Three to Tango by Chloe Cole, L. C. Chase

and there she was kissing him. The both of them
    laughing about it. Big joke on Jace.
    Anger welled up from his belly, scalding, burning his throat and his eyes.
    “Yeah, just what kind of games were you up to, Alec?” Jace asked flatly as he
    stepped through the patio doors.
    Startled, Mel and Alec broke apart, each with a vivid mix of shock and guilt on
    their faces.
    “Jace…” Melody gasped. “It…it"s not what you think.”
    “I"m not an idiot, Melody,” he spat. “Spare me your lame denials of the
    obvious.”
    “No, Jace. We wanted to talk to you about this. About something Alec and I
    think will be perfect for us all.”
    “You and Alec?” he mocked. “So what, he sleeps with both of us to decide who
    he wants? After…after…” The fist squeezing his heart twisted, tearing it fiber by
    fiber. The pain burrowed deeper. Wouldn"t stop, wouldn"t let him breathe. How
    could Alec do that to him? Jace had thought last night meant something more than
    just a cheap fuck, that it was the start of something amazing. But Alec wasn"t
    playing for keeps after all.
    “What was it? Give Jace a thrill before pulling the rug out from under him? A
    pity fuck?” Mel recoiled as if he"d actually slapped her, then stumbled back a step.
    Regret slammed into him, but he couldn"t stop. Anger and pain and humiliation had
    pushed him beyond caring that words could cut deeper than any physical weapon.
    They"d used him.
    “And then you gave me open court yesterday. After you kissed me. What the
    fuck, Mel?” His voice cracked on her name.

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    “Jace…” Alec stepped forward, moving his body slightly in front of Mel,
    protecting her from… him?
    “And you…” Jace clenched his hands into fists, holding his arms rigidly at his
    sides. “What the fuck are you playing at? Taking us for a fucking test drive?”
    “Jace, don"t. I know this looks bad, but it—”
    “Fuck you!” Jace roared as hurt and loss scraped his throat raw. His vision
    blurred and narrowed. He had to get off this emotional roller coaster. Had to get
    away from here, away from them. “Just fuck you,” he whispered, the wind sucked
    from his sails. He turned on his heel and charged out of the house.

    Three to Tango
    79

    Chapter Ten

    “Shit,” Alec muttered.
    Mel stared at the door Jace had just slammed. She resisted the urge to chase
    him. He wasn"t ready to listen to anything she had to say. Panic lapped at her as
    she contemplated the possibility that he might never really come back.
    To be fair, his accusations weren"t so off the mark. She had kept her
    relationship with Alec a secret from him. And rather than just going to him and
    talking about the three of them together, she conspired behind his back.
    She closed her eyes, but the image of his face, stark with pain, was burned into
    her lids. She"d seen him hurt before but never like this. And never by her. When the
    chips were down, she was supposed to be the person he ran to , not from.
    Dimly, she realized that Alec had moved to stand in front of her.
    “Hey, it"s going to be okay. He just needs some time.”
    Melody"s pain welled and overflowed, morphing into a volcano of molten fury,
    ready to consume anyone in its path. “Don"t tell me what he fucking needs. I know
    what he needs. Jesus, don"t you get it? Everything was fine until you came here,”
    she shouted.
    Alec jerked back, his face paling.
    The anger seeped out of her, and suddenly she was exhausted, like someone
    had drained her battery. She wrung her hands in front of her.
    “I"m sorry, Alec. I"m sorry. But a week ago I had my best friend, and we were
    fine. We didn"t have a worry in the world. And then you put all these ideas in my
    head, fantasies of something that could never happen, and I started to believe in

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    them.” Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to swallow past the lump of regret
    wedged in her throat.
    Alec pulled her stiff body into his arms,