Chapter 34 Holly #2
“Jake.” His name is an order, and thankfully it works as he turns his attention back to me.
“This isn’t the time for this. The gym opens today and it’s me you have a problem with, not them.
” Voice smooth and even, I don’t let him see the nausea that is rising in my gut.
I take a deep breath, placing my hand on Clay’s shoulder to reassure him I’m okay and step forward so I’m facing Jake completely.
He needs to see me as someone who can stand up for herself, otherwise he will repeatedly try to involve the guys in our feud.
With as much authority as I can muster, I cross my arms over my chest. “You should leave.”
“I think you should listen to her.” Bear speaks for the first time since my ex entered the building, standing slightly to the side of me with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks like his namesake, his body massive compared to Jake. A slight thrill goes through me at seeing him like this.
Of course, Jake is not one to be outdone, and he looks between the three of them, ending on where my affectionate hand still rests on Clay’s shoulder.
I watch his expression shift as he comes to a realisation, his brows raising high and then quickly changing into outright outrage.
He knows there’s more between all of us than he first thought.
While he might be showing horrified shock on the outside, I see the glee in his eyes; he loves that he has something against us he can use.
“Fucking hell,” he exclaims loudly, running his hands through his hair.
“You’re fucking all three of them.” Scandalised, he looks around the gym and makes eye contact with many of the customers, trying to get them on side.
None of them seem to react, though, and any fears I was harbouring about the town discovering my little harem seem to have been for nought.
Jake isn’t getting the reaction he wanted, and I’m not surprised when he pins me with a look of anger. “I didn’t realise you were such a whore.” The words are full of venom, spat at me like a weapon. “It seems I left at exactly the right time. Who knows what I might have caught from you otherwise?”
Okay, that one hurts. Until I met the guys, the only person I had ever been with was Jake.
He slept with multiple women while we were together, and I’m sure there have been many since we broke up, so to throw that in my face is insulting.
There are low murmurs as the townsfolk put two and two together and realise it’s quite possible that I am seeing all three brothers.
Of course, they aren’t biologically related, so we aren’t doing anything wrong, but I don’t know how a small, sleepy town like Hinton Grove will cope with that fact.
I’m waiting for the slurs, for the accusations and for the word ‘whore’ to start being brandished around.
Before anyone can really react, Clay finally loses his temper. Flinging himself forward, he grabs Jake by the lapels of his jacket. “How fucking dare you call her that?”
I’m expecting fists to start flying. I know how protective Clay is of me.
Even Elliot has moved forward as though to grab his brother, but he hangs back slightly, ready to jump in to.
Glancing to one side, I see Bear watching on, eyes narrowed and arms still crossed over his chest. This could end really badly.
Today is their first day of business, and knocking out a potential customer on day one in front of many witnesses would be an awful start to their venture.
“Holly is one of the kindest and most loyal people I have ever met.” Clay starts to walk forward, using his grip on Jake’s clothing to push him back and out of the door.
With my heart in my throat, I see that he’s not actually touching him at all.
“You left your life behind here. You left Holly here. You don’t belong here any longer, and I think you should leave. ”
I follow them outside, completely amazed at Clay’s attitude, and I realise that he’s right. Jake doesn’t have the right to storm back into my life, or the town, and expect everything to be the way it was before. While I can’t stop him from coming here, I can change the way I react to him.
There’s a shuffle behind me and I glance over my shoulder to see Elliot and Bear directly behind me, with Ashley bringing up the rear. Townsfolk are gathering to see what’s going on, their need for gossip once again fuelling them.
“He’s right,” I reply. “There isn’t a place for you here. You should go.” In this moment, with me facing off against the ex who destroyed me, with the support of my best friend and my boyfriends behind me, I have never felt more sure of myself.
Jake stumbles back as Clay lets him go, swiftly trying to right himself so he can face us down.
He hates to look weak, so this must be really denting his ego, something that makes me feel smug inside.
Anger quickly colours his face and his hands ball into fists.
I hate to think how this might have ended if the guys weren’t here.
“You have no authority to ban me from Hinton Grove. I can come and go as I please.”
Slowly, I nod in agreement. I wish it wasn’t so, but he’s right: I can’t stop him from coming here. I’m not quite done with him yet, though. “I’m not banning you. I’m simply saying you are no longer welcome here.”
Laughing, Jake presses a hand against his abdomen as though this is the funniest thing he’s ever heard. This goes on as he drags it out, and finally he straightens and gestures around us. “You speak for the town, do you?”
“She’s right.”
All heads turned towards the female voice to our right. It’s Sue, one of my bakers, and Hayleigh stands at her side, nodding her agreement.
“You always were a little shit. Lauding around the town like you owned it. You never cared about the rest of us here, so I don’t know why you would expect us to accept you now.”
Jake seems silenced by Sue’s speech, never for one moment believing that the town wouldn’t support him on this.
To be honest, I’m surprised too. Not because I don’t have a close relationship with Sue or my other bakers, but because while everyone likes to hear the gossip, no one wants to be it.
For them to step in and back me up is doing strange things to me.
Outraged, Jake makes a strange noise and jerks an accusatory finger my way. “She’s a slut. Why are you protecting her? She’s sleeping with three guys!” he exclaims, wildly gesturing to the guys behind me. He’s losing all composure now, clearly not thinking this was how everything was going to end.
“The guys might not want to punch you in the face, but I have no qualms about doing it if you ever call my friend a slut again.” Ashley bares her teeth at him in a snarl, and I don’t doubt that she will follow through on the threat.
Shifting my weight from foot to foot, I brace myself for any backlash thanks to Jake’s outlandish accusation about my sex life.
If only it wasn’t true. Frustration immediately bubbles up inside me at that thought.
No, I don’t wish that it wasn’t true, as that would mean I wasn’t in the loving relationship that I am part of now.
We are in love, all of us, and there is nothing to be ashamed of.
Perhaps there will be some protests from the townsfolk, but they can just look the other way if they have a problem with it.
I glance around and, to my surprise, those who are wearing angry looks aren’t aiming them at me. In fact, the only looks I’m receiving are ones of support. Jake is digging his own grave.
My heart feels full, a slow warmth filling my body, and a sense of love and community surrounds me.
I would always expect Ashley to come to my rescue, that goes without saying.
However, the rest of the townsfolk? I have respect for everyone, and would help them if they needed it, but I didn’t expect this level of loyalty returned to me, especially when facing off against someone who previously lived here.
It makes me think that they might be more accepting than I first thought. I guess we are about to find out.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I clear my throat.
“It’s true, I am sleeping with three guys.
And if that makes me a slut, so be it.” My voice wavers slightly as I speak, which has nothing to do with the truth of my words.
All eyes turn to me, but the only ones I focus on are Bear, Elliot and Clay’s. “I love them, and they love me back.”
“See!” Jake exclaims with triumph, jabbing his finger at me. “I told you–”
“Oh, we don’t care who she’s sleeping with as long as it’s not you. Will you just fuck off,” Sue cuts him off, her abrupt words followed by cheers and jeers towards my ex.
There may be backlash later, but for now the town is behind me and that lifts a huge weight off my shoulders.
“Fuck you, and fuck this town!” Jake’s face red and irate. For a moment I think that he might fight back, but thankfully he’s too embarrassed to stick around and storms away. Being told to fuck off by Sue seems to have done the trick.
I don’t know if that’s the last we will ever see of him, but his ego has been heavily bruised by this visit. From what I know of him, he will hole up somewhere until he’s feeling superior once more and leave the town behind to find his next victims.
Everyone is chattering, laughter sounding around me, and it snaps me from my daze.
I need to face my friends and fellow townsfolk, although I’m not quite sure what I’m going to say as I turn.
Immediately I’m met by the guys, cocooned in their arms. They touch me, examine me worriedly, asking soft questions as though I am about to fall apart.
Slowly, a smile pulls at my lips as a realisation comes to me.
I didn’t fall apart, I faced down the person who hurt me the most, and I admitted aloud to my relationship.
I am so much stronger than I ever thought I was, and the guys helped me realise that.
Seeing my smile, they stop talking and wait for me to speak, knowing I have something to say.
“I love you, each of you, with every fibre of my being.”
Elliot makes a low grunting sound of appreciation.
His face doesn’t give anything away, but his hand comes to rest on the small of my back, the action holding more emotion than anyone else would understand.
Bear is standing directly in front of me, his brothers either side of him.
His expression has softened, his love for me shining in his eyes.
Lastly, Clay has practically plastered himself to my side, his stare intense, silently communicating what he wants to say, and will only say out loud in the privacy of our bedroom.
I’m still very aware of the fact that most of those gathered are watching us, even though most are pretending not to, and this really isn’t a conversation to be had in public. Not to mention the fact that it’s still opening day of their new business.
With a big smile on my face, I clap my hands together to gather everybody’s attention. “If you all want to head inside, it’s time to celebrate the grand opening!”
Cheers rise at my words and everyone starts to file back into the building, excitement bubbling around us. Elliot and Clay untangle themselves from our little group, and follow the crowd, easily falling back into business mode. I start to follow, but Bear stops me.
“Thank you.” His voice is tight and full of emotion, and when I meet his gaze I see just how much this means to him. “None of this would have been possible without you.”
Snorting in amusement, I raise my brow and give him a wry smile. “You did all of this without my help. You need to take the credit.”
He shakes his head and returns my smile. “Okay, maybe you didn’t help physically, but you gave us a reason to succeed.”
I don’t know what to say in response. I’m completely overwhelmed and nothing I can say now will compare.
Bear saves me from having to try to come up with something by leaning down and kissing me.
The thrill of being able to kiss him in public without worrying about judgement makes it so much sweeter.
Even so, we keep it short and safe for public viewing.
My cheeks are warm and I’m slightly breathless as I force myself to step back, knowing that there will be plenty of time later for me to show him my affection.
“You should head inside.” I take his hand, squeezing it lightly.
“Are you not coming in?”
I squeeze his hand again to reassure him and smile, shaking my head. “I’m just going to catch my breath for a moment.”
He looks unsure and clearly doesn’t believe me, but I am genuinely okay and I think he can see that in my smile. Kissing the back of my hand, he keeps his eyes locked on me, a silent promise of things to come later.
I watch him walk away and join the others inside, happy chatter and laughter floating out from the open door. They seem so happy, and townsfolk seem to love them, and it gives me hope that we can all make our dreams a reality here in Hinton Grove.
When Jake left almost a year ago, I never would have imagined that my life would be like this.
I was so broken, not understanding what was wrong with me when all I wanted was someone to love me back.
Now, I have three gorgeous, attentive men who love me more than I ever thought was possible.
With the bakery now fully in my name, Clay’s nightclub doing so well and the gym opening next door, things really are settling into place.
I can’t wait to see what life has in store for us.
One thing is for certain though: when Bear, Clay and Elliot arrived in Hinton Grove all those months ago, I never knew that they were going to whisk me off my feet.
THE END