Chapter 25
What the hell is he thinking? Punishment? And looking at Rhyann like he’s some wild cat who just eyed their dinner. “Um, Tate.” I give him a questioning look. I worry the gin has already gone to his head. “Care to clarify your meaning and reason for said punishment?”
Tate just laughs and lifts his hand, flexing his finger in mine and Rhyann”s direction. “Come here little princess,” he coos with an eerie smile on his face. Something doesn’t sit right with me. Not after the way he practically devoured Dev’s face just now, not to mention how pissed off he seemed when he first walked in the room. Sure, the kiss was hot as fuck, but that was when his aggression was directed at my brother. A full grown man who can certainly take on a man like Tate. I don’t like the way he’s turned his attention on Rhyann so suddenly.
“No, she’s going to stay right here with me.” I nudge Rhyann in the side, gently pushing her behind me. “She isn’t going anywhere until you explain yourself.”
“Is that so?” Tate growls wickedly.
My brother grabs Tate”s shoulder, pulling his attention back to him for a brief moment. “What are you thinking, man?” Devon”s voice is steady and controlled, but he has the same protective glare in his eyes that I know are in mine.
“I’m thinking,” Tate pauses to kiss Devon on the cheek, “that Rhyann here is faced with a dilemma.”
“And what dilemma is that?” Rhyann, as fierce and fiery as her hair is red, pushes her way out from behind me to stand her ground against the man who dominates every room he walks into.
“You need to decide.” Tate holds his hands out in front of him as though he’s presenting some invisible set of choices. “Who do you want, Rhyann? You told all three of us you love us. You’ve been in each of our beds. Some more than once.” Tate smirks in my direction. “So, princess. What’ll it be? Or rather who’ll it be?”
And just like that, the air in the room stops circulating, the cars outside stop moving, the wind stops blowing and the world stops on its axis. Dev and I knew Tate wouldn’t be able to share her with us. We knew he’d force us into this very predicament. “Tate, that’s not fair,” I tell him as Rhyann”s hands shake against my torso.
“I think given the circumstances it’s very fair.” He laughs, taking Devon”s hand in his. “So, Rhyann. What will you choose? Do you want one of us?” Tate looks at me, one brow quirked in question. “Pick Liam and the two of you can ride off into the sunset, leaving me and Dev to lick each other’s wounds and piece together our broken hearts.”
What. The. Fuck?
“Or, will you take the three of us, as we are?” my brother adds. “You know Liam and I have no problem sharing you with each other,” Devon smiles at Tate. “And Tate. But can you share us?” He holds up their joined hands as I realize what’s going on.
“Fuck yeah!” I exclaim. Both men laugh and my brother nods his head for me to join them.
Rhyann, still shaking, holds tight as I gently separate her hands and look at her. “It’s okay,” I whisper, brushing a renegade strand of hair from her face. “It’s time for my little princess to become the queen I know she is. Our queen.”
Two little lines appear between her brows as she contemplates everything that’s been said by Tate and Devon, and even me. I give her my biggest smile and kiss her forehead before walking over to join Dev and Tate.
Her green eyes sparkle with unshed tears under the bright lights of the room when I turn back around to face her. All three of us are waiting for her to speak, to say something. Even from here, I can see the little creases in her brow, the way she bites at her bottom lip when she’s contemplating something.
“Well, there’s three of you, so what’s my third option?” She finally says with a smirk of her own. I can’t help but laugh softly. Feisty and fiery, and challenging everything we say or do. That’s what made childhood me fall in love with the ever defiant little redhead to begin with.
“There is no other option, sweetheart,” Tate says with a grin. “Because if you walk away from me and Dev, I’ll sure as hell make sure you take Liam with you.”
“What, you don’t want a Morris brother sandwich, Tate?” I laugh, nudging him with my shoulder.
“Not even if I were a woman,” he laughs back.
Rhyann laughs too. The creases in her brow are gone, but so is the smirk on her face. A somber calm washes over her as she slowly walks toward us. “You know, I knew when I woke up this morning, I’d have to make this choice at some point.” She runs her fingers down my chest as she passes me. Stopping in front of Tate, she looks up at him and smiles. “I knew that loving the three of you my whole life would one day tear my heart to pieces.” With a sigh she walks over to Devon. “The three of you have been there for me when no one else was. You’ve shown me more love than I thought I deserved. But you’ve also shown me how cruel the world can be.”
“I’m so sorry, Rhy.” Devon whispers sadly.
“Save it, lover boy,” Rhyann says with a smile. “You’ve done more than enough to show me you love me. It’s water under the bridge.” She makes her way back to Tate, “You saved me in more ways than when you rescued me from would be kidnappers.” She stands up on her tiptoes and kisses the side of Tate”s jaw. “And you.” She walks back to me, taking her hands in mine. “You’ve never given up on me, on us. Even when Tate made you swear that I was off limits, made you promise to leave me alone. You saw me and loved me even when you weren’t supposed to.” She drops my hands and takes a few steps back. A sad smile replacing the defiant one from before. My heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach. Why do I feel like she is giving us a break up speech before we are even a couple? Throuple, no, quadruple? Hell, I don’t know what we’d be called. It doesn’t really matter now anyway. I can feel it in my gut, she’s leaving us. “You know, there is a third option.”
“Rhyann,” Devon whispers, his voice cracking.
“I could leave, right here right now.” She looks over her shoulder, at the door. “I could walk out that door and never look back, face whatever and whoever is after me on my own.”
“Rhyann,” Tate growls.
She holds up her hand, hushing him before he can say anything else. Me, I’m in shock, small fissures forming in my heart as I picture her doing just that, walking out the door and out of our lives for good. “But, if I did that, I would die from heartbreak long before any kidnapper or killer could get to me.” Her words ring through the air, yanking me from the darkest places in my mind. I look up at her as tears I didn’t know were there roll down my cheeks. She clears her throat with a wicked smile to match Tate”s.
“You see, I told all three of you I love you, and I meant every word, every time I said it. I can’t live without you guys. I can’t imagine being with one without the other two. So, while I have three choices, I also love three men. Three amazing men.” I hold my breath as she slowly walks back to where the three of us stand watching her every move. “A man who would follow me to hell and back if that’s what it takes to save me.” She brushes her hand over my brother’s cheek before moving to Tate and placing her hand on his chest. “A man who would bleed for me.” Then she looks at me, tears streaming down her cheeks. She saved her biggest smile for me, and my heart starts beating rapidly. “And a man who would risk his friendship and the bond with his brother to make sure I know I’m loved. So, how can I walk away from that?” She smirks at the three of us. “And how can I choose just one, when I can have everything I’ve ever wanted?”
In the blink of an eye, Devon pounces, grabbing her arm and yanking her to him. “You brat,” he growls, dipping his head down and kissing her roughly on the mouth. “Don’t fuck with our heads like that ever again,” he says pulling away.
I breathe a sigh of relief as my heart steadies and I sink down onto the safety of the couch behind me. “Fuck,” I breathe out. “So, are we a thing?”
“We’re a family, my man.” Tate smiles down at me. Rhyann wraps her arms around Tate as though she’s been doing it for years. Devon drapes his around Tate”s neck, planting kisses first on the top of Rhyann”s head, then Tate”s cheek.
“Yeah. Family. Get up, bro,” my brother says with a smile on his face motioning with his hand for me to join the group hug.
I roll my eyes and stand up, wrapping my arms around Tate and Rhyann”s waist. I give Tate a pointed look. “I don’t do butt stuff.”
He lets out a deep, belly shaking laugh. “Trust me, no one here wants to do butt stuff with you.”
“Rhyann might.” I fake a pout.
All three of them are laughing now. “Only if I’m on top,” she says, out of breath but with a blissful smile on her face.
Devon and Tate continue to laugh as my face scrunches into a sour pucker. “Yeah, no. You might be queen of our hearts, but I gotta set my boundaries somewhere.” After everyone gets a good laugh at my expense, I let out a sigh and pull away from the huddle. “Speaking of boundaries, how is this going to work?” I ask.
Tate pats me on the shoulder, breaking away from Dev and Rhyann”s embrace. “We’ll figure everything out as we need to. But, right now, I made a promise to our girl today. And I think she needs to be taught a lesson for the way she almost ripped out our hearts just now.”
I give him a questioning look, my dick waking up from its slumber. “What do you have in mind?”