CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Define date?

Leah wondered if she could even answer that question. Did people have different definitions for dating?

Whatever the definition was, she’d dated once her whole life. She and Chase had been friends since they'd met as freshmen in high school. They had started dating as Juniors, and that had been because it had seemed like a natural progression in their relationship. When they had had sex, that too had only felt like a natural progression. There hadn’t been anything so grand as uncontrollable lust or whatnot. They’d done the deed a grand total of once, and it had been the most horrendously uncomfortable situation Leah had ever experienced to this day. They had broken up a few weeks after the fact, and Leah had decided the entire thing had been a mistake when she’d only felt relief after having her first break-up.

She’d simply accepted that she either wasn’t built for that kind of intimacy, or she simply wasn’t ready for it. And not long after, her mother had disappeared and she quite frankly hadn’t had the time nor desire to pursue that sort of relationship again.

Her focus at the time had been to take care of Liam.

Meeting the Bridgeway brothers for the first time had rid her of the notion that she wasn’t wired for that sort of intimacy.

Lust had hit her like a freight train. Brutally and without warning.

And it had continued to assault her ever since.

At this point, she was inclined to think it was unnatural how often… and easily, she became aroused in their presence.

“I had a...friend. In high school. He then became my boyfriend. For like...a year. We dated.”

“And you had a sexual relationship?” Christophe asked.

Considering what they’d done in bed together earlier, Leah thought she really shouldn’t be embarrassed discussing her sex life right now. She ought to be more mature than that.

That did not stop her cheeks from heating as she responded, “We had sex...once.”

She took a sip from her water glass since her wine glass was empty.

“Did you come?”

And promptly choked.

The coughing fit caused her eyes to water but she managed to glare over at Colin, who had asked the question while Noah removed the water from her hand and replaced it with a napkin and Christophe patted her back soothingly.

“How…” cough cough, “...is that any of your…” cough “...business?”

“So...no?”

Leah wondered if Colin could feel the imaginary slap she’d just given him upside the head.

She knew he was going to be the biggest handful in this relationship.

Wait...where had that come from?!

Am I seriously considering a relationship with these men?

“Have you had any other sexual relationships? Outside of dating?”

They were determined to drag this on.

"Outside of dating?" Leah repeated dumbly.

She knew what they meant of course. She might not be very experienced, but she wasn't sheltered. She knew plenty of people had sex without the labels of relationships. Friends with benefits. Fuck buddies. One-night stands. Casual hook-ups were not uncommon. And while she wasn't one to judge, she couldn't even begin to understand how someone could have sex with a stranger. She'd known Chase for more than a year and it had still felt weird.

Although, to be fair, she'd known the Bridgeway brother's for less time and nothing about their encounters had been awkward or uncomfortable.

She supposed it just depended on the people involved.

“No. I had one boyfriend when I was 16. We had sex. Once. It was painful and horribly awkward. And no, I didn’t...orgasm. We broke up not long after. That’s it. That’s the first and last time I had sex.” She got that all out in one breath, her gaze flittering from one brother to the next. She couldn’t read either of their expressions, and that made her all the more nervous.

How had they started talking about this? And why was it so warm outside? She took another gulp of water.

“Anything else?” she asked after they remained silent too long for her liking.

Please let their be nothing else.

“What about masturbating?” her eyes locked on Noah in shock. While she would have expected Christophe...or even Colin to ask her something like that…

Had he really just asked her that?

“What...about masturbating?” Leah stuttered out.

“Have you given yourself an organism?” Noah clarified.

“I haven’t had enough alcohol for that.”

“What do you mean?” It was Noah’s turn to be confused, "You need to be drunk to have an orgasm?'

“I haven’t had enough alcohol to answer that question.”

Christophe bit back a smile.

Colin didn’t bother to hide his chuckle.

Noah held her gaze seriously. “Are our questions making you uncomfortable.?”

“You mean you couldn’t guess with your wolfy superpowers?” Leah sassed.

Noah’s lips twitched. “If we can’t discuss sex, Leah, we can hardly partake in it.”

“Who said I wanted to...partake?”

“Don’t you, little one?” Christophe asked softly, reaching up to toy with the ends of her ponytail.

Leah shifted in her seat, becoming aware of a sudden shift in the atmosphere. Her body reacted the way it always did when Christophe called her that.

Melting. Softening. Preparing. For what, she didn’t know but it definitely felt like preparation.

The cloud of lust hovering over her threatened to steal her focus.

She had to remain at least moderately sensible for the rest of this conversation.

While she’d told herself over and over for most of the day that this wasn’t a date, she’d known that they’d eventually get to discussing the purpose of this...meeting.

As farfetched as it still seemed to her, the Bridgeway brothers were interested in her...romantically.

And they wanted to know if she reciprocated that interest.

Which she obviously did, but they wanted her to say it out loud she, supposed.

“What exactly do you mean?”

“What do you think we mean, Leah?” Noah asked lowly, the gravelly whisper of his voice resembling a growl, sending an answering pulse between her legs.

Her gaze went from one brother to the next. They staring at her with an intensity that shifted the very current in the air.

“You want to have sex with me. All three of you. Together?”