“I love this view in the morning,” he stated. “I come out here to soak it up before the stress of the day starts. It makes it all bearable.”
“Protecting everyone here doesn’t fall just on your shoulders, you know that, right?”
The vibrations of his heart thumping in his chest reverberated against the back of my head.
“If only it were that easy. But once you’ve failed someone you love once, it’s hard to rationalize with that fear.”
“What fear?”
“Of failing someone again, of them not being able to recover from it like Mattie did. There are some things we just can’t come back from.” My heart ached at the pain in his tone. “Brandon called an all-Uplift community meeting in a few hours. That will give us time to go to your place and grab your things.”
I choked on a sip of the delicious liquid. Shifting on the cold concrete, I whirled around and pointed at Langston’s chest. His very hard chest. Very defined and sexy chest.
Fuck, stay on topic, Juno.
“What the what? I thought I heard you say we’d grab my things.” He nodded, looking pleased with himself. Which looked good on him because it was this cute smile that made him appear years younger. “Why?”
His brows pulled in tight. “Because it’s safer here. We discussed this last night.”
“No, we discussed you kidnapping me for my safety for one night.Onenight.”
He shook his head. “Nope, this is a permanent thing for the foreseeable future until it’s safe.”
“You cannot be serious right now,” I blurted, completely caught off guard by his fucking audacity. That I would move in with them because some sicko was out there hurting single women and had apparently come into our community and…. I froze.
His damn smirk told me he knew I had realized he was right.
Fucker.
Sexy fucker.
“I’ll just move in with Finley,” I said with a wince. That sounded terrible for so many reasons. I loved the girl, but she was not the cleanest person.
“Right,” Langston huffed. “Why would you do that when we can protect you better?”
“Because she’s scared.” I jumped a little at West’s voice, not having noticed him looming in the doorway. “And don’t tell me I’m wrong.”
I blew a raspberry and tossed up the hand not holding the coffee mug. “Fine, okay. It makes this”—I gestured between the three of us—“feel serious, and Ijustdecided that I was okay with it all. Now moving in together?—”
“I’m pretty serious about us now. Aren’t you, West,” Langston asked, not taking his green eyes off me.
“Yep,” he said, popping thep.
“Okay, both of you slow down. This is way too soon, plus you’ll get frustrated with me because?—”
“Careful what you say next, Juno,” Langston growled, “or that meeting will feel even longer when you’re sitting there with a sore ass.”
I looked between the two men—the two ridiculously attractive men. Yes, this was moving fast, but therewasthat danger hanging over all our heads, so staying with them instead of alone was smart. It was a terrible idea but, at the same time, the most logical.
What was the worst that could happen?
20
LANGSTON
Our normal space for Uplift meetings was not meant to hold the number of people who were currently stuffed inside. Every rickety chair was taken, with several of the guys standing or leaning against the wall behind their partners. Scanning the room, I paused at Finley before flicking my gaze to Dax at the opposite end of the room. Finley’s expression was blank as she stared at a spot on the long table while Dax shifted from side to side, fidgety as hell.
I rolled my eyes. Those two needed to figure their shit out before it was too late. Not that I was one to talk. I’d almost missed my chance, but thank fuck I’d wised up in time.
