Page 54 of Vegas with my Brother’s Best Friends

My eyes shift to his, my pulse steadily quickening. It’s just us out here. We’re so far away from the party, but I can still make out faint thumping from the music.

“We probably shouldn’t be alone.”

Tyler smirks. “Like you were alone with Jax?”

My eyes grow wide.

Before I can say anything, Tyler places his hand on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze. “If you think I’m mad, I’m not. I mean, I’m a little salty with Jax because he’s been on my ass about behaving.”

“It wasn’t planned,” I assure him. “It just happened.”

“I guess I can’t blame him. If I was in his position, I’d crumble too,” Tyler murmurs, his thumb rubbing small circles against my bare skin where my shorts don’t reach.

Warmth blooms from his touch, and I no longer register the coolness of the breeze. All I feel is the heat moving under my skin.

“If you or Marcus were there, it probably would’ve still happened,” I admit, my stomach twisting as the words leave my mouth. Not from nausea for once.

From nervousness.

An intrigued smile crosses his face, but my nerves don’t settle.

“I don’t understand this. I don’t even know if this is right for me to feel,” I sigh as I press my face into my hands, wishing the tangled web of thoughts in my head would unwind.

I can barely process everything I’m dealing with. Figuring out my emotions is a whole other battle, and the pregnancy hormones are not helping.

Tyler moves his hand off my thigh to wrap his arm around me, coaxing me closer to his side. “You’re going to have to decode those cryptic words for me, sweetheart.”

I continue hiding behind my hands, but my lips still move.

“I don’t understand how I can like three people at the same time. Two? Sure. But three?” I say, shaking my head. “Does that make me greedy or something?”

Tyler chuckles, making me drop my hands to stare at him. He’s really laughing at me right now?

“You’re not greedy, Cass,” he tells me. “You can’t help how you feel. Just how we can’t help how we feel. Why do you think it’s so damn hard to resist each other?”

The tense features on my face soften. No matter how hard we try to distance ourselves from each other, we still keep failing.

I’m so exhausted trying to win a losing battle.

“It’s not fair to the three of you. Me going back and forth between all of you,” I reply, uneasiness snaking up my spine.

What if they get jealous? Or angry? Or upset?

What if I drive a wedge between them? Their friendship with my brother is already at risk.

Tyler lets out a dramatic sigh before hauling me into his lap.

A squeak of surprise leaves me as he easily lifts me off the sand, holding me against his chest with his arms wrapped around me.

“I don’t think you fully understand the situation,” Tyler tells me, his eyes falling to mine. “I know Jax and Marc well enough to speak for them at this moment, so I’m going to. We’re fine with it.”

Uncertainty clouds my mind.

“We all like you too, Cass. We’re not jealous of each other in the way you think. Do I wish I was in your hotel room earlier? Yes, but that doesn’t make me upset. It just makes me want to make the most of our time together.”

The dip of his tone makes my breathing pause for a moment. He’s naturally charming, but when his flirting becomes intentional, he’s hard to resist.

His eyes sweep over me like he’s admiring every inch of me. He doesn’t hold me like I’m a piece of glass that he’s afraid to break. He holds me like he wants to spend his life caressing my body.