I need to tell them.
“You were right by my side getting your throat fucked by Roman,” I answer.
“And my hand between your thighs, don’t forget,” Jasper adds, biting down on that full lower lip. “You were shaking, angel.”
“Okay, you two.” Zeke groans, dragging a hand over his face. “It’s difficult enough letting you go, Addie, without the three of us being left here with our dicks hard.”
“What a shame that would be,” I purr, leaning in just enough to be a menace. “Because if I imagine the three of you together while I’m gone—fucking, touching, all sweaty and desperate—” Jasper slaps his hand over my mouth before I can finish, but I’m already laughing against his palm.
“No more out of you,” he growls, grinning. “Now get your ass out of here, and we’ll see you in a few hours.”
I nod and turn to leave, but I can’t stop my eyes from drifting back to Roman. He hasn’t moved. His chin is dipped slightly, arms crossed tight over his chest, doing that whole silent, protective thing he does when he’s trying too hard not to feel.
But then his eyes finally lift to meet mine.
I don’t want you to leave again.
Please stay.
I still want you.
I wish I knew how to be what you need.
A thousand unsaid things, packed into a single look.
He doesn’t speak or reach for me, and even though I pretend it doesn’t, it hurts.
The snow crunches beneath my boots as I make my way to the car, my breath fogging in the icy air. I slide into the driver’s seat, my fingers stiff and numb from the cold, fumbling with the keys before finally getting the engine started. I crank the heater up as high as it’ll go, and Bing Crosby’s voice drifts through the speakers. Christmas lights blink from distant cabins tucked between the pines, turning the whole drive down the mountain into something that belongs on the front of a holiday card.
I reach my house and step through the front door, and the cold hits me hard. I haven’t been home in days, so yes, it’s physically freezing. But it’s more than that. The warmth I’d felt wrapped up in them—the comfort and the closeness I’d just started to get used to—are gone now.
This house, the place that once felt like my safe haven, suddenly feels lonelier than ever. As I stand in the kitchen, taking it all in, I realize I’ve never felt more detached from this space or the life I thought I wanted. The only things that truly keep mehere are my bookstore and my family, and even then, if I ever had to leave, I know I could. There’s always a plane ticket, and I can always visit.
But my store… that’s different.
My bookstore is my baby.
I took it from a dusty, forgotten space and turned it into a place where stories breathe, ache, and burn. It’s a home for every kind of romance, especially the ones with men who make you want to crawl inside the pages and never come back out.
But is it more important thanthem?
No. Not even close.
I think they want me to commit to them, but none of us have actually talked about what that would look like. We’ve been living in this perfect little bubble, and now that I’m out of it and back in my own space, my mind won’t stop racing.
I have a thousand thoughts and even more what-ifs.
Tomorrow, they’ll be gone.
All I’ve got left is tonight to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.
“I am one proud father,” my dad says as he takes in my sister and me for the first time tonight. “You’re both so beautiful.”
“Aren’t they just?” my mom adds, beaming as she slips her arm through his.
“Are you ready for tonight?”
“Of course,” he says with a grin. “You know I love a bit of fuss, Addie.”
