Magic of Three Read Online Free PDF Page B

paper. “You’ll go first. She relates better to you. You can read her, use your powers to your advantage.”
     
    “No, Julian,” Tim was quick to disagree. That felt wrong. “It needs to be you. She likes me. We fit together, quickly. I could tell that much from meeting her again. No memories needed. You have to approach her, connect with her. You’re the one who needs time to build a relationship. This one’s up to you, lover.”
     
    Julian didn’t look surprised with Tim’s observation. But he didn’t look happy or convinced either. His lips almost disappeared in his grimace and his brow furrowed, giving him an endearingly lost look. A needy look Tim knew Julian would hate if he knew showed so clearly, even to his lover. “You think so?”
     
    “I feel so.”
     
    Tim watched as Julian’s face hardened with resolve. He knew what lay in his lover’s battered heart. Julian’s fear and desperation. The desire and despair. The excitement and guilt. Finding Lisa opened new doors for both of them, created hope out of bleak depression. At the same time it brought back memories of defeat. Of lost trust and betrayal.
     
    “Did it seem like she remembered you?” Julian whispered, turning his back on Tim and gripping the edge of the counter. Avoidance and distraction couldn’t take away from the raw desperation filling his voice.
     
    Tim wanted to reassure Julian, to give him something to hold on to, some little hint of how Lisa felt. But he didn’t know what to say. He could read her emotions with more ease than he could a complete stranger. But that didn’t tell him what caused those emotions, where they were formed. “I’m not sure,” he replied, settling on honesty, not allowing false hope even to comfort the love of his life. “Maybe she does, or maybe not. She acted like something clicked, a connection between us, but I don’t think it was conscious. A part of her might feel something familiar but I doubt she understands what it is or where it comes from.”
     
    Julian sat the paper on the counter before turning back to the stove. He grabbed the wooden spoon and stirred his sauce again. Tim felt him struggling to contain his emotions, to not let them get out of his control. “So we’ll approach her with caution,” he said in a deceptively steady voice. “Take things as slow as we dare.”
     
    Tim lifted an eyebrow. That wasn’t the way he would’ve thought they’d meet her the first time. “We?”
     
    Julian nodded, turning from his sauce to the boiling pot of rolling noodles. He grabbed the pot by its heat-resistant handles, carried it to the sink and poured the steaming contents in a waiting colander. He didn’t reply until the large pot sat empty and cool on the counter. “We need to approach her together, not separately. She’s already met you. If I start showing interest in her alone then bring you into the picture, she’ll have every reason to mistrust the situation.”
     
    Yeah, I’d love to date you. By the way, have you met my gay lover? Tim almost laughed at her imagined response to that. “I guess we don’t want to start there.”
     
    “No,” Julian answered with a grimace.
     
    Tim gave a supportive smile and tried to break the tension. He leaned forward, giving his best come-hither smile. “As long as you’ve got a reason. Here I thought you wanted me to hold your hand.”
     
    Julian let a bit of the devil Tim fell in love with shine out of his dark, savage eyes. He stepped away from the sink and between Tim’s legs. He put a hand on the counter at either side of Tim’s hips and leaned forward, pushing their pelvises together, letting him feel the wood he already sported. “If you’re holding anything of mine, it’s not gonna be my hand,” he whispered against Tim’s lips.
     
    Tim wrapped his arms around his lover, enjoying the feel of the other man’s hard, warm body against his own. “Hey now, can’t a guy have a few minutes after work to rest and