26. Chapter Twenty-Seven #4
I looked at the three of them. Luca was rescuing fruit from around my keyboard while muttering about ants.
Tavian was eating one of the pieces he'd retrieved from the clean section of the table before Luca could stop him.
Malek had set the comb aside and was separating a small tangle near the ends of my hair with his fingers instead of pulling at it.
The laptop screen still showed a folder of photographs I'd spent most of the afternoon reviewing.
A charging indicator glowed near the edge of the table.
Rain moved through the courtyard outside, and the room smelled of wet stone, dried fruit, my own honey and jasmine, and three Alpha scents that had become familiar enough that I no longer had to think about which belonged to whom.
I'd known how I felt for weeks.
Keeping it to myself suddenly seemed pointless.
“I love you.” I told all three men, the words leaving my mouth while the last of my laughter was still fading.
Everything around the table stopped, and my own scent changed before I could become self-conscious about what I'd said.
Honey, jasmine, and warm vanilla strengthened despite the blockers.
Citrus and spice answered first, followed almost immediately by cedar and damp earth and the warmer sandalwood and herbs beside me.
Tavian reacted before either of the others spoke. His mouth opened, closed again, and the humor disappeared from his face as a purr started deep in his chest. Even his grip on the torn fruit bag loosened until Luca quietly took it from him without Tavian seeming to notice.
“You love us?” Tavian asked me as he slowly lowered the piece of fruit in his other hand, his attention fixed completely on me now.
“All three of you, but yes, Tavian, I love you.” I told Tavian as I turned farther in the chair, wanting him to hear his own name when I saw how much the distinction mattered.
“I love you too.” Tavian told me after swallowing, his voice rougher than usual while emotion showed openly across his face. “I know you said all three. I just needed to hear mine.”
I reached for him, and Tavian crossed the distance immediately to take my hand. He squeezed my fingers but didn't pull me out of the chair, his thumb moving once over my knuckles while the citrus in his scent remained stronger than it had been seconds earlier.
“Were you really worried I didn't?” I asked Tavian as I studied him, because the answer suddenly mattered more than making fun of him for needing reassurance.
“A little.” Tavian admitted as he glanced down at our joined hands before looking back at me. “I knew you cared about me. I knew you wanted me. That's not the same thing.”
“No, it isn't.” I agreed with Tavian as I kept hold of his hand, feeling some of his tension through the way his fingers stayed curled around mine. Tavian was quiet for long enough that I didn't interrupt him.
“I'm good at being fun.” Tavian told me eventually, the usual pride missing from the statement. “People like having fun. I didn't know if that meant I was someone you'd still want when things weren't fun.”
My first instinct was to tell him how ridiculous that was, but the uncertainty in his face stopped me.
Tavian was the easiest of the three to laugh with, but he was also the man who had spent hours walking trails because I wanted a specific bird, carried water and equipment without turning it into a performance, and had been surprisingly serious every time my work or safety actually mattered.
“You're not just the fun one to me.” I told Tavian as I squeezed his fingers, keeping my voice steady when his expression changed.
“You're the man who brings me food, scouts ahead when I'm working, actually listens when I explain why a photograph matters, and carried a rock around for weeks because you didn't want to put it somewhere I hadn't invited you to.”
“It was a very good rock.” Tavian replied quietly, one corner of his mouth finally moving.
“It is a very good rock.” I conceded to Tavian as my own smile appeared. “And I love you.”
Tavian closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, the uncertainty had eased even though his expression remained more vulnerable than usual.
“I believe you and I love you too.” Tavian told me, his purr stronger now while his fingers remained linked with mine.
Malek still hadn't moved from behind me, so I turned toward him and covered the hand resting near my shoulder.
The comb lay forgotten on the table beside my laptop, and one long strand of my hair was still caught between two of his fingers.
“I love you, Malek.” I told him directly, wanting him to hear the words meant specifically for him.
“I love you too.” Malek told me as his fingers closed gently around mine, his golden-brown eyes holding my attention while cedar and damp earth strengthened around him. “That doesn't change when you leave for work.”
I breathed out slowly. Hearing him say that mattered after everything we'd worked through about my job and leaving.
“Even when you hate that I'm leaving?” I asked Malek as I rubbed my thumb across his knuckles.
“Yes.” Malek answered without hesitation, though the tension around his mouth made it clear that part still wasn't easy. “I can hate the distance and still love the woman who wants the job.”
“Good.” I told Malek as some of the tightness in my chest eased. “Because there are going to be more jobs.”
“I know.” Malek replied as his thumb moved once beneath mine, the answer carrying no attempt to change that fact.
Then I turned toward Luca. He hadn't rushed to fill the silence, and his usual composure had slipped enough that I could see moisture gathering along his lower lashes before he blinked.
The half-repaired pouch sat abandoned beside his chair, the needle and thread resting neatly on top because of course even Luca's interrupted work somehow stayed organized.
Sandalwood and herbs strengthened as he moved around the table and crouched beside my chair.
“I love you, Luca.” I told him as I reached for his hand and rubbed my thumb over the calluses along his fingers.
“I love you too, Evie.” Luca replied as he turned my hand over and pressed his mouth against the center of my palm, his voice softer when he continued. “I want us to fit into your life. I don't want you to give yours up to have us.”
My eyes burned worse, and I blinked several times because apparently saying one sentence had turned everyone in the room emotional.
“You're all making this very difficult to handle without crying.” I told Luca as I squeezed his hand, my voice a little less steady than I'd intended.
“You're allowed to cry.” Luca reminded me as his thumb moved across the side of my hand, his expression warm and completely serious.
“I know.” I told Luca as I sniffed and glanced toward Tavian.
“I also know somebody in this room would remember it forever.” Tavian pressed his lips together in an unsuccessful attempt to look trustworthy but, for once, didn't make a joke out of the moment.
He simply squeezed my other hand again and stayed beside me.
Nobody tried to turn the confession into a mating decision.
My scent had become strong enough that I could smell honey and jasmine clearly through the blockers, all three Alpha scents had changed in response, and my glands had started aching beneath my jaw, but none of the men treated any of it like consent I hadn't given.
For several minutes, we didn't do much at all.
Malek picked the comb back up and resumed working through the last section of my hair.
Tavian stayed close enough that our knees touched while he helped Luca gather the remaining fruit from the floor without making another attempt to eat it.
Luca finished clearing the pieces from around my laptop, washed his hands, and came back to sit beside me rather than immediately returning to the pouch.
After the first few minutes, I reopened the image folder because I still had work due.
Tavian stayed beside me, Luca returned to repairing my pouch, and Malek went back to combing my hair.
Apparently telling three men I loved them didn't cancel client deadlines, and I liked that nobody expected it to.
We cleaned the rest of the fruit from the table before dinner because Luca pointed out that ants were unlikely to care about our emotional breakthrough.
I finished the image folder I'd been reviewing and made my required evening radio check from the outer terrace while the rain eased to an occasional drip from the roofline.
When I returned, dinner had been set out across one end of the table.
The conversation moved through ordinary things rather than circling endlessly around the confession.
I told them which route I still needed to finish the next morning and that most of my equipment was already packed.
Luca asked which pieces needed to remain accessible until Thursday.
Tavian wanted to know whether the final morning was actual photography or simply checking one last location, while Malek asked what time I needed to be back at the station.
“Actual photography if the weather cooperates.” I told Tavian as I tore off another piece of food and ate it, enjoying how normal it felt to discuss tomorrow while my glands were still warm from telling all three men I loved them.
“There's one stream section I'd like another pass at, but I'm not chasing anything if conditions are bad.”
“So you're almost finished.” Tavian said as his fingers slowed around his cup, the seriousness in his face returning briefly.
“Almost.” I answered Tavian as the word sat a little heavier in my stomach than it normally would. Tavian nodded and didn't try to make me feel better about something that wasn't actually a problem to solve.