Page 27 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. Two (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #2)
Wren
“Stop looking away.”
With a huff, I lock gazes with Oliver.
“I didn’t even realize I broke eye contact.”
Oliver’s eyes sparkle with amusement.
“I know. It’s hard to keep track of everything your body does, but you’ll get better at it.”
The corners of Rhett’s mouth tip up in a small smile.
“We had to teach Oliver how to lie, too.”
“Really?”
Oliver shrugs.
“Didn’t have a reason to do it much when I was a kid. My mom’s not very strict.”
“I learned from an early age by watching my mom,”
Elliot says.
“She habitually lies to my dad, and I realized that she always mixes in some amount of truth, which makes it easier and probably more believable.”
“Oh. That makes sense, I suppose.”
“That’s why we’re having Aubrey actually ask you to go get her makeup bag,”
Elliot says.
“Not only will you be able to tell a little truth if someone asks what you’re doing, but other people will overhear, so they’ll be able to back up your claim that you’re just doing what Aubrey asked.”
“Right. But if I get caught leaving the billiard room, I have to also pull off saying that I’m lost.”
“And that you just happened to find the door unlocked,”
Oliver adds.
“But only if someone else points it out. Since it’s Ludo’s private room, it’s possible that the guys who work for him don’t even know it stays locked.”
“Got it,”
I say slowly. I don’t know if I can do that.
“We’ll get you there, sweetheart,”
Rhett replies, and it takes me a moment to realize I said that last part out loud.
“So let’s try again,”
Oliver says.
“And remember, maintain eye contact.”
“Okay, but I look away sometimes during normal conversations, don’t I?” I ask.
“Yep. But you always look away when you lie. It’s one of your tells. A common one, so don’t feel bad.”
With a groan, I slouch into my seat.
“What else do I do?”
“You bite your lip a lot. The inside of your cheek, too. And after you finish, while you’re waiting to see if you pulled it off, your eyes get all wide.”
Oliver grins.
“It’s pretty cute, actually.”
“So don’t look away, don’t widen my eyes, and don’t bite my lip.”
It’s a lot to focus on at once, but I have to try. This has to work.
“Ready?”
Elliot says.
“Ready.”
“What are you doing here?”
Elliot asks, his tone firm and a touch intimidating.
“Just grabbing Aubrey’s makeup bag.”
I slightly raise the one I grabbed from upstairs to use as a prop. While I do, I keep my gaze fixed on Elliot. Don’t bite your lip. Or your cheek. And don’t open your eyes more.
“Now you look like you’re trying to shoot lasers out of your eyes.”
Oliver is barely holding back a laugh.
“Just look at him the way you normally do.”
“Okay.”
Rolling back my shoulders, I take a deep breath to reset myself. “Again.”
“What’re you doing here?”
Elliot asks.
“Oh, Aubrey asked me to grab her makeup bag. Gotta do a quick touch up.”
“You grimaced,”
Rhett says.
“You can’t grimace. It’s a dead giveaway.”
I drop my face into my hands.
“I’m hopeless.”
“You’re not,”
Oliver says.
“It just takes practice, and you’re already getting better. Do you want to take a little break? We can focus on something else?”
Something else? Rhett already had me in the gym this morning for self-defense training. After our meeting yesterday with Aubrey, he’s also bent on helping me have more situational awareness. We spent hours on the blueprints of Ludo’s home until the layout was burned into my mind. He also has plans to take me to places I’m less familiar with to teach me what I should be on the lookout for.
It’s overwhelming to say the least, but all three of them are patient teachers. I’ll be fine as long as I have them.
“I want to stay focused on this,”
I say.
“Let’s go again?”
Oliver squeezes my knee.
“We can go as many times as you’d like, princess.”
I smile.
“Again, then.”
For the rest of the afternoon, they coach me on every little thing I do that could indicate I’m lying. Even when I make the same mistakes over and over again, they never show an ounce of annoyance. I appreciate it—knowing I’m not irritating them makes it easier for me to concentrate.
By the time the guys finally deem one of my lies believable, my stomach is growling. Not only am I hungry, but I’m exhausted. Who knew learning to lie would take so much energy?
“I’ll throw some lasagna in the oven.”
Elliot stands from his spot on the couch and stretches.
“You did a fantastic job, love. We’ll do this a couple more times with different questions, and by then, I think you’ll be ready to go. For this, anyway.”
That’s a relief. Over the past twenty-four hours, Elliot has come around to the idea of me breaking into the safe. I can’t fault him for his original stance. Our very first weekend together, this is exactly why he didn’t want to start anything serious with me.
The thing is, at this point, I’m in deep enough that there’s no escaping the potential danger that comes along with being with them. Elliot—all three of them, really—want to be able to protect me, but they need to be able to take risks. And no matter how much we all wish I was, I’m not immune to the consequences of their actions.
“I’ll help with dinner,”
I say as Elliot makes his way out of the living room.
Oliver catches my wrist as I walk past.
“You did well, princess. I’m proud of how far you got today.”
Rhett nods in agreement, and warmth floods my veins. They’re never shy with their praise, but that doesn’t make it mean any less.
“Thank you.”
I lean down and kiss Rhett’s cheek.
Over the past few days, I’ve caught him watching me with concern written all over his face multiple times. I think he’s worried that I’ll come to my senses at some point and realize I am afraid of him, but that’s not going to happen. I trust him.
In the kitchen, Elliot is pulling an aluminum pan out of the refrigerator.
“Gotta make more,”
he mutters to himself. He mentioned that they like to meal prep for when they get bogged down with work, so I bet this is the remainder of their last batch.
“Need help?” I ask.
“I think I’m good. Although I suppose we should have some vegetables. Or, like, a salad.”
I open the fridge, but I’m greeted by mostly bare shelves. “Um…”
He groans.
“There’s not much in there, huh?”
“Not really.”
I shut the fridge doors.
“I meant to go to the grocery store this morning,”
Elliot says on a sigh.
“But then I overslept, and then I was working, and… well, here we are. Fuck, and we’re behind on laundry, too. And just about every chore you could think of.”
“Not all of them,”
I say.
“I saw Oliver with the vacuum this morning.”
“Yeah, but that’s for—”
He cuts himself off.
“I guess that counts.”
“And we have some time before the oven preheats, so why don’t you and I start a load of laundry.”
Taking his hand, I tug him into the pantry, which leads into the laundry room.
Oh, wow. He wasn’t exaggerating. There are piles of dirty clothes everywhere. At the sight, Elliot lets out a distressed sound.
“We’re normally really good at keeping up with chores and stuff,”
he says as we gather up a load and throw it in the washer.
“The past month has just been…”
“Hell,”
I finish for him softly as he tosses a detergent pod in with the clothes.
“Not all of it. Some of it’s been damn near perfect. But the rest of it? I don’t even know what day it is anymore.”
Elliot closes the door and presses a couple buttons.
“All I know is that today’s Sunday. And that’s only because I got a text from my boss this morning asking if I could come back and work my normal hours starting tomorrow.”
Elliot freezes with his finger hovering over the start button.
“What did you say?”
“Haven’t responded yet. Obviously I can’t go back to work next week. We have too much going on. But I’m not sure how long she’ll let me take off before she replaces me permanently.”
“How do you feel about that?”
His gaze is fixed on the button.
“About being replaced permanently, that is.”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
“Oh?”
“I can’t go back. Not now. And I can’t keep my boss hanging like this. It’s not fair to her or my coworkers to keep the shop understaffed until I make a decision.”
With a short breath of relief, he presses start.
“So you’re gonna quit?”
“I, um… I think so.”
“You know we’re good with that, right?”
he asks as we move back to the kitchen.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know what life will look like once we’re done with Ludo. But I do know that we don’t have to worry about money. I mean, I’m sure we’ll do something. Maybe we’ll keep taking jobs, or maybe we’ll go back to the dreams we had before. I don’t know.”
Dreams we had before.
“Like your bookshop idea?”
He narrows his eyes.
“Ol tell you about that?”
“Yeah. We had a similar conversation, and I told him I used to want to open a book and coffee shop.”
“Is that so?”
His tone is oddly thoughtful, and he’s looking at me curiously.
“Mmhmm. Used to dream about it all the time.”
“It’d be nice, wouldn’t it?”
Elliot smiles, and even though it fades quickly, a modicum of hope is left in his eyes.
“It would be.”
The oven beeps, startling us both. Elliot pulls the lid off the pan before throwing the lasagna in. Once he’s closed the oven door, he leans against the counter and opens his arms to me. I enter them and press my face into his neck.
“Thank you,”
he says quietly after a minute.
“Thank you?”
“You’ve changed our lives, Wren. And our future. You’ve added so much light, so much happiness. These past few weeks… I can’t imagine them without you, and I can’t imagine our future without you, either. It’s hard to believe the ball was only a month ago. Sometimes it feels like it’s been a whole year.”
“I’ve caught myself thinking the same thing a couple times,”
I reply.
“I guess it makes sense. We may still be at the beginning of our relationship, but we’ve already been through so much together. The Williams job, Adam trashing my apartment, Jordan kidnapping me… it’s a lot. We’ve had no choice but to fast-track things. We’ve seen parts of each other we potentially wouldn’t’ve seen for years in different circumstances.”
“True.”
His hand strokes up and down my spine, which makes me relax into his touch.
“And without you, I don’t think we’d be where we are right now. I wish we never let Jordan get his hands on you, but we wouldn’t know about Andrew and Benny if it wasn’t for you.”
Oh.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I’m not saying I’m happy you were kidnapped,”
he adds quickly.
“If I could go back and take your place, I would. But… well, I am happy that you fought me that very first weekend. I was too scared to follow the pull we all felt, but you were brave enough to face your fears.”
“Elliot,”
I whisper.
His hand pauses on my lower back, and he presses me closer so our bodies are touching in as many places as possible.
“I’m happy you fought for us, love. Not just because of the progress we’ve made in regard to Ludo, but because… because of you. God, Wren, I love you so much it terrifies me, but it drives me, too. I want a world where you’re safe. I need a world where you’re safe, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure you get it.”
It may not be the first time he’s said he loves me, but butterflies still come to life in my stomach. With a shaky sigh, Elliot dips his head down and brushes his lips against mine. They’re soft and inviting, and his kiss is a welcome escape in the midst of so much pain.
As the kiss deepens, Elliot practically clings to me. I do the same, unsure of how else to demonstrate how much he means to me.
“I need you to be safe,”
he whispers after we pull away.
“I will be.”
I squeeze his shoulder gently.
“I can do this.”
For the briefest of moments, I think he might cry. But he just pulls me into him until my head is settled against his shoulder. He’s soft and hard at the same time, and I inhale deeply, savoring the light scent of sandalwood and oranges.
“I know you’re worried about the wedding,”
I say after a moment of silence.
“I am, too. But I need you to be safe.”
Releasing a long sigh, Elliot drops his head.
“I know. And I know you breaking into the safe is the smartest way to go about this. But I can’t stop worrying that something is going to go horribly wrong.”
“I’ll be okay,”
I say as confidently as I can. Rising up on my tiptoes, I plant a kiss on his lips.
“I’ll keep training, and I’ll be ready.”
With a shuddering breath, he nods. I’m not used to seeing him like this, and I don’t think he’s used to this level of anxiety, either.
“I’m sorry,”
he mutters.
“I’m supposed to be the brave one, but lately all I can think about is…”
He grimaces and shakes his head.
“I feel like I’ve been stripped of a layer of armor I didn’t even know I had.”
“I know the feeling,”
I whisper as I shut my eyes against the images of that cold, dark basement. The water, the mounting pressure in my lungs, the absolute terror that plagued my mind. I shiver.
“When this is all over, we’re taking you wherever you want to go,”
Elliot says.
“And we’re going to forget about all of this for a week and just be. We can explore a new city, spend time with each other, and be normal.”
“I’d like that.”
A ping sounds from Elliot’s pocket, and he sighs before fishing his phone out. After staring at the screen for a second, his face falls. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Our security system lets us know whenever someone gets close to the perimeter of our property, especially the driveway. It’s connected to our phones, so when it’s one of us, it says that as well. But we’re all here.”
He moves to one of the windows that faces the front yard, and his frown deepens.
“That’s my mom’s car. What the fuck are my parents doing here?”
“Ell.”
Oliver jogs into the kitchen, followed closely by Rhett.
“Did you see the notification?”
“Yeah. It’s my parents. I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t know they were showing up today.”
“It’s fine,”
Rhett says.
“But we can’t let them past the front room. We have too many incriminating things laying around right now.”
“Would it be horrible of us to pretend we’re not home?”
Elliot asks hopelessly.
Rhett sighs.
“We’ve got too many lights on. Let’s just see what they want and try to send them away as quickly as we can.”
“Any clue why they’re here?”
Oliver asks.
“Fuck. My mom texted me this morning, but I had so many notifications that I cleared them all without looking at it.”
Just as Elliot reaches for his phone, the doorbell rings. He throws me an apologetic glance.
“You can stay here, love. They can be a lot.”
“Elliot,”
Oliver exclaims.
“That’s not fair to her.”
“Shit. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Elliot’s eyes are pleading as he turns to me.
“I’m not trying to hide you from them, Wren. I’m trying to keep them from you.”
“They do suck,”
Oliver says. “Royally.”
“That’s putting it lightly,”
Rhett grumbles before spinning on his heel and marching toward the front door.
“But we’re not keeping you hidden away,”
Oliver says as he grabs my hand.
“Uh—unless you actually don’t want to meet them today.”
I shrug.
“It’s gotta happen sometime. Might as well be today.”
With a proud grin, Oliver pulls me after Elliot and Rhett. We get to the front room just as Rhett is pulling the door open.
“Good evening, Rhett.”
A woman wearing a fitted forest green dress steps over the threshold. She’s followed closely by a man who’s wearing an expensive-looking suit.
Rhett nods, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
“Kathleen. Joe.”
“Mom. Dad.”
The way Elliot speaks is different than normal. It’s more polished, almost formal. His posture is different, too. He’s standing so straight you’d think he’s a kid getting his height measured, and all he cares about is getting that extra inch.
Joe grins and opens his arms, but Kathleen steps in front of him and grabs Elliot’s hands. He tenses but doesn’t pull away.
“Apologies for dropping by later than we normally do,”
Kathleen says.
“We had quite a busy day. But of course we had to tell you hap—”
She stops abruptly when she sees me. Her expression sours before she plasters on an obviously fake smile.
“Elliot, who’s this?”
“This is Wren.”
Stepping back from his mother, Elliot tugs me into him and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
“She’s our partner.”
Kathleen frowns as she looks me up and down, and it’s a struggle to not shrink into Elliot. That’s not the type of first impression I want to give, even if the guys don’t seem to care about her opinion.
With a smile, I say, “It’s lovely to meet you.”
When her only response is to purse her lips, her husband steps forward, takes my hand, and shakes.
“Likewise. I’m Joe, and this is Kathleen, in case you didn’t hear.”
“Mom,”
Elliot says tightly.
Again, Kathleen tries to smile, but it doesn’t mask the viciousness shining in her eyes.
“Hello, Wren. It’s lovely to meet you as well.”
Her gaze only lingers on me for a moment before she turns her attention back to Elliot.
“A new partner. When did this happen?”
“About a month ago.”
“Oh, so you’re still just getting to know each other,”
she says, her composure brightening.
“Testing the waters and all that.”
All three of the guys tense. Rhett opens his mouth, and the look on his face tells me things are about to get ugly, but Elliot cuts him off.
“We’re well past that stage, actually.”
Kathleen shoots Elliot a disbelieving look.
“It’s only been a month, darling. You can’t truly test the waters until you’re past the honeymoon stage. Isn’t that right, Joe?”
Her husband isn’t even phased. He shoots Elliot an apologetic look before patting Kathleen’s arm.
“Elliot is an adult, dearest. He’s old enough to make his own decisions. Besides, I’d say they know their relationship much better than we do.”
“Right. I suppose I’ll withhold my judgment until I know you better. If only we’d met sooner! But how could we, since Elliot didn’t even see a need to tell his mother about you. How odd.”
This bitch. I’ve seen this tactic enough to know exactly what she’s trying to do. If she thinks she can sow seeds of doubt in my mind about Elliot’s feelings for me, she’s gravely mistaken.
“Sounds like he’s had more important things to do,”
I say, my tone sickeningly sweet.
Kathleen’s jaw drops, and Oliver dissolves into a sudden coughing fit. Internally, I kick myself. So much for a good first impression.
Elliot releases a tired sigh, but his reassuring hold on me never loosens.
“I know it’s a big surprise. We sort of knew each other before we got together, and life has been hectic ever since. Today isn’t the exception. We were actually in the middle of making dinner.”
Kathleen crosses her arms, and I can’t tell if the look of hurt on her face is genuine or if it’s an act.
“Is that an invitation? Or are you really throwing us out?”
“Mom, don’t put it like that. We were planning on having a quiet night in, that’s all.”
With a huff, Kathleen whirls around to face her husband.
“On today of all days. How could he?”
“Mom! Don’t talk about me like I’m not right here.”
Finally, a hint of exasperation bleeds into Elliot’s voice.
“I didn’t know you were dropping by, okay? We have plans.”
Throwing her hands into the air, Kathleen asks, “Do I at least get to hug my son goodbye?”
“Yeah,”
Elliot says, almost reservedly.
“Yeah, of course.”
Rhett goes stiff, and his hands curl into fists.
Elliot seems reluctant to let go of me. His arm slides from my waist at a snail’s pace. When he steps up to his mom, she throws me a smug smile. It doesn’t last, though, because when she turns to Elliot, she gasps in horror, her gaze fixed on his neck.
“Is that… is that a hickey?!”
Again, Oliver coughs into his elbow, although he keeps it to just one this time. He catches my gaze with twinkling eyes and a grin that’s barely hidden behind his arm.
Elliot only sighs.
“Mom, I’m almost twenty-nine. I can do what—”
“Much too old to still be getting hickeys, at least where they’re visible,”
Kathleen exclaims.
“What’re you thinking? You can’t hide that at work! And what do you mean, almost twenty-nine?”
“What the hell do you think it means?”
Elliot snaps.
“It means I’m almost—”
He stops abruptly, and his eyes go wide.
“Oh, shit.”
Oliver and Rhett exchange horrified glances before simultaneously checking their phones.
“What?”
I ask, realizing a split second later that it would’ve been much better if I’d had the sense to keep my mouth shut.
“In love,”
Kathleen spits out, her voice poisoned with bitter mockery.
“Three partners. You have three partners, Elliot, and not a single one of them could remember your birthday?”
His birthday. Elliot’s birthday? Oh, shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit.
“We’ve been busy,”
Elliot says tiredly.
“Oh, that means nothing!”
Kathleen whirls around to face Oliver and Rhett.
“You two have known him for fourteen years. Fourteen years! And you—”
“Mom, even I forgot.”
“—can’t even do the bare minimum? I knew you were both a mistake from the second I saw you. You were always distracting Elliot from his studies and getting him in trouble.”
“I graduated top of my class! With honors.”
“He had plans, you know. He was going to go to Princeton. Would’ve been valedictorian, too. But no, he stayed here so he could be with the two of you.”
“You think we don’t know that?”
Rhett asks dryly.
“Are you telling me you knew, and you still let it happen?”
Kathleen cries.
“You ruined his future, and you have the audacity to call that love?”
“Kathleen,”
Joe hisses.
“Don’t do this. Not today.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,”
she snaps. Then she directs her fury toward me.
“And you. Talk about audacity. You claim that you’re in love with my son, but you don’t even know when his birthday is. Who do you think you are?”
“I never—”
“Mom.”
Elliot’s voice is low with a danger that would have the hair on the back of my neck standing up if it was directed toward me.
Kathleen, however, doesn’t heed his warning.
“He deserves better. He settled with Rhett and Oliver, whether any of you believe that or not. And he’s obviously settling with you if you haven’t even cared enough to ask when his birthday is.”
“Mom.”
“Oh, I’m not done, Elliot. This conversation has been a long time coming. I’ve avoided it for over a decade, and I’m done. Done.”
She turns her glare to Rhett.
“Senior year, I let you into my home. I gave you a place to stay when your own father rejected you. But over the past decade, I’ve begun to understand his position. You don’t have an ounce of gratitude in you. Maybe he was right to kick—”
“Enough,”
Elliot shouts, making me jump. Every muscle in his body is tight, and his tone holds a level of fury I’ve only heard from him once before.
“Don’t you ever talk to Rhett like that. Don’t you ever talk to any of them like that.”
“Darling—”
“No! You’re a fool if you think I settled for them, and you’re delusional if you think they stole me from you. They’re my world. My everything. We can talk about the reasons why I distanced myself from you another day, but it wasn’t them. It never could be. I couldn’t live without them. If something were to happen to any of them, I’d—”
His voice falters.
“I wouldn’t…”
“Ell,”
Oliver says softly. He starts to move forward, but Kathleen cuts him off.
“Oh, Elliot.”
She throws her arms around him, ignoring the way he flinches.
“To be young and infatuated. I remember how it feels. Your emotions take over, and it clouds your judgment.”
“No.”
He moves back, placing his hands on Kathleen’s shoulders to put some distance between them.
“My judgment isn’t clouded. I don’t know what else I have to say or do to get you to understand that I’m happy with them. They’re the loves of my life.”
“Darling, I know that’s how you may feel, but—”
Elliot shakes his head.
“Dad, c’mon, help me out here.”
Joe sighs.
“Don’t you think maybe there’s a little truth to what your mother is saying?”
“Don’t you think you’re overstepping?”
Rhett counters with a chilling glare.
“Elliot is a grown-ass adult. You said so yourself mere minutes ago. He’s fully capable of thinking logically—the most capable out of any of us.”
“That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t listen to what his parents have to say,”
Kathleen replies.
“We know him best, after all.”
“Oh, I doubt that,”
Rhett says with a smug expression that I’m pretty sure he’s only using to piss Kathleen off.
“Well, at least I remembered his birthday.”
“Like I’ve been telling you,”
Elliot says desperately, “life has been hectic lately. We’ve had a lot on our minds. That doesn’t change the fact that Rhett, Oliver, and Wren have been here for me through it all. They love me, Mom, and I love them. All three of them. And I’m tired of feeling like I have to prove it to you.”
“You can let me support you too, you know.”
She lays a hand on Elliot’s shoulder, not removing it when he tries to shrug her off.
“You know you can talk to me whenever you need to. I’m here for you.”
Elliot laughs, although it’s void of humor.
“You really aren’t getting it, are you? I love them. You can’t change that.”
“Darling—”
“Get out.”
Kathleen balks. “Get out?”
Elliot shoves her hand off his shoulder.
“You thought you could come into my home—our home—and disrespect the three people who mean the most to me? You thought I wouldn’t care? Not to mention, you have the fucking nerve to do it on my birthday. That’s what’s ruining today, Mom. Not the fact that they forgot. We’ve been under a lot of pressure lately. So much that even I forgot about my own birthday.”
“Elliot,”
Joe says, “don’t do this. You’ll regret it later. Everyone’s just a touch too angry, but I think if we can all calm down, we can talk this through like mature adults.”
“There’s nothing left to say.”
Elliot’s gaze drifts to me, Oliver, and Rhett.
“I love them. You know I do—you’ve known for years. My life hasn’t lived up to your expectations, and I get that you’re disappointed. But it’s my life. How old do I have to be before you get that through your heads?”
“Elliot, darling—”
“Just go,”
he says, and his voice is so detached that it takes me a second to realize the words came from him.
With a sigh, Joe tugs on Kathleen’s arm, but she doesn’t budge. Tears fill her eyes as she stares at Elliot, waiting for him to look at her.
He doesn’t. He looks at me instead, somehow smiling, before brushing some hair back from my face. As one of his arms loops around my waist, he whispers, “May I kiss you?”
I barely finish nodding before Elliot seals his lips to mine. His free hand cups my jaw tenderly, and it’s not until I hear Kathleen’s annoyed huff that I realize exactly what this kiss means.
It’s a demonstration—a show of where Elliot’s loyalties lie since his parents won’t take his word for it. So when Elliot deepens the kiss, I match his enthusiasm, and my arms come around his neck.
Rhett has barely moved during this whole conversation, but now he places himself between Elliot and his parents.
“Either get out, or I’ll take great pleasure in making you leave by whatever means necessary.”
“Elliot,”
Kathleen practically whines.
“Enough, Kathleen,”
Joe sighs as he pulls her toward the door.
“I’m sorry it came to this. And Elliot… happy birthday, son.”
Elliot doesn’t even respond. We aren’t kissing anymore, but he hasn’t looked away from me, and I’m trapped in his gaze. I expect to find some level of sadness or regret in his eyes, but all that’s there is unreserved devotion for us. For me.
Only once Rhett has slammed and locked the door does Elliot break eye contact. Even then, it’s only to close his eyes and rest his forehead against mine. No one speaks. The only sound is Elliot taking deep, controlled breaths until we hear two car doors shut and the engine turn over.
With a wince, Elliot opens his eyes and pulls back. He strokes his thumb over my cheek, and the regret I was expecting finally appears on his face.
“I’m sorry I yelled.”
“I think it was pretty well warranted,”
Oliver says with a shrug.
“I scared Wren.”
His voice is apologetic, and he holds me gently as he kisses my forehead.
“Love, I’m sorry. I should’ve kept it together.”
“I’m okay. I get it.”
He shakes his head, but I press a finger to his lips to keep him from apologizing again. If my mom and Thomas had marched in and done something similar, I’m pretty sure I would’ve yelled a whole lot more.
“I’m sorry I never asked when your birthday is,”
I whisper.
“I never asked when yours is,”
Elliot counters.
“Um, just a reminder,”
Oliver says, his voice light with amusement, “we’ve been a little busy keeping each other alive. Birthdays kinda take the back burner in a situation like ours.”
“True,”
Elliot mutters while he rubs his face tiredly.
“Are you okay, Ell?”
Rhett asks. He’s been looking out the window this entire time, probably watching to make sure Kathleen and Joe actually leave, but now he turns to face us.
“That was pretty intense.”
“It was a long time coming,”
Elliot says.
“Honestly, I’m mostly sorry that it took this long.”
“Do you think they’ll stay mad?”
Oliver asks.
“I know you’re not super close, but I don’t want you to lose them if that’s not what you want.”
“I don’t care anymore,”
Elliot says.
“Ell, come on. You do, you just—”
“I don’t,”
he says firmly, his gaze snapping to Oliver’s.
“What I care about is the three of you knowing that I love you. I know what I feel. I know what each of you means to me. Fuck my mom for saying that shit. She’s wrong about me, and she’s wrong about the three of you.”
“She really hates that you two aren’t close, doesn’t she?” I ask.
Elliot nods.
“We never really were—not in the way she thinks, anyway. Our relationship hasn’t been anything better than toxic since I learned how to think independently. I mean, she’s my mom. I used to think her and my dad were the coolest people on the planet. But then I got older, and they put so much pressure on me. I wasn’t allowed to be my own person.”
“Kathleen tried to tear us apart when she realized how close we were getting,”
Oliver says.
A small smile tugs at the corners of Elliot’s mouth.
“I threatened emancipation.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Damn.”
“I was only fourteen at the time,”
Elliot says.
“But I promised my parents that the second I was old enough, I’d detach myself from them in every way possible. My mom was terrified I’d follow through.”
“And that’s how we got to go on fancy vacations every year,”
Oliver says as he throws his arm around Rhett’s shoulders.
I laugh.
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Elliot lets out an embarrassed laugh.
“I may have been a bit of a brat back then.”
“A lot of a brat,”
Oliver corrects.
“An entitled-as-hell brat,”
Rhett adds.
“Can’t say I regret it, though,”
Elliot says as his gaze moves from me to Oliver and Rhett.
“I couldn’t’ve made it through high school without you two.”
“Oh, we know,”
Oliver says with a wink.
“Wait,”
I say slowly.
“You threatened emancipation when you were fourteen because she didn’t want you to be friends with Oliver and Rhett?”
Elliot nods.
“But she still treats you like you’ll eventually see sense and want to leave them fourteen years later?”
“Yup.”
“She’s the type of mother who thinks no one is good enough for her son. Except her, that is.”
Oliver rolls his eyes.
“It’s gross,”
Rhett says darkly.
“And I don’t know, maybe she’s right.”
Oliver shrugs.
“But Elliot chose us.”
“And I’d do it a thousand times over,”
Elliot says as he steps up to Oliver and frames his face with his hands.
“I’ll always choose you three. You aren’t mistakes. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Turning to Rhett, Elliot takes his hand.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why she thought she could say all that shit.”
“You think we aren’t used to it?”
Rhett says with a raised eyebrow.
“I mean, she’s never said the quiet part out loud like that. At least, not to me and O. But c’mon, Ell, we’ve all known how she felt for years.”
“But you don’t deserve it.”
“Yeah, no shit. Which is why you kicked her out.”
Rhett pulls Elliot into a firm embrace.
“We’re good. This wasn’t your fault.”
The oven timer goes off, and Elliot pulls back.
“The lasagna. I completely forgot.”
After a quick kiss, Elliot leaves Rhett’s arms and rushes to the kitchen.
When I move to follow, Oliver grabs my arm. Now that Elliot is gone, he looks worried.
“We have to figure out how to make this up to him.”
“I don’t think he’s that bothered,”
Rhett replies.
“I mean, he forgot, too.”
“I know, but it’s his birthday. We always do something nice.”
“Don’t you think we should let him decide what he wants to do?” I ask.
“I mean, yeah. I just don’t want him to feel unloved. He deserves better than that.”
“We’ll ask him,”
Rhett says.
“Now, come on. We need to get to the kitchen before he gets suspicious.”