“Okay. Cherry Bomb mode has been fully activated.” Nate puts his arm around me and leads me in the direction of our penthouse. “You can close the door,” he calls back to Leo.
I plop down on the couch and gag a little on the inside.
“I’m going to get going.” Addie walks out with her overnight bag. “Love you.” She kisses the top of my head.
She points to Nate’s crotch that’s still barely covered. “One of your balls is hanging out.” His eyes shoot down in horror. “Gotcha.”
Nate shakes his head. “Your humor is still stuck in summer camp.”
She punches his arm, then leans down so he can kiss her cheek goodbye.
“Hey,” I call out as she’s about to leave. “Will you sleep over this week while Nate’s gone?”
She shrugs. “Let me check the calendar, but I don’t see why not.”
“We can invite Juliette one night.” I hesitate. “If Harrison lets her out of her sight. She’s about to pop. But you’ll love her.”
“Sounds good.”
When she leaves, I lean back onto the couch. “I’m going to have nightmares of Leo’s naked body for the rest of my life. It’s like seeing a full frontal of Mase. Ugh. Why is that door always open?”
Nate sits next to me and puts my feet in his lap, massaging them like a pro.
He lets out a breath and speaks quietly. “I never wanted to feel trapped when I was younger. Leaving the doors open between us was a coping mechanism growing up that turned into a habit.”
Our eyes lock, and it’s like it all suddenly makes sense.
A mirage of memories floods my mind, piecing together the bits that didn’t always add up.
Nate, sleeping on Mase and Leo’s couch in camp, never once slept in his bunk unless Leo crashed there.
In college, there were one or two occasions when he thought I couldn’t stay over, but plans changed, and I snuck in using my key.
His and Leo’s doors were open, and even on nights after we had sex, he’d open the door, and I never asked why.
Silly me.
When we stayed at Rosa’s, she insisted on leaving all the lights on in the hallway near the guys’ room, never allowing us to shut them off.
I knew they had money, but I thought it was wasteful when everyone would be sleeping.
And now he has a connecting door to his brother’s penthouse, which is unlocked or open at all times.
He needed to know he was free to escape if he wanted.
That no one was holding him back anymore, and someone would always be on the other side to free him.
Tears well up in my eyes.
My poor sweet Nate.
And our rough sex…him being in control. He might not know it, but I think that too plays a factor.
I go over the night he told me about his past, when something dawns on me. “I thought Leo didn’t know?”
“He doesn’t.”
“But then why does he go along with it all? The doors…the lights…”
