Chapter 26 #2
“Shit,” Cam said. “Do we need to go fight for her?”
“If there’s even a slim chance she would take him back. I don’t want to lose her, Cam. And not only that, I don’t like the way he’s acting.” Something about the guy was setting off his cop instincts, he just couldn’t put his finger on it exactly..
Cam grimaced. “I don’t, either.”
Not only would losing Hope feel like lopping off a limb, he couldn’t simply sit back and let Darren intimidate or possibly hurt her. “Then we have to make sure she knows that and we need to head to her place.”
“We should give her a chance to handle this first.”
“Cam...”
Cam closed his eyes and pulled in a sharp breath. “You’re right. We can’t just sit back and let him convince her that she should give him a second chance. And I don’t like that he’ll be alone with her. If something happens to her on our watch, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Nolan blew out a relieved breath. “Same. I’m going to grab my SUV and you return that truck. I’m sure they need it. Then we can head over to her place. I’m willing to fight for her and protect what’s ours. Are you?”
Cam stared at him for a second and then gave him a single nod. “Let’s go claim our woman. And if we need to, kick some ass.”
Hell yeah.
“You made the wrong choices. But so did I. I see that now, Hope, and I want to correct my mistake.”
Sure he did. Hope doubted Darren’s narrow views magically changed, especially in only a few months’ time. “And how will you do that?”
“If you allow me to move back into our home, I’ll let you work at that place, if that’s what you really want.”
Hope refrained from rolling her eyes.
Our home.
It hadn’t been their home for quite a few months. She had made sure to exorcise the house of everything that was Darren, except for two small boxes he’d left behind that she had shoved to the back of the closet.
If she’d had his forwarding address, she would’ve mailed them to him, but since he was there in the flesh, he could take his stuff with him when he left this time.
Hope did a double-take. “You’ll let me?”
“A lot of people would love to make money from their hobby. You’re one of the lucky ones.”
“Lucky?” she spit out.
Darren was digging a hole so deep, it was about to cave in on him.
He clearly didn’t know—or care—how dedicated she was to her students, whether they be her regulars or the resort’s guests.
“Why are you here, Darren? Other than to insult me all over again.”
“I...It’s...”
Hope lifted a palm to stop his sputtering and pushed off the kitchen counter where she’d been leaning. “By the way, you left a couple of boxes behind. I’ll get them for you.”
“No need. I’ll just be bringing them back when I move back in.”
Hope’s head jerked back from his audacity.
“I said I’d give you a chance to speak. I let you speak.
Now it’s my turn. You won’t be moving back in, Darren.
You not only disrespected me by trying to dictate where I could work, but you disrespected everyone—guests and employees alike—at the Double D by calling them perverts and worse.
I’m done. Truthfully, I’m much happier without you. I want to keep it that way.”
“Ouch.”
“Funny, I felt the same way when you insisted that teaching yoga wasn’t a real job.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
“It came out of your mouth,” she reminded him.
“I was worried about you teaching there. Anyone who goes to a place like that has no morals.”
“Then you’re also saying that I have no morals.”
“Hope, we were good together. We were happy together.”
“I thought so, too, until you showed your true colors. But once you left, I realized I wasn’t as happy as I thought.” She wasn’t going to unnecessarily get into the boring sex.
“You just need to give me a chance.”
“No, I don’t. You had your chance and you blew it.”
“This is my house, too.”
“It was your house until you left me with the mortgage payments.”
“There’s equity in this house that belongs to me.”
She tipped her head to the side. “Is there? Have you seen the mortgage statement recently? Do you know how much was paid down on the principal? And I made the down payment, not you. So, it’s my house, not ours.
If you want to take over the monthly payments and all the expenses, you are free to buy me out. Take the house and I’ll move out.”
She really didn’t want to do that, but she didn’t doubt that Darren wouldn’t want to take over the payments on his own.
“Now, you had your say. I’m going to grab the boxes you forgot.” Without waiting for a response, she headed over to the coat closet and pulled out the two small boxes.
She returned to the kitchen and shoved the stacked boxes at him. “Here you go and please don’t come back. I’m loving my life right now with you not in it.”
She ignored his muttered curse and as soon as he had a good grip on the boxes, she went to the junk drawer and pulled out the card she had written one night.
“And don’t forget this.” She placed the envelope on top of the boxes he was holding. “I would’ve mailed it but you never left your forwarding address.”
His eyes dropped to it. “What is it?”
“A thank you card.”
His brow furrowed. “For what?”
“For leaving and letting me find the two men who love and accept me as I am.”
His mouth dropped open. “What do you mean, two men?”
“Just what I said. But I’m no longer your business so I don’t have to explain.”
“It sounds like you’re being a slut.”
“You’re welcome to think what you’d like. Just do it elsewhere.” She went to the door and opened it, swinging out a hand. “I hope you have a great life, Darren. I plan on doing the same.”
After a slight hesitation and a mumble she couldn’t understand—nor did she want to—he headed outside. She gave him a wave and shut the door to that particular chapter of her life.
A few minutes later, a pounding at her front door made her heart take a tumble.
Now what? She thought she’d made herself clear.
When she flung open the door, she swallowed the words she had geared up to say to her ex.
“He’s gone.”
“Of course he’s gone,” she told Cam. “Did you really think I was going to let him slide back into my life and my home?” Nevermind that he had called her a slut. Cam and Nolan didn’t need to know that.
Hope stepped back to allow them inside.
But before she even finished closing the door, Cam said, “We need to have a serious discussion.”
“Right now?” she asked his back as he moved farther into the kitchen.
He turned, leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “Is there a better time?”
“Is this because of Darren trying to get me back?”
“Having him show up was a reality check. It reminded us how we don’t want to lose you. Ever.”
“You’re not going to lose me.”
Maybe, maybe not, but they needed to stake their claim to be completely sure it never happened. “Nolan and I discussed it on the way over.”
Her brow furrowed. “Discussed what?”
“I’m getting to that.”
Hope rolled her eyes. “Well, hurry up!”
When he chuckled at her fake outrage and she whacked him in the gut with the back of her hand. He released an overly dramatic oof, then pulled her into his arms.
While they had never discussed being exclusive, it had been over six months that none of them had been with anyone else. They had no reason to make it official with Hope at this point.
Yes, it had only been six months. And in reality, six months wasn’t very long in any relationship, but—
Bottom line was, they didn’t want to share her with anyone else. And they also didn’t want to risk losing her to anyone else. Not just Darren.
They were happy and he could envision a future that included all three of them.
He was someone who knew what he wanted.
Nolan was quite clear with what he wanted.
They just needed to make sure Hope wanted the same as them.
He glanced over at Nolan first—who gave him a subtle chin lift to proceed—before locking eyes with Hope. “I…” He shook his head before correcting himself. “We want us to take the next step and live together.”
Her expression wasn’t one of surprise but of relief. Had she been waiting for them to propose this?
“That would be ideal, but where would we live? I know how much you two love living on the ranch. Not to mention I know you feel obligated to stick close. Handsome, you always seem antsy to return the nights you guys come over here.”
Unfortunately, that was true. He appreciated his job.
He appreciated the Lyonses and how they ran the ranch resort.
But it was actually during one of their recent meetings where they mentioned that, if the cabin was too small for them—Dayne’s eyebrows had raised at that word—their positions didn’t require Cam and Nolan to live on site.
Especially since Fisher Falls was only about twenty minutes away.
“The resort will be fine,” Dayne had assured him. “The team you put together is top notch, Cam. We have no doubt they can handle anything crazy until you get here.”
“Since opening, we’ve only had one problem guest. For the most part, this is a place where people leave their emotional baggage at the front gate and forget their problems,” Dylan had added.
“Copious amounts of sex will do that,” Dayne said with his typical shit-eating grin. “Take it from me.”
Everything their bosses had said was true.
Nolan moved to stand next to Cam, so they both faced Hope. Her eyes flicked between the two of them.
Cam grabbed her chin and had her focus solely on him for a second. “We do love living on the ranch, but not as much as we love you. We want you in our lives full-time.”
“Absolutely,” Nolan agreed with a nod. “It’s not the same when you’re not with us. When you’re gone, we miss you.”
Despite her face softening at Nolan’s words, she reminded them, “I’m with you two a lot.”
While that was true… “Both Nolan and I want all three of us to build a home together. A life.” He was damn sure Hope wanted that, too. Which was why he didn’t think it was too early to bring up this topic.
“Like a couple. But better,” Nolan added.
“And Dylan and Dayne are proof of how polycules can work.”
“It’s always nice to have an extra set of hands around,” Nolan added with a wink.
“And not just during sex,” Cam clarified.
Nolan’s lips tipped upward. “Sure, sure. That’s what I meant.”
Her brow furrowed. “But what about your jobs?”
“Dayne and Dylan have told me that they’re fine with us moving off the resort. They actually encouraged it. I guess it was obvious on what path we are headed.” Already being in established polyamorous relationships probably made it easier for them to recognize said path.
“But you didn’t think to ask me first before talking to them?”
“They brought it up before I could. Then I thought about all the times you’ve mentioned that you didn’t want to go home. That you wanted to stay.”
“Most times I do.”
Could it be that he has misread the relief on her face? Or was she just making sure they really wanted this?
“But not every time. You should be sleeping beside us every night and waking up beside us every morning.”
Nolan nodded. “As you know, you’re a major part of this relationship. We don’t want you feeling the slightest bit left out. I can’t imagine me leaving you and Cam some nights to go home to be by myself. I’d feel like I’m missing out. The truth is, you shouldn’t be missing out on anything.”
If there was any chance she thought she missed out on intimacy or conversations, living together might solve that.
Her eyebrows knitted together. “But where would we live? You haven’t answered that yet.”
Cam’s eyes met her blue ones. “Unless you have any objections, we thought this house would work. It’s not huge, but it’s plenty big enough for us at this point. Plus, it would open up one of the cabins for another employee.”
“What do you mean ‘at this point?’”
“Well, if we eventually decide to raise a family…” Cam let that drift off because this was something they hadn’t discussed.
But Nolan mentioned one night that he regretted never having children.
Cam only had one. Laurel would probably love having younger siblings.
To visit, not help raise them, of course.
He had no idea where Hope stood on having kids. Since she’d be the one bearing them, ultimately, that decision would be up to her.
Kids or not, he still wanted them all to share their lives together. Forever. “What do you say?”
She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared past him. Her gaze suddenly swung back. “I’ll give you one guess because one will be all you’ll need.”
He placed his hands on either side of her face and pressed their foreheads together. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Before he let her go, he brushed his lips over hers. Once she was free, Nolan enveloped her into his arms and shared a kiss with her next.
“Should we go upstairs to celebrate?” Hope suggested.
While their work day wasn’t quite over yet, they could probably get away with a quickie.
As they headed upstairs, their smiles were bright. But not as bright as their future.
Cam didn’t think he could be any happier.
It turned out, he was wrong.