Chapter 40
Charlotte
Now that I stop to think about it, I actually held it together for a pretty long time. We said goodbye to Ethan's mom and his whole family, packed our things and Katniss's into the car, and even stopped to eat at a local restaurant before hitting the road toward Frosthaven.
And I only lost it once we'd already driven a good twelve miles.
"Stop the car, Ethan," I ask suddenly, and he furrows his brow, looking at me from the corner of his eye.
Since I'm about to cry, all I can do is repeat:
"Just stop the car, please." He must have sensed the desperation in my voice, because he obeys and pulls onto the shoulder, stopping the Jeep.
I open the door and get out in a panic, gulping down air like I'd spent all this time suffocating.
And maybe I was, but it was in my own thoughts. I crouch down and rest my head in my hands, staring at the ground. Tears fall out of my control.
Ethan and Logan reach my side in two seconds.
"Peach, are you feeling sick?"
"What are you feeling, princess? We can go back to the hospital and..."
As I hear them sound so tender and genuinely worried, I finally explode. I jump to my feet.
"I'm feeling everything! I'm feeling you two!
And I don't know what to do with it! I planned out my whole life, and when I broke up with Johnny, I realigned everything so it wouldn't include love!
" I practically scream, and I pound on both their chests, while they just look at me in shock.
"I just wanted to have fun! I'm a woman and I like sex, I should have the right to have my adventures just as much as you men!
And you!" I point an accusing finger at Ethan.
"You promised you didn't want anything serious either!
You promised me a friends-with-benefits thing. "
I really punch his chest now, unloading all my frustration, but Ethan doesn't stop me.
"Only to now introduce me to your mom and promise to face anything to be with me?"
I spin to Logan with identical rage.
"And you! You were the biggest player on that damn campus! How can you be looking at me now like a lost little puppy that found the love of its life?" I accuse, hitting him too.
Logan has the nerve to smile.
"Because you are, princess."
"No! I can't be."
"But you are. You and Ethan both," he shoots back, and I growl.
"No!"
"Yes!" they say in unison now, and I huff with rage. I stomp away. The catharsis of feelings inside me seems to affect even the damn weather, because suddenly I watch a bolt of lightning strike in the distance, followed by a dreadful crack of thunder.
Great, to match my mood.
Ethan pulls me back into the middle of them, and they wrap me in their arms.
"I love you, Charlie McCarthy," the dark-haired guy declares, and I thrash, trying to break free, even though my heart is in pure ecstasy.
"And I love you too, princess. There's no point trying to fight it anymore," Logan finishes, making me shudder even harder.
"There is a point! Take back what you said," I demand like a bratty child, but it's just my reason trying to keep overriding my emotions.
"Never. I love the two of you so much it hurts. And look, if there's anyone who wasn't expecting this, it was me," Logan admits, laughing, and Ethan looks at him with palpable affection.
Another clap of thunder follows, but now accompanied by torrential rain.
Perfect. It was all I needed.
I try to break free again, since we'll be soaked in minutes, but they won't let me.
"Let me go. We're going to freeze."
"Not until you look us in the eyes and tell us what you feel, Peach," he demands, and I let out a tortured groan. I hit their chests again, but I finally work up the courage to lift my eyes.
Ethan, with that serious pose that hid the extremely gentle and sweet man beneath, worried on top of it.
The big player who wouldn't let me study to the point of exhaustion and sometimes showed up with food during my study hours, because he knew that when I got going, I'd forget to eat right.
The guy who could spend hours with me in his lap just for a cuddle, or order me to my knees and be the most depraved of men.
And then there was Logan, with his Golden Retriever aura and a smile that melted panties.
Always ready to make me laugh or flirt until I blushed.
The sweet man who carried me to bed when I fell asleep on the couch and secretly liked to binge telenovelas with me.
Who rescued lost kittens and brought them home without even blinking.
Who had tried to erase his attraction to me out of respect for his friend, and now confessed his love for him with the same ease he did for me.
Damn it.
I loved these bastards.
I cry even harder when I finally let that conclusion sink into my gut and, above all, let it silence my reason.
The rain is already soaking me to the bone, but I don't care. I raise my hands and cradle my men's cheeks.
"There's no escaping this, is there?"
"Maybe there would be if it were just one. But against two men in love and chasing after you? Impossible, princess," Logan says in a soft voice, and for the first time that night, I laugh, and both their faces light up.
"I love you too. More than I should. More than I thought was possible. I didn't plan on making room for anyone in my heart, but you two showed up and took possession of it at the same time," I admit, and they break into identical, enormous smiles, even with the sky falling down on our heads.
"I'm so glad you finally get it, Peach. Will you agree to date us?" Ethan asks, and I don't even have time to answer before my other love adds:
"And agree to wear our names on your back forever?"
I laugh and breathe in deep, like the air is finally reaching my lungs the right way. Like my heart is finally beating at the correct rhythm, because there were two others beside it to help keep the beat.
So I say the only possible thing to the two men who make a home in my heart.
"I accept."