Chapter 34 Jude
jude
Forest's mouth moved against my own, his tongue brushed against mine and my heart felt full. I felt his devotion, his need, his hunger for me and while I wanted to be mad for a little longer, I couldn’t do it.
Sam and I could have gone through life together without Forest, but we wouldn't have been complete.
It ended too soon as Forest kissed Sam. They devoured each other making need curl in my abdomen. My men looked so good together. I ran a hand up their abdomens and they pulled me into the kiss. It started off with more teeth and awkwardness until we found our rhythm.
The sound of a door slamming made us stop kissing. We rested our foreheads together as I realized we were still at the bar. It was almost like we were in our own bubble for just a moment.
“I missed you so much,” Forest said softly. “It was like an ache that wouldn’t go away. I’m so sorry.”
“Get a room!” Iris yelled.
I looked over my shoulder to see her with a tray full of drinks at the edge of the bar.
She glanced over my shoulder at Forest, she pointed at her eyes and then pointed at him, mouthing that she was watching him.
Sam chuckled. “Watch out for that one, she and Bailey were on their way to getting, ‘I hate Forest’ shirts.”
“I don’t blame them,” Forest said, nuzzling against Sam like he was hiding.
Iris glared one last time before walking to deliver her drinks.
“I want to go home,” I said, turning around.
“Ok, let's go,” Sam said immediately. “I think before we leave, though, you owe Beau an apology.”
Forest scowled, saying nothing as Sam pulled him towards the crowd and he grabbed my hand like he couldn’t bear to say sorry alone.
His grip tightened when we neared the table we were at.
Sam said something that I couldn’t quite hear.
I walked around them looking for Beau, who was sitting by Valencia.
“Hey, you ok?” I asked him, trying walk ahead, but Forest didn’t let go.
“I’m fine, it looks like you are too,” Beau said mischievously.
My cheeks grew warm. “I hope we will be.” I didn’t want to be skeptical, but I might be for a little while.
“He came back, that says a lot, and not even one week has passed.” He raised his brows.
“Yeah, there's that,” I agreed.
“Hey, I just want to say I’m sorry, man.” Forest leaned down to talk closer to Beau. “I got jealous and I wasn’t thinking.”
Beau studied him for a moment. “Well, you can’t blame me for dancing with a hot man.”
Forest chuckled, causing me to shiver from the sound. “No, I can’t.”
“I forgive you, and I’m glad you got your head out of your ass,” Beau said, shaking his hand.
“I am too,” he said, squeezing my shoulder.
“Alright, lovebirds, go have great makeup sex,” Beau smirked. “Shooo!”
He waved us off as Valencia gave Forest a dirty look, but waved us off too. Sam shook Gomez and Riggs' hands, grabbing my jacket. Riggs looked awfully smug as he watched us. Forest helped me put it on as we said goodbye to everyone.
“Can I drive since you’ve been drinking?” Forest asked, as we stepped outside.
“We can go to my house,” Sam said. “I’d like to go home in my car, though.”
I heard the undertone, the words unspoken that said, “What if you leave us again?”
“Ok.” Forest nodded. “I’ll follow you to make sure you're ok.”
“See you there,” Sam said.
Forest glanced at me like he was hoping I was going to follow him, but I needed space. “Drive safely,” I said awkwardly.
Sam led me to his car in silence. He already had the car running and I had never been more grateful for his keyless starter. Sam opened the door for me, but before he closed it, I pulled him in for a kiss.
“We are ok, right?” I asked against his lips.
“We will always be ok. Is this what you want?” Sam held my face between his hands.
“I think we still need to talk, but yes, I want Forest,” I said softly.
“Good, me too,” he said, kissing my nose.
“What if I said this wasn't going to work?”
“Then we would tell him to fuck off. This doesn’t work unless we are all in,” he said confidently.
“That wouldn’t be fair to you,” I scoffed.
“It wouldn’t be fair to you either, one of us would be unhappy. He betrayed us, there's no getting over that and I would be an asshole to force you to do that,” he said, kissing my forehead. “If we don’t have trust, this doesn’t work.”
My heart warmed at his words. “Sam Webber, when did you get so wise?”
“Probably when I fell in love with you guys and realized there was more to life than just hockey and jumping from bed to bed,” he said with a grin.
“I love you, Sammy,” I said, running my hand through his hair.
“I love you too, Baby,” he said, kissing me softly, making me feel it everywhere.
“Let’s go make him squirm a little more,” I said, as I sat back.
Sam grinned, shutting my door.
I had never been more thankful that Sam lived so close to the Boozy Bandit.
Knowing Forest was so close was hitting harder than I thought, now that I knew Sam and I were on the same page.
I knew I was being dramatic, but this is what I got for punishing him, I was punishing myself too.
Sam hadn’t put the car in park before I got out of it, watching Forest park behind us.
Forest hopped out of his truck and I went to him immediately. He opened his arms as he walked to me. I slid into his side like I always belonged there, my heart beat faster as I realized I wouldn’t have to live without this, like I thought I would.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he murmured against my temple, before he kissed it.
We followed Sam into the house, shucking off our clothes like nothing had changed, even though it felt like everything had.
“Anyone hungry or thirsty?” Sam asked, walking to the kitchen.
“Water, please.” I took my shoes off.
“I’m good,” Forest said, standing by the door awkwardly.
Sam had two water bottles, grabbed Forest's hand and led him to the bedroom. It was adorable how unsure Forest was, I hoped this would be a humbling experience for him.
“Shower?” Sam asked, as we entered his room.
“I’d like one, I've been in a car for twelve hours,” Forest said.
“Yeah, I’m sweaty from dancing,” I said, and I could have sworn I heard a small growl from Forest that made me way too happy.
“Go shower and I’ll use the one in the hall,” Sam said, getting naked.
Forest and I watched him shamelessly. Seeing his powerful body flex with each movement had my body growing hot.
“Go shower, you pervs,” he smirked, walking past us.
I rushed to get my clothes off, feeling Forest’s eyes on me and as much as I wanted to take my time, I wanted to shower and lay down.
I still wanted to talk; I still had questions.
Forest followed me into the small shower that we barely fit into together.
Our shower was very clinical as he did most of the washing, almost reverently, like an apology, kissing parts of me every so often and then washing himself twice as fast.
We dried ourselves off, seeing Sam in bed already reading a playbook he got from his coaching job. He was so excited to be coaching those kids, and I could not be happier for him. He highlighted something, setting it down when I got into bed.
“In you go.” I pushed Forest to get in between us.
He followed my command, lying between us like this was the first time we had lied in a bed together.
“Oh god, Forest, lighten up.” I slapped his chest making his arm come up, giving me space to lay on his chest snuggling closer.
He chuckled. “I’m sorry, I just—”
We stayed silent, giving him time to talk.
“I just don’t know what is ok and what is not? Are we ok or are we in limbo?” He trailed his hand up and down my back softly.
Sam turned over to us, leaning his head on his elbow.
“How about you start with what made you come back?” Sam asked.
“My sister told me that being almost forty and running from my problems was embarrassing."
I laughed instantly, liking his sister.
“Sorry,” I said, attempting to contain my laughter.
“Liar,” Forest said, tickling my side.
“I didn’t know you had a sister, but she sounds so smart," Sam said, his eyes full of laughter.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah she’s kind of smart, but she did call me out on my bullshit,” he said, getting more serious.
“The reason I move around a lot is because I don’t like to have anything tying me down.
I let one man become my everything and when I gave up everything for him, he left me.
So, I haven’t trusted anyone anymore and I always leave before someone can do that to me again.
What my sister so lovingly pointed out was that Jorge loved me because of what I could give him.
At the time, I was set to take over my parents' dairy farm.
When they told me I needed to marry the other dairy farmer's daughter because they wanted to merge the farms together, I refused because I was in love with Jorge.
When I said no, my dad told me to leave, he didn't expect me to call his bluff. When I packed my shit, telling Jorge to do the same, he vanished.”
Hot anger coursed through me. This motherfucker left Forest, leaving him jaded with all this baggage cause he wasn’t getting princess treatment?
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I sat up. “He left you because you couldn’t give him a cushy life?”
“I guess, he never had the balls to tell me to my face,” Forest said, not looking at us. “I felt used and abandoned, so I told myself I would never let myself feel that way again. I know this doesn’t excuse my behavior, but—”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Sam turned over, hugging Forest. “It doesn’t excuse your behavior, but it makes us understand why you did what you did. I hope the next time you feel scared or overwhelmed, you talk to us.”
“Sounds like this Jorge is an asshole and needs to be pushed off a bridge and—”
“Jude!” Sam interrupted me.
Forest smiled.