Page 47 of Psycho

“We used to, but Dad took it down after Mom…” Declan grew quiet, and his hand squeezed mine harder. “After she passed.”

“How many years ago did you lose her?” I probably shouldn’t have asked, but it was a topic we’d strayed from. Seemed kind of important to him, so it was time to discuss it. Hey, he could talk about his dead mother and I could talk about my no-good pig of a father. We could take turns.

We made it to the outskirts of the forest, and suddenly the trees appeared taller, larger. They blocked out the darkening sky above us. Declan tugged me along, and our shoes crunched on the dead grass below.

“Almost ten, I think.” Declan stopped us once we were about fifty feet deep in the woods, turning to face me with a pained expression on his face. “Is it bad that it’s hard to remember? I was young. I…I hardly remember what she was like. Will probably remembers her better.”

Huh. You’d think that after losing their mom, they would’ve only gotten closer to their dad, but people with money didn’t work like normal folks did. A rift had formed between Dean Briggs and his kids, and I couldn’t help but wonder why that was.

Declan led us to an area that was cleared of smaller trees, a single log lying flat on the dirt, a small, round circle of ashes in front of it. This, I realized, was the brothers’ getaway while they were home. Probably wasn’t the best to go wandering, but with all the dead leaves on the ground, we’d hear anyone approaching.

He sat us down on the log, staring at me with those warm, kind eyes. “What about your dad? You never talk about him.” He still held onto my hand, and he began to absentmindedly trace my knuckles. Over and over.

“That’s because my dad didn’t die,” I said. “He up and left us. Divorced Mom, took his money with him. We’ve been struggling ever since.” The woods were quiet around us, so I felt the need to lower my voice as I added, “Call me a bitch, but every so often I pray that he found himself a horrible second wife and some demonic stepchildren.”

The ridiculously cute boy beside me chuckled.

“So if your dad came back and tried to make amends, you wouldn’t have any of it?” Declan asked, giving me a dimpled smile, as if he knew my answer already.

“Not even a little,” I whispered, leaning closer and closer to him with every word, ending the sentence on a soft kiss. Just a quick, chaste kiss, but it did remind me of what almost happened with Will earlier.

I must’ve worn my heart on my sleeve, for the moment the kiss ended, Declan murmured, “Don’t feel bad about what happened upstairs. I love Will, and I love you, and if you two can find happiness together, who am I to stop you?”

Leaning my head on his shoulder, I held onto his arm. “I just don’t want you to think that I’d go off and do that with anyone with a dick.” I wanted to smack myself after saying that. I would’ve bet any amount of money—not that I had money to bet, but that was beside the point—that Declan’s face flared up in heat at my words. “I mean, it’s just you guys. You four.”

Four seemed a good a number as any, right? Not that it was an arbitrary number. These guys…they all wormed their way in regardless of me trying to stop them.

Declan didn’t ask about who else was in the foursome. Or, technically, fivesome. Not sure if I would even count Sawyer at this point, but the fucker did have a piece of me, as much as I hated to admit. Declan, Will, Travis, and Sawyer. A group of broken guys. A group of guys I would love to put back together.

Love. Still such a strange concept. I never thought, a year ago, I’d be where I was right now, having such strong feelings for multiple different guys. I loved each of them. I loved them, and I wasn’t ashamed.

I might’ve been a little ticked off at myself for a certain dickish Salvatore, but it was what it was at this point.

“I love you too,” I whispered, lifting my head off his shoulder to meet his dark-eyed stare. “You know that, right?” Felt strange saying it aloud; I’d only ever told Ray before. Telling someone else that I loved them was new territory for me, and I was all different kinds of conflicted about it.

Declan nodded, and I was about to make a corny joke when his mouth moved to my neck, tickling me with his lips, gently nibbling me with teeth. I shivered into him. That mouth…it could do some wondrous things, I knew that much by now. If ever there was a master of a mouth, it was Declan. My sweet, loveable cinnamon roll who may or may not be hiding the fact that he had hurt himself for attention.

Ah, well. Right now, there were other, more pressing things on my mind, such as the fire burning within me, aching to be released.

Declan must’ve known how I felt—that, or he knew the power his mouth held over me—for within the next moment, his hand moved between my legs, pressing hard against me over my shorts. With his mouth still buried in the crook of my neck, I couldn’t help but let out a low moan.

It was insane, how much a single touch from Declan could make me want to go wild.

With Declan rubbing me over my shorts, I wanted desperately to tell him to slip under them, to feel those fingers touching my most sensitive area with no layers of clothing impeding him, but I was too breathless, too lost for words. Tingles shot down my neck, and I was like a helpless doll, willing to let this boy do anything and everything to me.

It wasn’t too long before we heard leaves crunch, and Declan moved his hand to my side, no longer rubbing achingly slow circles with his fingers between my legs, and he withdrew his mouth from my neck. There was no way Dean Briggs would’ve followed us out here, and there wasn’t a neighbor for miles, so I highly doubted it was a stranger walking along.

No, there was only one person it could be. Will.Honestly, my ex was the last thing on my mind right now.

“Will.” My voice sounded strangely airy, light and fluttery, as if the wind itself could blow it away. My sex voice, basically. “What are you doing here?” He’d followed us? I thought he was in his room, but obviously not. Obviously he’d seen us leave the house and decided to come with us.

The shadows from the trees danced across his face as he whispered, “I don’t like being in that house.” His hands were in his jacket pockets, and he looked almost out of place, a bit awkward. But then he met eyes with me, with Declan. Then he said, “Don’t let me stop you.”

It was Declan’s turn to slowly look at me, but I was too busy staring at Will. Who knew Will was such a…well, a kinky guy. Watching me and his brother together—I couldn’t decide if it was hot or weird.

Declan must’ve made up his mind about it, for he leaned into me again, grazing his mouth along my jaw as he returned to my neck, nibbling an earlobe on the way. My eyes were locked with Will as Declan made the move, and suddenly I had the answer.

It was hot.

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