Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182075 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
And then there was Quaid . . .
No. Nope. There was no Quaid. He wasn’t in the equation and she needed to push that out of her mind.
Besides, she had three men to deal with right now. Why did she have to go adding more onto her plate?
“It’s only presumptuous if it’s not true,” he said, shrugging.
“And what if I don’t want to be yours?” she asked.
Yeah, right.
“You want to be mine. You don’t kiss like that if you’re not attracted to someone. I’ve seen the way you look at me. Like you’re starving and I’m a lemon meringue pie.”
She licked her lips. “Lemon meringue is my favorite.”
“I know, Boo. Remember the year that Rock and Spencer attempted to make you one?”
She let out a huff of laughter. “Yeah, it went everywhere. It was a complete disaster.”
And it had been one of the nicest things anyone ever done for her.
Did she really look at him like that?
So much for being discreet. Seems like she’d been ridiculously obvious in how much she wanted him.
“You’re here for good. This is your home. And eventually you’ll see that you’re not going anywhere. You’re here to stay. With us.”
“With us,” she repeated.
But would she just be his? That wasn’t going to work.
“Spencer kissed me too!” she blurted out.
“That dog.”
She tensed. This was it. Where he lost his temper. Shit. She shouldn’t have told him like that. She should have waited until . . . until what?
“Are you mad?” she asked.
“That he didn’t tell me? Yeah. That he kissed you? No.”
“No? Why not?”
“Why would I get angry about that?” Slade asked, looking calm. “This relationship will only work if we’re all in agreement about sharing you. I can’t get jealous that my best friends might get you alone and kiss you when I’m here doing the same thing.”
“Agreement about sharing me?” she choked out.
“We want one of those reverse harem relationships. With you, Indie.”
“You all want to be in a relationship with me,” she repeated.
“Yes, because it’s always been you. For all of us.”
“Except Quaid,” she said.
Urgh. Why did she say that? Had she sounded bitter? What did it matter if Quaid didn’t want her? She had three of them.
Three gorgeous, sexy men.
But wasn’t that what she wanted?
They could hurt you again.
She knew that. But she also loved them.
“When we all discovered that we had feelings for you, at first we got mad at each other. Then Quaid suggested a reverse harem relationship. Apparently, he’d read about it in one of those romance books you like to devour.”
That she had once devoured.
Because she hadn’t been able to bring herself to start reading again. And she had no idea why. She stared at the book that Slade had bought her every night, trying to urge herself into picking it up.
But unable to do it.
“Wait . . . Quaid suggested it?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“But Quaid isn’t . . . he doesn’t want me.”
“I don’t know if you know this, but sometimes he can be a bit stubborn.”
“No,” she said dryly. “I’ve never noticed.”
“He’s also hardest on himself than anyone else. His guilt over the way he treated you is making it difficult for him to believe that you might ever forgive or want him. That’s why he’s avoiding you.”
Oh. That actually made her really sad.
“I don’t want him to feel that way. I don’t want him to avoid me.” And she’d tell him that if he was ever around.
“He’ll figure that all out eventually,” he told her. “But in the meantime, the three of us decided to take things slow. Build up your trust in us again. I see Spencer decided to jump right in, though.”
“You really aren’t jealous?”
Out of all of them she’d thought that Slade would have the most trouble adjusting to a reverse harem relationship.
“Not gonna lie, I am a little bit. But not because he kissed you. Because he did it first. But I’ve done a lot of reading up on these sorts of relationships. Communication and trust are key. I’m determined to make sure that this works between all of us. Because all I’ve ever wanted is for you and those three guys to be my family.”
Because they were the only family he’d ever had. His father had never been that interested or caring. And his mum died when he was young. He had no grandparents or cousins.
She knew how that felt.
She chewed at her lip worriedly.
35
“Hey, why do you look so worried? Does that upset you? Do you . . . do you not want all of us?” Slade asked.
To her shock, the normally confident Slade sounded worried.
She shook her head. “That’s not it. Not want you guys? Ha! That's laughable. I’ve dreamed of this conversation. I’ve wanted you all for years. But I never thought that you might feel the same about me. Are you sure?”