Chapter 2 #2
I’m barely able to string together a coherent thought as I watch these two men in front of me.
Zeke and Roman are still going at it like they’re the only ones in the room—mouths colliding, hands roaming, bodies pressed so close there’s no space between them.
When Jasper’s fingers find my chin, he gently tilts my face toward his. My eyes drop to his mouth, and when his thumb traces slowly across my bottom lip, I swear my whole body trembles.
“Tell me they’re not the hottest fucking thing you’ve ever seen,” he murmurs, and I can’t argue because he’s right. They’re devastating together, and I’m soaked just from watching them.
“Not only them.” The second the words leave me, Jasper’s smile turns savage, and that’s all the invitation he needs.
He seizes my mouth, claiming me like he’s waited long enough.
His tongue pushes past my lips, and suddenly, the room is full of nothing but wet sounds and heavy breathing.
I’m confused as hell, but I can’t stop kissing him back.
He dominates the kiss completely; it’s rougher than Zeke’s earlier tenderness but not as brutally possessive as Roman used to be.
God, those kisses with Roman still haunt my dreams, but this… this is something else entirely.
Jasper kisses like he knows exactly what he wants, how to take it, and he’s unapologetic as fuck about it.
When I break away from Jasper, I find two pairs of eyes burning into us. My head’s spinning, caught somewhere between every fantasy I’ve moaned into my pillow and the reality that’s unfolding right in front of me. And now that I’m here, now that this is really happening, I feel way over my head.
“I… I need to go.” Roman’s eyes snap to Jasper, pinning him with a look that practically screams, I fucking told you this would happen. “I don’t…” I start, my voice cracking. “I don’t think I should be here. Do you do this often?”
“Make out with each other? Fuck yes.” Jasper laughs, but it’s Zeke who moves first. He must sense my spiral because he slides in beside me again, boxing me in with his warmth.
“No,” I say quietly, my eyes flicking between them all. “I meant with other girls.”
“Hey.” Zeke turns my face toward his, using that same gentleness he did with Roman a few minutes ago.
“You can ask us anything you want, but whatever we tell you has to stay in this room.” He pauses, just long enough to make sure I’m really hearing him.
“We’ve never shown anyone this side of us or let anyone see who we really are to each other.
And this—whatever’s happening right now—it’s only ever been you. ”
“Because you guys are together in secret?”
“Has to be that way.” Roman’s voice is rough, like the words hurt coming out. “Look, I know we’ve got history, baggage, whatever the hell you want to call it. But I also know you care about them. I know their friendship means something to you. So for their sake, please…”
He has no idea that even after everything, I still love him. I probably always will, and now, watching him beg for their safety, for their secret—well, it just makes me love him more.
“I’d never betray any of you.” Roman doesn’t say anything, but he nods once, and that tiny sliver of trust still hanging between us feels like everything. “So you’re all sleeping together?”
Zeke shakes his head. “It’s not just sex. Not even close.”
“How did I not see it?”
“We’re good at hiding it, angel. We’ve had to be. No one would understand. Not the coaches, not the league… not the world we’re trying to make a future in. There’s no space for this.”
I nod slowly, my heart pounding as I look between the three of them. “So why are you telling me now?”
“Because it’s you. Because you kissed Zeke, and I know you want me,” Jasper says, leaning in close enough that I'm already imagining kissing him again. “We’re almost out of time, and I wasn’t about to waste the chance to find out what this could feel like with you.”
“What about you?” I force the question out as I meet Roman’s whiskey eyes.
“We had our shot, and you left.” There’s no anger in his voice, but it’s clear he’s buried whatever we once were. “I won’t stand in their way, not when it comes to you. Not when I know exactly how it feels to…”
He doesn’t finish that thought. He doesn’t have to. I broke something between us, and now those walls he’s built are solid steel.
“The question is, what do you want?” Zeke asks in that gentle way he’s perfected, making me feel like he’s offering me a way in and out all at once.
Before I can answer, I’m on my feet, putting distance between us and this conversation I’m nowhere near ready to have.
Roman just sits back, legs spread wide, completely unsurprised because he’s already watched me run from something that matters once before. The last time I tried to leave, he followed me. He chased me down, believing he could convince me to stay.
But this time, he doesn’t move.
He doesn’t reach for me because he expects me to go.
And he’s ready to let me.
“I can’t… Not because I don’t want to. I just…” The words get caught in my throat. “You’re leaving. All of you will leave, and I can’t…” My hand presses against my chest, right where it feels like my heart might splinter. “I think I should go.”
“No, Addie. Stay. You can take one of the bedrooms, and I’ll take you home in the morning.” Zeke stands, his broad shoulders and solid chest taking up all the space in front of me.
When he glances at the other two, it’s Jasper who moves first. He crosses the room slowly, and there’s nothing playful about him now. He lifts one hand, the backs of his fingers brushing lightly against my jaw before he leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek.
“Sorry, Addie. I didn’t mean to push too far or make you uncomfortable.” The joker gets serious, and I hate it.
“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” I say quickly, my eyes drifting to Roman, who refuses to look at me now.
“I just… I already miss you guys, and you’re not even gone yet.
I don’t want to make it worse by doing something stupid that we can’t take back.
” I take a shaky breath. “But I promise your secret’s safe with me. ”
Zeke reaches out, taking my hand and guiding me down the hallway to what I assume is the guest room.
Do they share a bed, all of them together?
The mechanics of their relationship are a mystery to me, though the image of them tangled up in sheets makes me groan quietly to myself.
Zeke opens the door to a small room at the end of the hall but doesn’t step inside. He just stands there, looking at me like he can see every thought flashing behind my eyes.
“That was a lot to put on you tonight, but you have to understand that Jasper doesn’t do well with masking his feelings.
You’re lucky he hasn’t told you how he feels about you and what he wants sooner.
And the way he’s managed to keep his mouth shut about what Roman and I mean to him?
Well, that should tell you just how deep it goes. ”
I turn, my back brushing the cold hallway wall, my pulse hammering in my throat. “And what about you?”
“Come on,” he murmurs, his eyes sweeping over me. “You knew. You had to have known, or you wouldn’t have made your move tonight.”
“Will you kiss me?” I whisper. “Just once more?”
He doesn’t hesitate. He cages me against the wall, his body pinning mine.
One arm braces above my head while his other hand slides to my jaw, his thumb tracing my bottom lip.
When he finally kisses me, it isn’t hard or rushed, but fuck—it’s hot, and when he pulls back sooner than I want, my lips are tingling, and my body is practically screaming for more.
“Goodnight, Addison.”
“Goodnight, Zeke.”