When Ethan finally finished describing all of the details, several of the road crew came over to offer their take on the situation. Ethan went to stand at the end of the ambulance where Reagan sat. "Hey," she said, a delightful blush staining her cheeks.
"I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am that I let him get his hands on you," Ethan said.
She shook her head. "I'm okay."
"That never should have happened. I allowed myself to be distracted and-"
"I did the distracting," Trey said. "I'm as much at fault as he is."
"So while I was being stalked, drugged, and strangled, you two were making love, cuddling, and sharing your feelings."
That made it sound even worse. Ethan's heart twisted with guilt. "Reagan … "
"While I was being dragged across a parking lot, beaten with a rubber hose, and stuffed into the trunk of a car, you two were kissing, touching, and playing hide the salami."
"He beat you?" Trey exclaimed.
Reagan chuckled. "No, I'm just fucking with you. And once I stop feeling like I'm going to hurl, I'd say the two of you have a lot to make up to me."
How could she be so forgiving? He'd put her in danger. She could have been seriously injured. She should be yelling at him, calling him names, firing him for being the worst bodyguard on the planet. Ethan stroked her hair behind her ear and brushed her soft cheek with the pad of his thumb. "I love you."
"I know," she said. "I love you too."
Ethan glanced at Trey. It was the first time Trey had heard Reagan say those words to another man. Ethan wondered how he'd take it. Trey grinned and squeezed Reagan's hand.
"Ethan, I need you to do something for me," Reagan said.
"Anything."
"Tell me how you feel about Trey."
Ethan tried to read her expression to figure out what she wanted to hear, but she was staring down at her hand which was held securely in Trey's.
"I love him," Ethan said breathlessly.
She looked up at him and smiled. "I thought so."
"You're okay with it?" Ethan pressed.
"Under one condition," Reagan said. She glanced at Trey. "Do you love Ethan?"
Trey nodded. "Yeah. I do. I love him."
She smiled. "Good. And who else?"
"You," he said without hesitation.
"And Brian?" she asked.
Trey chuckled and caught Ethan's eye. "Who's Brian?"
Ethan smiled. Trey had let Brian go for real this time. "He's the guy I need to thank for grabbing Reagan so I could take that guy down," Ethan said, glancing over his shoulder. Pyre was in the back of the cruiser now. He had a scrape along the side of his face where he'd hit the asphalt, but Ethan had somehow kept it together and not knocked him around too much.
"Are you going to go back on the force now?" Reagan asked.
Ethan gave her a questioning look. "Why would I do that?"
"Because you loved it and the only reason you left was because you protect the innocent a bit too violently. You were completely in control when you took Pyre down."
"You don't want me as your bodyguard anymore?" Ethan asked.
"You do suck at it," Trey quipped.
Ethan scowled. "Yeah, because I was sucking you instead of guarding her."
"Next time I'll make sure I'm there when you're sucking him so you can keep an eye on me," Reagan said.
"I guess that would be safest," Ethan agreed. He lowered his head and stole a kiss from her.
"What's going on here?" someone said behind Ethan. He turned to find Dare staring at him with a mixture of confusion and anger.
Dare then looked at his brother in question. "You let some other dude kiss your girl right in front of you? No wonder you have relationship problems."
"Ethan's my boyfriend," Trey explained.
"So the thing with Reagan is a front to hide your relationship with him?" Dare pointed at Ethan and looked even more confused. "But he just kissed her." Dare's pointing bounced from Ethan to Reagan.
"That's because he's her boyfriend," Trey said, grinning his orneriest. Ethan figured it wasn't often that Trey got to mess with his brother's head. It was usually the other way around.
"I thought you said he was your boyfriend," Dare said.
"He is." Trey nodded.
"And hers?"
"Right."
"And she's your girlfriend?" Dare pointed at Reagan.
Trey pointed at Ethan. "And his."
Realization dawned on Dare's face. He made a circular motion with one finger. "So the three of you? All together?"