MMF BISEXUAL ROMANCE: Phoenix Running Read online

  Phoenix laughed at the obvious hint that Cee-Cee better snatch him up while she could. Cee-Cee covered her face dramatically. “It wasn’t my doing. We just happened to arrive downstairs at the same time,” he replied.

  “It seems fortuitous, either way. Like a sign,” said Winny, ushering Brett to the delivery room.

  Since Brett—and Phoenix—had arrived, Cee-Cee decided to hang back and wait until after the hard work was done. She laid her head on his shoulder. “You and Ashley are going to confuse my poor dear mother,” she whispered. He chuckled.

  They sat together next to her father, who drew him into a conversation about politics and budget cuts. Cee-Cee chimed into the conversation, forgetting that Phoenix had initially called her because he needed something. All that mattered was that he was there when she needed him before she had even realized she had that need.

  Chapter 21

  “Hailey Breanna Carson,” Josey announced with a tired but jubilant smile.

  “Carson-Redford,” Brett corrected, grinning. “Look at my baby girl.” He held the beautiful pink cuddly baby up for everyone in the room to see, and Cee-Cee covered her mouth with wonder as little Hailey blinked inquisitive blue eyes at the world. Winny rushed forward to hold her new grandbaby. Photographs were taken with cellphones and Marty’s camera. All the while, Phoenix hung back.

  It wasn’t really his place to be here. He wasn’t sure why he had come. All he knew was when Cee-Cee had told him her sister was having the baby, he heard fear and uncertainty in her voice. That was his impetus. He had flown from his apartment and met her at the hospital, but his work here was winding down.

  He pulled Cee-Cee out of the room, giving her another hug. “You okay now?” She nodded, teary-eyed. “Don’t cry on me,” he chuckled. “What’s the matter?”

  “She’s so happy! I can’t believe how fulfilled she looks. I’m amazed Brett made it here on time. He said one of his flights came in early but the other was delayed, which is why he rented a car instead. It’s like fate. Like a sign.” She looked at him curiously. Phoenix ducked his head, shifting nervously. He felt it, too. A sign that everything had come together exactly as it should. A sign he was where he was supposed to be.

  “Baby Joe is going to have a time of it. She’s a real doll, cute as a button,” he changed the subject. Phoenix glanced surreptitiously at his watch out of habit, but Cee-Cee caught him doing it.

  “Oh, I don’t want to hold you up. I know you’ve got a lot of stuff on your agenda. I can’t believe you dropped everything to come here. I’m glad you came.”

  “When we get the time, there is something very important that I need to talk to you about,” Phoenix murmured. “It’s about my campaign.”

  Josey’s hospital room door opened and Winny hurried out, bumping into Cee-Cee. Cee-Cee steadied her. “There you are,” said her mom. “Honey, is there any chance you can get over to the house? Baby Joe is anxious, and Pauline said none of the usual tactics are working.”

  “Let me say goodbye to Hailey, and I’m on top of it.”

  “You can take my car,” said Winny. She turned to Phoenix and expressed, again, how happy she was to see him. “I can’t wait until this campaign is over so we can see you more often.” She bussed his cheek and breezed back into the hotel room.

  Phoenix stared at the door. They expected him to keep coming around. He wanted to. There was no turning off how he felt about Cee-Cee and Ashley. But what would Cee-Cee’s family think if they knew the real nature of their three-way relationship? In such a relationship, could the three of them ever expect a day like this? Having babies. Getting married. That was for normal couples.

  Cee-Cee exited the room and snapped him out of reverie. She looped her arm in his, heading to the parking garage. “Walk me down to my car?”

  “Yeah. I’m with you all the way. As long as you’ll have me.” He smiled. Her eyes locked with his, and she grinned, shaking her head.

  “So, what did you need to talk to me about?”

  “Not now. I want you to stay in this zen place where you are now. You’re glowing. Being an aunty looks good on you.” She preened. When they got to the parking garage, Phoenix wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a languid kiss. “I wish we didn’t both have to hurry off,” he whispered.

  “Call me tonight. I’ll be free. We can talk about whatever you needed me for earlier.”

  “Will do. Drive safely on your way home, alright?”

  “Hey, now. Enough with the sweet stuff. Talk to you later.”

  She climbed into her mother’s car and drove off. Phoenix stood in the parking garage watching the red brake lights fade as she turned a corner. He heard the engine sounds get further away, and then he was alone with his thoughts and these feelings that he had no control over. He loped to his car and drove himself home. Until he could talk to Cee-Cee, he’d have to keep his anxiety at bay concerning the pictures Wallace had dropped off. There was nothing else he could do.

  * * *

  Cee-Cee cued up Phoenix’s home address on her GPS, remembering how desperate Phoenix had sounded on the phone before finding out Josey was in labor. He had put aside his issues to help her deal with hers, but she had never heard that from him before, and it worried her. What was going on?

  Her six-speed zipped along the highway to the condominium complex where the reclusive mayor spent his nights. She pulled up to the unassuming condominiums and parked in the visitor’s lot, jogging along the sidewalk and peering at numbers on each door until she came to his. Cee-Cee knocked, and he threw it open immediately. “About earlier today? Are you okay?”

  He took her face in hand and brought her lips to his. His nose brushed hers as he kissed her harder. His eyes were red-rimmed with stress and worry. “I fucked up,” he whispered against her mouth. “I don’t know if we can fix this.” He pulled her into his condo.

  When the door closed behind her, she was folded into his smell, his home. There was patchouli incense burning and a thin grey haze hovered near the ceiling like fog. A streetlight streaming through the window was the only light. Jazz played quietly in the background.

  She stayed silent as he hugged her without speaking. It scared her that he was trembling. He rested his face on the top of her head and took a deep breath. “My father is trying to ruin everything I’m trying to build,” he said bitterly. He pressed the photographs he was still holding into Cee-Cee’s hands, and she held them up to the light to see.

  Cee-Cee pulled away with a gasp. “What the hell?”

  He nodded and crossed his arms. “I think you better have a seat for this.” They both sat on the white suede sofa. Cee-Cee kicked off her flats and tucked a foot beneath her, studying Phoenix with nervous eyes. The one thing he hadn’t wanted to happen was happening.

  “Phoenix, your father brought you these photos? How did he get them? Why would he try to use them against you?”

  “I don’t know how he got them, but I know why he’s using them. Wallace Briton used to be councilman. I know you read that in my files. What you probably weren’t made aware of was the fact that he and Buddy, my opponent on this campaign trail, used to be good friends. Buddy helped my father cover up an embezzlement scam.”

  “What does that have to do with you?” she asked, confused. She didn’t need backstory. She needed answers.

  “Since he has dirt on my father, he asked Wallace to tell me to step down. Buddy knows I’m the only man standing between him and this town. Well, you can imagine what I told my dad when he brought me that fine bit of news, right? I told him to kiss my ass. And then he told me if I wasn’t with him, I was against him, and he’d treat me like an enemy. He’s willing to resort to blackmail to get me to step down. He’ll leak this to the press. This is campaign death, Cee-Cee!”

  “Okay, calm down,” she murmured. Cee-Cee needed to think. It wasn’t the crisis Phoenix made it out to be. Yes, this town might be full of a heterosexual, religious, white male majority, but that didn’t mean t
hey were all one-dimensional and bigoted. He could still win this election if he controlled how these pictures came out. She was sure of it. But how to convince him?

  Cee-Cee rose and faced him with her hands on her hips. “Phoenix, you’re not going to like what I have to say.” She smiled nervously.

  “Try me.”

  She tossed him her cellphone. “You need to use NowIn. You need to come out of the closet and take away your father’s chances of using this against you. You don’t have to announce anything about your sexuality, but you can make it clear that you’re friends with all kinds of people because you’re a genuinely good person who doesn’t discriminate. That way, if these pictures are released, your ass is covered. These pics aren’t that bad.”

  “He says there are more where those came from. That’s a long-distance camera, Cee-Cee. I don’t know a photographer worth his salt who’d stop taking pictures when the fireworks started,” he growled in frustration. “And I’m not announcing a goddamned thing about my personal life!”

  “Here’s what I know. If you don’t give people some answers, they’ll make up their own. This is your chance to give a little and keep the rumor mill from churning overtime!”

  He pushed to his feet angrily, snapping at her, “You just want to get famous off of me. You’re just like everyone else! You don’t have my best interests at heart!”

  Her hand connected with his cheek in a loud smack. He grabbed his face, staring.

  She stepped back, horrified at having hit him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But you need to realize I slept with you, which means I care about you…as a friend. This has nothing to do with getting famous. There are millions of important people in this state who’d jump at the chance to use NowIn, even if it doesn’t appeal to you. This isn’t about furthering my own interests. It’s for you.”

  He sat back down and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. After a minute, his head came up and he squinted at her. “Okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I react badly to blackmail, you know?”

  She just looked at him. He sighed. “Listen, I know you’re my friend. You’re the real deal, Cee-Cee. I have an idea. How about we date? Seriously. Let’s be seen together on the regular. That’s a solid compromise. People can see me out with you, and they’ll dismiss any whispers about me being with Ashley. You can make it common knowledge that he’s your best bud. That’ll throw them off. But if Wallace releases those pictures…”

  She held up a hand to halt his scheming. “I object to this notion of seriously dating. You know how complicated that’s going to get? We slept together. Proximity will increase the odds of us actually liking each other, which is something I don’t need. Not to mention, I don’t have time to play girlfriend. I have a life!”

  “What is your aversion to relationships? You act like an automaton—work, school, work. It’ll be fun for you! Didn’t you have a good time out with us this past weekend?” he tried to convince her. She shook her head.

  “Just sex.”

  He grabbed her hand and pulled her down into his lap. “Great sex.” She shrugged away from the kiss he pressed to the side of her neck, but her libido held her prisoner.

  “Great sex doesn’t elevate it above just sex, Phoenix. I admit, your girlfriend idea will probably work. You just need to pick another girlfriend.”

  “Maybe Gina Lafitte?” He nibbled her earlobe as he said it, and Cee-Cee jerked away, shoving at his chest. She tumbled out of his lap and her bottom hit the floor with a thump.

  “Ow!” She frowned up at him. “Fine,” she said, clipped. “Gina seems like your type.”

  He erupted with laughter and literally wiped the frown off her face by smoothing his thumbs over her forehead and lips. “She does not. She’s nothing like you. You’re my type. You’re smart, ambitious, focused. Sexy. Brilliant in bed. That mouth…” He curved a finger along her lower lip, and she blushed at the reference to her bedroom prowess.

  “Stop it,” she muttered. “We’ve got to figure this out.”

  “Gina stopped by my office earlier this week. I forgot to mention that to you. She had an email from someone named Five Parker who wants to interview me for some quilt network.”

  “QUILTBAG?”

  “Yeah, that’s the acronym. This talk show host saw the three of us at the Yellow Lounge that night we met Ashley. You know what I’m thinking? What if instead of using your app, I use that interview?”

  “I’m not following you.” Cee-Cee was more than a little irritated at the fact that Gina had snuck over to the mayor’s office in the middle of the week without her knowing. The woman was trying to make good on her promise to sleep with him. She knew it. Cee-Cee didn’t want to feel the streak of possessiveness that shot through her at the thought of someone else going after Phoenix, but it was there anyway.

  “Gina said Five Parker wants to discuss ways I plan to make our town more LGBT-inclusive. I’ll give him that interview, but we’ll shoot for it to happen sometime right before the election. That gives me some time to stall my father. So, first you and me date to lay the foundation. Then, during the interview I make it clear that I have friends from every walk of life and that I don’t judge a man based on his sexuality. Let’s face it. Saying that alone will make some people think I’m gay, so Wallace wouldn’t have a need to release those pictures.”

  “How do you know he won’t release them ahead of the interview?”

  “Wallace is waiting for me to give him the day I plan to step down from the running, but I’ll give him the date the interview is scheduled to air instead, which should keep him from releasing those pictures early.”

  “Ah! I see where this is going! By the time he realizes you duped him, you’ll already have won over the voting populace. It’s ballsy, and I wouldn’t have expected it of you, but I bet it could work.”

  “Now about being my girlfriend.”

  “No.” She held up a hand. He pushed it aside and brought her fingers to his lips.

  “Cee-Cee.” He gave her a sultry look she felt in her groin.

  “No, Phoenix! I’m not girlfriend material. I told you that!”

  “You don’t think I can change your mind?” He slipped from the sofa to the floor with her. Cee-Cee scooted away with a laugh, but he grabbed the hem of her skirt and stopped her retreat.

  “You’re not going to change my mind,” she said as he leaned forward to drop a kiss to the inner curve of her knee. “Phoenix!”

  “Mmm, I like it when you say my name like that. Say it again, girlfriend.”

  She gasped when he kissed higher up the inside of her leg, closer to her suddenly slick vagina. His kisses had instant effect. His fingers hooked into her panties and pulled them down, and Cee-Cee fell back. She held herself up on her elbows to stare at him. “A contract agreed to under duress is null and void,” she reminded him breathlessly.

  “All you have to do is tell me no.” He nosed his way to her silky flower petals and flicked his tongue over her slit, causing Cee-Cee to suck in a breath in pleasure. “Tell me stop.”

  “But I don’t want you to stop! Damn it, Phoenix!” He dove his tongue inside of her and made her body jackknife. She whined hoarsely as she dropped her back to the cool floor, letting her legs fall open in surrender. “And where does this leave Ashley?” she dared to ask.

  Phoenix couldn’t talk around a full mouth. He nibbled and licked her clit as he dug his cellphone out of his pocket. He paused only long enough to peek at the screen and connect to Ashley on a video call. “Let’s ask him.” He pushed the phone into Cee-Cee’s hand.

  “Oh, wow,” she moaned. Her body moved against his mouth in waves, seeking the heat of his kiss. She held up the phone to her blushing face. “I can’t do this.”

  “Just hold it for me,” said Phoenix.

  The call connected and Ashley’s face filled the screen. Phoenix lifted his face from between her legs to smile at the camera. Cee-Cee held the phone at n
avel level for him. “Hey, hey! Phoenix? What are you doing, mate?”

  “Glad you asked. I’m over here trying to convince Cee-Cee to be our girlfriend. Care to join me? I need help. She’s being intractable.”

  “Address. Now.” Ashley grinned.

  “Oh, my god,” Cee-Cee giggled. “Both of you again?”

  Chapter 22

  Ashley sped down the highway in the rental car. He was getting familiar with the area, which was odd. He had come to this country expecting to feel like a wanderer, lost in the wilderness. Could it be possible that America would feel like home away from home the longer he was on this tour? Of course, he was constantly nagged by the fact that he wouldn’t be able to hang out here for too much longer if Tegan had her way. There were other cities to hit, much farther away. Commuting wouldn’t be an option.

  But now Phoenix was calling with this girlfriend business. Ashley was intrigued. Cee-Cee would be the ultimate partner—smart, funny, sexy. He heard again Phoenix saying “our girlfriend” and felt a connection with the man that was half-illusion, half-denial. Ashley knew the mayor was into him, even if Phoenix would never admit it publicly.

  That was the problem. He shouldn’t be tearing his way to Phoenix’s house for another mind-blowing sex session like the one from the previous weekend. He should have some damn standards and put his foot down. All or nothing. They could be together openly or not be together.

  “Who am I kidding?” he whispered.

  He footed the accelerator and made it to the condos in record time. His hand barely rapped the door before it swung open. Phoenix stood out of sight to the side of the door with his pants unfastened, black boxers showing. “Just in time.” Ashley pushed into the condo and shut and locked the door behind him. When he turned around, he found Cee-Cee naked and bound loosely with a crimson silk cravat. It set off her pale skin and black hair quite splendidly.