Excerpt: 'Loving Maddie from A to Z' by Kelly Jamieson

Kelly Jamieson shares an excerpt from her new release, Loving Maddie from A to Z. I bet we'll all be snapping this book up to read what happened before this scene!

Kelly: One reason I love writing ménage romances is that there's more than one relationship happening and the conflicts and complications and obstacles they face can be layered and deep. A relationship between two people can definitely be difficult, but with three people … whoa, baby!

In Loving Maddie, Aidan and Maddie are a couple and their relationship is strong and loving … yet missing something. Then their friend Zack comes to stay with them. Maddie and Zack also have a relationship … and so do Zack and Aidan.

The feelings all three of them have for each other are complex and it takes time for them each to look inside themselves and honestly admit how they all feel — to themselves and to each other.

This excerpt is the end of the scene where Zack first takes control of Maddie and Aidan. They're all feeling a lot of different things at this point — confusion, embarrassment, awkwardness, regret, fear … Zack's worried he might have made Maddie and Aidan's problems worse instead of better. Aidan's worried because this all makes it even more evident that he can't give Maddie everything she needs, even though he wants to. And Maddie's worried about Aidan being hurt and about Zack maybe leaving. Have they made a huge mistake?

EXCERPT

Maddie closed her eyes, uncertainty sweeping over her. "I just…you can't just leave. We need to talk. This is going to be weird tomorrow if we don't talk."

Zack look pained. "Yeah," he finally said. "You're right."

"This is going to be weird tomorrow even if we do talk," Aidan muttered, pushing himself to sit straight. "And we're not talking about this naked. Hand me my shorts, sweetheart." He nodded at the crumpled clothing on the floor.

Before she could move, Zack had scooped up her T-shirt and shorts and handed them to her. She slipped them on, not worried about her underwear, while Aidan pulled on the loose shorts. She sat on the couch next to Aidan. Zack remained standing, watching them, his face inscrutable, his eyes narrow.

"I'm not sure what just happened here," Maddie said in a low voice.

Aidan muttered a curse.

Zack threw himself down at the other end of the couch. "Not gonna apologize. You liked that. A lot."

Maddie bit her lip. She couldn't deny it. She looked at Aidan. He scrubbed his hands over his face. She knew he'd liked it too. What was going on in his head? "Talk to us," she said. "Please."

He still said nothing.

"Look," Zack said. "I'll admit I was testing things out at first. I had a hunch…but I wasn't a hundred percent sure you'd go for it. I told you to kiss him, to see what would happen. Yeah, you hesitated, but not much. It didn't take much for you to do it, and then to do everything I told you after that." He leaned forward. "You liked giving up control. You liked having someone take over and tell you what to do. It's what you need, isn't it?"

She stared at him. Then Aidan made a rough nose and jumped to his feet. "Yeah," he snapped at Maddie. "It's what you need. And I can't give it to you."

He strode out of the room and the sound of the bedroom door banging shut vibrated through the condo.

Maddie stared at Zack, covering her mouth with her hands. "Oh no. What have we done?"

Zack face contracted. "You better go talk to him."

She nodded, her thoughts muddled. "Yes. I will. But…Zack…" She searched his face with her eyes, but he gave nothing away. The guy who could so easily read others had sure learned to keep his own emotions hidden away.

"You two need to deal with this. Thought I was helping." He rubbed his mouth. "Didn't mean to make things worse."

"I just wish I understood." She shook her head. "I don't even understand myself."

"That's what I was trying to show you." Zack rose too, his posture stiff. "You two better talk. I'll go pack."

"What? No!"

"Don't think Aidan's going to want me around after this."

"I'll talk to him. Don't leave, Zack." She wasn't sure why she was begging him to stay. After what they'd just done, maybe it would be better if he left. But that didn't feel right. She didn't want him to go. And where would he go, anyway? "Please, don't leave."

He hesitated. "I'll wait till morning." He too disappeared down the hall.

Maddie closed her eyes. This was all messed up. How had this happened? Why had this happened? Had they put their entire relationship at risk just to explore some crazy, erotic fantasy?

Find out more about Kelly and her books at www.kellyjamieson.com.