45. Marcie
45
MARCIE
A s one of the last people in the door, I had no clue what was happening. All I knew was that Jackson was laughing about something so hard he was holding his chest, and Katie was fretting.
But they weren’t my focus.
I was happy they’d worked some of their issues out, but my Daddies grabbed my attention and held it. As they always did. Following after them, I didn’t stop until we were standing together out of sight of everyone else.
Hayden looked like he’d seen a ghost.
“Papi, are you okay?”
He wrapped one of his long arms around me and the other around Declan, pulling us into his broad chest. Hayden dropped a kiss on Declan’s mouth, softly. I looked behind me, but Hayden swooped in, taking my mouth with his. Kiss didn’t cover it. He staked a claim. He owned me.
And I loved it.
I adored being theirs.
Their possessive, alpha male, chest-beating, touch her and die personalities made me feel loved and seen.
But I couldn’t help double-checking that no one was looking when he released my mouth.
His breath came hard, as he said, “That’s the last damn time, you hide or worry about someone seeing Declan or I claiming our girl. If you wanna be discreet that’s fine, but I’m fucking over hiding how I feel about you.”
“Papi, I…”
“They know,” he whispered against my mouth when he leaned in to kiss me again.
My eyes went wide, and my head reared back to stare up into his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Katie and Jackson know and they don’t give a fuck.”
“Did you tell them?” I asked Hayden, then looked at Declan. “Did you?”
“No.” They both responded.
“Then how?”
“I don’t know. All I know is Jackson said it looked like I had my hands full when I teased them about not being able to handle me after they flipped me off.”
I stared at him and sighed. “They really know?”
“Yeah, colibrí. They know.”
I sighed, then laughed and snuggled in between my Daddies. Life couldn’t get much better. I could stay right here in their arms forever, listening to them kiss and whisper between themselves. Separate from me, but not excluding me, if that made sense.
Letting my eyes close, I toyed with the snaps on Declan’s denim shirt while I buried my head in the deep vee of Hayden’s chest muscles. One of them kissed the top of my head. Then the other.
A moment later, my bubble burst when Katie’s voice broke through.
“Marcie, can I speak with you?”
Both my men leaned down and kissed me, and while my face heated, I refused to be ashamed of the love they had for me and me for them.
Hayden whispered, “I’ll make sure I pack Squirt.”
“Both…”
“I know, sweetness. Hayden and I will make sure they’re both in your carry-on,” Declan answered for them, and they headed toward the room we’d been sharing.
Sucking in a deep breath, I let the lingering scent of their colognes bolster my confidence and turned to Katie. Her eyes were wide, her mouth dropping open.
“Okay. Wow! That was…”
I waited, not wanting to put words in her mouth.
“Yeah. That was hot. You’re braver than I am, because one Holt is enough to deal with. Add in Hayden Marin, and you must have superpowers.”
I giggled, covering my mouth with my hand and closing my eyes to shut out my boss fanning herself. It had not been easy hiding how I felt about Hayden and Declan, but what was worse was not having a girlfriend I could safely talk to about it. Gavin was great and had been a regular visitor here over the last month, but he was such a guy and a horny one at that. He was also much more of a brat than I was, which made talking to him about my relationship with two hotties, his words, not mine, challenging, to say the least. Impossible was a better description.
“They’re amazing,” I said, bot
“And hot!” Katie said.
I tittered again, and Katie wrapped her arms around me. “You’re my best friend. Yeah, you work for me, but you’re my friend first. You don’t need to be afraid of telling me things. Ever.”
I hugged her back. We stood there wrapped around each other when Hayden and Declan came down the hall with our bags.
“Let’s roll, ladies,” Declan said, smacking my butt as he walked by.
I jumped out of Katie’s arms, my hand finding my abused bottom with an “eep!” only to have another pop land on the other cheek. My eyes widened, and my face burned, but Katie only laughed.
“Hey!” I yelled, and they both spun around to look at me, arms held aloft as they yelled back, “What?”
“You know what!”
“Don’t blame us, pequena. That ass begged for a spank or two.”
Katie doubled over, holding her belly, gasping for air.
“Oh yeah, Declan is as bad as Jackson, and it looks like Hayden’s no better. Soft fabric and cushy seats. That’s all I got, cause I dunno about you, but I’m not giving that up.”
Katie and I followed Declan and Hayden out to the SUVs we’d be taking to the airport. Priest, Cameron, and the twins would pick them up later and bring them back to the house.
Much to Declan’s exasperation, Hayden made sure Declan and I were in the second SUV with Heidi, Celeste, and Scott before sliding into the driver’s seat of the front SUV. I caught a glimpse of him, his aviator sunglasses on, his hair pulled back, and I sighed. Heidi and Celeste chuckled.
“Shut up,” I grumbled with embarrassment at being caught ogling the man.
Celeste laughingly called me out.
“It’s just funny. Y’all thought you were being sneaky little shits when I can’t count on both hands the number of times I’ve caught you looking at one or both of them like you just did.”
“And how’s that?”
“Like they’re a popsicle and it’s hotter than Texas in August,” Heidi answered.
Declan, in a pair of aviator sunglasses of his own, said, “It’s alright, sweetness, you can lick me anytime!”
I buried my face in my hands. “Someone kill me now. Dying of embarrassment is a long, painful process.”
Everyone in the car cracked up, and I really wanted to evaporate into thin air.