21. Hadley
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Hadley
Sienna’s car drives up the dirt driveway leading to the guys’ house. I asked her to come pick me up so I didn’t need to take Mom’s car, just in case I end up being out all night.
I honestly have no idea where tonight is going to lead, but I guess I’m holding out more hope than I realized.
When I told Mom I was going to be out again tonight, she gave me a knowing smirk and went about her business.
Sienna puts the car in park, swinging her gaze from the gorgeous house to me. “Have fun tonight,” she tells me.
I drag in a nervous breath.
“And if they break your heart, then I have a freezer full of Ben & Jerry’s and a fist that can land on all three of their faces.”
I can’t help but smile, looking over at my friend. “Thanks, Sienna.” I give her a hug over the console before getting out.
She rolls down the window as she starts to back away. “Text me tomorrow,” she yells.
“I will.” I take the first step up onto the porch when I smell something cooking on the grill.
Instead of going up to the front door, I walk around the house to the backyard. Austin is leaning over the grill, flipping steaks.
Steaks are fancy. That’s a good sign. Right? Or maybe it’s a fancy letdown meal. Fuck.
“Are you going to just stand there or are you going to actually get over here and let me give you a hug?” he asks, not turning around.
I move onto the deck and to his side. My arms slide around his waist. One of his winds around my shoulders as he flips the last few steaks.
Closing the top of the grill, he pulls me into his chest. His lips graze my temple as he mumbles, “This morning was too long ago.”
“I know,” I mumble into his shirt.
He pulls back a little. “Go on inside. They have all the other food almost ready, and I’m sure they want to see you too.”
“Okay,” I say, and he turns back to the grill. My hand on his shirt stops him.
Lifting up on my toes, I kiss him. It’s quick, but I hope it shows how much I was thinking about him all day because everything from last night kept playing on repeat in my mind all day long.
And you’ve been chronically turned on all day because of it.
Releasing him, I walk into the house and find Conrad and Brooks in the kitchen. They always look hot, but seeing them in the kitchen cooking dinner for me is taking things to a new level.
Like I wasn’t horny already.
“Hey, Trouble,” Brooks says, carrying a plate of foil-wrapped baked potatoes to the table.
“Hey,” I say, feeling a little less nervous after seeing Austin outside.
Setting the plate down, he jogs over to me and sweeps me into his arms.
I laugh as I wrap my legs around his waist, so they aren’t flailing about. My purse falls to the floor by the back door, but I don’t even care.
He carries me into the kitchen, setting me on the island next to where Conrad is stirring what looks like a roasted veggie salad.
Brooks nestles in between my legs. He cups my cheeks, kissing me softly at first, then deepening it when I lean into him. His tongue gently swipes over my lips before he backs away.
I want to pull him back into me for more, but I force my hands to remain at my sides because, as great as this all seems, I still don’t know what’s really going on here.
Conrad hands the bowl he was working with to his brother and takes his turn moving in close. “Hey you,” he whispers.
“Hey.” I slide my arms over his shoulders.
We just stare at each other, his hands firmly gripping my thighs over my jeans. My tongue darts out, tracking over my bottom lip. His eyes deviate from my eyes to my mouth, and he pounces.
His left hand lands on the base of my spine while the other cups the back of my head. He drags me to the very edge of the counter, so I’m pressed against him as his mouth crashes against mine.
My brain short-circuits, so when he eases back away from me, I sit there unmoving for way too long. Blinking my eyes, I realize Austin is now standing in front of me.
His arms wrap around me as he eases me to the ground. He makes sure I’m steady before pulling back.
“Let’s go eat, angel.”
The meal is delicious, but I’m starting to go a little mad. They just keep talking about everything else other than the bomb that’s ready to go off.
Me. Maybe I’m the bomb ready to blow.
My leg bounces erratically under the table, and suddenly my appetite is gone. I set my fork down beside my plate, abandoning my half-eaten food.
I can still hear Brooks talking about their next softball game, but I’m not really listening. They don’t want to do this. They can’t.
They cooked me this nice meal to let me down easy. They’re just being nice and letting me finish my dinner before letting me go.
My heart squeezes in my chest, aching for something I never really had to begin with.
A gentle hand ghosts over my shoulder. “Hadley, are you okay?” Conrad says on my left.
“Just do it… please,” I say, still staring down at my hands.
“Do what?” Brooks says from my other side.
“Sweetheart, look at me,” Conrad says in a gentle but firm voice. Reluctantly, I tilt my head up, my eyes meeting his. “What’s going through your head right now?”
“What I told you all I wanted was selfish of me. How could I expect all of you to be okay with that? To be okay with sharing me, but not being with anyone else yourselves? I appreciate all of you trying to let me down gently, but please just do it.”
Conrad’s face scrunches up in confusion as Austin and Brooks both say, “What?” in unison. I glance at both of the other men. They’re staring at me with the same level of confusion as Conrad has written all over his face.
What the hell?
“You thought we invited you out here for dinner and waited all this time to tell you we don’t want to or can’t be with you in the way that works for your big, beautiful heart?” Brooks asks.
I shrug, not knowing what to say as I start to question whether I read everything wrong.
“Well, we’re not,” Austin says from across the table. “If you think I can let you go after last night, then you’re insane. If being with these two,” he gestures to Brooks and Conrad, “makes you happy and complete, then I’ll make it work. It isn’t like our family was conventional anyway.”
“Wait, what?”
Conrad pulls my attention back to him. “We’re all in. All three of us. We want to do this whole relationship thing with you if that’s still what you want.”
This can’t be real right now. I must be dreaming.
There’s no way the three incredible men who I’m falling for are agreeing to be in a relationship with me, knowing how I feel about all of them.
One look at Brooks shows that he’s definitely on board, not that that’s a big surprise. Out of all of them, I figured he would be the most adventurous.
Tentatively, I slide my gaze to Austin. “Are you sure?”
His eyes are dead serious. “Yes, I’m sure, Hadley, and I don’t say that lightly. I’ve thought a lot about this, but I want you in my life and Evelyn’s.”
Emotion wells inside of me, hearing that he wants me to be in Evelyn’s life.
“These two are already my brothers, so in some weird way, this actually makes sense.”
“I… uhh… okay,” I stammer.
What the hell kind of response was that? They just gave me everything I’ve been dreaming of since coming back into town on a platter, and all I could say was “uhh… okay…”?
“You two can go to the living room with her. I’ll get all this cleaned up,” Conrad tells the other two guys.
I go to tell him that I will help clean up, but Austin grabs my hand. He pulls me into the living room, where I see they have the coffee table pushed to the side and a mound of blankets and pillows heaped on the floor.
“We thought maybe this would be more comfortable with all of us,” he says.
“More comfortable for what?” I ask, suddenly feeling nervous.
Brooks smirks at me as he plops down, starfishing across the expanse of blankets. “Watch a movie. What else would we be doing, you little sexual deviant?”
My cheeks redden, but I don’t say anything, still too shocked by what’s happening.
Brooks sits up. He grabs at my shirt, pulling me down onto him. I land on top of him with a grunt.
The smile he gives me is infectious, and when his lips graze against mine, I don’t fight the grin that creeps over my lips.
“There’s my girl,” he says, kissing the corner of my mouth. Oh geez . Full body shivers track through me at just those words alone.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Austin crouch beside us. He holds a stack of clothes out to me.
“I know they’re going to be big, but I thought this would be more comfortable.”
I sit up, so I’m straddling Brooks. I can feel him getting hard and pressing against me. I want to feel him without these layers between us.
I grab the clothes from Austin. “Thanks.”
He nods before heading into the kitchen to presumably help Conrad clean up.
I move to stand, but Brooks’ hands grab my hips, holding me in place.
“I guess I’ll be changing right here,” I say, playfully rolling my eyes at him. He just smiles like he won the biggest prize at the fair.
Grabbing the bottom of my shirt, I shrug it over my head. The smile on his face vanishes, replaced by hunger.
Reaching behind my back, I unclasp my bra. It falls onto his chest
“Fuck,” he mumbles. He grabs my bra. “I’ll be keeping this,” he says, tucking it in the pocket of his jeans.
“No, you’re not.” I reach for it. “That’s my favorite one.”
“I’ll buy you ten more. You took my hoodie. It’s only fair."
I wasn’t planning on giving him his hoodie back, so bah, whatever. “Fine,” I huff, reaching for the sweatshirt Austin brought out for me.
I pull it over my head. My perfectly placed messy curls are just plain messy now and flying all around.
He reaches up, brushing my hair away from my face. His hands on my shoulders ease me down toward him.
My arms lay crisscrossed on his chest with my head resting on top of them. Our faces are only inches apart, but neither of us moves to kiss the other.
His fingers trace down the side of my face. “You’re gorgeous,” he says reverently.
Brooks is usually so joyful and lighthearted that the weight of his words settles deep in my chest. The fact that he believes it so strongly makes me believe it, too.
“You’re pretty handsome yourself,” I tell him. He brings one of my hands to his mouth, kissing my fingers.
With a sigh, he helps me stand so I can shimmy out of my jeans and slide into Austin’s way-too-big sweatpants. Brooks crouches before me, tying them tight so they don’t fall off my much smaller frame.
I turn to see Austin and Conrad standing only a few feet away, staring at us. I scan their faces to make sure they aren’t angry, but they both seem content.
I give them a small smile, and the smile they give in return settles something inside of me.