Summer turned away and glanced up at the shop on her side of the street. Oh no. It can’t be. Of all the places the cabbie had to park. Surfed’s hanging sign with a board and a wave swung in the breeze and Summer sunk down in the seat. I can’t believe this.

  The cabbie pulled out his phone and tapped a few times before turning around. “You’re wanted inside, miss.”

  “What?” Summer squinted at him.

  “Inside the shop. I was given strict instructions to bring you here. No stopping.”

  Summer’s eyes went wide, her heart sped up, and a million expletives teetered on the tip of her tongue. This can’t be happening. She thumped the pleather seat. “How dare you! You’re supposed to take me to the airport!”

  The cabbie shrugged. “Sorry. I get paid when you go in.”

  “No! I’ll double it. Triple it! Whatever it takes. Just drive.”

  He sighed. “Look. It’s none of my business, but Blake’s a good guy. I’ve been buying my boards here since they opened. If he’s done something to piss you off or hurt you, I think you should give him a second chance.”

  Summer crossed her arms. “You’re right. It’s none of your business.”

  “Well, I’m going across the street to grab a cup of coffee and a maple frosted. You take your time. Go in when you’re ready.”

  The cabbie pushed his door open and shut it with a wham before walking across the street. He disappeared inside the coffee shop and Summer shook her head.

  It was insane. Controlling and assuming. Completely unlike Blake.

  She bit her lip and glanced at the hula girl. She bobbed back in forth in the aftershocks of the door slamming shut. Every shake of her hips and flutter of her grass skirt told Summer to get off her butt and go inside.

  She looked up at Surfed. If Blake went to all that trouble…She stared at the front door for a good five minutes, trying to come up with some reason not to go in. Something more than her anger and hurt. She came up empty. Even the hula girl had given up and stood still on the dash.

  At last, Summer exhaled. Might as well. She swung open the cab door and stepped outside.

  She’d been upstairs and in their apartment, but never inside the shop. With a tug, she yanked the door open and stepped inside. It’d never occurred to her to ask—they’d always been busy with the wedding or acting like kids or tangled up in each other’s arms.

  The door closed behind her and the clang muffled her gasp. Oh my God. She took a step inside. Then another. This can’t—they didn’t—

  Summer spun around in a slow circle and took it all in. The middle of the shop was what she’d expected—surfboards and wetsuits and every kind of accessory. But the walls? Where there wasn’t a shelf or a board, there was art. But it wasn’t just posters of surfers and snapshots of killer waves.

  No. It was hers. All hers. There had to be over a dozen paintings. Some small, some big and in between. Every style she’d ever painted. Every series she’d done since moving to New York. Summer’s mouth fell open. How is this possible?

  She walked over to a tiny oil on canvas by the door. Nubby rocks stuck out in thick blobs of paint with waves in mid-crash. The spray fanned out across the little painting like white, foamy fireworks. It was from her first show. Almost four years before.

  A few feet over hung a large acrylic on paper. The lighthouse on a bright spring morning. Sandy beaches. Wildflowers. From a series she’d painted last year.

  Summer rushed to the next one. It was from the tiny show in the back room of the Gilford. The next? The hundred-painter exhibit in the subway at Christmas. Every exhibit she’d ever done. Right there in the shop. She turned around and her hand flew to her mouth.

  Oh my God. The new one. Midnight Cove in dark and light. The little boat on the choppy sea. It was framed again. They’d hung it up on the wall behind the cash register. Everyone who came to the shop—everyone who walked up with a purchase or a question or just a smile—they’d see it. They’d see the piece of her soul she’d rolled up in a fit of despair and shoved at her best friend.

  Tears welled over her lower lids and tumbled down her cheeks.

  Footsteps sounded behind her and she turned around. Blake. He walked in with his hands in his pockets and his face unreadable. Devin came right after—hair still a mess, eyes timid and wary.

  “What is all this?” The words came out in a hoarse whisper and Summer wiped at her cheeks.

  Blake shrugged. “It’s our shop. What do you think?”

  She swallowed and pointed at a painting. “How long?”

  “Have we been collectors?” Devin glanced at the ceiling and back down. “Always. Ever since we met, Summer. You might have left, but we didn’t forget you.”

  She pointed at a painting on the far wall. “I didn’t even tell my Mom about that show. Or Mandy. How’d you—”

  Blake rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve followed your work. Gone to every show you’ve ever had. Made sure we bought at least one painting. I wanted to buy them all but—”

  Devin interrupted. “I told him to save some for your other fans.”

  The tears came anew and Summer couldn’t hold them back no matter how hard she tried. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “All this time—” She waved around as the tears slipped off her cheeks and landed on her dress.

  “That we love you?” Blake stepped up to her. “We didn’t think you wanted to know.” He slid closer. “I didn’t want to hurt you. Neither did Devin. But it’s always been you. Only you.”

  “What—what about Mandy?”

  “She’s married.”

  “Ivy?” Summer glanced up at Devin.

  “A complete bitch.”

  She laughed and wiped her face again. “I’m an idiot.”

  “No. Don’t ever say that.” Blake took her wet face in his hands. “You’re beautiful and kind and have the most creative, expressive soul. You’re anything but an idiot.”

  Summer swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

  “We are too.” Devin came around and set his hands on her shoulders. “We should have come after you the first time. We shouldn’t have let you go.”

  “I would have pushed you away.”

  “Then we should have pushed back.” Blake ducked to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry we’ve wasted all this time.”

  Summer smiled. “It wasn’t wasted. If I hadn’t gone to New York, what would you have done for art?”

  Blake smiled. “I love you, Summer.”

  Devin squeezed her shoulders. “I love you, too.”

  Summer reached back and squeezed Devin’s hand. “And I love you both.”

  Blake’s eyes lit up. “Think you can handle one more surprise?”

  Summer blinked. “Another one?”

  He nodded.

  “I guess so?”

  Blake glanced up at Devin and grinned. “Good, because we think you’ll love it.”

  * * *

  BLAKE

  Blake held Summer’s hand as he led her up the stairs to the empty space. Why had they ever thought to make this a bar? He didn’t need drunk people stomping and cavorting over his apartment ’til the wee hours of the morning. Puking in the street outside Surfed.

  It might have distracted him from the emptiness in his heart, but a bar would never satisfy him. Not like this. He only hoped Summer would see the same potential he did.

  With quick smile over his shoulder, Blake unlocked the door. It swung open and he ushered her inside.

  The sweet gasp of her breath caught somewhere between her mouth and her lungs. Yes! They’d done alright. Blake stepped to the side as she took it all in.

  “What is this?”

  Devin spoke up. “We’re hoping it’s your new studio. Eventually, a gallery.”

  “A studio? Gallery?” Summer’s voice warbled and she walked up to an oversized easel ready for a canvas. “When did you do all this?”

  “Yesterday.”

  She turned. “In one day? How?”

  Blake looked around. They had done a bang up job of it. Paints and canvases. Better lighting. Functioning sink. Places to paint and display. It was still a work in progress, but it was more than usable. “We were motivated.”

  “I can tell.” Summer fingered a box of new oil paint tubes. “What about the bar?”

  “It’s over. We sort of had it out with Ivy at Mandy’s wedding.”

  “You did?”

  Blake nodded. “Ian showed up and…Well, let’s just say they broke up. Security might have been involved.”

  Summer snorted. “Ian had her escorted out by security?”

  Devin grinned. “Yeah. I wish I’d taken a video.”

  “We had other things on our mind.” Blake stepped forward. “Even if they hadn’t broken up, we’d have canceled the project, Summer. We don’t want a bar. We want an art studio. A gallery.” He reached out and touched her arm. “We want you.”

  * * *

  SUMMER

  Summer didn’t know what to say. What to think. Where to look. They’d gone above and beyond even her wildest expectations.

  First the shop and all her art. Then the studio space. Here she’d thought they were using her. Just a quick trip down memory lane. A hot fuck and a see you later.

  It couldn’t be further from the truth. They loved her. Wanted a life with her. Everything she’d wanted all these years but denied. To her friends, her mother, even her own heart.

  She reached up and tugged Blake to her. “I want you, too.” Devin stepped up behind her and she reached back for his hand. “Both of you.”

  Blake’s lips touched first. Hot. Insistent. Almost desperate. Devin’s next. All she’d wanted but thought she’d lost. All she could have. Right there in the middle of what could be her studio. Her life.

  A future.

  She pulled back from Blake. “You’re sure? I can have a studio up here? A gallery, even?”

  He nodded. “We’ve never wanted anything more.”

  “Speak for yourself. I know what I want more.” Devin’s hands snaked around her hips. “Summer downstairs in a bed.”

  Blake grinned. “He has a point. I do want that more than a studio space.”

  Summer ran her tongue over her lips. “Maybe I do, too.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  SUMMER

  How they got downstairs and into the apartment, Summer couldn’t say. It was all a blur of hands and lips. Tongues and teeth.

  Each step down the stairs brought another caress. A closed door gave Blake time to lean in and nibble her ear. Run his hands up and down her skin.

  They stumbled into Devin’s bedroom and she couldn’t think straight. Summer’d braced herself for a flight back to New York. An empty apartment. A barren life.

  Instead, she was surrounded. Wrapped up in sturdy arms and tough legs. Men who wanted her in their bed and their life. She kicked off her shoes and Blake pulled his shirt over his head.

  Devin shut the blinds and gone was Midnight Cove and the world outside. All that was left were the three of them. Summer couldn’t wait.

  She reached for Blake and tugged at the button of his jeans. Nubby and coarse under her fingers, the denim resisted, but she yanked harder. Those jeans were coming off.

  “Here. Let me help.”

  She bit her lip as Blake took over, unbuttoning before sliding the zipper down. With the dim light filtering in around the blinds, Summer stared. His abs contracted as he shoved his jeans down. Muscles rippled.

  Summer sucked in a breath as Devin slid up behind. His hands snaked up her bare legs and Summer struggled. Her eyelids fluttered and her lips fell open and Devin’s hands roved higher. Over hips and panties. Stomach and belly button. He cupped her breasts as Blake kicked off his clothes.

  Damn. One man in front of her. Built and sexy. Another behind her, driving her wild. Oh, how she’d missed this. Thought she’d never feel it again. Their bodies crushed against her. Thick cocks eager to fill her up. She reached out and Blake stepped up to her.

  Yes. Her hands raced over his tight muscles and smooth skin. Soaking up the heat and passion. The body she’d thought she’d never see again.

  Blake and Devin loved her. Summer said it to herself over and over. An endless repeating loop inside her mind until Blake tugged her closer.

  His hands snaked up her arms and Devin found the zipper on her dress. It opened in a whoosh and then it was gone, cascading down to the floor as fingers found the clasp to her bra.

  Flick! It opened and Devin’s hands inched it off her shoulders. The weight of her breasts finished the job. The black lace fell to the floor and Devin reached down to add her panties to the pile.

  Thick fingers slid under the waistband, teasing and stroking. Summer shivered and Devin slid the simple black fabric down her body. Over wide hips, down her thighs. Until at last, they landed on the floor.

  “You’re so beautiful, Summer.”

  She blushed in the soft light as Blake leaned in. His lips brushed against hers and Devin stood up behind her. His shoes hit the ground with a thud and Blake drew her closer. His cock pressed into her belly, hard and eager and Summer’s core throbbed.

  Devin’s clothes fell away and with every rustle and fall, Summer’s need grew. Gone were the trappings of life outside. What was proper. Respectable. Each shirt and sock and pair of boxers. Dress and panties. Everything gone.

  They were just three people. A sea of naked flesh with an oversized bed and a whole mountain of anger and heartache to kiss away.

  Blake broke their kiss and leaned over, sucking a nipple into his mouth. Gone were her thoughts in a whirlwind of lust and need.

  She arched and gasped and Devin was there, stroking her hips and ass. His hands roamed all over her curves, thick and powerful as Blake lapped at her nipple. Oh! Her core clenched and a shock of wetness spread across her thighs. She needed them. All over her. Inside her. Making her come.

  Devin pressed close behind, snaking his hands around her body to cup her breasts. Blake’s tongue slipped over Devin’s fingers and the pair of them worked her breasts. Devin lifting and pinching and stroking her nipples. Blake sucking each one into his mouth and rolling the hard nubs around his tongue.

  Summer gasped and shut her eyes. All she could do was hold on. Her fingers bumped over Blake’s short hair and he pulled back with a wet smack. “I’ll never get enough of you, Summer. Never.”

  “That makes two of us.” Devin’s lips were hot on her ear.

  She leaned into him as Blake slid down to the floor. Her grabbed one leg behind her knee and pulled it up.

  “Wait! What—”

  “Shh. Relax. Devin, hold her leg, keep her from falling.”

  Devin grinned against her cheek and grabbed her leg, hoisting it up until he gripped her thigh tight. His other arm wrapped around her shoulder and he back peddled, taking the pair of them across the room to the wall. He leaned against it and the rumble in his throat sent a shiver through her body.

  “She’s not going anywhere.”

  Summer’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open as Blake dove in between her legs.

  * * *

  BLAKE

  Fuck. Devin’s arms held Summer in a vice and it took all of Blake self-control not to slam himself home. Her pussy shone in slick juices—already swollen and begging for his cock. But he wanted to wreck her. Draw every last orgasm out of Summer’s body until she collapsed. Exhausted and worn out and confident they loved her.

  No doubts. No fear. No what ifs. He was going to prove his love to her all over that bedroom. Every way possible. Blake kissed his way down her raised leg. Inch by inch. A lick of his tongue. A press of his lips. With Devin holding her still.

  Her whole pussy opened up to him. Swollen lips. Clit plump and needy nestled in its little hood.

  Begging.

  Blake licked, wide and slow, and Summer arched above him, raising her hands to grab on to Devin’s neck. Her arms wrapped around her other lover and Blake grinned. They fit together so well. He crept closer, spreading her wider, opening her body as he licked her harder.

  Thrusting inside her slick channel, he fucked her with his tongue. The woman he and Devin thought they’d lost. The woman he wanted forever. She trembled and her muscles clenched around him. Damn. He could do this all night.

  With slow, gentle strokes, Blake built into a steady rhythm that had Summer panting and shaking above him. She cried out in short tiny gasps as she bucked her hips and Devin gripped her harder. His fingers splayed against her thigh and as Blake picked up speed, Devin used his other hand to work her breasts.

  Pinching and rolling a nipple between his fingers, Devin teased her until Summer cried out. She reached for Blake, begging with her fingers as she tore through his short hair. She scrabbled at him, tugging and pulling the cropped strands and massaging his head.

  He’d never get tired of this. Of taking her over the edge with Devin behind her. Of making her come with his tongue and fingers. His cock. He growled into her heat, drawing her clit into his mouth and sucking. The motion sent her over, spiraling into an orgasm that shook her whole body.

  Summer’s thighs trembled against him and her fingers jumped across his head, but he didn’t stop. Over and over he licked her, prolonging her orgasm and making her cry out.

  “Please. I can’t—” She swayed and Devin released her leg. She fell against Blake, resting her head on his shoulder and forcing him away from her spasming pussy.

  He loved it when she came apart. Wrecked and free. Uninhibited. The real Summer. The strong and beautiful woman who feared nothing and felt everything. The woman he wanted wrapped up in his and Devin’s arms all night. Every night.

  The woman he’d almost lost twice. He smiled as he pressed up to stand. They’d never lose her again. She was theirs. Forever.

  Blake glanced up at Devin and he couldn’t hide the swell of pride that filled him at the sight. Summer between them, reaching out to grip his thighs as Devin stroked her ass.