Page 78 of Fighting the Odds

“Now, tell me what’s going on with the four of you. Speaking of, who the fuck are the three of you?”

“I’m Braxton Stevenson, sir. And these are my brothers, Colton and Zander. We’re classmates of Sierra and our dads are Sam’s foster parents.”

“And I’m one of the dicks who stood back while they bullied Sierra at school. I believed what Wes told me, even without knowing the whole story. It’s an error of judgment I will spend the rest of my life making up to Sierra. If she can ever forgive me, then I want to date her,” Colton explains as he gazes at Sierra with love. Maybe this kid is remorseful.

“What?” Sierra blurts. “Date me? Why? You acted as if you didn’t like me until recently.”

“Yes, I want to date you. I was stupid and cared more about fitting in and believing crap that I wouldn’t normally. But my eyes are wide open now and I want you. I like you a lot and I hope you can give me a chance to show you.”

Sierra goes silent.

“Well, I’m going to speak to all of you. That includes you, Cyrus. This beautiful woman sitting here is my niece. While I haven’t been an active participant in her life, she means the world to me. If she wants a relationship with all four of you, as unconventional as it sounds, I will support her. Just know the minute you hurt her, I have the ability to make you disappear and no trace of you will ever be found.”

You could hear a pin drop in the silence that follows. .

“Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Cyrus answers as the other three nod. Clearly, they don’t know what to make of me and are scared shitless. They need to stay that way.

“Sierra, come with me. I want to talk to you.” Then I glare at the guys. “Alone.”

She stands up, and I take her hand and lead her down the hallway to her room. Stepping inside behind her, I let her hand go and shut the door. Sierra takes a seat on the bed and I sit down beside her.

“I am so sorry for everything that’s happened to you,” I start as I take her hand in mine.

“It’s okay, Rico. You don’t need to apologize. It’s in the past. You’re here now, and we have a chance to get to know each other.”

I squeeze her hand and she looks up at me, locking her green eyes that look so much like her mother’s on mine.

“There are some things I won’t be able to tell you, but this whole issue is going to be handled. That dickhead is going to pay for what he did to you. And the cunt bitch is going to get it also for spreading that video.”

“Rico!”

“No, she has to take responsibility for what she did. It was unacceptable and now every one of those fucking punk ass bitches at that school has seen you like that. It kills me.”

She pulls her hand from me and wraps her arms around my neck. “I love you, Uncle Rico.”

Her words cause my heart to beat fast. I’ve lived almost eighteen years wanting to hear them and now I have.

“I love you, Sierra. With all my heart. It’s why I stayed away, so your father would never have a chance of finding you. Now these boys, do you like them?”

She pulls away and laughs. “Really, we’re going to talk about boys?”

“Yeah, we are.” I smirk.

“Umm. Well, Cyrus and I are dating. And I was getting close to Zander and Braxton prior to everything happening. Cyrus says they all want to be with me and they don’t care if they have to share me. How can they be okay with that?”

I hate this. Sharing her. Who shares their woman with another man?

I bite back my thoughts on it. If being with them makes her happy, then I’m happy for her.

“Well, I don’t know how to answer that. I’ve never been in a situation where me and my friends all want to be with the same woman. So, I don’t know what I would do. Or if I could even share her. But talking about their feelings with each other is very mature if you ask me. It’s a good foundation for a relationship like this. If you want it to work, there's going to have to be a lot of talking.”

She lets out a sigh. In the time I’ve been able to talk to Sierra, talking about her feelings is not something she freely does.

“Am I crazy for actually thinking about it?” she asks.

“No, but the one, Colton, make him work for it. Don’t just let him in.”

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