Page 179 of Craving Consequences
“Van, please,” she rasps.
“Stay or leave, Evie?”
A tear slips past her lashes. “Why are you doing this?”
The broken croak devastates me, but Van never falters. He’s firm in his hold, in his torture.
“Because I need you to admit you belong to us. I need you to hear it so you never forget. Because the next time you think about running, you won’t.”
Her bottom lip quivers but there’s fire in her eyes when she meets his challenge with a deep frown of her own.
“I’m trying to protect you,” she snaps at him.
“Don’t. We don’t need protection. We need you.”
She sniffles, but rather than demand to be put down, she turns her face into his neck. A shaky sob escapes edged with resignation.
“What if you realize I’m not worth it?” Her voice splinters on the confession.
Over her shoulder, I watch Van’s features soften. His gray eyes meet mine and I know we’re both thinking the same thing.
“That will never happen,” I murmur for both of us. “The only thing we’ll ever regret is losing you.”
She’s still and silent for so long. I know there’s a whole war taking place in her head. A collision of doubts and fears I know all too well. But we don’t rush her. We don’t press as we wait for her to pick us.
“Take me to bed,” she says softly at long last.
He shakes his head. “Not until I hear you say it.”
She draws back and peers down into his face. Her eyes search his as if trying to find his weakness.
“I want you. Both of you,” she turns her head in my direction. “Nothing will ever change that.” She takes a deep breath, one that lifts her shoulders nearly to her ears. A bracing one. “Stay,” she blurts. “Stay with me. I know it’s asking a lot, but I don’t want to sleep alone or only have you on weekends. I want to wake up with you in the morning and know you’ll come home to me at night.”
Van makes no response and I’m not given the chance to when he jostles her higher and starts in the direction of the stairs.
I don’t ask where he’s going. I’m already jogging after them, hands twisted in the hem of my top.
In the bedroom, he sets her down gently on the mattress. Only one half of the bed has the sheets thrown back, the side with the lit lamp and the forgotten novel on the pillow. She doesn’t hesitate scooting back towards the center, towards the headboard, as Van and I discard our tops and kick our shoes off.
She watches us with appreciation, the kind that definitely would have already had her flat on her back, but we’re not done talking.
“Done,” Van tells her as he climbs up on her right side.
She swallows audibly. “You should think about it before—”
He shakes his head. “Done.”
Her head turns to me as I take her other side. “It might take some doing, but we’ll figure it out.”
She stares between us, eyes bright with unshed tears. “Are you sure?”
Van kisses her.
I bury my face into the side of her neck and follow the vein to the hollow of her throat. We’re both careful not to nudge her injured arm, but she’s making it damn hard when she’s dragging Van over her.
“Easy.” He chuckles against her greedy lips. “We’re not doing that tonight.”
Panting, Everly looks between us. “Why?”
