“Got an address in case we find your boxers?” Harry asked, his thin lips stretching into a flirtatious smile.
“Keep ’em,” I said, grinning. “A little souvenir for old times’ sake.”
“Thanks for last night,” Selene said.
“Yeah. You too.” I turned on my heels and made my way to the floor. Just then, music swelled from the speaker. Harry played some piece of classical music that evoked the images of spring winds melting away the snows, bringing life back into the world. “What’s that?” I asked.
Harry and Selene exchanged an amused look. “Vivaldi,” Selene said.
“Best of the best,” Harry added.
I nodded. I didn’t know the guy. I forgot his name by the time I reached the elevator. Nice people, I thought to myself as I descended to the ground floor and stepped out. Nice people with nice lives and a nice relationship. I’d seen couples desperately fishing for threesomes to save their deteriorating relationship, to bring back the spark into the cold hearth of their bedroom, but it was rare to run into a pair that was so comfortable with each other.
I was the third, though. I was the observer. Had they decided to buy a toy instead, it would have done my job. That was what I brought into this world.
As I walked to the bus stop, I wished I’d run into an unhappy couple instead. Unhappy couples had nothing to lose. Unhappy couples never left me feeling like I’d been an intruder in their perfect little homes.
Not that it was their fault. They simply were all that I had never been, all I never could be.
Sweet Harry and sweet Selene. Damn. Leaving them behind with the knowledge that they had their perfect world intact and I was no longer inside it made my heart ache a little more than it should have.
By the time I returned to the team house, the meeting was almost over. Griffin had a mischievous spark in his eyes as I entered the house, poking Andrei with his elbow to look at me. The corners of Andrei’s lips ticked up in a knowing smile.
“What did I miss?” I asked.
Keiran rolled his eyes. “Everything, but you’ll catch up as usual.”
I gave him a two-finger salute. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
One by one, the teammates left. Mason grabbed snacks from the cupboard and went to his room. Toby waved us goodbye and went out. Sunday mornings were slow around here. Some guys went to the gym; others went back to their dormitories if they didn’t live with the team. Griffin and Andrei remained on the sofa, and I flopped into the large armchair.
“So,” Andrei said. “How was your night?”
I narrowed my eyes and read his sneaky expression. “I think you already know.”
“We weren’t stalking you,” Griffin said.
“Let me guess. You were having kebabs across the street when I passed by with a girl under one arm and a guy under the other,” I said.
The two of them chuckled. Andrei’s eyes glimmered with curiosity. “Are you in a throuple, Damon?”
I snort-laughed. “God, no. I can barely put up with myself. Imagine the horrors!”
“Where do you find these people?” Griffin asked.
“Why? Are you already looking for a third?” I asked with genuine concern. “You guys don’t need that.”
They looked at each other so lovingly that it made me clench my teeth to stop a moan from leaving my body. It was so sweet it hurt.
“Us?” Griffin laughed. “No way. But you gotta see it. I’ve never noticed so many open relationships until I became friends with you.”
“Welcome to the modern times,” I said, opening my palms like a clerk at a hotel front desk. “People realized that sex has nothing to do with loving one another. Why not drink and screw and fill the hole in your chest with cheap thrills?” I shook my head. “Fuck, I sound bitter. Don’t mind me.”
“You do, though,” Andrei said. That, too, was a real concern. “Did something happen?”
“No,” I said. “No, not at all. They’re perfect. They’re like you two. Perfect for each other.”
Griffin cocked his head to the side. “But you don’t seem happy with the way things are.”