Chapter 26 #3
“You don’t think I’ve noticed that one of you is always awake?” He and Langston both quickly avoided eye contact, proving I was right. “Hudson doesn’t have that. So one of you will go with him to watch over the house while he sleeps.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Hudson grumbled, sounding very pouty.
“No, you need a friend who will watch over your family like you would so you can get the sleep you desperately need.”
“Juno,” Langston sighed.
Stepping out of his hold, I crossed both arms over my chest and gave him my best “don’t fuck with me” expression.
“Okay.” He clapped his hands together. “You heard her. West, let’s draw straws to see who gets to play guard dog while the princess here sleeps.”
Hudson flipped him the bird and rolled his eyes. “I’d threaten to kick your ass for that, but I’m too fucking tired.”
Langston’s brows pulled in as he studied Hudson before nodding. “No straws. I’m coming with you.”
While he and Hudson figured all that out, Oliver came over to me, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Thank you for that. I don’t think anyone else has noticed how exhausted he is besides me and Calista.
” He reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it up to inspect my knuckles.
“I heard you popped that douchecanoe ex of yours.” A small smile formed on his lips. “How did it feel?”
“Fantastic,” I replied, a wide smile pulling at my cheeks.
“Good. And it looks like your fist form was perfect, nothing broken and no heavy bruising.”
“I had an excellent teacher.” He shook his head and dropped my hand, but I grabbed his before he stepped away. “I’m serious, Oliver. Thank you. I felt strong in that moment. I knew what I could do, and I did it. I haven’t felt that powerful in a long, long time.”
“I hate that you felt weak before coming to me, but I’m so damn proud of you for where you are now.”
Langston stepped up beside us, glaring at Oliver like he wanted to test his punching skills on his face.
“You’re going to make some woman beyond happy one day,” I said to Oliver while wrapping both arms around Langston’s waist. “I wonder what she’ll be like.”
He waved me off with a grin and turned to follow Hudson out the front door.
“I’ll be back later tonight.” Gripping my chin, Langston held me in place as he pressed a hard kiss to my lips.
My heart raced, heat filling my veins as desire had my lower belly flipping. A pitiful whimper escaped when he broke it off, pulling back just enough that our lips brushed.
A cocky smile curved his lips. “Tonight, we’ll finish this.” A deep chuckle escaped him at my dramatic pout. “And no playing together while I’m gone. I want to be here to watch it all when I get home.”
A hard chest pressed against my back, a hand sneaking around to dip beneath my shirt and rest on my bare skin. I sucked in a tight breath as West’s fingers brushed along the seam of my low-rise sweatpants.
“We’ll be waiting,” he said, nipping at my earlobe.
Cursing under his breath about sleep being dumb and asshole friends, Langston stormed out the front door, slamming it shut behind him.
With a wide smile, I shifted to look up and behind me. “That wasn’t very nice,” I admonished West.
With a quick kiss to the end of my nose, he stepped back and shrugged.
“Keying him up now will make tonight more fun for all of us.” He waggled both eyebrows suggestively as he pushed his thick frames up his nose.
I loved those glasses on him and had almost asked him to stop wearing contacts altogether so they would be a permanent accessory.
“Don’t worry, I’ll ask him to take all that pent-up frustration out on me. ”
I slapped his arm with a laugh, his wide grin making his dimples pop.
After grabbing the dirty mug off the coffee table, I started for the kitchen, unable to stop grinning from ear to ear.
Placing it in the sink to wash later, I leaned back against the counter, taking in the small cabin.
The living room looked different from that first visit, a little more disorganized with all my gaming systems around the TV, my shoes by the front door, and the several throw blankets I couldn’t live without lying in piles on the couch and floor.
It looked warm, lived-in, and the warmth filling the space had nothing to do with the fire I’d begged the boys to start earlier to help distract me from all the dark thoughts racing through my head.
This was what a happy home felt like.
This was what being loved for who you were, true partnership and friendship, was meant to be.
I worried my lower lip. Maybe, just maybe, this time the good wouldn’t fade away or end.
With Langston and West, us three, we were the real thing.
What we had was beyond love. It was a beautiful, perfect mixture of love, trust, and respect that we would never let slip away.
This kind of life, truly living out loud, was everything I’d always wanted and finally had.
I loved them with all that I was. Every cell in my body, every beat of my heart was theirs.
And it wasn’t because of the orgasms or pretty words or fickle feelings.
They loved me for me, saw my quirky and irritable and introverted sides and still loved me.
Neither wanted me to change for them or hide parts of myself.
And maybe now, with their help, I could finally figure out how to love myself too.