Page 129 of Cruel Steps

I shrugged, hiding my smile. “You could’ve been asking me to marry you.” Holden tilted his head in thought, and my heart thumped. I’d said it as a joke, but now he was scaring me. “That was a joke.”

“I’d marry you, Wildcat. In a heartbeat.”

I sucked in a breath. What the hell!

“Um, well, I’m not really ready for that step. I love you, but I’d like to be your girlfriend first.”

“So, you agree you’re my girlfriend?” he smirked, and I realized the trap I’d walked into.

“Once you ask.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Is Colter your boyfriend?”

“Nope. He hasn’t asked either.”

“Fine.” He climbed off and walked into the bathroom. I assumed it was to get rid of the condom, so I was shocked when he returned with his phone, too.

“Hey, Hol. What’s up? Are you shirtless?” Colter paused, and I lifted onto my elbows, curious about what he was doing.

“Apparently, we need to ask Emerson a question.”

“Mer’s there? Let me see her.”

“Wait,” I said, remembering I was naked. But it was too late. Holden flipped the camera, and Colter cursed.

“Fucking hell. You look so gorgeous, Mer. Damn. I’m jealous. How far is the drive again? Think I could find someone willing to give me a ride?”

Holden rolled his eyes, and then Colter whined. “Focus. We’ll be back in the morning, and we need to do something special.”

“Did you have to take my view away? I’d rather see Mer than your face.”

“Fine. But don’t get distracted. This is important.”

“Um, do I get a say in this?”

“No,” they said together.

Huffing, I rolled onto my stomach and kicked my feet behind me. Colter groaned, and Holden just stared at me like he wanted to eat me.

“Still hot, Merbear,” Colter said, so I stuck out my tongue at him. “What’s it we need to do?”

“Apparently, we didn’t define our relationship.”

“Ah, yeah, I could see why you called. Mer, will you be our girlfriend?”

I smiled. “I’d love to.”

“Satisfied?” Holden asked.

“Yep. So, are we telling?—”

“Later.” Holden hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed. “I have a second course to eat.” He tackled me to the bed, and I giggled as he blew kisses on my stomach. Holden had his second, third, and fourth courses before we finally fell asleep in a heap of limbs.

“Emerson and I are dating,” Holden said over breakfast the following day. I froze with my coffee cup lifted to my mouth.

“Like we didn’t hear you last night,” Hope mumbled into her hand.

Someone kill me now.

---