Chapter 22 #2
“Fuck, Addie, come on, baby, come for us,” Roman growls, and then I feel it—the snap—her body clenches tight as her climax crashes over her, and she squeezes us both.
Roman groans, losing himself right after, head falling back as Jasper catches his mouth in a kiss that steals the sound right from his throat.
“Jasper…” She pants, breathless. “I want you.”
He inches forward, and the second her lips close around him, his fingers fist in her hair. He calls out her name as he lets go, and she swallows every drop. When it’s over, Jasper folds in on himself, his breath ragged, one hand gripping my shoulder tight as he tries to pull himself back together.
“Now I’ve got all three of you inside me,” Addie says with a wicked little smile.
We pull out slowly, one by one, from every hole we’ve used, and collapse together across the bed. The sheets are a mess—damp, twisted, and clinging to my skin—and the whole room is thick with the smell of sex.
I glance at Addie, lying between us. I know we could’ve been happy without her.
Jesus, we were happy without her. But some part of us would’ve always missed her.
She lit the match we didn’t know we needed and burned down everything we thought we were until all that was left was this and every memory we haven’t made yet.
We were whole together.
But with her, we’re complete.
We’re a mess of limbs, heat, and everything we’re about to lose, and I’m really trying to take this in for what it is.
All we’ve got left are these few remaining hours.
We’re leaving, and we’re leaving without Addison.
None of us are happy about it. Least of all Jasper, who, the moment he found out she was ready to move to us, started googling moving companies.
He had tabs open for “How to pack up your life in twenty-four hours,” “Small-town escape plans,” and my personal favorite, “Professional email templates for quitting your entire life without sounding completely unhinged.”
“I’ll write it for her,” he said, furiously tapping away on his phone. “Dear whoever, I’m leaving and won’t be returning. EVER. I’ve been claimed by three annoyingly hot men with questionable morals and excellent stamina. Please forward all mail to our shared bed.”
He’s going to hate being without her—we all will, but I know the wait will be worth it.
“Can I ask you something?” Addie’s voice cuts through the quiet, all of us still wrapped up in the perfect mess we’ve made.
“What is it, beautiful?” I ask, my hand absentmindedly stroking Jasper’s hair where he’s curled up with his head in my lap.
“Do your families know? About you guys?”
She means Jasper and me. Roman didn’t grow up with the kind of family where that question would’ve made sense.
He didn’t grow up with warm dinners or loud Sunday mornings or anyone waiting up just to know he got home safe.
His childhood was built on silence, not support.
But both my mom and Jasper’s parents treat Roman like he’s one of their own.
My mom checks in on him more than she checks in on me sometimes—just to make sure he’s eating, sleeping, and breathing.
It’s not biology, but it’s chosen love, and for a guy like Roman, who spent years convincing himself he didn’t need anyone, that kind of love hits different.
I glance down at Jasper, and he meets my eyes with a soft smile before closing them again, sinking deeper into the comfort of us. “Yeah, they’ve known for a long time. Why do you ask?”
“I just wonder what they’ll think now that I’m part of this. It’s been the three of you for so long. I wouldn’t blame them if they had doubts.”
Roman lifts her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Are you planning on going anywhere?”
“No. Not unless you all do, and then I’m going with you.”
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about.” Roman holds her tighter, savoring the closeness.
“It’s everyone else that’s going to be the problem,” Jasper whispers, and I stop my fingers, hearing the vulnerability in his voice and hating it because I know he’s right, and I hate that I can’t shield him from it.
“I can’t wait to get home. You know why?
” Jasper tilts his face up, and my fingers brush along his jaw.
“Because I get to kiss you. I get to kiss Rome and Addie whenever the hell I want. I get to hold your hand and let the whole world know I’m in love with you without giving a shit what anyone thinks—not the team, not Coach, not the media.
Let them talk. It doesn’t take a thing from us.
And if we decide to say fuck it and disappear somewhere quiet and live off all the money we’ve made, then so be it.
If it all ends tomorrow, I’ll walk away without a second thought because I’ll have you, all of you, and that’s all that’s ever really mattered. ”
“I know it’s not gonna be easy—”
“It’s going to be really easy, Jasper, because whatever this is between us, I’ve never felt anything like it. I’ve never been this happy.”
She means every word. I can feel it deep in my chest.
“The easiest fucking thing in the world, baby,” Roman agrees, and even though he can’t reach Jasper right now, I know the second he can, his hands will be on him, grounding him, and loving him the way Roman does.
“Can you please hurry and get your shit together here, angel? Roman’s gonna be climbing the walls waiting for you.”
“Do you guys have a spare room for me?”
“Yeah, not happening, Addison,” I shoot back, raising a brow as she smirks like the beautiful little menace she is.
“I meant for my things,” she says, all faux innocence. “I had no doubt I’d be sleeping in your bed… assuming I fit.”
“You’re tiny,” I say, brushing my fingers along her calf, “and the bed’s huge. We don’t sleep apart. Not ever. And that includes you now.”