Page 17

“We will take care of your car,” Calder says.

“Can you guys stay with me?” I ask.

“If you want, we will stay,” Julian says.

“I do,” I sigh and roll to my side to face Julian. “Please don’t treat me differently, Juli.”

“I can’t get the way you begged out of my head,” he says softly. “At the time, I loved it. Knowing you didn’t want that…”

“Stop,” I say. “Don’t do that.”

“Liza,” Julian says as he rolls to face me more. “You begged me to stop.Begged. You cried as I fucked you, and now you are asking me to pretend I didn’t hurt you. Just because I didn’t cause you damage doesn’t mean I didn’t hurt you.”

“I was overwhelmed and angry because I thought you two were ignoring me. If you had done this the day before you left, I’d be full of your come right now. I just need time to process this, but I want that to be real,” I say.

“Eliza,” Julian starts to say.

“Not now. I don’t know when, but unless you have suddenly stopped loving me… I want a second chance to get things right.”

“I haven’t stopped loving you,” Julian sighs.

“Then just hold me,” I say. “Please.”

Julian sighs and pulls me to his chest, so he and Calder wrap their arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Liza,” Julian whispers. I bury my face and relax, despite how tense he is. I have an ache in my pussy from how hard he was fucking me, and it’s too delicious to ignore.

I know he didn’t mean to do any of that. Maybe it’s just my unwillingness to think he’d hurt me intentionally, but I believe them. I know in my heart that he didn’t mean any harm. Troy did this, and I’m positive it was a way to try and get me away from them. He can’t stand the idea of me being close to someone else. If he wants to fight dirty, then let the games begin. He hurt three people, and while I might be able to handle this, it’s breaking Julian. If I never have to hear him sob like that again, it will be too soon.

Nine

Eliza

Three Days Later

This weekend has been…weird. Julian and Calder have spent every single second of their time doting on me, from making me food to asking how I am and offering to do random things for me. They are trying to turn themselves into my maids in a way, but it’s mostly that they have turned almost submissive. This morning, I playfully said they drank all the coffee, and Julian practically broke his neck to make more, despite me saying he didn’t have to. Their love language is definitely acts of service because that’s the way they’re always showing their affection.

I’m trying to think of ways we can build our relationship back stronger, but I don’t know what to do. I just wantthem, but I don’t want them to feel like I am blindly forgiving them. Maybe they could have checked in more, but what reason did they have to check on me? They were so clear in their messages that I can’t place any fault on them. I know that I’ll have to focus on Calder first, because he isn’t carrying as much guilt as Julian, who avoids looking at me and is suddenly mild-mannered.

I sat out of the staff meeting today so I can meet with Ryan. I want to talk to him about all of this because he is their friend. They trusted him with me, so I know he is the one I should talk to. I also intend to talk to Troy, but I’m going to call from my old phone before I destroy it. No way in fuck he is getting my new number.

The office door comes open, and Ryan walks in with two coffees. “Hey,” I say.

“Walk with me. The guys are coming back,” he says. He probably knows I want to talk to him about them. They have been acting weird all day.

“Is that for me?” I ask.

“It sure is,” he says, handing me one of the cups. We step out of the office and go to the stairwell. Once the door is shut, we walk up to the door that goes out to the roof. “So, what’s up?”

“Well… I need to explain something that happened first, but just listen. Okay?” I say.

“Alright,” Ryan says.

“So… Troy apparently made an account for me on VelvetBound,” I say.

“Oh no…”

“Yeah… I assume it is him, but… Can I just show you the messages? They gave me the password to their account.”

“Do they know you’re talking to me?” He asks, taking my new phone from me.