Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“I believe that,” I said slowly. “But that’s not what I want.”
Tristan and Drew looked visibly relieved.
I took a deep breath. “I want all of you.”
Stunned silence greeted that. Then Tristan spoke up. “You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, she does.” This time, it was Drew who spoke against him. “She’s an adult who knows her own mind.” He looked up at me. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize that sooner.”
I reached down and he squeezed my hand. “Thank you.”
Tristan looked tired. “I was just trying to look out for you,” he said.
“Which is helpful when the roof caves in or if I meet a coked-up bear in the woods. But not for this.”
He nodded.
“So, let’s try again sometime,” I suggested, looking to Carter for support. He nodded and gestured with his hand to say I should continue. “This time, without all the bells and whistles. No fancy clothes. No centerpieces. Just the four of us being honest with ourselves about who we are and what we want. Okay?”
“Okay,” they murmured.
Carter winked. “Keep the shirt. It looks good on you.”
Suddenly, the fire drained out of me. It had been an exhausting day. I’d spent so long anxiously getting ready for this evening. Then the date itself had some real highs—like dinner, and me actually being able to speak my mind to a roomful of men—but there had been some real lows, too. Like the reason I’d had to speak my mind to them.
I was so tired that it took me twice as long as it should have to remove my makeup and get ready for bed. But when I was finally ready, I didn’t want to take off Carter’s button-down.
And when I inevitably woke up at two, I trudged blearily to the bathroom and then the kitchen. I didn’t even realize Drew was awake until he spoke. “I’m sorry.”
I made my way over to the sofa. He was sitting up, staring at the fireplace even though it had long gone out.
“It’s like we all got dressed up and lost our damn minds,” he continued. “Except you.”
I wasn’t too sure about that last part. Agreeing to strip poker because I wanted to show off my bluffing skills and see some gorgeous men’s bodies in the process hadn’t been my finest moment. But I’d puzzle that one over later. Instead, I told Drew something truthful. “Do you know the only time I’ve ever been comfortable sleeping on my side was when you were spooning me?”
He looked up, surprised at the subject change. “Really?”
“Yes. Want to try it again?”
He nodded, and I held out my hand, leading him into the bedroom that used to be his and was now mine.
I feel asleep with his arms around me.
25
SIERRA
The next afternoon, I surveyed the wreckage of my snow fort. If ever there was a day when I needed my own place to get away and think, it was today. But as silly as it had been to sit out here in the snow before, it seemed ever more so now that the wall had crumbled.
“Going to rebuild?”
Tristan’s voice came out of nowhere and made me jump. He walked toward me with confident strides, but his expression was cautious, as if he wasn’t sure I’d want to talk to him.
Which made me sad.
“No,” I finally said. “It was too small for me anyway. I thought about calling a realtor and seeing if we can find an upgrade.”
“Like maybe a treehouse?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
He reached me and examined the broken wall, kicking a clump of snow that had fallen off. “It was an epic snowball fight.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking me in the eyes.
I knew he wasn’t talking about the snowball fight.
“I handled everything badly.”
I looked down, not disagreeing with him, but knowing things hadn’t worked out the way any of us wanted to last night. But he was still my friend, and up until the last twenty-four hours, the person I could talk to about anything. “What happened?”
He rubbed a hand over the stubble lining his jaw. “I’ve spent the whole morning trying to figure that out.”
We’d all been rather quiet and stiff with each other so far today. And I was pretty certain I wasn’t the only one who’d been unable to focus well on work.
Tristan took a deep breath and let it out, forming a little cloud in the air. “I guess… I guess it started with your dress.”
It did? “I like that dress.”
“Me, too. But… you looked so damn amazing that all of a sudden, I didn’t see you as the young woman with the ponytail that I could bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with.” He paused, and then gave a little grin. “Carter called you my work wife.”
That made me smile. It kind of felt like we were colleagues. “So what changed?”
“Just seeing you like that. My brain shut off, and you stopped being my friend, Sierra, and you became this… well, sort of like a treasure that I admired, but also needed to hoard and protect.” He paced in front of the fort. “I’m not really describing it right, but I just—I wasn’t thinking straight.”