34. Lottie
Chapter 34
Lottie
A fter Claire and Will make us eat—because apparently being emotionally wrecked doesn’t excuse you from dinner—we sit around the table while Claire chats like she’s been waiting years for this exact moment. She keeps smiling between us, eyes a little misty, saying things like “it just makes sense, doesn’t it?” and “I always knew it’d be you three.”
I don’t have the energy to argue or even tease her. I smile. I eat. And when it’s finally over, and the dishes are done, Archer gently nudges me toward the hallway.
“Come on,” he says, his hand warm at my back.
Oscar follows behind, quiet as usual, but I can feel him there. I always can.
By the time we get to my room, I’m barely holding it together.
I push open the door, step inside, and all the tension I’ve been carrying just... lets go. I flop face-first onto the bed with a heavy sigh, limbs sprawled like a rag doll.
I feel the door shut behind me. Then the bed dips as Archer sits beside me, his hand finding my leg, thumb drawing slow circles over the fabric of my leggings.
Oscar settles on my other side, the mattress shifting with his weight.
Everything’s quiet for a second.
Not awkward—just heavy.
That kind of quiet that comes after a long day, where everything hurts a little more than it should.
“You okay, baby?” Archer asks softly, rubbing my leg like he already knows the answer but wants to hear it from me anyway.
I breathe in through my nose, still face down in the comforter. “I don’t know,” I mumble. “Maybe? Just... tired.”
Tired of fighting. Tired of remembering. Tired of pretending I’m fine when I’m barely keeping it together.
Neither of them says anything right away. They just sit with me in the silence. And honestly? That’s what I need most.
I finally roll over to face them, and I’m greeted with two equally concerned… boyfriends? Staring back at me.
“You ok?” Oscar signs worriedly, and I nod, wanting to reassure him.
“Drained? I think is the word. It’s been a lot since they appeared, and I feel like I’ve been fighting to stay afloat ever since. Add on all the feelings between us, and the worry that it’s all going to be ripped away at a moment’s notice…” I blow out a breath. “It’s a lot.”
Oscar shifts closer on the bed, like his proximity alone might help take some of the weight off. His hand finds mine, warm and grounding, and his thumb rubs gently across my knuckles.
It helps. A lot.
Archer leans back against my pillows beside me, one arm resting behind his head. “It’s okay that it’s a lot,” he says slow enough that Oscar can follow along with his lips. “You don’t have to carry it all alone. It’s what we’re for.”
“I know,” I say, though my voice feels as thin as my ability to deal with anymore blows right now. “It’s just… I think I forgot what it’s like to not be constantly in fight mode, and now that I am, I can feel the toll it’s taking on my body.”
“You really think we’d let you do this alone?” Oscar pulls his hand from mine to sign. “You’re ours now, Siren. You can’t get rid of us, even if you wanted to.”
I blink fast, tears threatening again.
I’m so tired of crying, but these feel different. They are more of a release of all the emotions I’ve been forced to feel and less about survival.
“I keep thinking I’ll wake up and this will all be gone. That you’ll both realize I’m too much, or something will happen, and—” I sign it all, too scared to say the words aloud.
“Hey.” Archer cuts me off, reaching down to brush my hair back from my face. No one’s going anywhere. You’re not too much. You’re the reason I came home.”
I look at him, then at Oscar, who gives me a small, crooked smile. “You’re stuck with us.”
I huff a weak laugh, wiping my face. “God. You two are going to ruin me.”
Archer grins. “That’s the plan.”
Oscar leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips, and I close my eyes for a second, sinking into it. And for the first time in days, maybe weeks, the noise in my head quiets.
His kiss is soft—more of a whisper than anything else—but it settles something deep in my chest. When he pulls back, I take a breath, eyes still closed, holding onto the quiet inside me like I’m made of glass and I don’t want to break.
“So,” I murmur, sitting up a little more, fingers still tangled with Oscar’s. “What is this? Between us. What does it mean now?”
The question hangs there, and I almost expect them to tell me it’s all one big joke.
Archer’s brow furrows slightly, not out of confusion, but disbelief. Like, he can’t believe I even have to ask.
“It means you’re ours,” he says it so simply, like it really is that easy. “All in. There’s no one else for us, baby. Only you.”
Oscar nods along, his hand tightening around mine for a second before he signs, “Ours, Lottie. Always our girl.”
I let the words wash over me. Simple but so certain, like they’d decided this a long time ago.
“I still don’t know how this works… but I want it. With both of you, if that wasn’t clear.”
I make sure to sign the words so Oscar knows exactly what I’m saying, not wanting him to feel left out of all this.
“You won’t ever have to choose,” Archer says, brushing his fingers against my cheek.
A small breath of laughter escapes me—half nerves, half relief. I pull them both closer, not wanting to let go of this moment, but the storm happening on the outside of this room hasn’t disappeared, and I know the ‘answers’ I gave to Roman, Elijah, and Crew today won’t be enough for them.
It never was…
“I need Crew’s number.”
Both of them still. Oscar’s jaw ticks, Archer’s expression turns to stone.
“Do you have a plan?” Archer asks.
I nod. I tell them the plan, Archer nods slowly, slipping into that focused Marine mindset that used to terrify me when he first came home, too unreadable. But now? I see the way it shifts for me. He’s still Archer.
Still mine.
Oscar watches me closely, eyes flicking between my lips and my hands as I talk. Neither of them interrupts, just listens. When I’m done, he signs, “We’ve got your back. You know this. However, you want to do this? It has to be safe. I can’t handle them hurting you again.”
“I know,” I say. “It’s just a little ‘prank’, like the ones they used to pull on me. He’s first because he was the last one to hurt me, and I need him to know why.”
The three of us sit there for a few more minutes, the weight of what’s going to happen pressing down on me.
Then something shifts.
It’s the way Archer looks at me—eyes darker, more intense, his hand still resting on my thigh. The way Oscar’s thumb traces slowly along the inside of my wrist.
There’s a different kind of heat building between us, one that has nothing to do with revenge and everything to do with us.
I look between them, heart thudding loudly in my chest.
Oscar catches the change first. He leans over, pressing one last kiss to my lips and signs, “I’m going to bed. I’ll give you two some space.”
“You don’t have to go.”
He smiles softly. “I know, and believe me, I’m not a saint for this, but you both need this. I love you enough to feel secure that you’re with your other boyfriend, and if you want to dump his sorry ass in the middle of the night and come cuddle, I’m free.” He winks at me, then kisses me one last time, pressing a hand to Archer’s shoulder as he passes.
Then he’s gone, closing the door quietly behind him.
Silence fills the room, leaving us both alone, and everything in me feels exposed, raw in a way that’s terrifying and electrifying.
“You okay?” he asks again, his voice low and thick.
“I will be,” I whisper. “With both of you.”
He leans in slowly, giving me time to pull away.
I don’t.
I can’t.
His mouth brushes mine, and this time, there’s no hesitation. No weight of the world crashing in. No one demanding answers I’m not ready to give.
It’s just us.
I let myself fall into the kiss, soft, then deeper, more urgent.
His hands come to rest on my waist, pulling me closer as I shift into his lap without thinking. My legs straddle him, and his arms wrap full around my back, grounding me.
His hand brushes against my cheek, and I lean into his touch like a flower turning toward the sun. His palm is rough and calloused, but it feels so right against my skin.
“I missed you,” I breathe, my voice breaking on the words.
“God, I missed you too,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. His other hand leaves my back and cradles my face. I close my eyes, savoring the warmth of his touch.
Then his lips finally meet mine, and it’s like coming home.
Soft, tentative, as if he’s afraid I might pull away.
I don’t. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
I press into him, my hands gripping the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. The kiss deepens, his tongue slipping into my mouth, and I moan softly, the sound swallowed by his lips.
Archer flips us. His body hovering over mine, his weight pressing me into the mattress in the most delicious way.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment,” he murmurs against my lips, his hands roaming over my body, leaving trails of fire in their wake. “Every damn night I was away from you, while my mind drove me mad thinking of all the scenarios that I could lose you. This fantasy was always my favorite, having you under me, begging for my touch…”
“Me too,” I gasp as his lips trail down my neck, his teeth grazing my skin in a way that makes me shiver.
His hands slide beneath my shirt, his fingers brushing against the sensitive skin of my stomach, and I arch into him, craving more.
He pulls back enough to look at me, his eyes dark with desire. “Do you want this? I’ll understand if it’s too soon. I-I don’t even know if you’ve…”
“There’s been no one since that . But I want this Archer. I want to do this with you, and I’m on birth control. I have been for years…”
“I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment I met you.”
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes. “I love you too,” I whisper, my voice trembling.
He kisses me again, slower this time, like he’s trying to savor every moment. His hands work my shirt off, tossing it aside, then his lips are on my skin, leaving a trail of wet kisses down my neck, over my collarbone, to the swell of my breast.
His tongue flicks over my nipple, and I gasp, my fingers tangling in his hair.
He pauses, looking up at me with a smirk. “Like that?”
“Yes,” I breathe, my head falling back against my pillows. “Please, don’t stop.”
He doesn’t. His mouth closes over my nipple, sucking gently, and I moan, my hips bucking against his. His hand slides down my body, undoing my jeans, then pulling them down my legs. Then he’s back, his fingers finding the place where I ache for him.
I cry out as he touches me, his fingers circling, teasing, driving me wild.
“You’re so wet,” he groans, his voice rough with need. “God, I want you.”
“I want you too,” I plead, my hands fumbling with the buttons of his jeans.
He helps me, shifting just enough to shuck his jeans and boxers, and then he’s there, hard and thick and the head of his cock glistening with precum.
He pauses, his eyes locking onto mine. “Are you sure?” he asks, his voice low and strained.
“Yes. Please, I need you.”
He doesn’t make me wait. He presses into me slowly, giving me time to adjust, and when he’s fully sheathed inside me, we both let out a gasp.
It feels so right, so perfect, like it was always meant to be.
He begins to move, his hips rocking against mine, and I wrap my legs around him, pulling him deeper. His lips find mine again, his kiss deep and desperate, and I meet him thrust for thrust, our bodies moving together in a rhythm that feels as natural as breathing.
“You feel so good, baby,” he groans, his hands gripping my hips, guiding me into him. “So fucking good. Wanna live here forever.”
I let out a half-giggle, half-whimper, my nails digging into his back. The pleasure builds with every movement, every touch until I feel like I’m teetering on the edge. “I’m close,” I gasp.
“Come for me, Lottie!” he demands, his voice rough and commanding.
And I do.
My body melts under him, arching, my toes curling as it all crashes over me, and he follows me over the edge, his body shuddering as he spills inside me.
We stay tangled together, our breaths slowly returning to normal. His arms are around me, holding me close, and I feel safe, loved in a way I haven’t in a long time.
“Stay with me tonight,” I whisper, my head resting on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lottie. You’re stuck with me for life.”