Chapter 18 #2
“Don't touch me.”
“Adds, come on, don’t be like that.”
“Problem?” I ask, stepping beside her.
Mikey turns toward me, his smile as fake as it is forced. “Zeke… didn’t expect you to grace us with your presence. Surely you’re too good for us all, now that you’ve made it pro.”
“Well, as you can see, I’m here.”
“What about Jasper and Roman?”
“They’re over there,” I say, tipping my glass toward my boys. He follows my gaze, glancing over his shoulder before looking back at Addie.
“Did you know Roman was coming?”
“Yeah,” she says with a shrug.
“No one told me.”
“Why would they? You shouldn’t even be here, Mikey.”
His jaw tics, and his eyes bounce between me and Addie. “I don’t think we should be having this conversation right now.”
“I agree,” I say, finishing the last of my whiskey in a single swallow.
The burn trails down my throat as I set the glass on the side table with a quiet clink.
“Which is why I’m leaving.” Relief washes over Mikey’s face, and he doesn’t even bother to hide it.
“Addison, are you coming? We can catch up.”
I hold my arm out like the gentleman I can be, and she laces her arm through mine. We fall into step as we make our way across the room straight toward the only two men here who matter because I know they’ll need her close, even if Jasper’s the only one who’ll ever admit it.
“Thank you,” she murmurs, and the scent of her perfume wraps around me like silk.
“You’re lucky it was me who came to get you. If it had been Jasper, you’d already be tossed over his shoulder with his hand halfway up your dress.”
“I believe you.”
I lean in closer, letting my mouth brush the shell of her ear. “You look breathtaking, baby.”
She turns her head toward me, her gaze dropping to my mouth, and the whole room falls away. The music, the crowd, the low hum of conversation—it all fades. There’s only her and the heat building in the space between our lips.
“Easy, you two…” Roman’s voice cuts in, and suddenly he and Jasper are right there beside us.
Jasper leans in, brushing a kiss over her cheek. “You look so damn beautiful, angel, but I really want that dress on the floor before the night’s over.”
She tilts her head and smiles, while her sapphire eyes dance with mischief. “I’ve got nothing on underneath it.”
Jasper groans low in his throat, and Roman tries to play it cool, but I see the way he subtly adjusts himself. The three of us just stand there, caught somewhere between restraint and desperation, and Addie looks like she’s loving every second of it.
“Fuck, baby. You can’t say shit like that to me… Jesus.” Jasper’s voice cracks on the next line. “One of you better suck me off right now, or I’m gonna lose it.”
Addie bursts out laughing, loud and unfiltered, and that sound is the kind of happiness I want to bottle and keep giving her for the rest of our lives.
“Roman, back at the lodge, looking like a fucking wet dream and practically begging for my dick. Zeke’s just walking around like sex, just existing like he doesn’t know how close I am to snapping, and now you, strolling through the room with nothing underneath that fucking dress.
” He drags a hand through his hair, his chest heaving.
“You’re all gonna fucking kill me. You know that, right?
And I know I’ll probably thank you for it, but seriously, if you’re trying to drive me over the edge… Congratulations. I’m already there.”
Roman leans across and lowers his voice beside his ear.
“I swear to god, the second we get back to the cabin, I’m gonna fuck you so hard you won’t remember your own name.
You’ll be dripping, shaking, and so dick-drunk you’ll forget how to speak.
But if you keep making me this hard out here, I’ll drag you to the nearest closet and edge the fuck out of you until your cock’s so swollen you’re begging me to let you come. ”
His hand slides slowly and possessively over Jasper’s lower back, fingers trailing down the dip of his spine.
“You’re so fucking gone, I could unzip you right now, and you’d be moaning for me in front of every single person here, wouldn’t you?”
The thirst between the three of us only deepens the longer we have each other.
Our love is filthy.
It’s feral and fierce, a craving we’ve never learned to tame.
We show it with tongues in mouths, hands under clothes, and bodies colliding like we’re trying to crawl inside each other.
We don’t touch—we claim.
We don’t kiss—we devour.
We don’t fuck—we obliterate.
Now we’ve crossed into something untouchable with Addie, and there’s no coming back from it.
“How do any of you ever get anything done?” Addie asks, clearly just as affected by Roman and Jasper as I am.
“With great difficulty,” I snap back, dragging my gaze off the two living temptations at my side and focusing on her instead.
“Can we get out of here for a minute? I need to talk to you.” She nods, slipping between Jasper and Roman.
I catch the way her hands brush their thighs as she passes, and I stay close, trailing after her.
“You good, big guy?”
Roman lets out a low chuckle and nods, and something in my chest pulls tight. I wish I could show him how proud I am of him, but for now, the look we share is enough.
There’s nowhere in this place you can really hide from prying eyes, but what I want to say to Addison is meant only for us. I don’t want an audience. I need to do this where I can have her to myself and kiss her the second I get the words out.
I spot a curtained-off nook behind the stage, and, after a quick glance to make sure no one’s watching, I pull her in with me.
The second we collide, the breath I’ve been holding all night finally leaves me—relief, hunger, and that deep-down satisfaction that comes from knowing she’s been just as desperate for this as I have.
“Are you okay?”
“I am now,” she whispers, biting down on her bottom lip. “I missed you guys. It felt weird being home without you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she says quietly. “Those few hours… they felt longer than all the years you were gone, and that was bad enough.”
“So I take it you’re gonna miss us when we leave tomorrow.” My hands cradle her face, thumbs sweeping over her cheeks as I search her eyes. “Because we have to go back, Addison.”
“I know.”
“I’m not going to ask you to come with us,” I say, even though every part of me wants to drop to my knees and beg for it.
Her chest rises and falls, and I lower my hand, pressing it flat against her heart, needing to know if it beats for me.
“I’m not asking because you already know what we want.
You know we want you with us. Not for a weekend, not for this stolen time.
We want forever with you, Addison.” I brush my thumb along her jaw, watching her blink back the tears building behind her lashes.
“Could you walk away from the life you’ve built here for one with us?
Because that’s what you need to figure out—not for me, not for them… but for you.”
Her heart thunders beneath my palm, and her eyes glaze over. But I don’t give her room to look away, not when I’ve laid it all out.
“I’m in love with you, Addison,” I whisper, finally letting the words tear free from where they’ve lived in my chest for far too long.
“And if you told me right now this is what you want, we’d build a whole life around you.
We’d give you everything.” She trembles, and when a single tear slides down her cheek, I lean in and kiss it away.
“I’m not here to pressure you. I’m not asking you to decide tonight, but you need to know—we’ve already chosen you.
All of us. And we’ll keep choosing you, even if we have to wait.
” I pause, swallowing the lump that rises in my throat.
“And when you’re ready… When your heart finally catches up to the way you look at us, we’ll be right there. ”
“You love me?” she whispers.
I pause, let her question settle in my chest, then brush my lips across hers.
“Yeah, beautiful. I love you. I always have.”
“I love you too.”