Rule of Three Read Online Free Page B

should spend time together.”
    He nodded, eyes searching hers. She felt something, like Dag’s thoughts floating beneath the surface, but didn’t know what they were. And then they moved apart and she picked up a pillow and began shaking it into a pillowcase. Dag did the same.
    “There ya go,” she said, and moved to the door. “Help yourself to anything you need in the bathroom.”
    “Yeah. Thanks, Kassidy.”
    She caught his eye as she walked out the door, and for some reason she thought the look in his eyes was…loneliness.

Chapter Three
     
    Where the hell was he?
    Dag blinked at the strip of brightness around the edge of the blind on the window and peered around the dim room. Jesus. Chicago. Oh yeah, he was in Chris and Kassidy’s new place.
    His head fell back on the pillow and he closed his eyes. Chris and Kassidy.
    Why the hell had he come back here? Some kind of misguided idea that after all these years he could come back to Chicago, which he’d missed like hell, and see Chris again, who he’d also missed like hell, and it would all be okay.
    He groaned and rolled over in the bed. They’d had such a great time yesterday at the Cubs game, almost like old times. They’d fallen back into easy conversation, laughing and joking like they always had.
    Then they’d come home to Kassidy.
    Sweet and sexy Kassidy, who was just as easy to talk to as Chris. They’d sat around drinking and talking, and hours had zipped by before he even realized it, along with the better part of a bottle of Limoncello.
    Which accounted for the way his mouth felt dry as sand and his head ached faintly.
    He rolled out of bed and reached for his watch on the small dresser. Nearly nine o’clock. Were Chris and Kassidy awake yet? Guess he’d find out. He dragged on his jeans before leaving the small bedroom to use the bathroom. The faint sound of a TV drifted down the short hall. Someone was up. Probably Chris. He’d never been one to sleep in or lie around in bed.
    Of course, with a woman like Kassidy in bed with him, that could be a whole different story.
    Dag found a toothbrush still in a cellophane package sitting on the vanity in the bathroom. Huh. That had to be from Kassidy. He ripped it open gratefully and brushed the sand out of his mouth then washed up.
    He wandered out to the living room and found Chris sprawled on the couch watching TV, a cup of coffee clasped in both hands resting on his flat belly. Morning summer sunlight flooded in the arched window, glowing on the polished hardwood floors and turning Chris’s light brown hair gold. He glanced up. “Hey, you’re up.”
    “Yeah. Morning.”
    “Want some coffee?”
    Dag made a face. Chris laughed. “Oh yeah, I forgot you hate the stuff.”
    “Got any Coke?”
    “Yeah, I think there might be a couple of cans in the fridge. Help yourself.”
    “Chris.” Kassidy’s voice came from behind him, and Dag turned to face her. Hell, she looked just as good first thing in the morning, her face bare and pink-cheeked, hair loose around her shoulders. She shook her head at Chris. “He doesn’t know where anything is. You could get up off the couch and look after your guest.”
    The two men just laughed, and Kassidy led Dag to the kitchen still shaking her head. She slanted him a glance as she opened the fridge door. “Coke? For breakfast?”
    Dag grinned. “Yeah. Why not?” He watched her open the fridge, her movements graceful and smooth.
    She glanced up at him through her eyelashes as she shrugged and reached inside for a can. “Seems weird.”
    “It’s got sugar and caffeine. Same as a cup of coffee. Why not?
    She handed him the can then a glass, her gaze skittering over his body. He hadn’t put a shirt on, in fact he literally wore nothing but his jeans and they weren’t even buttoned. He hadn’t thought before wandering out of the bedroom half naked. And Kassidy was clearly aware of his bare chest.
    Like he was aware of her bare legs below the hem of the