And finally, willing myself not to be tense as my finger hovered over the chat box that held my friends, knowing the last thing I’d sent them was a photo of all of us in our bikini thongs, I wasn’t sure I wanted to look. The little red bubble said I had a ton of missed messages. Red with a dot inside, meaning more than they’re willing to put a number to.
I must not have been hiding my tension that well. Neph came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.
His presence gave me a little more courage, and I opened it. There were enough missed messages that the app didn’t immediately bring me to the top where I’d last left off. I scrolled until I found the picture I sent. All our asses on display were hot enough. Then there were the slick, smooth backs of muscle and sexiness.
The looks that Tem had somehow captured as we looked at each other. Touched. Kissed. Admired. There was no way you could miss the emotion in it. Yes, there was heat and desire, but it would take an idiot to only see the more carnal emotions.
Tapping the screen to put the image back into the chat and not taking up the entire screen (though I think I’m going to have Tem take one all vertical like so I can set it as my home screen), I began sorting the messages.
[Reba] Hot damn, Hadley!
[Reba] Are you sure you won’t share?
[Dallas] Where are you? Not that I care when there are ass cheeks to look at, but you’re clearly somewhere beautiful.
[Reba] So. Many. Ass cheeks!
[Dallas] I volunteer to bite one or two.
I snorted in amusement as their banter went on. It was probably twenty minutes of their texts when they realized I wasn’t answering.
And a day later when they realized that neither was Simms.
They continued to ask for me to answer for a few days, and then Simms suddenly left the chat. Silence followed for twenty-four hours before Reba brought her back in the chat. But I could read the tension in their messages now. The almost strained responses as they waited for me to answer, assuming that it was because of Simms that I wasn’t.
I mean, that had initially been the reason I turned off my phone. I didn’t want to deal with her.
When ten days had gone by, their worry started. Asking if I was okay. If something had happened. And while I might have thought it was a dig at one of my guys if Simms had been asking, I didn’t get that impression from Reba or Dallas. Especially not when they asked how close I was to the disaster on the mountain.
Then there was a threat to call my family. A grin broke out across my face.
“Reba called my mother,” I said, laughing. “No wonder she came here furious.”
Neph rubbed his soft beard against my neck, making my eyelids droop in silly pleasure.
My mother must have told Reba I was okay, but I also got the impression that she was informed there’d been some kind of emergency that kept me away. Her last message was three days ago.
[Reba] I’m here, Had. Take all the time you need. I just need to know you’re okay now.
[Dallas] We love you. So much.
[Simms] Please be okay.
Tears filled my eyes with Simms’ message. But I already knew that an apology wasn’t going to be enough from her, not that I think I’d get one that she’d actually mean. You don’t change dumb, close-minded mentality overnight. She might be afraid for me and not want me physically hurt, but she was never going to support my life choices.
And I wouldn’t hide them, either. There was no poly closet. This is my life and I’m going to live it with my eleven husbands.
I pulled up the keypad, and my thumbs hovered again. Neph kissed my neck. “Come sit with me,” he murmured.
Nodding, I let him pull me into my room, where we curled up on the couch. Once we were situated, I pulled my phone back out again and switched it on. The message screen was still up, and I stared at the last few texts.
Finally, I settled on something basic.
[Me] I’m here and fine. Sorry I didn’t message back.
Immediately, two bubbles dropped that they read the message and then right after, two sets of dots as Dallas and Reba began typing back.
[Reba] Thank fuck. I was scared out of my mind when your mom said you were in an accident on the mountain.
