29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Molly
A few minutes earlier.
“There you are,” Preston murmured, out of breath as he crouched next to me.
The worry in his amber eyes made me feel guilty. I shouldn’t have run. I knew better than that. But after Rebecca’s revelation and my own realizations about Preston and Emmett, I couldn’t stay.
“You were looking for me?”
He nodded, catching his breath.
“Out of shape?” I teased, but it fell flat.
He shook his head and put his arm around me. “Not out of shape. Scared shitless when I got home, and you weren’t there.”
“Lucas needed me,” I said, my voice small as I hugged my knees tighter to my chest. “Henry needed me.”
He settled next to me, close enough I could feel his warmth, but too far away. Not touching me. “Want to tell me what happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why’d you leave? Why’d you think there wasn’t room for you at our house?”
I shrugged and picked at the carpet. “You guys need space.”
“What do we need space from?”
I shook my head and shrugged his arm off me. “Space for each other. To see where it goes.”
His brow wrinkled, and he tilted his head. “Why does that mean you have to leave?”
The nerve of this guy.
I pressed my hands to my thighs, hunching my back, and wishing I could disappear into the ground. “You told me you’re in love with Emmett. And you have a life you want to live. I know I’m just in the way.”
“You think I want you to leave? That isn’t how love works—”
I shook my head, tears threatening to spill over. “Love isn’t real, Preston. Look at Lucas and Rebecca. Look at my parents. Everyone leaves eventually.”
“Molly—”
“No, don’t try to convince me otherwise. Rebecca just proved it. She never wanted Henry. She never loved Lucas. It was all fake.” My voice cracked. “Just like what we had was fake.”
Preston sucked in a sharp breath. “Is that what you think?”
“Isn’t it? You told me you have feelings for Emmett. Real feelings. And I get it—he’s amazing and I have feelings for him, too. But there’s no room for me if you guys are together.” The tears finally fell. “I should have known better than to think I could have this.”
“Molls,” he whispered, reaching for me. His fingers were gentle as he turned my face toward his.
“You ran because I told you about Emmett, and you thought that meant there wasn’t room for you.
But loving him doesn’t mean I love you any less.
It means I finally understand I can love completely, without limits. ”
My heart stuttered. “What?”
“I love you, Molly Tyler. And I love Emmett. And it took me way too long to realize I didn’t have to choose.” He smiled softly. “Just like you don’t have to choose between us.”
I stared at him, barely breathing, as his words sank in. “But love doesn’t work like that. It always ends. People get hurt.”
“Your parents’ marriage ending wasn’t about love—it was about two messed up people who didn’t know how to love. You deserved so much better than what they put you through.” He brushed away my tears. “What happened with Rebecca wasn’t love either. But what we have? The three of us? That’s real.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve never felt more like myself than when I’m with you and Emmett.
Because the thought of losing either of you terrifies me more than anything.
” His voice roughened. “Because I would rather risk everything than pretend I don’t love you both.
Because I would cut off my foot before I hurt either of you. I love you so much, Molly.”
Fresh tears spilled over, but these felt different.
Cleansing instead of devastating. “I love you too,” I whispered.
“Both of you.” I groaned and stared up at the ceiling.
“It’s so scary to admit that. It feels like I’m carving out my heart and putting it on a platter, not knowing if you’ll devour it or help me put it back in. ”
“That’s fucking poetic, Molls. Did you put that in your book?”
I laughed, sniffling through the tears. “I’m serious, Preston.”
He put his hand on my chest and pressed his forehead to mine. “I will guard your heart with every beat of mine. You’re so important to me and you always have been. I’m terrified, too. This feels too big for me to be responsible for, but I’ll be my best for you and Emmett.”
More tears spilled down my cheeks. “I don’t normally cry,” I muttered, pressing my thumbs to my tear ducts and willing myself to pull it together.
“I’ve caught you crying at least—” He paused and silently counted on his fingers. I shoved him and he fell back, laughing. “It’s okay to cry, Molls. If you can’t hold it in, it means it’s important to you.” He sucked in a breath, and I saw his own eyes were shiny with unshed tears.
“When you told me you had feelings for Emmett, I wasn’t sure if that included me and then when you didn’t say anything else—”
Preston’s eyes widened. “Molls, I was so deep inside you I saw your soul. And you were questioning if I wanted you? If I loved you?”
“Is that what love is? Sex?”
He wrapped his arms around me, shaking his head until my hair was messed up.
“Not at all. But I kept coming back to you. That’s never been easy for me.
I convinced myself attachments were hard and messy because of a few terrible relationships when I was younger.
But I can’t do casual with you. You’re permanently stuck with me, Molls.
What we have is forever. I love you so much. ”
“I love you,” I whispered, just as shocked as him that those words were coming out of my mouth.
I was only shocked I could say them, though. The meaning behind them wasn’t a surprise. Not when I really thought about it.
I started falling for Preston Ledger a long time ago.
But he wasn’t the only person I’d fallen for. I needed both of them to know. It was all or nothing for me. We had become too entangled as a trio to split off into anything else.
“Where’s Emmett?”
“We got home, saw that you were gone—dirty trick leaving while we were at an away game.” He lowered his voice, leaning close to my ear. “Don’t ever do that again—”
“Yessir,” I said, saluting to hide the way his words made me wish for more of his bossy bedroom voice.
“We split up. I told him I’d check out Lucas’s house while he went to Juliet’s.”
My phone rang, and I winced as Preston’s eyebrows flew up. “Oh, it does ring?”
Ignoring the endless missed call notifications, I answered Juliet’s call.
“I have a super tall, super moody hockey player at my house asking where you’re at.”
“Tell him Preston found me.”
“And?”
Preston pulled me into his arms, and I buried my face in his neck. “Let’s go home,” he murmured. “Emmett’s worried sick about you.”
“Tell him to meet us at home,” I told Juliet.
The drive home was quiet, but Preston kept his hand on my knee the whole way, his touch anchoring me. When we pulled into the driveway, Emmett burst out of the house, his green eyes wild as he yanked open my door.
He unbuckled my seatbelt, and unlike the first time, I willingly let him.
“Don’t ever leave again,” he said roughly, pulling me into his arms. “We’re a team. All three of us.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered against his chest. “I got scared. And then I regretted leaving, but I couldn’t figure out a way to make it work. I mean, on paper, this is ridiculous. But if we can figure it out—”
He pressed his lips to my hair. “Don’t turn this into a pepperoni situation. It doesn’t have to be perfect and meticulous to work. We just have to be committed to each other.”
A laugh bubbled up through my tears. “Did you just compare our relationship to the way Preston puts pepperoni on his pizza?”
“Rude, but he’s not wrong,” Preston said, wrapping his arms around both of us. “Sometimes the best things happen when we stop overthinking and just trust what we have. We’re not paper. We’re real.”
Emmett’s fingers tangled in my hair as he tilted my face up. “I love you, Rookie. And I’m done pretending otherwise.”
“I love you, too,” I whispered, hardly believing my luck as he dipped his head, his lips meeting mine.
His kiss was achingly tender, full of all the words we’d left unsaid for too long. When he pulled back, Preston was there, his lips claiming mine with equal commitment.
“Bed. Now,” Emmett growled, and we stumbled inside, hands roaming over each other, unwilling to let go.
Preston led us to his room, and I sank into his bed, the scent of him enveloping me as both of them stripped their clothes off. Mine were next.
We took our time, hands and mouths mapping every inch of skin, relearning each other with this new understanding between us. There were no more walls, no more holding back. Just three hearts finally beating in sync.
I woke the next morning tucked between them, Emmett’s arm draped over my waist and Preston’s breath warm against my neck. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t waiting for it all to fall apart. This was real. This was home.
“Morning,” I whispered, pressing closer to Preston. And then I covered my mouth.
He quirked his eyebrow and tugged my hand. “What are you doing?”