Every word spilling from his lips made him drive me harder and faster. He was breathless as he spoke, choking on each demanding, possessive word. “Yours,” I agreed.
“Ours,” he amended. I glanced at Grace, who had stopped pleasuring herself to watch us. A single tear sunk down her freckled cheek. I wanted to comfort her, but we couldn’t stop. Alessandro’s declaration filled the air around us.
“Ours, Grace. Ours,” Alessandro moaned before spilling inside of me.
I came too, my cum spilled in my palm. I groaned. I cried. It was glorious devastation and relief all swirling together into one beautiful moment. I went limp at the release, my body feeling liquid and weak.
Grace got up as Alessandro pulled out. She moved timidly, as if she were approaching a wild animal. Her eyes were sad and distant. I slowly stood up. We both turned to face her. I was covered in cum. Covered in happiness. She eyed his cock with a forced smile before handing me her towel to clean up with. “Let’s take a nap,” she whispered.
I wiped off my hands and eyed Alessandro. He gave me a subtle nod, and I knew what he wanted. Cautiously, I stepped closer to Grace. Her bottom lip trembled a bit. I could see that this was harder for her than she wanted it to be. Sharing was difficult but necessary. We worked better together. I pressed my forehead to hers.
“I’m fine,” she promised.
“You’re not,” Alessandro answered. “It’s hard. I get it. You don’t have to be strong. You don’t have to readily accept this. You can feel hurt. You can feel jealous. You can compare. You can wonder if he loves me more or if he wants me more. You’re going to have to accept all those rogue thoughts of yours if you want to work past it.”
Another hot tear fell. “Is that what you did?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“And did it work?” she asked before cupping my cheek and closing her eyes.
“I’m still working on it. I love you, Grace. Whenever I feel like shit about it, I just think about how much I love you.”
I kissed Grace, and she smiled against my lips before sighing in relief.
We were all working on it.
“I love you too, Alessandro,” she whispered while looking me in the eye. “And I love you, Nix. I love you enough to work through this.”
Together.
Together.
Together.
“Together,” Grace whispered, reading my thoughts. “Ours.”
Chapter Eighteen
Grace
I couldn’t sleep. I tried, I really did. I counted sheep. I ignored the heaviness in my chest. I nuzzled closer to Nix and pretended that he didn’t smell like Alessandro and sex. I forced myself to push away the intrusive thoughts of jealousy.
I was nestled between Alessandro and Nix, both of them wrapped around me protectively. I felt safe with them. I felt complete.
I felt broken.
Watching the two of them fuck and admit their love for one another was necessary but hard. I wanted to take Alessandro’s advice to heart and accept all the obsessive thoughts plaguing my mind. I needed to do this. For Nix. For us. For all of us.
“Go to sleep,” Alessandro murmured. He was watching the door to the motel room and stroking my wrist.
“You go to sleep.”
“Can’t,” he replied with a huff. “Nix and I are taking shifts watching everything.”
I scowled. “And when is my shift?”
“Never.”
I sat up in bed and shoved the blankets off of me. Nix whimpered in his sleep. Alessandro rolled his eyes. “You’re impossible,” I said before climbing over him and getting out of bed.
“You’re the one not resting. Need I remind you how shitty of a week we’ve had? You should try to sleep when you can.”
“I can’t,” I replied. “I’m still working through what happened earlier.”
Alessandro nodded as I paced the floor. On the bed, Nix shivered in his sleep, and I walked over to fix the blankets around him. “I’m worried about him,” I whispered.
“Me too. What do you usually do when you want to turn off your mind?” he asked.
“Watch the news,” I answered with a shrug before stepping back and continuing my pacing. It was impossible to stand still.
Alessandro squinted before grabbing the remote to the TV off the nightstand and tossing it to me. “I’ve never seen you watch the news.”
“It helps me fall asleep,” I murmured before turning on the aged TV and lowering the volume so as not to bother Nix. “It was something my mother taught me. Helps provide some perspective, you know? Someone always has it worse than you.”
“It’s kind of depressing,” Alessandro whispered.
“Not as depressing as seeing the man you love with your best friend,” I snapped back.
Alessandro grimaced. “It sucks, huh?” At least he wasn’t denying it.
I started flipping through channels until I found the news. I felt myself immediately relax as the weatherman talked about the heat index. It reminded me of my childhood, sitting on the mattress on my floor and rocking back and forth while my mother was with some guy outside my door. The news used to drown out her screams and his grunts. I used to fall asleep to reports of stabbings and gun violence.
“It sucks,” I agreed. “But I’m surprisingly happy for you. I guess I love you as much as I hate sharing.” It was true. I did love Alessandro more than I hated this nasty feeling in my chest. Jealousy was like a virus taking over my body, and love was the cure.
“It’s all about balance, I suppose,” Alessandro replied. I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, my eyes fixed on the television. “I love you as much as I hate sharing, too.”
“Think we'll ever get used to it?” I asked.
“We have to survive the Ringleaders, first,” he replied.
The anchorwoman
