AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“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 himno. “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 missingyou. 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 nojusthere. 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 areneverleaving my name out of your life again.”
The two of them weresogood together.
And I still hadn’t been kissed. “What are you going to do? Tell the worldhey, 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.”Goddessit 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.
Twenty-Four
“What was in Vegas today?” I asked Ramsey between hungry kisses.
He sank his teeth into my shoulder. “A new future.”
“No.” I groaned into the delicious sting. “No more riddles or surprises. How does it help us?”
He pulled away to look at me. “Tomorrow morning, Hunter is going to fire Debbie. He’s going to do this as I’m holding a press conference to withdraw from the senate race.”
“Oh.” Not what I expected, but maybe I should have. Ramsey coming out was unlikely to end his career, but everything else about our relationship may not go over so well, and it wouldn’t stay hidden if we weren’t actively hiding it. “But… What about making a difference? Being made for this?” Every other reason he’d given me over the years for why he had to behave.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said. All of it, but specifically what you said about the pop-up event we did with Dottie. I talked to her today, to her lawyer, and financial adviser, about starting a charitable foundation to help shelters like yours. To bolster them. To build more of them. I’m going to head the entire thing, work my connections to grow it, and I’m hoping to God that Hunter will help me with the administrative details.” Ramsey finished with a satisfied grin.
“Well, apparently my boss is quitting his job tomorrow,” Hunter said. “So I do have an opening in my schedule.”
Ramsey turned his head long enough to give Hunter a quick kiss. “You’re hired.” Ramsey turned back to me. “That’s the surprise. That’s how I fix things. I’d do it anyway. You were right, it’s how I can make a difference. But I’m hoping you’ll stick around to see things in action. With me.”
“I will.” I couldn’t fight my smile.
Ramsey gripped the back of my neck with a strength and possession that lit my soul on fire. “I love you, Violet. Every day you’re not here, every day for the past few years, I’ve missed you.” He drew his tongue up the side of my neck, to nip my earlobe. “I’m not letting you go again. Either of you.”
