“We were just a stop,” I said, throwing his words back at him.
He huffed looking at us. “You were far from a stop; you gave me a home.”
I clenched my jaw, looking away, holding Jude closer when I heard Forest take a step closer to us. My lip trembled as I looked back at him taking off his jacket and putting it around Jude’s shoulders. I wrapped my arms around Jude, keeping the jacket on him.
“It took me leaving to realize that while I was here in Sterling Ridge, it was the first time I actually lived my life without wondering or looking for the next stop,” he sighed, looking up at us with his eyes glassy. “I was present for the first time in my life and I forgot what it was like to live and not run.”
“How do we know you won’t run again?” I asked.
“What happens if you get scared again?” Jude asked.
“I won’t. Now that I know what it's like to live, I can’t go back to the way I used to live before,” he said, as he reached out to us, but stopped himself. “My leaving was rash and stupid. I can’t imagine life without either of you. I’ll earn your trust back, I’ll do whatever it takes, just please, please give… give me a chance.”
It was everything I wished he would have said days ago.
“Can we go inside? I don’t like that we are outside and you don’t have jackets on,” Forest said before we could say anything.
“Yeah, come on, you're shivering,” I said to Jude, turning around to open the door.
We walked into the hallway, but Jude turned around before we could go any further.
“I hated that you reduced Sam and I to just a notch on your bedpost,” he growled. “I hated that you thought this was nothing, that we were nothing to you when you were everything to us.”
“I was fooling myself thinking you were nothing when you’ve been so much more since that first time we kissed, and that first time I brought you guys over. You’ve always felt like mine, like we just fit naturally together. No matter how much I fought it, I was powerless against you guys,” he said, standing close to us. “I want us somewhere together, whether that's here in Sterling Ridge, in Toronto or you can pick the place and I’ll follow. I don’t care where I’m at, as long as I’m with you guys.”
Jude sniffled as we glanced at each other.
“Forest—” My voice was lost in the sea of commotion from the bar.
I pulled Forest towards us as I pulled an arm around Jude. Forest's mouth moved, but the bar’s noise grew louder.
“Don’t make me regret loving you again,” Jude said, at least that's what I thought he said and just when I was about to yell, the bar started to count down.
“Ten, nine, eight?—”
Forest pulled us close together. “I want a new beginning, a life where I’m not running and I get to live with both of you by my side.”
“Three, two, ONE!”
“I love you,” he said.
I pulled away in shock, thinking I had misheard, but he mouthed the words again. Jude kissed Forest first as the bar cheered for the New Year. Forest pulled me in for a quick kiss until we were all kissing each other. It was a new year, a new beginning and there was no better way to start it.
34
jude
Forest's mouth moved against my own, his tongue brushed against mine and my heart felt full. I felt his devotion, his need, his hunger for me and while I wanted to be mad for a little longer, I couldn’t do it. Sam and I could have gone through life together without Forest, but we wouldn't have been complete.
It ended too soon as Forest kissed Sam. They devoured each other making need curl in my abdomen. My men looked so good together. I ran a hand up their abdomens and they pulled me into the kiss. It started off with more teeth and awkwardness until we found our rhythm.
The sound of a door slamming made us stop kissing. We rested our foreheads together as I realized we were still at the bar. It was almost like we were in our own bubble for just a moment.
“I missed you so much,” Forest said softly. “It was like an ache that wouldn’t go away. I’m so sorry.”
“Get a room!” Iris yelled.
I looked over my shoulder to see her with a tray full of drinks at the edge of the bar.
