They worried a bit more than was necessary, but I didn’t mind. All they wanted to do was help.
Alden, free from Misty’s possessiveness, now flirted regularly with me. It made my already complicated emotions for Porter and Darren that much more complicated. It seemed so selfish to openly flirt back with all three of them, but I couldn’t help it. The feelings I had for each were so different from the others, yet still the same. There was no denying I liked them all, but what the hell was I supposed to do? I couldn’t choose.
A sense of guilt crept over me anytime one would touch me affectionately, only for another to do it too a bit later. But nobody was talking about it. I was starting to think the best course of action would be to just tell them all the way I was feeling and see what their thoughts were.
Then again, I was scared telling them I had feelings for each of them would cause a rift. I would understand if they wanted me to leave, but where would I go?
My mind spun for days, going over every worst case scenario. What if they got upset with each other? That wouldn’t be good. But it wasn’t fair for me to kiss one then flirt with another. Did that kiss with Porter even count?Yes. It definitely counted.
“You okay?” Darren’s voice startled me out of the daze I was in, making me dump the bowl of popcorn all over the couch.
“Shit!” I scrambled to pick up all the pieces, my cheeks heating with embarrassment. “Sorry, yeah. Just got lost in thought.”
Darren chuckled and knelt down to help me pick up the mess I created. I needed to learn how to not get so drawn into my brain I’d forget other people were around.
“Seems like you’ve been doing that a lot lately,” he commented humorously. “Anything you wanna talk about?”
I shook my head vehemently. “Nope. All good here.” I finished gathering the popcorn into the bowl then unceremoniously stood and walked the bowl to the kitchen, wincing the whole way.
“Sophia! Not without crutches!” he shouted after me. But I’d already made it to the kitchen and dropped the bowl onto the counter, almost making another mess with how bad my hands shook. I really didn’t want to talk about this with just Darren. It was a terrible idea. It needed to be a conversation for all of them at once.
Darren rushed in, my crutches in hand, and raised a brow in suspicion as he handed them to me. “Okay, I think something is bothering you and you’re afraid to talk about it.”
Damn. Was it really that obvious?Hiding my emotions was one thing I was fucking terrible at doing.
“Nope,” I lied, though it had come out as a whisper.Smooth, Sophia.
Suddenly Darren’s hands wrapped around my hips and I found myself being hoisted onto the counter. He stepped between my knees and placed his hands down on either side of me, effectively caging me in.
My jaw dropped at the look of satisfaction on his face.
“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me. Don’t you know by now you can tell me anything? I promise I won’t be mad.”
Knowing there was no way I was getting out of this predicament without giving him something, I swallowed hard and said the first thing that came to mind.
“I’m still worried about the arsonist. He’s still out there.” There was some truth in that statement. I was terrified the guy would find me. But at the same time I’d never felt so safe as I did in this house with these three men.
Darren’s brows pinched together in concern. “You know we’ll never let him get to you.”
I looked away from his piercing blue stare, feeling ashamed at not telling him the real truth. He apparently read my reaction as something else because his hands came up, framing my face. His thumbs stroked gently across my cheeks.
“You believe me, right? You’re too fucking precious to me—to us—to ever let anything bad happen to you.”
My heart hammered relentlessly in my chest at his close proximity. I could feel his breath brushing across my lips and his warm palms felt so damn good caressing my cheeks. I longed so badly to just lean in and kiss him. It would be so wrong, yet so right.
“Sophia?” he said my name in a whisper.
It was then I remembered he’d asked me something. I nodded, letting him know I did believe him, but my eyes stayed on his.
He stepped even closer to me, his chest pressing into mine and his mouth less than an inch away from grazing my lips. His eyes closed and he sighed.
“Is it wrong that all I can think about is kissing you right now?”
I wanted to tell him yes, I truly did. But I couldn’t. The need to kiss him was so tantalizing, I had no choice. Without my permission, my head dipped forward and my lips sealed to his.
Dammit, Sophia. Now we are really screwed.
His lips were soft as velvet and fit so seamlessly against mine. His tongue slid into my mouth as he deepened the kiss, pulling me tighter to him. He tasted of toothpaste and something that was simply him. It was possibly the best kiss I’d ever had. We melted together, both of us breathing hard as the kiss intensified. My hands wrapped around his neck and my fingers curled into his hair on their own accord. His hands slipped down to the hem of my shirt and slid beneath, brushing against the sensitive flesh of my sides. He pressed his thumbs into my hips, eliciting a gasp from me.
