"What about it?" I take another sip of terrible coffee and wonder if it's too early to add whiskey. Probably not, considering what we're about to discuss.
"Savannah. Dax's suggestion about planning the wedding with her."
Griff finally sets his phone down long enough to shovel eggs into his mouth. "You think she'll show up?"
"According to Emma, she's the best wedding planner in Denver." Xavier cuts his eggs into squares because the man can't eat food without organizing it first. "Celebrities, politicians, the works."
Typical Xavier has already done a background check before either Griff or I have even thought to do it. He really is a control freak.
I snort. "Good for her. It doesn't mean she'll come here. She hasn't in eight years."
"We already are involved," Griff points out. "Dax asked us to be at his wedding party."
"Being groomsmen doesn't mean we have a happy reunion with our ex-girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriends," Xavier corrects. "Plural. She dated all three of us."
"At different fucking times," I snap. "It's not like we were sharing her."
Griff's sandalwood scent shifts, carrying notes of old bitterness. "Might as well have. She had the same effect on all of us."
"Which was?" I ask, because I need to stop this conversation before it goes somewhere I can't handle.
"She's the only omega that has dated all three of us."
Christ, when did we become so pathetic that an omega's attention felt like charity?
"Right, I confess. Stop talking about Savannah already." The words burst out of me like a dam breaking. My chest feels tight, and I set my coffee mug down hard enough to make both of them look up. "We dated in high school. I planned to get together after graduation, then I got my firefighter exams. I knew what I wanted to be back then."
Griff stops chewing mid-bite, his warm brown eyes locked on me with uncomfortable intensity. Xavier's clinical mask slips slightly, his fingers tightening on the rim of his own mug, revealing something that might be surprising.
"I told her when I got back from training and the academy, we'd see how we felt. But no restrictions while I was gone, which is when she dated both Griff and Xavier.” The memory tastes bitter, like coffee grounds and regret. "She agreed."
"She dated us," Xavier says quietly, his mint scent carrying confusion.
"Yeah, I didn’t want her sitting at home crying over me."
"Big headed much!" Griff blurts, laughing, but then he stops when he sees the seriousness on my face. His fork clinks against his plate as he sets it down.
I run both hands through my hair, fingers tugging at the roots, feeling the weight of eight years of guilt pressing down on my shoulders. "So when I came back from the academy, she had her arms wide open. I welcomed her back, and with all that experience under my belt, everything was going well."
Griff leans forward in his chair, elbows resting on the table. "Then?"
"She wanted us to move in together. I agreed. Things were good." I stare at my reflection in the black surface of my coffee, seeing a coward staring back. "Until it felt like too much. I was newly qualified, and she was planning our wedding. The stress of it all, the pressure..."
My voice cracks slightly, and I clear my throat, shifting in my seat. Controlled Logan, the one who doesn't break down over ancient history.
"She found places for us to live. Had it all planned out, down to the paint colors and furniture placement. I never showed up to look at them. Told her I needed space."
"And she gave it to you," Xavier says, tilting his head as if studying a puzzle.
"Until I confessed that I didn't know if we were really a scent match." The words taste like ash and broken promises. "Broke up with her right there in Miller's parking lot. Eight years and four months ago."
"That's when she left," Griff says, and it's not a question.
"Exactly. Holding her heart in her hands and tears streaming down her face." I drain my coffee mug because I need something to do with my hands that doesn't involve putting them through the wall. "Got in her car and drove straight out of Pine Hollow. Never look back."
Xavier says, “so you're the reason she left town."
