Page 144 of Theirs for the Holidays

It’s not some lavish thing, which they could clearly afford if they wanted to. Instead, it’s just a three bedroom two bath that could belong to anyone. All their cars are parked outside, and I feel weirdly nervous when I get out of the car and go up to the door.

I only have to ring the bell once before the door is being pulled open.

Rhett stands there, looking shaggy but good, and he stares at me for a second, before his lips quirk in a small smile.

“Hi,” he says. “Come on in.”

I step inside, grateful for the warmth of their house. I can hear Sawyer and Lennox bickering good naturedly from the living room, and that makes my chest ache with the familiarity of it.

My house has been so quiet without their banter to fill it.

When Sawyer and Lennox see it’s me, they both fall silent, and then I’m standing there with all three of them looking at me.

“What the hell were you thinking?” I ask, getting right to the point. “Why did you do it?”

“You might need to be more specific,” Lennox says. His eyes are soft as he looks at me. “We’ve done a lot of things lately.”

“I went to the bank just now, and there are fifty million dollars in my account. I just… why?”

None of them look even the least bit thrown off my by words or worried about the money.

“We did it so you would talk to us.” Sawyer shrugs. “The little things weren’t working, so we figured we should try something bigger.”

I stare at him for a long beat, and then look to his brothers to see if they have anything different to say. But neither of them speak up, so clearly Sawyer’s version is the truth.

“Wait. You put millions of dollars in my account just so I’d talk to you?” I finally manage to choke out, stunned.

“Yes?” Rhett answers.

“That’s the gist of it,” Lennox agrees.

“Don’t look so shocked, Peaches,” Sawyer says. “It worked, didn’t it? You’re here, talking to us.”

“I’m here because the three of you have clearly lost your minds,” I insist. “You can’t just—that’s so much money.”

“It’s what you deserve,” Lennox says. “And it’s yours now.”

That leaves me gaping at them, my eyes wide and my heart hammering in my chest.

“You can’t be serious.”

“We are, though. Like I said, you deserve it.”

“How? That’s more money than I probably would have made in my whole life! What could I have possibly done to deserve it?”

Rhett shakes his head. “You’ve just… beenyou. We want you to have it, Tink. It’s ours, and that means we get to decide what happens to it. So we’re giving it to you.”

“You’re crazy,” I say. “You’re all insane.”

“Maybe,” Lennox agrees. “Probably. But we’re crazy for you.” He takes a step closer to me, moving almost cautiously, as ifhe’s afraid any sudden movement is going to make me run away. “Will you hear us out, Heartbreaker? Will you give us a chance to tell you how we feel?”

All at once, I need to sit down. I feel like I’m reeling from everything that’s happened, and standing in front of all three of them again is a heady feeling. Being apart for a week or so hasn’t diminished their attractiveness or their intensity, but it’s been enough time that having all that directed at me again is a lot.

I sink down onto their couch, trying to steady my breathing.

“Are you okay?” Lennox asks, concerned.

I nod. “Yeah. It’s just… I’m still trying to wrap my mind around all of this. I can’t believe you did that, just to get me to talk to you. All of this.”