I take another small sip, not because I like it, but mostly because I don’t know what to do with my hands. The lights start to flicker. Once. Twice, and without warning, everything goes dark. Great. The power’s gone out. My breath hitches. The storm outside is so much louder now, and my heart flies straight to my throat. Something slams into the side of the house. Then another. The sound of furniture or something being ripped around outside has me taking a step back. A heavy crash rattlesthe window inches from where I’m standing, which is still way too close for my liking. I barely have time to register the danger before glass explodes around me, jagged shards tearing through the air with a vicious whoosh, biting into my skin and scattering across the floor. I cry out as pain flares along my arms, taking most of the brunt as I try to cover my head and face. The wind slams into me, knocking me off balance and I skid across the rain slicked marble. Glass crunches beneath my palms and thighs as rain, glass and panic blur together. It’s like the storm is in the room with us, and for a split second, I’m terrified.
“Jovi! Fuck!” Haze’s voice booms over the roar of the violent waves outside and the rain now inside with us. His tone is raw and panicked. They can’t see me. They knew I was standing in front of the window, but they can’t see me now. Before I can even process what’s happening, strong arms wrap around me, hauling me into an upright position, but don’t let me go.Beau.I’d know his scent anywhere. His firm grip is protective as I cling to him, my fingers twisting into his shirt. My eyes roam over my pitch black surroundings, and I notice a beam of light swinging wildly across the walls. A flashlight.
“Get her out of here!” West commands as Beau’s chest presses against mine, shielding me from the wind instantly. Without a second thought, he spins me around and lifts me into his arms, cradling me like I weigh nothing, then we’re moving. The storm lashes at us, rattling the furniture inside the room, but in Beau’s hold, I feel safe.
“You’re okay, Babydoll. You’re alright,” he murmurs, but I can hear the panic in his tone. “We’ve got you.” Haze is already moving ahead, sweeping obstacles out of the way. I can only make out shadows from the glow of his flashlight, but otherwise, the whole place is cloaked in darkness. Beau carries me upstairs, and when we reach the bedrooms, a door slams shut behind us. Moments later, he gently lowers me onto something soft,careful, as if I might break. One by one, candles flicker to life, their flames casting shadows across the room, painting everything in a soft, amber glow.
I watch as Haze moves through the space, setting candles in corners and on surfaces, the light catching on their tall, muscular forms, making them seem even more imposing than they already are.
“Are you hurt?” My gaze snaps to West. He’s on his knees before me, and I go impossibly still. He looks fucking devastated. The storm outside is a damn walk in the park compared to the hurricane swimming in his eyes, and suddenly, the air feels too thick to breathe, because I think I’m falling for him. “Please, baby. Tell me if you’re hurt.” I swallow, my heart racing, his intensity igniting a fire beneath my skin from the way he calls me baby. His brows are furrowed, and it’s as if he only now realizes what he’s doing. His eyes dart between mine, and he stands, putting as much distance between us as he can, and not stopping until he is seated on the chair in the corner of the room, taking with him every stupid hope I had that he’d fall with me.
CHAPTER 14
HAZE
I’M NO WEATHERMAN, BUT WE CAN EXPECT A FEW INCHES TONIGHT
“I told you I’m fine,” Jovi mutters, but her voice wavers, betraying her words. She’s lying to herself about as much as she’s lying to us, so I don’t respond. I don’t need to. Jovi is holding herself together by sheer stubbornness. My hands are wet with water from the small container Beau set up earlier, and I wet the washcloth before pressing it to her arm, tracing the shallow scratches left by the shattered glass. They’re nothing more than superficial lines, but that’s besides the point. She was hurt, and it could have been a whole lot worse.
The image of her standing by that window before the power went out, followed by the screaming wind, and hammering rain crashing in through the hole in the glass wall, makes my chest ache in a way I’m not used to. I don’t panic easily. Yet down there, when I couldn’t see her, when I couldn’t make sure she was safe, I lost it. The dread, the need to get to her, to keepher from the storm, it’s a feeling I don’t ever want to experience again.
Beau is behind Jovi as we stand in the middle of the room, whispering things meant to calm her, and I catch the slight shiver of her shoulders beneath his touch. Her damp hair clings to her neck, the silk of her nightie is darkened where water hits it, and her skin is glinting like gold in the candlelight. She’s holding me fucking captive.
“Really, Haze. Beau. You don’t have to do this, okay. It sounded worse than it actually was,” she says for the tenth time, brushing a strand of damp hair from her face. But I see it. She’s not fine, and something is telling me that the storm isn’t the reason why.
“Jovi, just let us clean you up,” I say quietly. I’m not usually this lost, but I can’t be any other way with her right now. The only thing that matters to me is making sure she’s okay.
“It’s not a crime to let others take care of you, you know,” Beau says, feeling just as helpless as I do, and I glance over at West. His back is rigid against the chair in the corner, keeping his distance as usual. His eyes are locked on the pitch black view outside our window. I know what’s running through his head. He’s got that look about him. He’s blaming himself for what happened. For insisting we wait out the storm downstairs, but the truth is, none of that was his fault. It’s a fucking hurricane. He had about as much to do with the weather as we did. Then there’s the way he reacted. He showed all his cards for a split second, and judging by the look of sheer fucking terror on his face earlier, I’d say he’s just learned that those feelings he’s pretending he doesn’t have are actually stronger than simply liking her.
Jovi isn’t a girl you just like. She’sthegirl. Always has been. Her kindness. Her organized chaos. Her complete and utter inability to see just how beautiful she is. Everything about her isperfect. And I know West sees it. It’s no secret that Beau does too, but only two out of three of us are willing to admit it. That needs to change, or I’m throwing a fit.
I don’t want to say goodbye. Not after tonight. Not when the thought of walking away feels like tearing something vital out of my body. I’ve spent every damn day with her since this vacation started, getting to know her. Learning about her life. Her goals. The love she has for her cat, or her child, as she called it, which I am prepared to get on board with. Even though I’m the opposite of a cat person. Am I just supposed to go back home knowing she’s there too? Close enough to breathe the same air as us, but is completely untouchable. Off-limits because Theo and her used to date? Fuck that. Theo has ploughed through Blue River more times than a plough during snow season, and he doesn’t get to fucking dictate who we’re in love with.
Love.
Fuck!
My thoughts are running rampant, and I try my best to act like everything is fine for her sake, when all I want to do is find a way to get through to West in whatever way he’d listen. I don’t want it to end like this. I don’t want it to end at all. Not before we’ve had the chance to see what this could become. I drag the cloth over her arm again because I just want to touch her, while Beau threads his fingers through her hair. When I glance up, she’s staring straight at me and I watch the candlelight dance in her pretty, hazel eyes. Then, I feel it. I look over at West. He’s no longer staring out at the storm. He’s staring at us. At her. And Beau and me and the way we are together. With the same heat in his eyes he wore by the pool that day. This is it. No more pretending. No more walking around on eggshells. This is the moment where the cards hit the table and nobody gets to fold. I won’t let him.
I drop my gaze back to Jovi and finally pull my hand away. I dip the cloth into the container, wring it out, then set it aside. West watches every move and the tension in the room shifts into something much heavier knowing that we’re touching her, and he isn’t.
“You feeling okay, Princess?” I ask quietly, my hands settling at her waist. She lets out a small, exasperated huff.
“Yes, you’re overreacting. I’m fine, I promise.” I take a step closer. Everything is about to change. Whatever line existed between us is already smudged beyond recognition and we all know it. This will either bring us together or blow everything apart. I don’t want this to go sideways, but it could. We won’t know unless one of us tries and I’m the only asshole with their hand up willing to take the gamble.
My breath ghosts over her neck as I lift her hair away from her shoulder, my fingers grazing her bare skin. I lean in and press a soft kiss there, right where her pulse is and it jumps beneath my lips. She gasps, not because she’s surprised, but because she wants more. More of me.
“Tell me you’re all in, Jovi,” I whisper against her ear, my fingers lifting to cradle her chin, and tilting her face toward mine. Her eyes widen as they lock onto me, and I don’t miss the understanding there. The trust. I told her I’d talk to West, but we both know there’s no time for that. If we talk to him, we’ll be giving him an opportunity to talk us out of it and I don’t want that. None of us does. The only way through to him is by showing him what it could be like. Giving him a little taste of what he’s too afraid to reach for. She’s worth it.
“I’m all in. You know I am. Always will be.” Her words are soft, but she may as well have shouted them because I swear my fucking heart skips a beat. Beau moves around us and without looking, I know he’s worked out what’s about to happen.
“Beau?” she breathes, uncertainty threading through her voice.
“All in, Babydoll,” he answers without any signs of doubt. He steps in closer, settling in the spot behind our girl, and there’s no mistaking his intentions. He reaches out gently until his fingers find hers. Then, his touch slowly roams from her hand, following the curve of her skin, sending visible goosebumps all over her body, all the way to her shoulder. He kisses her there, and I move back just a fraction, noticing her nipples hardening beneath the silk fabric covering them. I press my lips to her jaw, then trail a line down her neck, to her collarbone, snaking a hand down to cup her full breast. My cock jerks in my sweats when she inhales sharply, tipping her head back to move closer to Beau, whose hand is splayed across her stomach as he nuzzles into her neck.
Her body fits perfectly between us, as if it knows exactly who’s holding her and doesn’t want to fight the feeling we’re giving her. Jovi hasn’t once held back from us, and that wasn’t something I expected. I don’t think she expected it either. She’s taken control of every moment we’ve shared and made it hers, and we’ve just willingly fallen in line.
She reaches out and twists her fingers into my hair, and I drag my mouth along her throat, tasting salt and rain, my hand reaching up to gently toy with the strap of her nightie.
