“Willow—” I start, but she’s already so far away that I decide. “For feck’s sake.”
I’m up without thinking, chair scraping back, and I hear Declan curse under his breath as he stands too. Rowan’s slower, deliberate, but he follows.
The hallway outside is narrow, carpeted, the kind that swallows footsteps. Except hers—hers click sharp against it as she heads toward the aft stairwell.
“Willow!” I call, but she doesn’t look back.
She’s quick, and for a second I think she might actually make it to her room before we catch up. But she slows as she fidgets with her key card, and three sets of strides beat one. By the time she rounds the corner for her deck, we’re all within arm’s reach, and Declan grabs her first, his hand on the inside of her elbow.
She looks up sharply, her eyes moving from man to man. I get a flash of an image of her and Declan together, and I shut my eyes against it. These are my friends, guys I work with, and she’s…been with all of us. It’s unthinkable. But I’m thinking about it.
“Just—” she starts, and then shakes her head like finishing the sentence would make it real. She swipes, the lock clicks, and she pushes the door open. “Go away.”
She looks panicked, like a child caught with their hand in the candy dish. There’s shame and fear and guilt, and it’s all written on her face. She glances at me, and for some reason, I wink at her.
Confusion dances in the sparkle of her eyes, and I want to take her in my arms and tell her not to worry, that it’s her cruise too. I’m not angry. I’m…jealous. I want her to myself. But I know she deserves everything she wants.
But when I glance at the others, there’s more anger. It’s coursing through them so much it’s visible. Declan’s jaw is tight. Rowan’s tongue keeps running over his teeth.
Finally, Declan breaks the silence with a voice so low it’s almost bass.
“We need to talk.”
Willow
“About what?” I ask, knowing damn well what, my heart thudding in my throat. He—or they, rather—want to talk about how I’ve been playing with them. They’re angry, and they have every right to be. And I have nothing to say.
Sean’s voice is lighter but edged. “You know about what.”
I could tell them to screw off. I could dip inside the open door and lock it. I could avoid them for the rest of the cruise—it’s only one more night. It would be easy.
I never choose easy.
Instead, I sigh and pull back my shoulders, raising my eyes to all of them. Sean in the middle, arms loose at his sides but eyes sharp. Declan solid on the right, broad shoulders filling the hallway. Rowan to the left, dark eyes fixed on me like he’s trying to read the answer before I say it.
Sean tilts his head. “So. Which one of us did you plan to see tonight?”
I swallow. “None of you.”
“And when you say none of us, you mean…”
“That I already got what I wanted, and I wasn’t really…planning on anything else.” I shrug, but I can see that the answer stings. It’s partially true. The part I didn’t say—that I was going to let it go where it went, that I like all of them, that I can’t choose—is worse.
“Convenient,” Declan says, not moving.
Rowan’s gaze doesn’t waver. “You weren’t planning to keep going…with someone else?” His tone is cool, but I hear the blade under it.
I hate that my pulse jumps at the question. “I just mean that I didn’t plan that far ahead. Just…come inside.” I sigh, reluctantly stepping backward against the door and into my room.
With them all in it, the room feels smaller than it ever did before. They don’t crowd me, but they don’t have to—their presence fills the space. I glance at my bed and at them and opt to lean against the wall.
Sean’s the first to speak. “So, we’ve all been with you.” He says it with a cheeky lilt—of all the men, he seems the least angry—maybe even thrilled by the fact.
“I guess so,” I mutter to the floor, my cheeks burning. No point in lying now.
Declan’s jaw flexes. Rowan’s hands are in his pockets, but there’s nothing casual about it.
“You could’ve told us,” Declan says.
