Page 20

Kerrington

Nicole needs to be real with herself and us. If this is truly only going to be a week-long fantasy, then maybe Landon and I should pull the plug on it now. We’re already in too deep with our hearts, and it’s like Nicole doesn’t see it at all.

“Does she really think we can’t see that she loves us?” Landon asks as he dries off. “It’s insulting.”

“You’re reaching, again, Lan.” I’m not sure she loves us at all. She only needs us. We’re a temporary distraction. A reprieve from her sorry ass life. I hate it.

“The only thing I’m reaching is my boiling point,” Landon snaps. He storms out of the bathroom, and I follow because I’m terrified that he’s going to blow up again, which isn’t going to help.

Instead, Landon puts on a pair of sweatpants and heads into the kitchen.

I’ve already cleaned up the mess he accidentally made dropping all the fast food earlier. Most of the burgers and some of the other food was salvageable, but the soda-soaked chicken nuggets and fries were not. There’s also a pile of towels where about two liters of drinks spilled all over the cream-colored rug.

That hilarious moment of watching Landon see Nicole all decked out for his pleasure, dropping everything in his hands so he could touch her, and the mess that came from it is…

Reality catching up to all of us.

First the fun. Then the hunger. Then the pleasure. And last… the aftermath and mess.

Nicole is back in her robe, standing outside on the balcony.

The sun has set.

“This burger tastes like shit,” Lan tosses the rest of it in the trash.

I calmly head back to the bedroom to finish getting dressed and snag my cell from the end table. Next to mine is Nicole’s. Temptation wins me over and I tap the screen to see her notifications.

There are so many, it’s insane.

Just one more reminder that she’s a successful and busy woman with a life waiting impatiently for her to get back to it. Meanwhile, Landon and I are in limbo with our careers.

Her screen lights up with an incoming call. The name across the screen reads TW . Figuring it’s a work thing, I let it go to voicemail. Our girl is offline for the foreseeable future.

Plugging it into the charger, I leave her phone in the room and head back out to a cranky Landon chugging bottled water.

“You’re hangry.” Pulling up the map on my cell, I search for a decent restaurant when Mason’s name lights up my screen. “Mason’s calling.”

“Answer it.”

“Hey man,” I turn away from Landon to check on Nicole again.

“Hey man, my ass. Where is she?”

“Still with us.” I’m getting a headache. Sinking onto the couch, I rub my forehead and sigh heavily. “Why?”

“Her parents are looking for her.”

“She’s a grown woman, Mason. Not a teenager with a fucking curfew.”

“She’s a Greystone ,” he tosses back. “She’s a power piece in an expensive game.”

I hate that he’s comparing her to a bougie pawn. “Not anymore, she’s not,” I say, like I have any control here.

“Fucking Hell, Kerrington.” Mason catches my drift, then. Good. “What the fuck do you plan to do with her?”

“Keep her. Take care of her. Runaway with her if we have to.”

His silence makes me want to scream. As far as dropping the Hey-bestie-I’ve-been-in-love-with-your-ex-fiancé-for-forever bomb goes, I probably should have handled this with a little more class and respect .

Too late to take it back.

“Good,” he says, shocking me. “It’s about fucking time, bro.”

I almost drop my phone. “What?”

“You heard me.” Mason chuckles. “I was wondering when you were going to finally admit that you love her.”

My heart falls between my feet. “You knew?”

“Of course, douchebag. And FYI, Landon does too, so if he’s not on the same train as you, he better get on board before I kick his ass.”

“He’s on board,” I say quickly, a smile trying to work its way across my face. “He’s willing to kidnap and keep her hostage in our basement.”

“You don’t have a basement.”

“That’s what I said.” Laughter bubbles out of me and relief makes me a little lightheaded. I honestly had no idea how we were going to tell Mason about Nicole. It’s one thing to go out dancing for a night, but it’s another to want to keep her forever with us.

“You should have said something sooner,” Mason chides. “I would have supported you.”

I guess that’s true, but… “It wasn’t right. With you two engaged. There was no way I, or Landon, would’ve ever touched her.”

“Even though you knew I was doing everything in my power to get out of it?”

“Yeah.” I lean back, running my hand down my face. “I wasn’t going to step in until I knew for sure that…”

Nicole opens the balcony door and steps back inside, her hair wind-blown and the tip of her nose bright red.

“Knew for sure that what?” Mason asks, forcing me back on track.

“Knew that it was over for good between you two.”

“Christ, I would have paid you to take her. Even if she’d been my w…” He gags. “My wi—” He gags again. “Christ, I can’t even say it.”

“ Wife ,” I say, knowing it’s all an act on his end. But when I say the word, I stare at Nicole and the burning desire to make her my wife is so fucking strong, my chest hurts.

Landon slowly approaches her from behind, wraps his arms around her waist, and presses little kisses on her temple.

Aaaaand suddenly, I see our future.

“So, she’s doing okay?” Mason asks, once again making me refocus on our conversation instead of the beautiful sight in front of me.

“She’s getting there.” I tap my leg, beckoning Nicole over to me. She leaves Landon and sits on my lap, curling into my chest and making me feel ten kinds of protective of her.

“Leah wants to go out to dinner tonight. Do you all want to join us at the Magnolia?”

I think he really just wants to see Nicole for himself. Not that he doesn’t trust us, but I know Mase well enough to catch when he’s being protective, too. We hauled her out of his house like two knights with a damsel in distress, after all.

“Let me ask.” I slip Nicole’s hair off her shoulder and kiss her cheek. “Mason and Leah want to meet for dinner. Do you want to go?”

“Ugh, with Mason? No. With Leah? Always.”

“We’re a two for one, Nicole!” Mason yells into the phone. “You know all about that kind of deal, considering you’re with my two best friends.”

“We’ll see you at eight.” I hang up quickly and give Nicole all my attention.

She giggles against me, not at all flustered by Mason’s commentary. She never is. The two of them give each other a hard time about everything. It’s their love language. “Two for one,” she repeats, shaking her head. “Wow.”

“I think he just meant you can’t have one without the other.”

“I know,” she says, her expression somber. When her eyes meet mine, we both understand that rule goes beyond Mason and Leah. It’s for Landon and me, too. “I wouldn’t want one without the other,” she says, her cheeks flushing. “Does that make me greedy and selfish?”

Landon sits down next to us. “No. It makes you honest and true.”

Backing up Lan’s comment, I offer her a reassuring smile and nod.

Nicole shakes her head and huffs. “How do you guys act like it’s so easy?”

“It’s not an act,” I say.

“And it is that easy,” Landon adds. He places his hand on her thigh and captures her gaze. “You get one shot at this life, Nicole. One. Do you want to spend it chasing someone else’s dream and hope for a smidgeon of joy, or do you want to go for exactly what you want and be extraordinarily happy for the rest of your life?”

Her mouth opens to argue with him, but she shuts it.

“When are you going to do what makes you happy, Nicole?” He cups her cheek. “When are you going to finally say fuck it? Fuck anyone who doesn’t want to see you live your life how you want. Fuck anything that doesn’t make you happy. Fuck everything that brings you sorrow. Fuck whatever holds you back from getting what you want most. Fuck it all.”

Nicole sags in my lap, her shoulders drooping. “I don’t know,” she says quietly.

“What do you know?” Landon asks. He’s not getting snippy yet, but I can tell it’s coming. Landon doesn’t have speeds to his emotions. He’s full stop, or full throttle.

Nicole blows out an exasperated breath. “I know I can’t keep living like I am.”

“That’s a start,” he says.

“I know I want more out of my life.” She turns so she can see my face, too. “I know… I love how I feel being with you.”

My heart tries to inflate but can’t find the courage to.

“What else?” Landon presses.

“I know I…”

“What?” we both ask at the same time.

Her cheeks turn pink, and she clams up again.

“Nicole, we’re here to help.” I run my hand up and down her arm. “Whatever it is you want, we’ll help you get it. We want to see you happy, baby.”

Her brow pinches, like she’s unsure if she should believe me or not. “I don’t want to be selfish.”

“You don’t have a selfish bone in your glorious goddamn body,” Landon says. “Nicole, seriously? You are the most generous person we’ve ever met.”

She shakes her head, refuting it, but I grip her chin, forcing her to stop. “Tell us your selfish thing.” We can argue all day and night about our views on one another, but it won’t fix her hangups right now. All we can do is go along with it until we hear what it is she wants most.

Then we’ll make sure she gets it.

“I’ll tell you in a week,” she says, copping out.

“You said you wanted more than a week,” I shoot back. “Did you change your mind that fast?”

“No.” Nicole bites her bottom lip again. It’s a nervous tick of hers. One I’ve never seen her do this much, and at the rate she’s going, she’ll eat her mouth off.

“Be selfish.” Landon tips her face to his and cocks his brow. “We want you to be the most selfish creature on earth, Duchess .”

She swallows hard and pulls away from him.

“Okay,” Nicole finally whispers.

This is a small victory in a much larger battle. One, I’m scared we won’t win in the end.