“Oh, well, that makes it so much better!” I throw my hands up in the air. “You were going to tell me after you what, won the game? Or after you got into a fight with Levi and then, oh yeah, body checked him into the fucking glass without his helmet?”
Knox’s jaw clenches. “What he said was out of line.”
“He’s my brother!”
“And he was screaming at you through the glass like you were some kind of...” Knox stops himself, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
“Like I was what? A slut... a traitor?” I step closer to him. “Because that’s what everyone at the arena was thinking, wasn’t it? Poor Leila Kane, so desperate for attention she’s sleeping with her brothers’ rivals. You made me a joke.”
“That’s not what we think,” Jagger says, moving to stand next to Knox. “That’s never been what this was about.”
“Then what was it about?” I demand, looking between the three of them. “Was it to fuck with them? To get under their skin by fucking me? Did the three of you sit around and plan this whole thing? The masks and the chase and the...” My voice cracks, and I hate that I’m on the verge of tears again. “And the necklace?”
“No.” Riven steps forward now, too, and suddenly all three of them are surrounding me. “It started because we wanted to get at your brothers, yes. But it stopped being about them the second you ran into those woods.”
“That’s convenient,” I say.
“It’s the truth,” Knox says, and he reaches out like he’s going to touch my arm but stops himself. “We kept talking to you, chasing you and being with you, and it stopped being a game.”
“When?” I ask, the tears burning behind my eyes. “When did it stop being a game for you?”
“The quarry,” Riven says without hesitation.
“The rink,” Knox adds. “When we watched you skate, and I realized you weren’t just Levi Kane’s sister—you were Leila.”
“The first night,” Jagger says simply.
I want to believe them. God, I want to believe them so badly it physically hurts. But I can still see my brother’s face, can still hear him screaming at me through the glass.
“My brothers hate you,” I say quietly.
“We know,” Knox says.
“And it doesn’t matter?”
“Not if it means we get to have you,” Jagger replies.
As I look at him, I can see the sincerity in his eyes. “I don’t know if I can do this,” I admit. “I don’t know if I can choose you over them.”
“We’re not asking you to choose,” Riven says, his fingers wrapping gently around my wrist. “We’re asking you to let us prove that we’re worth the risk.”
“And if you’re not?”
“Then we’ll walk away,” Knox says, though the pain in his voice makes it clear how much it would hurt him. “But please give us a chance first.”
I look down at where Riven is still holding my wrist, his thumb brushing over my skin. Then I look at Knox, and finally at Jagger, who’s watching me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters.
“I’m still angry,” I say finally.
“We know,” all three of them reply at once.
“And I’m going to need time.”
“We’ll give you as much as you need,” Riven promises.
I pull my wrist free from his grip. “If we’re doing this, if I even consider doing this, then it’s real.”
“Deal,” Jagger replies immediately.
