. I’ve loved every minute we’ve spent together,” I say, taking one of each of their hands. Caleb stiffens, but Jake quickly laces our fingers together.

“And would I like to have more sex?” I add with a smile. “Hell, yes. You two drive me wild and I—god—I can hardly think around you.”

“The feeling is mutual, Seattle,” Jake murmurs.

“But does that mean I’m ready to flip my life inside out and put you before my career—or risk hurting yours?” I add. “No way. I’m not ready to brave the chaos of the press.” I reach for my coffee, taking another sip. “So, I’m sorry, Cay. But I think moving in with Jake is literally the worst idea ever. I would only end up hurting him…and I’ve done enough of that already.”

Resting my case, I sit back, content to finish my coffee and head back to the hotel.

Both guys are pensive, their shoulders turned in slightly as they exchange pointed looks. I’ve heard the other guys refer to them as DLPs. Domestic life partners. Caleb would make a much better wife for Jake than I ever could—

I go impossibly still, glancing between them, reading their body language. That’s when it hits me. All my niggling feelings of curiosity and confusion suddenly make sense. They behave like domestic life partners. They behave like lovers. Like soul mates.

I suck in a breath, feeling rattled by my revelation.

“I mean, we could,” Jake mutters.

Caleb frowns. “But would you…”

Jake shrugs. “Better than nothing, right?”

“Fine,” says Caleb. “It’s your call, man.”

Then they both turn to me.

Jake pierces me with this gorgeous hazel eyes. “Seattle, I want you to move in.”

Now it’s my turn to sit there stupidly with a surprised look on my face. Recovering my wits, I choke out. “What the actual fuck?”