Lumberjack Weekend(Divine Creek Ranch 21)(3)
She knew he’d remind her that he and Victor had an open relationship, and how understanding Victor was about Bodie missing her and still wanting her. In the months following the breakup of their ménage and her subsequent exodus to Divine, she’d pined for him so much she hadn’t questioned where it was all heading.
The day she’d discovered Victor’s true feelings played in her mind as if it was only yesterday and not a year and a half before.
She’d gotten home from work early for a change, and she was soaking in a lukewarm bath in their master suite, trying to cool off. She’d been reading when the front door opened and the voices of the two men she loved echoed through the expansive condominium they shared. Bodie, lighthearted, sexy, and charming. And Victor. Dark, brooding, intense…and a lover to both of them. They were her confidants, her center. Their natures balanced each other perfectly, and she was beyond happy with both of them.
A greeting had been on the tip of her tongue when she’d realized they were arguing.
“Why do you have to be that way?” Bodie asked, and it sounded as if he was in the kitchen, likely getting one of his Ziegenbocks from the fridge.
“I can’t help the way I feel, Bodie,” Victor ground out. “See? This is what I’m talking about. Her clutter is everywhere.”
She heard what sounded like flapping. Gauging the location, she thought he might be handling the stack of magazines and books she’d left on the kitchen counter. She bit her lip, recalling she’d promised him she’d keep her reading materials picked up and sworn to herself she’d do better if it bothered him so much.
“Come on. It’s just a few books.”
“That’s the tip of the iceberg, babe,” Victor said. “This clutter is all over the house, which drives me nuts. Her shit is always spread all over the bathroom counter. I burned my hand on her damned curling iron last week for fuck’s sake. Plus, there’s hairspray all over everything in there. She never empties the dishwasher. She leaves her delicates hanging everywhere to dry. I’m sick of seeing all this crap.”
Violet bit her lip, knowing she’d been leaving her lingerie to drip dry in the utility room after hanging it up and then forgetting it was there until she needed it. She’d meant to tidy the whole condo after she was done with her bath.
“Her constant chatter is driving me insane. I enjoy conversation as much as the next man, but I don’t need her to verbalize every thought in her head. And she can’t watch television without snacking, which drives me insane because there are always crumbs everywhere.”
“Hey, you know most of that’s from me, now,” Bodie said in a defensive tone, but she also heard the slight chuckle in his voice, which made her heart shrivel a little.
Victor had complained before, but she hadn’t realized it was such a hardship living with her. He never let on.
“She’s also packing on the pounds in case you hadn’t noticed. The dimples on her ass are a turnoff, as is the way she jiggles while we’re fucking. I’m not into that.”
“It’s never bothered me. I like that she’s fluffy and curvy. She was too thin to begin with.”
“Well, it bothers me.”
As the silence ticked on for several seconds, and Bodie said nothing further to defend her, her heart shrank a little more and the cooling bathwater sent a chill through her.
Victor sighed. “I’m not saying she’s a horrible person, babe. I’m just saying that, as things stand, her redeeming qualities don’t make up for the inconvenience of living with her. If having a woman in the house is going to be like this, then I don’t want a ménage anymore. I just want you. I want it like it was before you met her.”
“But I love her.”
“Well…I loved you first.”
The unspoken ultimatum hung in the air like the blade of a guillotine.
Motionless, trapped in the tub, Violet felt her pulse in her ears, her breath trapped in her throat, her voice arrested by shock. It made sense when she thought back over the last couple of months. He’d been prodding at her, but she’d known from the get-go he liked to be in control and she’d never minded. Enjoyed it, in fact. She’d thought he was pushing her to do better, but in reality, he’d been propelling her toward the door.
“I agreed to add her because she made you happy, but I’m not happy.”
The silence from Bodie told her all she needed to know.
Her books and magazines weren’t that much of a mess. She kept her delicates in the utility room, not strewn all over the house. She’d been as loving to Victor as she had to Bodie, and she’d thought he felt the same about her as she did about both of them.