“Still couldn’t make her stay, could I?”
“You are enough. I know you know that now,” I say, reaching for his hand and twisting our fingers together while my other hand strokes through Zeke’s hair.
“I know Addie’s with Mikey, but if she weren’t, if you had the chance, would you take it?” Zeke asks.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, and I wouldn’t stop until she was clawing me to pieces. You?”
Zeke nods. “The attraction never went away. But we know it’s all of us or none of us.”
I turn my head, locking eyes with Roman. “What about you, Captain?”
“Honestly? I don’t know…” He lets the words sit there for a second before pushing through them. “But I get it. I always have, and she’s never been off the table when it comes to you two. And yeah, I’d love to fuck you both while you’re touching her, but my hands on her body? Pretty sure it would kill me a little, and I’m not willing to put myself through it.”
CHAPTER
NINE
ROMAN
It’s just a drink.
It’s just a catch-up with an old friend because that’s what she was first.
Before I went and fell in love with her.
Why the fuck can’t I let it go?
I don’t mean the kind of letting go you do when something’s finished and it makes sense. I mean the kind where every part of you knows it’s over, but your body still tightens when you hear their name. The kind where your chest still fucking aches when you imagine them with someone else.
I know Addison’s married now, and that should’ve been the end of it, but here I am, standing in front of the door, my heart punching against my ribs like it’s trying to break free, while she knocks on the other side.
Maybe this is a step toward moving on.
Maybe tonight I can remember how to be her friend.
Maybe I should stop lying to myself.
I glance to my right at Jasper. He’s so confident, so unapologetically himself. He’s the kind of man you want to lean onforever, the one who doesn’t wait for you to ask before he catches you. You just know he’s already there, holding you up before you even realize you’re falling.
Then to my left, there’s Zeke, who’s soft in a way that makes you literally fucking ache. He’s all heart, all beauty, and there’s something about how he exists in the world that makes you want to cover him in bubble wrap, but you know he’s protecting you just as fiercely. One look from him and you understand that this man would burn the world down for the people he loves.
These guys make me a sappy bastard, but I’m more than good with it.
I’m grateful.
Jasper steps forward and pulls open the door, and there she is—Addison Hope, standing in the cold with her blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail, soft wisps escaping to frame her face. She’s wearing a black tank under a thick winter coat she hasn’t bothered to button, the edges flaring open like she left in a hurry.
Maybe she wasn’t planning to come and changed her mind at the last second.
“Get in here before you freeze your tiny ass off,” Jasper says, and she steps inside, closing the door behind her.
Jasper reaches out and helps her slide off her coat, ever the gentleman when it suits him, and that’s when I see those jeans. Low-slung and faded in all the right places, hugging her hips and ass like they were custom-made to destroy me.
“Hey.” She smiles at me and Zeke, but it’s clear she’s nervous.
It’s subtle, but the tells are still there—tight smile, fingers twitching at her sides, and blue eyes that won’t hold mine for more than a second.
She might be trying to play it cool, but I’ve known Addison for a long time, and I can read her without even trying.
