Page 24 of Shared by my Ex’s Best Friends (Twisted Desires #2)

Chapter twenty-four

MAYA

L iam’s mouth is still warm on mine when I pull away—just enough to catch my breath.

In my driveway. In the dark. The weight of everything pressing so heavily on my chest, it’s hard to draw air.

I drag my hands down his chest and take a small step back. “Come inside.”

He hesitates—just for a second—but then he nods and follows me quietly through the door. Everything feels too fast and not fast enough, like I’ve jumped into a current that’s pulling me under and I don’t know which way is up anymore.

Once we’re inside, I leave the lights off. Moonlight spills through the blinds. Liam sets his keys on the entry table but doesn’t say anything and doesn’t move to sit.

I start pacing.

Back and forth across the living room, arms folded, one hand pressed tight to my mouth to stop whatever’s threatening to claw its way out.

Desire. Confusion. Guilt. Longing.

All of it tangled inside me like a storm I’ve been trying too hard to outrun.

I pause by the window, staring out like the answers might be out there waiting.

“Maya,” Liam says gently. “You don’t have to figure everything out tonight.”

“I do.” My voice cracks. “Liam, I can’t keep doing this.”

He stays silent. Waiting. Letting me get there on my own.

“I’ve been splitting myself into pieces,” I whisper. “Trying to be what everyone needs. What I thought I could manage, but I can’t. I don’t want to lie to myself anymore. Or to any of you.”

I glance over at him. His eyes don’t waver.

“Stay,” I say. “Please.”

“I’m here,” he answers simply.

“I… I want to invite the others,” I confess. “Jake and Ethan.”

He nods. “Do it. I’m not going anywhere.”

I release a long breath, slowly lowering myself onto the armrest of the couch. I pull out my phone, fingers trembling.

First Ethan. The ringing feels endless.

“Maya?”

“Can you come over?” My voice is paper-thin, barely steady.

“Yeah,” he answers without hesitation. “I’m, um, with Jake… do you want him to come, too?”

“Yes, I want both of you. I need you here. Liam’s already with me.”

He’s quiet for half a second, but I hear the shift in his tone when he answers. “We’re on our way.”

I end the call and exhale shakily.

When I look up, Liam is still watching me with that same calm steadiness that’s always been his way. I reach for him without thinking, and he comes to me instantly, wrapping me in his arms.

The room is silent.

But inside me, everything’s shifting.

They’re coming, and I’m ready—terrified, yes—but finally ready to speak the truth about what I’m feeling.

***

It’s barely twenty minutes when the doorbell rings. I hurry to answer it and Ethan and Jake are standing on my front step.

“Come in,” I gasp, stepping aside to give them space to move past the threshold.

The door clicks shut behind them, and suddenly the air in my living room feels too thick to breathe.

Jake leans against the far wall, arms crossed, jaw tight. His eyes flick to Liam, then back to me—sharp, unreadable.

Ethan sinks down onto the edge of the couch. His gaze searches mine, worried and kind, and my stomach twists with the weight of what I’m about to say.

Liam stays close. He doesn’t speak, doesn’t move away—just lets his fingers drift lightly along my arm like he knows I need something to hold onto. I’m not sure I deserve that softness, but I lean into it anyway.

If I don’t say this now, I’ll drown in it.

I take a breath—shaky, shallow, barely enough to keep me upright—and then I take another. The room feels too small, too quiet, every heartbeat loud in my ears as I look at the three men standing before me.

My hands tremble at my sides, but I don’t hide them. I’m done hiding.

“I have to say this out loud,” I begin, my voice thin and unsteady. “Even if it ruins everything.”

Ethan watches me from the couch, his elbows on his knees, tension carved into every angle of him. Liam’s still at my side but silent. Jake continues leaning against the wall like he’s pretending not to care, but I can feel his focus like a spotlight on my skin.

“I’m falling for you,” I say, the words spilling out faster now. “Not one. Not a favorite. Just… all of you.”

I pause, swallowing the fear that’s lodged like a stone in my throat.

“I know how this sounds. I know it’s messy and complicated and maybe even selfish, but it’s the truth. I don’t want to pretend anymore. I don’t want to smile through dinners and kisses and late-night talks while I’m breaking apart inside, trying to choose when I don’t want to.”

I look at each of them in turn, willing them to see me— really see me.

“I don’t want to choose,” I whisper. “The truth is… I want you. All of you.”

The silence that follows is unbearable.

My breath hitches. “Maybe this is too much. Maybe you don’t feel the same, or maybe you do but you’ll still walk away. I wouldn’t blame you. I couldn’t keep it in anymore.”

I brace myself for the fallout, for the crack that will split this night in two. But instead—

“We’ve already talked,” Liam says quietly.

My head snaps toward him.

He meets my eyes, steady and sure. “We know what’s happening, and…we’re not against it.”

My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.

Then Ethan rises slowly from the couch, his gaze never leaving mine. “It’s not traditional,” he says. “But none of us are pretending this is casual anymore.”

I blink fast, the burn behind my eyes impossible to hold back.

Jake pushes off the wall with a grin tugging at his lips—cocky and warm all at once. “I’d rather have part of you than none of you,” he says. “But if we all get to be yours? Even better.”

My knees nearly buckle. Not just from the words, but from the look in their eyes—like I’m already theirs, and they’ve just been waiting for me to claim it.

“Okay,” I murmur. “Yes… yes, I want to try this.”

“Good,” Liam says before grabbing me and pulling me into a hard kiss as the other two move in as well.