Darren threw his head back and laughed then kissed my forehead lightly. “It’s okay, Soph. You don’t have to be embarrassed or hide anything. I told you what we wanted. I’m not upset.”
“You’re sure?” I asked, biting at my lip nervously.
He slid his hand into mine and led me to a seat at the dining table, then took the seat next to mine and sat facing me.
“What I want to know is, areyousure? Porter and I know what we’re getting into and aren’t going to get jealous seeing you with the other. But if we do this then we need to know that you’re the one okay with everything. Communication is key to making this work. That doesn’t mean you have to tell either of us when something happens with the other though, because that’syourrelationship with that person. We can be together and still be our own separate thing when alone. But it does mean that if you’re ready or not ready for certain parts of the relationships that you’ll voice your concern.”
I mulled over what he was telling me, making sure I understood.
“So you want to know if I’m in on the whole sharing me thing?”
“Yes. You chose to be with Porter last night because he was who you needed. But do you think you’ll also choose me when I’m the one you need?”
Here it was. The moment of truth. He wanted to know if I wanted to be with him and Porter equally? To be in a relationship with them both and not just one or the other.
It didn’t take much thought for me to arrive at the answer. Because truth be told, I’d pretty much decided on what I wanted last night. Porter was amazing. But so was Darren. And thought of being with them both intimately felt so natural and right.
To answer Darren’s question, I pulled up my metaphoric big girl panties, and leaned forward to press my lips to his.
He returned in kind, palming my cheek with one of his hands and deepening the kiss ever so slightly. I could taste remnants of his morning coffee on his lips and feel the need and hope he poured into that kiss.
When we pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine for a moment, before leaning back and smiling.
“I take that as a yes?”
I laughed and shoved his shoulder playfully with my hand. “That’d be a weird no if it wasn’t.”
He chuckled and stood to fix a plate of food before dropping it down on the table in front of me.
“Eat your breakfast, beautiful girl.”
After getting himself a helping of breakfast, we both sat and just chatted about our plans for the day, falling into a state of content together.
When breakfast was done, we spent the rest of the morning just cuddled up on the couch watching TV. At some point I excused myself to take a quick shower before Alice showed up. Darren planned to go to the gym to give Alice and I some space for some girl time but stuck around until I was done to make sure I didn’t fall in the shower. I’d tried explaining to him that he didn’t need to wait for me, but he pointed out my legs were still not back to one hundred percent yet. He felt more comfortable making sure I was safe first.
I might’ve melted a bit by that.
Feeling refreshed, I dressed in some comfy lounge clothes and perched myself back on the couch. I’d just sat down when a knock sounded at the door. Darren had been putting on his shoes and barely got the door open when Alice burst inside making a beeline for me.
“Soph!” she shouted, hopping over the back of the couch and landing next to me hard. Her arms wrapped around me in a crushing before I had a chance to get even a sound out.
“Miss me?” I laughed as I tried to brush away her blonde hair that smothered my face.
“You have no idea. It’s been hell worrying about you with some psycho on the loose.” She finally released me and surveyed me. “You look good though. Much better than the last time I saw you.”
“Aw, Alice, you don’t have to worry about me so much. I’m safe with the guys. Darren here has been taking good care of me,” I motioned to the man in question who beamed down at the interaction between me and my friend.
Fuck, I love his smile.
Alice glanced at him with a smirk. “Has he now? How so?” she asked me, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Darren laughed awkwardly. “I think that’s my cue to leave.” He bent over and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll see you later, Soph. Was good seeing you, Alice. Make sure our girl here eats some lunch, would ya?”
She gave him a two finger salute. “Aye, aye captain.” We both waved at him as he left, but the second he closed the door, Alice was right back on me. “Ourgirl,huh?”
“You’re impossible,” I joked, nudging her with my elbow. “He’s been really great. They all have. It’s gonna be so weird without them once I find a new place to live.”
A slight ache built in my chest at the idea. My insurance money had finally come through from the house, and I was almost fully healed. There would be no reason to stay here anymore once I did. Kaden had even said last time I spoke with him that he’d help me scout out houses for a good price.
