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I remembered that existence. It had been...lonely. There was no other word to describe it. The loneliness was like a clamp on my heart, squeezing the life from me. I had been dying ever so painfully, and I had never even noticed.

“You run away from your problems,” Bitch Me was saying now, and any pity I felt for her instantly diminished. I spun on my heel so quickly that she staggered back a step. Despite being the exact same height, I felt as if I was towering over. With an imperious set to my chin, I spoke through gritted teeth.

“I don’t run away from my problems. Not anymore.Youdo. And I’m not you. I changed...I’m better than I used to be.” I gave her a once-over, my lips curling in disgust. I really had been a pathetic creature. Needy and undeserving of love. There were so many people I had hurt, Ducky and Calax to name a few. My life was a literal wrecking ball. Everyone in my path had paid the price, sometimes with their lives. “I’m better than you.”

I had to give B.M. credit - she didn’t cower away as I thought she would. Instead, she raised her chin and met my stare defiantly.

“You can say all you want, but I know the truth. You have feelings for all of them, don’t you? All seven of them?” Something must’ve flickered in my face, guilt most likely, for she threw back her head in laughter. “Don’t you think it would be easier to let them go? To stop stringing them along?”

Before she had even finished speaking, I was already shaking my head.

“I’m not. Stringing them along, that is. I’m only with Calax and Ryder.”

Bitch Me put her hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side. Brown tresses glowed in the waning sunlight, highlighting the strands of orange and gold. Damn I was a hot piece of ass.

Not the time, Adelaide.

“Two boyfriends?” she said dryly. “And you believe that you’renotstringing them along? That’s low, even for you.”

I didn’t have to stand there and take her shit.

I knew what we had was unconventional, but it worked for us. I loved them, all of them, and they loved me. So what if it wasn’t the traditional boy and girl romance? As I stated before, nothing about us was traditional. We were seven enigmas, seven tortured souls. We found each other when we had no one else, and faith intertwined our lives together.

There was no doubt in my mind that we belonged together.

All of us.

The realization sent me staggering back a step. I hadn’t just included Calax and Ryder in that clump of people. I had thought of all of them - all seven of them.

And me.

God, how have I been so stupid? It was so obvious that I wanted to scream.

I was in love with them. With Calax and Ryder. With Ronan, my sarcastic and sexy leprechaun. With Asher and Tamson, two of the sweetest boys I had ever met. With the brooding Fallon. With my best friend, Declan.

B.M. smiled, no doubt coming to the same conclusion I had.

“You’re only hurting them. If you loved them, you’d let them go.”

Intuitively, I glanced over my shoulder. Seven distinct silhouettes stood in the forest. I didn’t have to see any features to know who they were. The seven men who had captured my heart. The seven men who held that organ in their hands. The seven men who had the capacity to either build me up...or completely destroy me.

And I, them.

After all, love was a two-way street.

“Let them go,” I parroted mechanically. My eyes slid back towards B.M.. With a soft smile, the first sincere smile I had seen on her face since I had met her in this shit hole, she extended a hand.

“Come,” she said softly. “End their pain. End your own pain. You’ll be happier with me.”

Indecision warred within me. I could hear the guys beckoning me to come with them. To allow them to love me. For me to love them in return.

But was that fair to them? There was only one of me and seven of them.

I wanted to run to them. Calax would hold me in his arms, offering words of comfort. Ronan would make a quip, and Ryder would respond with a sexual innuendo. Asher would berate both of them for their inappropriate behavior while smiling sheepishly down at me. Tamson would blush at the exchange, but a small smile, a smile reserved only for me, would grace his features. Declan would roll his eyes to the heaven. It was something he always did when he was searching for patience. And Fallon? He would glare at everyone present.

Except for me.

No, when his eyes met mine, they would flare with heat and something warmer. Something that I had never seen on our fearless leader’s face before. It would soften his features considerably until the brooding male was almost entirely unrecognizable.

“This is for the best,” B.M. assured me, no doubt privy to my inner turmoil.

“For the best,” I repeated numbly. Her hand was extended towards me. Tempting me. Begging me to take it.

The guys were still behind me, calling for me. They wanted me to come home.

After a moment, I put my hand in hers.