“I have my own place. My own shop. I moved out. Moved on. I want nothing to do with him. I want nothing to do with you or my sister, either. And, if you ever hit me again, I’ll press charges. Do you hear me? You are nothing to me. Do you get that?”
That seemed to register with her mother, but, like always, she had to have the last word. “You’re dead to us.”
Her mom stormed out as if she were in some dramatic movie, but Holland didn’t care. She went to the bathroom in the back, splashed some water on her face, dried it, and then quickly applied some powder so no one would see the red mark. It would fade soon. Her mother hadn’t put much power behind the slap, but Holland still couldn’t quite believe her mother had done it at all.
Never in her life would she have thought that would happen.
And yet, here she was. She couldn’t even figure out what she was supposed to say. What she was supposed to do or feel. That was not the mother she thought she knew. Oh, her mom might have once been a little harsh on her and always seemed to prefer Dakota, but she had never been like this before. Not really. And it hurt.
Everything hurt.
Fiona came back to check on her, and she smiled, saying, “Don’t worry, Steven will be in soon.”
Fiona didn’t look like she was convinced, but it didn’t matter.
Holland would be off for the rest of the day since Steven was closing, and she just wanted to go home. And pretend like nothing had happened.
Her phone buzzed then. She hoped to hell it wasn’t any member of her family.
She wasn’t sure what she would do if that were the case.
She looked down and froze.
Lincoln: Do you want to meet us for coffee? We’re nearby.
She swallowed hard, trying to formulate thoughts.
Us. As in both Lincoln and Ethan.
Maybe this was going to be the brush-off. Or perhaps they just wanted to continue as friends and pretend like nothing had happened.
Either way, it would be better than Holland going home and crying herself to sleep.
She didn’t want them to know what her mother had just done, so, she wouldn’t tell them. But she did want to see them. Even if it hurt, it would be better than dealing with her family.
Holland: Okay, when and where?
Lincoln told her the place. It was only a block away. He gave her a couple of time options. She chose the closest one and then quickly went back to the bathroom so she could make sure she looked at least somewhat presentable.
She still had those dark circles she loathed, still looked a little shell-shocked, but maybe by the time she had coffee, things would be better. Regardless, she needed to get out of here.
She really hated the fact that her mother had tarnished this place. A place she had put so much of her life into, so much of her soul.
She was done with her family. Completely done.
Her next step would be to make some friends. Find a new way to survive. Because she didn’t know what she’d do if she couldn’t.
Steven showed up ten minutes after the text from Lincoln, and Holland said her goodbyes, ignoring the worried look on Fiona’s face. She would be fine. She wouldn’t let what had happened, happen again. No matter what.
She didn’t have time to go home and change, but it wasn’t like she looked horrible. She just looked as if she had worked a long shift.
Hopefully, she didn’t look as if her mother had come in, trying to ruin her day.
The guys were already there by the time she walked in. She swallowed hard, trying to remember the way they tasted, the way they had felt writhing against her.
She tried not to think about exactly what they look like naked, or how she had felt with both of their cocks in her hand as if it were just a normal, daily occurrence.
But as soon as they stood up, and she saw their eyes darken as they watched her move, she knew the guys were thinking something similar.
This was so not going to end well for any of them. But did it matter? Honestly, she didn’t think so.
Her night with Lincoln and Ethan would be forever the best night of her life. Definitely the most erotic, sensual, and pleasurable.
And she wanted to do it again. Even though she knew she shouldn’t.
“Hey there,” Lincoln said, kissing her cheek and then giving her a hug. She squeezed him tightly, inhaling his spicy scent before taking a step back. Before she could say anything, Ethan had her in a bear hug, kissing her other cheek.
She blushed, remembering exactly what it had felt like to be pressed between them.
She knew this was probably a mistake, and she couldn’t help but wonder what people were thinking. Were they wondering if they were just a group of friends? Or did they know that she had been between these two? Had felt them?
She didn’t know what she wanted the answer to be, so she didn’t let it bother her one way or the other.
“I’ll go up and get our orders. Just let me know what you want,” Ethan said, bouncing on his feet.
Holland met Lincoln’s gaze. Her brows rose, and Lincoln just shook his head.
“He’s always like this when he’s nervous.”
She swallowed hard. “Nervous?”
“Everything’s fine, don’t worry.”
She quickly rattled off her order to Ethan before he bounced right out of his shoes, and he went to get them coffee—and probably a pastry or two, knowing Ethan. It was a little weird that she already knew him so well. But she couldn’t help it. She liked him. Both of them. And she didn’t want to leave them, even though if she wasn’t careful, it wouldn’t matter in the end. They’d find each other or someone else, leaving her behind. Which was fine. She just needed to live in the moment—something she’d forgotten to do before.
“Take a seat,” Lincoln said, and she did, smiling while she tucked her chair back under the table.
“Hey,” she whispered. “I didn’t actually say hello earlier.”
Lincoln smiled, and she wanted to reach out and caress his cheek. Seriously, her desire to touch them was getting a little insane.
“Hey, yourself. You look good.”
Her brows rose again. “I don’t…but thank you for saying so.”
Lincoln just snorted.
“I always think you look good. You look a little tired, but then again, I haven’t been getting much sleep either.”
“And here I thought I’d worn enough makeup so I wouldn’t look so bad.”
“You don’t look bad. I probably shouldn’t have said anything. I’m not always good with my words.”
“I think you’re pretty good.”
“Thank you for saying so.”
Ethan was there in the next instant, a tray in his hands that made her laugh.
“Do you work here now?” she asked, getting up quickly to help him.
Lincoln was there, too, and the three of them set the coffees and three plates of pastries and sandwiches down.
“Are we feeding an army?” Lincoln asked.
“You know I get hungry when I’m nervous.”
“Okay, you keep saying the word nervous. Should I know why? Should I be nervous?”
“No. Although now that I think about it, maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this in a public space.” Lincoln looked over his shoulder, and Holland tensed.
“Because you’re afraid I’m going to start crying or screaming and run away?”
“No,” Ethan said and reached out to grip her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Mostly because we don’t want anyone to overhear. But we’re safe in this booth area. It’s pretty quiet back here, and no one’s really around.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe we should just blurt it out?” Ethan asked, and Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose, a smile playing on his lips.
“Maybe we should.”
“Blurt out what?” She looked between them, definitely worried now.
“We’d like to ask you out on a date,” Lincoln said, his voice soft.
/> She froze, trying to absorb exactly what he had just said. “Excuse me?”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “We like you. A lot. And…we’d like to ask you out on a date.”
“Oh.”
“Is oh good? Or bad?” Lincoln asked.
“You said we. I’m very confused. I seriously thought that I was coming here for you guys to tell me that everything was nice but that you either wanted to forget it all happened, or that you were just going to date each other.” She said the words so quickly, she was afraid the guys weren’t going to actually understand her, but they did, and she let out a shaky breath.
“That’s not it, at all,” Lincoln said. He reached out and gripped her hand again, then Ethan did the same with the other. They both squeezed and then let go, looking over their shoulders.
Going out on a date with one person was fine, but they should be careful when it came to public displays of affection between three people. Maybe. Or, perhaps she was wrong.
“We’d like to take you out. Both of us. All three of us.”
She looked at Ethan as he spoke.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course, we are. We like you. And each other,” Lincoln added, smiling over at Ethan.
That smile did things to her insides, and her toes curled in her shoes.
“We like you, and we want to spend time with you. And we’d like to see where this goes.”
“The three of us,” she reiterated.
“I know it’s not exactly…usual. I don’t want to say it’s not normal. Because what is normal?” Ethan continued. “My cousin, Maya? She has two husbands. And the three of them worked things out. They go on dates in public, and they make things work. I’m not saying we should get married,” Ethan said quickly, holding up his hands.
“Oh my God, you suck at this.”
“I really do.”
Holland just smiled, her mind going a thousand miles a minute as she tried to catch her breath.
“You want to date. The three of us. But, just the three of us? Or in pairs, as well?” Both guys blushed, and her brows rose. “Have you two already started dating?”
“Maybe,” Lincoln said, clearing his throat.
Ethan was the one who answered the first part of her question. “Yes, think of all the math. Pairs and triples. All of it. Everything. We’d have to make this work, so that means open communication and telling each other exactly what we want and what we’re comfortable with. Just like a real relationship is supposed to be.”
“And if we ever get stuck, we can figure out what to do by asking my cousin.” Ethan closed his eyes. “Or, maybe we can’t. We can just figure it out between ourselves. One step at a time. But we like you.”
Holland smiled. “I like you both, too. And I was really afraid I was never going to see you again.”
“I was afraid you wouldn’t want to go out with us, but I think this could work,” Lincoln said quietly, gesturing between the three of them. “The three of us. We could try it. See if it works.”
“And if it doesn’t?” That worried her. But then again, she knew there was so much more to worry about.
“Well, if it doesn’t, then we find a way to be friends. Because I’m selfish, and I want you in my life,” Lincoln said. Then he looked over at Ethan. “Both of you.”
“What do you think?” Ethan asked. She swallowed hard.
There were feelings there. Not just between them, but between her and them, as well. There were so many connections, and she wanted this. At least, she thought so. Because…why not? She didn’t love her ex. Maybe she never had. But perhaps this could be good for her. The three of them together, figuring out who they were. At least having fun. And the two of them would always have each other if they got bored with her. But if they all went into this with eyes wide open, then it wouldn’t be like before with her sister and her ex. It wouldn’t be cheating. Because all three of them would be together. And if she wasn’t enough for both of them, she could walk away. Because she liked them enough to at least want them to be happy.
She smiled. She knew this might be a mistake, but it was one worth making. “Yes, I think I’d like that.”
When they smiled at her, their eyes bright and their hands outstretched to grip hers, she hoped she was making the right choice. Because she didn’t want to mess this up. And she didn’t think she could, at least not right then. Not with the way they were looking at her. Like they wanted her. It had been so long since she had been wanted. She held on.
She never wanted to let go.
Chapter 9
“I still can’t believe I said yes to going to this dinner,” Lincoln said as he looked over at Ethan in the driver’s seat.
Ethan raised a brow and turned down the next street. “You have been to how many Montgomery dinners now? This shouldn’t be strange for you. You’re family.”
“Families don’t do what we did to each other a few nights ago.” Lincoln paused. “Well, I hope they don’t. I mean, am I like joining the Montgomery Deliverance now?”
“You’re lucky I don’t kick your ass.”
“You’re driving. You’d only end up hurting yourself,” Lincoln said, holding onto the oh-shit bar as Ethan took a turn a little too quickly.
“Okay. Maybe I should have driven.”
“Hey, I’m not a bad driver. It’s only in Mario Kart.”
“I don’t know, you’re starting to act like that’s real life, too.”
“You know, I bet Holland wouldn’t make fun of my driving.”
Ethan just raised a brow.
“Okay, fine, she would be on the front lines making fun of me.” He paused. “You know, you guys are just going to gang up on me, aren’t you?”
“Yes, we are. But I kind of like it.”
“And I’m sure we’ll gang up on you, too. Right?”
“I hope so.”
“But you and I won’t gang up on her.”
“Nope. Unless it has to do with sex. Then, that might be fun.”
Ethan groaned and adjusted himself in his jeans right when they were parking.
“You really should not mention things like that right when I’m about to walk into my parents’ house. I do not want a hard-on when all of my family’s hugging me and saying hello.”
“Sorry about that.”
He wasn’t the least bit sorry. He liked the fact that they could joke like this. As if they had moved on to a new phase of their relationship and things were working out.
He knew that the bottom would fall out at any moment, and this little happy phase of things being easy and not difficult at all wouldn’t last long. He was going to breathe it in.
Because the more he thought about it, the more he was afraid that he was going to lose his shit, and everything would end up horrible.
Because that’s what usually happened with him.
Things worked out great for a minute, and then they burned to the ground.
Just like with his art. He had slept with Ethan, had done some amazing things with Holland, had a date planned with her soon with Ethan, and he still couldn’t paint.
It wasn’t his best friend cock-blocking him. Or even Holland.
It was all him. He was the loser.
“What’s up?” Ethan asked as they got out of the vehicle. “You can get right back in that car and drive off. I’ll get a ride home with Liam or something. Are you okay?”
Lincoln shook his head, and Ethan took a step forward, frowning. “What’s wrong?”
“I was shaking my head, saying I’m fine. That didn’t come out right. Sorry. I really am fine. Just thinking about work.”
“Hey, I thought I was the workaholic.” Ethan winked, and Lincoln shook his head again.
They weren’t going to talk about that. Ethan had been doing well the past few days, but it was only two days. Work would likely get in their way again, Lincoln knew it. But, hopefully, they’d be able to work it out. They’d been friends for long enough. The change in their rel
ationship couldn’t ruin things. Right?
“You’re right. Now, let’s go inside and face the firing squad.”
“It’s not a firing squad.” Ethan paused. “Okay, maybe it is. The Montgomery firing squad. We can at least make it branded.”
Lincoln snorted and took Ethan’s hand, giving it a squeeze before letting go quickly.
He wasn’t exactly sure where they were with the public displays of affection, and he didn’t want to mess things up by going too fast.
Plus, he kind of liked that they were still figuring each other out. This was the fun part of the relationship. Because he really didn’t want to get to the next phase where things got screwed up and turned cold. Got broken.
“Are we telling them?” Ethan asked, and Lincoln barked out a laugh.
“This is when you’re going to ask that question? Right when we’re standing in front of the house, and you know someone’s probably watching us right now?”
“What? I was trying to figure out how to ask before it got really hard, so I didn’t do it at all.”
“Great job.”
“Shut up. What are we going to do?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure Bristol’s going to figure out what’s going on with one look.”
“She can’t see everything. She doesn’t even know Holland.”
“She’s your sister. She’ll figure it out. And so will Aaron. He’s quiet, but he figures things out quicker than we give him credit for.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“And then there’s Liam. The guy who needs to fix everything. He’s going to notice that something’s different, and he’s going to want to work at it. Because that’s who he is.”
“There’s no hiding this.”
Lincoln was pretty sure he hadn’t hidden his feelings from the Montgomerys. They all probably knew that Lincoln had wanted Ethan all along. Ethan was likely the only one who hadn’t noticed. Probably because he had been too busy hiding his own feelings.
Dear God, they really sucked at this whole communication thing. They needed to get better at it if they wanted to make their relationship work. But they were working on it. At least, he hoped so.
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