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“Grey,” I gasped.

“I owe you an apology.” He nuzzled my neck, inhaling me like he was trying to reacquaint himself with the way I smelled.

God, these men were dramatic. So fucking clingy and affectionate. And what did it say about me that I loved it so damn much?

“I’m listening.” My voice was uneven, shaky from his nearness.

“I apologize for not telling you what it was sooner so you never would have gone on that date.”

That wasnotan apology.

“But everything I said that night remains the same. I’ll fuck you every night you need me and take you on as many dates as you want.”

“What if I?—”

“Let me finish,” he commanded hoarsely against my neck. “I don’t know if you know this yet but I don’t have a soft spot for many people. For a while, it’s just been my family and Noah. But I care about how you feel, True. And I wanna be the reason you feel good, not however you were feeling for the past two days.” He finally kissed my neck instead of teasing me and my knees buckled on the spot.

Greyson’s hold on me kept me upright. I snaked my arms around his shoulders for reinforcement. I was falling. In so many ways. Maybe it was me who was wrapped around his finger because he hadn’t said much and I was ready to give in.

“I wanna be the reason for a lot of things when it comes to you, but I’m not trying to scare you off because it’s only been a month.”

He lifted his head from its resting place in the crook of my neck and stared at me intensely.

Those eyes.

I felt like they could see things I didn’t know how to hide.

“You make me excited, True. I love coming home to you and Noah. I love how easy it is for us to be around you. And I want more of that. You need me to be your friend? I can do that. But you know I can give you so much more. I want to give you so much more.”

My heart did funny things every time he brought up Noah. It was like he was subconsciously telling me that this thing between us could be…no. There was no way he was suggesting that, right?

It wasn’t far fetched. I was the product of a polyamorous relationship and now I could confidently say I’d made a friend with a woman in one too. But was that what Greyson was implying?

The questions in my head were spinning too fast for me to grasp one and ask it. It was making me dizzy and reminding me that all I’d eaten today was desserts. I needed sustenance. Maybe then all of this would make sense.

Greyson still had his hands on me, but my knees were no longer weak, so I subtly turned out of his embrace.

“Let me blow out this candle so we can have dinner.”

“Yea.” His Adam’s apple moved up and down while he watched me with hooded eyes. “You do that.”

It had been a week since the Fall Festival, and every night True stayed at our house later and later.

On Monday, Noah wanted to make s’mores in our courtyard, so she sat around the fire, talking with him hours after they ate the five they made.

On Tuesday, Noah wanted to try his hand at a five-hundred piece puzzle, so all three of us sat around the coffee table and built the damn puzzle from beginning to end.

On Wednesday, True wanted to go dancing, so we went to Lucky’s and I watched her and Noah get drunk in the middle of the work week and dance like they were the only two people in that bar.

On Thursday, they were both sick with a “mysterious illness” they swore had nothing to do with how much they drank the night before, so I called my mom and asked her for her hangover soup recipe. When I delivered it to them on a tray in the living room, True had given me a lopsided smile and cupped the side of my cheek, saying, “This is why you’re my favorite.”

And Friday. Well, today was Friday and it was the first time True had fallen asleep after one of our dinners. There had been no alcohol tonight, but they made another round of s’mores before watching movies on the couch.

So, here I was, fresh out of my shower, looking down at the fallen soldiers with a calm I’d been feeling more and more lately.

Fuck, they looked like everything I adored. They weren’t touching, not really, but they were close enough for anybody to see they wanted to.

Noah’s head looked like it had gotten too heavy for him to hold up before he finally let it fall, sagging dangerously close to True’s shoulder. And True’s mouth hung open just enough for a smile to steal across my face when I looked at her.