“Ready?” he asked. She nodded and he got out and rounded the car to open her door. “We have just enough time to check into the room before heading down to the bar.” Chris reached for her hand and pulled her into his body, wrapping his arms around her. She pulled him down for a kiss and he made no move to stop her. Winter took her time kissing him and when she broke the kiss, he was breathing heavy and God, he looked so sexy.
“Let’s go,” he ordered. Chris got their bags from the trunk and she took her suitcase. When they got into the hotel lobby, she quickly scanned the bar, half hoping that Luke would be there but he wasn’t.
“You’re excited to see him too, aren’t you?” Chris whispered into her ear. She wouldn’t hide the truth from him—she was excited to see Luke. It had been a damn long time and if he was anything like she remembered, she had every right to be excited.
“If I say yes, are you okay with that?” she asked.
“Yep,” Chris admitted. He thanked the desk clerk for her help and ushered Winter into the elevator to take them to the top floor. “This only works if you want him as much as I do, Honey.”
“What about jealousy?” she asked.
“That’s one of the things we need to talk about tonight. Communication is going to be key in all this,” Chris said. She knew he was right but she worried that seeing him and Luke together would make her feel the same jealousy that she had when she found out they were together in college. She spent four years avoiding visiting Chris at college while he was with Luke because she knew that seeing the two of them together would be a painful reminder that she wasn’t enough for Chris. He’d invite her to spend the weekend with them and she would always come up with some excuse as to why she couldn’t. She was just hoping that seeing the two of them together might not be too much for her to handle she wanted this thing to work between the three of them—for all their sakes.
Luke
Luke sat at the back of the bar and watched as Chris and Winter checked in to the hotel. He had a feeling they might be staying there and booked himself a room, not wanting to drive back across town on Christmas Eve. That way, if they decided not to go through with the plan, he would have a place to crash. But, he was hoping that they’d both agree to spend the night with him.
It felt like forever before Winter and Chris reappeared back down at the bar and Chris was the first to spot him. His old friend smiled and crossed the bar, tugging Winter along behind him and God, he was as nervous as he was the first time he had asked either of them out. That thought struck him as funny—he was the one to instigate their first dates yet here they both were, asking him to join as a third in their relationship.
“Hey,” Chris breathed, pulling him in for a quick hug. They were lucky to live in a town that was so open and forward-thinking. He didn’t have to hide who he was in places like the one they were in but it helped that the hotel was practically empty due to the holiday.
“Hi,” Luke said. He stood back and looked Chris over. He had aged well since college. Chris had grown into the man Luke always imagined he would.
“Luke, you remember Winter?” Chris asked, always the gentleman.
“Yep—she was the first girl I ever kissed,” Winter made a face and he wondered if she told Chris that little bit of information or the rest of it.
“We did a little more than kissing, Luke,” she teased. He liked the way she was still a little shy under her tough-girl persona. She leaned in to kiss him and he pulled her against his body and sealed his mouth over hers. He kissed her like he hadn’t seen her in a long damn time and she tasted just like he remembered—like sunshine and strawberries. He broke their kiss and looked over to find Chris smirking at him as if telling him that he was fine with the little show he had just put on. Luke was always one to test the boundaries and being with the two of them together wouldn’t change who he was.
“You still taste just as sweet as ever, Winter,” he said, loving the blush that covered her fair skin. He tucked her blond hair back from her shoulders and reached for Chris’s hand, happy that he took it.
“Want a drink?” he asked. “I ordered two bottles of wine—one white and one red. I wasn’t sure what you both liked to drink. I was guessing that Boones Farm Strawberry wine wasn’t still your favorite like it was in high school, Winter,” he teased.
“You remembered?” she asked.
“I remember everything about you, Winter,” he insisted. Chris threw back his head and laughed, drawing the attention of the few people who were still in the bar.
“You were always an outrageous flirt, Luke,” Chris accused.
“As I recall, you liked me that way,” Luke said. He knew that Chris was attracted to his bad-boy persona. It was such a turn from the kid he was in high school. After they graduated and he and Chris decided to go to the same college, he decided a change was in order. He had gone away that summer and did a little soul searching. He took some time off from his shit job that barely paid him minimum wage, bought a motorcycle, and packed a backpack. He told his parents that he’d be back in time for college and he took off. His mother had enough on her plate with his five younger siblings and when he announced that he was leaving town for a few months, she honestly looked relieved. His dad worked himself half ragged and another mouth not being around to feed was a good thing for his old man. He had gotten a full ride to school that even paid his living expenses—he just needed to ride out the summer and he’d be home free. He would have the life he finally wanted and possibly the guy he had always dreamed about since Chris agreed to be his roommate freshman year.
When he arrived at school for the fall semester and tossed his duffle bag onto his dorm bed, Chris looked him over as if he was seeing him for the very first time. He admitted to liking Luke’s new look and that gave him the courage to tell Chris exactly how he felt. He laid it all out on the table and that was when Chris finally gave him a chance.
“Well, I can’t speak for Chris but I have to say—you turned out good,” Winter said. “Um—I mean, I like the whole bad boy vibe you are giving off.” She took the glasses of wine from him and handed one to Chris.
Luke shrugged, “Thanks,” he said. “I changed things up the summer before freshman year in college and well, it just felt right, so I stuck with it. I own a shop in town and I fix up old cars,” he admitted.
“You got your degree in business to work on cars?” Chris wondered.
“Well, not at first. I had my mechanic’s certificate—got that before college, but my degree in business is what’s kept my shop afloat. I bought the old garage a few years back. It was a rundown piece of shit but I rebuilt it from the ground up. Now, I work on vintage cars and have three guys who work for me. It’s a great little business and well, it pays the bills,” he said. His shop more than paid the bills these days, especially with his investment portfolio he started after college. He ran the shop and worked on cars for the hell of it and the love of old cars but that was something that he usually kept to himself.
“I heard you both moved to Los Angeles,” he said. “You happy out there?” He did more than just hear about their move out there-he took a few trips out hoping to run into one of them. He had even thought about just walking into the department store to see them but he always chickened out at the last minute.