Page 71 of Obsessions of the Heart

Shouldering underneath my arm, he lifted me up with ease, making it look like I was standing with his help even though he was taking the bulk of my weight. Sighing, I said, “I can walk, Rav,” trying to pull my weight back onto my side.

His face dug into my hair, inhaling as he cooed, “I want to help you, Rin. I need to help you.”

I released a ragged breath when shivers ran down my spine. I liked his closeness way too much. I could easily get addicted to something like this. With the small touches, heady breaths, and hungry tone, I could very easily be convinced by this man. Plus, I knew he still felt responsible for the state I was in, so I eased up on my control, letting him take on as much as he wanted.

“You up for some lunch?”

A loud groan sounded from my stomach before I could speak, and our gazes collided as we burst into laughter. A throbbing ache spread along my abdomen, and my laugh turned into a groan of anguish. “No. Laughing.”

He had the decency to look sorry when he winced, but his hand clutched my waist harder. “Got it. No fun or silly stuff. Only boring and serious stuff.” With my tongue in my cheek, I nodded, and we made our way to the kitchen.

Rion and Roux were standing side by side, making sandwiches. It was kinda cute when they looked up at me at the same time. Rion’s assessing gaze landed on me as he finished two sandwiches. It was a stark difference from Roux’s eyes, burning with an emotion I couldn't quite put my finger on.

“Come eat lunch, Rin.” He lifted two plates and brought them to the table. Ravi walked me over to the chair, helping me sit down as Rion placed a plate right in front of me.

Roux brought over the other two plates, one for him and one for Ravi, while Ravi snagged a large bag of chips for the table to share. It was so simple and nice that all my nerves fluttered out the window.

“How was your talk with Cinzia?” Rion asked. Ravi pushed the chips in my direction first, and I grabbed a handful before turning the bag over to Rion and opening my sandwich.

“Good. I was impressed that you got her to buy in on this whole set-up, especially because she thinks you guys are the devil. Cin’s convinced she’ll need to cleanse me of your cooties after all is said and done.” I laughed to myself as I placed a layer of chips between the cheese and bread, making sure I had a good crunch ratio before I put the bread back and carefully picked it up.

The first crunch ping ponged around the silence of the room, and I noticed that three sets of eyes were on me. Covering my mouth as I finished chewing, I was about to apologize when the corner of Roux’s lips tipped up. My heart stopped at the genuine joy on his face, feeling like if I didn't just stare back, it would disappear like it had never existed.

“You still eat it the same way as when we were kids.”

Still in a little bit of shock from the sudden treat, I swallowed my bite and said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

All three of them smiled, their stares growing intense and evasive like a pack of hyenas about to pounce on their prey. I almost started to hunch in on myself until Rion spoke up.

“Now that you're going to be living here, we would like to know more about your routine, so we can make sure we’re able to cover all our bases when it comes to protecting you.”

I answered all of their questions, and we figured out a schedule that could work. This week, I would stay at the house to recover, and next week, I’d start to go back to classes. Rion had already emailed my professors about my workload. An hour later, the gate bell rang. Roux went to retrieve his package of essential oils, then he disappeared to finish tweaking the cream for my bruise.

This could really work, I thought. We could figure out our relationship and have time to get to know each other better. We could see if this could turn into something long term. For once, I was excited for the future.

Chapter 24

The boys made sure there was nothing I could possibly need while I was recovering, waiting on me hand and foot. There was almost nothing that I could complain about… except that they really didn't touch me in the way I wanted. Everything was very clinical, and I felt a little cheated.

This was the perfect opportunity to take advantage of living together and having them around so much, but they didn't do a thing. Even when I tried to start something with Ravi, he quickly got up and said that I needed to heal before we did anything. “It’s only the right thing to do,” was what he said.

I would cuddle with one or two of them at night on the couch, but as soon as my lips touched them, they gently pushed me away as fast as they could.

When Roux did our nightly routine of lathering my torso with his special healing cream, which worked wonders as my week-old bruise was now in the brown stage, it was a special kind of torture. Having his strong, thick hands all over me, gently touching my skin even though his eyes screamed that he wanted to do more...

One day, I broke and tried to touch him, to entice him to take things further, and he abruptly got up and left, leaving me frustrated on the bed. It was getting so bad that after five days I was starting to think I was the pervert.

It was annoying. I’d had a taste of the sinful side of heaven, and now I didn't want to go back. What’s the point of having three lovers when they won’t fucking touch you?!

Besides that, everything else was surprisingly easy. I truly thought it would be harder to start living with three guys, but they all seemed to have their roles and worked like a well-oiled machine.

Rion cooked and cleaned while also keeping everyone on schedule. He wasn’t overly obsessive about it; it was more like I could tell when something bothered him. His left eye would twitch ever so slightly when he thought something wasn’t in its place or was too messy. While his brothers seemed not to notice or care, I didn't want to be like that. I wanted to respect his tendencies and show him that I could fit in with the group. Plus, the things that bothered him were easy to avoid if you paid attention.

I noticed that he always did the dishes at the end of the night when everyone else went to bed, so I took it upon myself to clean my dishes and put them in the dishwasher. It was simple and not a big deal, but after the third day of me doing that, he backed me up against the kitchen cabinets, hands fisted next to my head as if he refused to touch me, and gave me a soul-searing kiss. If that wasn’t motivation to notice more of these things, then I didn't know what was.

Ravi was the one that always seemed to deal with people. He went to school and talked to my professors, made small talk with any delivery people, and Rion would occasionally send him out to “shmooze.” When I asked what they were talking about, they said it was fraternity business and alumni meetings. Even with them being in their own house, they were still very active with those kinds of events. Sometimes Rion would go, but it was mainly Ravi, who was the best choice to be in the crowd.

Every once in a while, he would ask for help with an outfit, which I knew was just a ploy to get me alone in his room. He would put on a fashion show for me, and I would pick the one I liked the best. I must be a masochist because watching him remove clothing made my mouth water and my fingers itch to touch. He would wink at me, delivering light touches against my neck or wrists, but then he’d look down at my stomach like he could see the bruise through my clothes. I needed him to get over his guilt about me getting hurt. It was either this or be run over, and I thought he’d made the right choice.

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