Chase moved into the bathroom and his frown was deep as he cupped my face and turned it towards his own. “Why are you crying? Was this too much?”

Not one to be left out, Bear came in and stood on the other side of Smith. He held my hands and squeezed. “It was too much. Fuck. We should’ve gone slower. I’m sorry, Princess.”

I blubbered out a laugh and shook my head. “No. No, I’m sorry. It wasn’t too much. I just… No one takes care of me. I take care of me.”

Smith paused with my brush caught in my hair. “You’re crying because I’m getting you ready for bed?”

“Don’t look in the bedroom then. Bear and I changed your sheets and remade the bed.” Chase smiled warmly at me. “You’re going to have to get used to being taken care of, sweetheart.”

I looked down at my hands in Bear’s much larger ones and nodded. “I think I won the lottery without meaning to.”

Bear grunted. “You’re not going to lose it, Joanie. Not unless you choose to.”

I lifted my face to his and swallowed. “You think?”

His smile was sweet and full of promise. “I know.”

Taking a deep breath, I sat up straighter and waited for Smith to finish brushing my hair. When he did, I pointed to my moisturizer and let him rub it into my face. Then, they insisted on rubbing in my body lotion. I knew it was a trap but I didn’t care. By the time they were finished, they were all standing at attention again and the throbbing between my legs had grown stronger.

“Ignore them, sweetheart. We put you through enough tonight. Your body needs a break.” Chase picked me up and carried me out to my bed. They’d already turned down the bed and when he put me down, I held his arm in a death grip without realizing it. He smiled and slipped into bed next to me. “We’re not leaving you, Joanie.”

I curled into his arms and glanced over my shoulder when the bed dipped behind me. “How do we all fit?”

Smith grunted unhappily. “One of us isn’t going to until we buy you a bigger bed.”

Bear wrapped an arm over me and sounded pleased with himself as he spoke. “Smith took too long. He gets to sleep on the floor or the couch.”

“No, that’s terrible.” I pouted and looked up at Chase. “I can sleep on your chest and then Smith will have room.”

Smith reached out from where he stood and gently squeezed my leg. “Don’t worry, baby. We’ll buy a bigger bed tomorrow and get it delivered by tomorrow night.”

“You can’t buy me a bed.” I yawned. “Just squeeze.”

Chase kissed my forehead. “We can do whatever we want. Now go to sleep.”

I started to argue but my eyes were heavy and my body tingled with the closeness of sleep. I couldn’t fight it. I promised myself I’d argue when I woke up.

In the middle of the night, I heard a commotion but Chase held me tighter and I fell back to sleep right away. When I woke up in the morning, I realized that the commotion had been Smith stealing Bear’s spot when Bear got up to use the bathroom. I found Bear on the couch in the living room when I unwound myself from Chase and Smith. His big body was hanging off the couch in every direction.

I was used to getting up early and staying up for work but when Bear opened his eyes and spotted me, he pulled me down on top of him and his warmth lulled me back to sleep.

The next time I woke up, it was to the sound of Chase and Smith complaining in hushed whispers at Bear, thinking he’d stolen me. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. With the way I was on top of Bear, I ended up straddling him, but he seemed to like it.

“He didn’t steal me.” I stretched and then groaned when my body protested in a series of little aches all over. “Ouch.”

Bear rested his hands on my thighs. “Sore? You need to come over and soak in one of the bigger baths. It’ll help.”

I looked at his watch and shook my head. “If no one showed up to help Charlie and Aaron, Charlie will need me.”

“My little brother can handle himself.” Chase sat across from us. “Have you noticed anything going on between him and Aaron?”

My face went perfectly blank as I shook my head. No matter what I thought, I wasn’t going to out Charlie if Chase didn’t know he was into Aaron. I didn’t even know if he really was. I just had my suspicions. “No.”

“Wow. You’re not a good liar.” He laughed. “I don’t care if Charlie is gay, sweetheart. God knows someone as focused as Aaron would be good for him.”

My chest filled with butterflies. “I don’t know, honestly. They would be so cute together if it is something they both want.”

Smith stretched and yawned. “I saw something, but it’s not for me to say. Ask him yourself, Chase.”