Running For It by Allyson Lindt

Twenty-Three

Hunter loved me.

But he wanted to change me.

No. He wanted to help me. If I let myself trip over the last few weeks, which I had to do to process this, I could see how bad things were. That this wasn’t the beginning of a downward slope, I’d been plummeting toward the bottom of a ravine of taking on way too much before the boiler failed at the shelter.

I also saw Hunter, a bright spot of sanity and warmth in the midst of it all. Ramsey was there too. Just out of reach. I wanted more of both when I looked back, and when I looked forward.

“I love you, too.” It was so much easier to say that than I expected. My heart fluttered just as much speaking the words as it did hearing them. “And I’m scared of making this change you’re talking about, but I’m terrified of staying on the path I’m on.”

Hunter brushed his lips over mine. “I’m here for you. Everything I said stands.”

“And Ramsey?” It was an unformed question. It could mean a million things to either of us. “Technically he and I are still broken up.”

“He didn’t tell me what he’s doing in Vegas, but he promised it would fix things. I trust him. Can we go back to us?”

We could. Now that I knew I wasn’t trading one guy for another. “Yes.”

Hunter’s kiss was so tender, it was heartbreaking. Or the opposite. Was heartmending a thing? I was making it thing, because the cracks in mine were sealing and vanishing.

His feathered kisses along my lips and face and neck stole my breath. I didn’t know what to do besides grip his shirt in both fists and hold on tight.

Kisses blended into more. Tentative touches up my stomach, under my shirt. Groping through my bra and teasing my nipples as I stroked his erection through his slacks. It was a drawn out make-out session that put any I’d been a part of when I was younger to shame. This wasn’t desperate pawing, it was a methodical build-up of pleasure.

Hunter pressed his lips to the hollow below my ear. “Do you remember what I said about fucking you?”

“That you like it?”

“Such an understatement. Memories of being buried inside you and wrapped around you haunt my dreams.”

I flushed at the strength in his words. “You’re so poetic,” I said.

“You expected anything else? I’m torn between spending the night devouring you, and the fact that we have someplace to be. If I ask you to join me in the shower, will it ruin your hair?”

I gave him a look that I hoped conveyed ask me instead if I care. “I’d love to join you in the shower.”

Hunter led me into the master suite bathroom, which made the one in my room look tiny. The large walk-in shower only took up a small corner of the room, and there was plenty of space for two behind the glass. He turned on the water, and we stripped off our clothes.

He tested the water a few times before finally tugging me under the stream with him, and sliding the door shut to close us off from the rest of the world. He pressed his chest to my back to kiss along my shoulders and neck while he glided his hands up my stomach to cup my breasts.

“You’ve raised the bar on foreplay.” My teasing was breathy. Each new touch was fresh and tantalizing.

“You deserve that and more.”

As the water sluiced over us, Hunter glided his hands along my every curve, teasing and caressing until I was slick from the build-up.

He slipped his fingers between my legs, teasing my pussy, then hooked his hand under my knee to plant my foot on the seat in the corner. Yeah, he had a built-in seat in his shower.

I leaned forward as he dragged the head of his cock along my ass cheek, and then my slit. He penetrated me with a long groan that sent a shiver of delight through me. He didn’t move inside me, though.

The water stopped striking my skin, and a moment later, he was holding the shower head between my legs. “Tell me when I hit the right spot,” he said.

I guided the pulsating water into place, and a shudder ran through me as the steady stream hit my clit.

“Hold this in place.” Hunter handed me the shower nozzle. He gripped my hips, and then he was pounding inside me. Hard. Fast. Digging his fingers into my water-slicked skin.

The combination of sensations built fast, after the slow path we’d taken to get here, and my body tensed in anticipation. Every muscle coiled, waiting for release. Needing it.

And then orgasm crashed around me, from my core, from Hunter’s frantic pace. From everywhere. I clenched around his cock, lost in the pleasure, and milking him.

“Fuck, Violet.” He squeezed me harder. The pounding reached frenetic, even as I let the shower nozzle fall away. Hunter spilled inside me, his groan loud and intoxicating when he came.

As he slowed to a stop, neither of us moved for several moments. Water struck our shins. He pressed his lips into my shoulder and pulled me back into him.

“You’re incredible in so many ways, Violet.”

I leaned more weight against him. “I could say the same to you. Don’t take this wrong, but you’re officially my favorite mistake.”

“I love it.” He laughed.

We took our time soaping up and rinsing each other clean. It was hard to move quickly when every other touch was followed up with a kiss. We finally managed to step out of the shower, and get ready for the evening.

The drive there passed in a haze of me thinking about how amazing this was. I almost managed to ignore the nagging voice reminding me I needed this with Ramsey, too, to feel complete. Did that make me greedy? I didn’t care. I wanted them both anyway.

Tonight’s fundraiser was in another convention room, in another hotel. The only thing that distinguished most of these from each other was the color of the tablecloths. Pink this time—a perfect match to my flush every time I thought about Hunter.

I clung to him from the moment we arrived. We looked like the perfect, loving couple. It came naturally to have him whispering in my ear. To laugh at his comments. To exchange little kisses. Tonight it was because of this fresh commitment we had, but even before, it felt right to be close to him. To fall into this role.

It took more than an hour for both us and Ramsey to be free enough to approach each other. As the three of us headed toward a less crowded part of the room, Debbie joined Ramsey.

If she pulled him away for hours again, I’d be so furious. I didn’t care whether or not I had the right to be.

It didn’t look like she was saying anything to him, but his flat expression spoke volumes given he’d been smiling and laughing all night.

“I need to speak with the three of you,” Debbie said as soon as Hunter and I were within hearing range. “It’s not a request.”

Bossy much?

Ramsey gave a terse nod. “All right.”

Did he know what was going on? This wasn’t his surprise was it? If so, it was off to a shitty start.

We followed Debbie down the hallway, to an empty conference room. She flipped on a switch, which illuminated just enough space to make things eerie, and closed the door behind us.

“What?” Ramsey asked sharply.

Debbie was focused on me, with a disgust in her gaze that made my skin crawl. “I can’t believe you’re a part of this,” she said. “This marriage is a scam, and that’s the least horrible thing about what’s going on here. It’s bad enough that Ramsey is hiding that he’s fucking another man. But you? Absolutely disgusting that you’d demean yourself to hide their secret, given who you are. Do the kids at that shelter know?”

“Excuse me?” I could match disgust with anger, and then raise the ante to fury. “Did you—”

Ramsey settled a hand on my arm, and silenced me with a look.

“My personal life is none of your fucking business.” His voice was hard.

“It is if you want to win this race, and the next one.” Debbie stepped closer until she was in Ramsey’s face. “This is the kind of bullshit behavior that makes losers, and I will not work for someone who’s not interested in being the best.”

Ramsey’s expression went flat. “I see.” His voice was stony. I’d rarely seen him like this—so furious he’d bottled the rage to use for later. “You’re right, Debbie.” There was no intonation in his voice. He was half a step from being a computerized voice. “I’ll handle things tonight, and we’ll talk in the morning.”

Debbie blinked several times—was she surprised or something else? “Okay. I’ll prepare a press re—”

“You won’t do anything. We’ll talk in the morning means we’ll talk in the morning, and in the meantime, you’ll keep all of your employment agreements in mind.” Ramsey opened the door. “I assume you can find your own way back to the event.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

So that was what it took to shut up Debbie.

As she left, Hunter let out a long puff of air. “Wow.”

Ramsey’s chuckle was strained. “I’m done for the night. Think anyone would notice if we cut out early?”

“It’s not your event,” Hunter said. “No one will care.”

“Are you sure she won’t talk tonight?” How was I the only one worried about things falling apart if we walked away?

Ramsey nodded. “If she does, every Miller lawyer in the universe will be riding her ass. But worse, no one will let her work their campaign again. The exposing us threat is a bluff.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ve been watching this game play out far longer than I care for. Meet back at your place?” Ramsey looked between us.

Because it was our place. Hunter’s and mine. The drive home would have been tense, if Hunter hadn’t settled his hand on mine every chance he got.

Ramsey was already inside when we arrived. I wasn’t surprised he had a key, but I did wonder how he got here so much sooner than we did. Hard to shave even a few minutes off a fifteen minute drive.

The instant Hunter closed the door, Ramsey crossed the room in a few long strides, grabbed a fistful of Hunter’s shirt, and yanked him close, crushing their mouths together. They radiated desire and adoration.

I’d never watched anything hotter.

They broke apart with a duet of groans, but didn’t move away from each other. Ramsey slid his hand to the back of Hunter’s head, holding the two of them together. “I can’t keep this up,” Ramsey growled. “Two weeks is too long. There’s no way I can stay away from you for nine months.”

“Same.” Hunter’s reply was a bittersweet blend of need and sadness.

I should feel like an intruder right now. An interloper in an otherwise beautiful connection, but instead I was grateful to be a part of it. This didn’t make me doubt what I had with either of them, and it reminded me they trusted me enough to let me be a part of it.

Still, it left my lips lonely and reminded me that Ramsey and I had a massive unresolved issue that kept us from having that.

Ramsey trailed his fingers forward to Hunter’s jaw, brushing over his lips before finally dropping the touch and turning to me.

The intensity in Ramsey’s gaze, the way he focused on only me, sparked through me. “I can’t watch the two of you side-by-side and not be a part of it,” Ramsey said. “You are so many amazing things, Taffy, but you’re absolute shit at faking it.”

“I’m not faking this.” There it was. Telling Ramsey—confirming what he should already suspect—made my relationship with Hunter more real.

“Exactly.” Ramsey flexed his fingers. He was so close, but didn’t reach out.

I was both grateful and disappointed, because I wouldn’t be able to tell him no. “So...?”

“You’re right.” The same thing he’d said to Debbie earlier, but in a vastly different tone. This was resignation and acceptance and hope. “I’m tired of this. Of missing Hunter. Of missing you. Of hiding who I love. Of trying to figure out what a future looks like if I have to tell more and more lies to keep our secrets. The public can accept who I am, or...”

“Or...? You’ll move on? Just like that?” I needed to hear more. Right now, this was the chocolate brownie meant to sate a craving that was a day too old to be fresh.

Ramsey shook his head. “There’s no just here. I’m resetting my priorities, and there are other places I can make a difference that won’t require me to make this kind of compromise.” He reached back to pull Hunter closer. “This decision isn’t mine alone, though. I’m done asking the two of you to stay married, but I do need your permission to talk about us publicly. Otherwise, I’ll leave your names out of it as much as I can.”

“You’d better fucking not.” Hunter’s voice was hard. “You are never leaving my name out of your life again.”

The two of them were so good together.

And I still hadn’t been kissed. “What are you going to do? Tell the world hey, I’m in an consensual relationship with a woman and another man. Accept it or suck it.”

Ramsey laughed. A genuine, throaty sound. “Tempting, but I was thinking only if someone asked. I was leaning more toward telling the world I’m not straight, and that any other information about my personal life is that—personal.”

“And if they push for details?” The way I was. This was too good to be true, but I really needed his commitment to the truth to be real. “If Hunter’s name comes up? If mine does? If they want to know about our marriage?”

“Then I’ll answer their questions. I won’t lie. I need you back, Taffy.” Ramsey traced a thumb over my bottom lip, drawing a soft gasp.

“I need that too.” Goddess it felt incredible to say that.

Ramsey claimed my mouth hungrily, in an all-consuming kiss. He bit my bottom lip. Teased my tongue with his. Nibbled along my skin until my lips were swollen and tender and eager for more.