Page 83 of Just Between Us

I gaze at them, trying to keep my heart rate calm. What if it does work out? I’ve never been as happy as I was when I was with them and walking away was torture.

“Look, you don’t have to decide now. But we thought you should know how we both feel, and we both want this, Kai. I know it’s hard to trust this will all magically work out and it will be perfect, but we’d like to try. We want you to be a part of our world and we want to be a part of yours,” Cole says. Levi nods and I can tell they both mean it.

My mind is struggling to process this.

They want me.

Just as much as I want them.

I want to say yes, everything inside me is begging to say yes but somewhere in the back of my mind, Kenny’s face appears and smiles.

I swallow. “Can I think about it?”

Levi’s lips part, before smiling a little sadly. “That’s all we ask.”

When I wake up the next day, the bags under my eyes are more pronounced than usual. I barely managed to stay asleep for more than a few minutes last night. Despite the lack of sleep, I feel lighter. When I looked at my phone earlier, a new group chat had appeared, “3rd Movie is the Best.” Cole and Levi’s contact pictures appear at the top.

Everything still feels surreal. They both want me even when I’ve been trying to convince myself they don’t. I grin at the idea, feeling giddier than I probably should.

“Be careful, you might split your face with that smile,” Jenna says, coming to sit next to me on the couch. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?”

It’s why I couldn’t sleep. No matter how much I want to say yes, there is still that whispering voice in the back of my mind telling me that I’ll get hurt. They’ve been together for almost three years. They know each other completely. It’ll be like I’m playing catch-up to them.

“I don’t know. They are in a relationship that predates me. What if I’m setting myself up for heartbreak?” I ask Jenna. “I’ll always be on the outside.”

Next to me, Jenna rolls her eyes. “Oh my God, Kai. You’ve been moping about for almost a month and now, they showed up, confessing their love for you and you want to say no? I’ve never seen you happier than when you were with them.”

“Love is a strong word,” I interrupt.

Jenna elbows me. “I’m serious. You need to stop denying yourself any hint of happiness. You spend your life worrying about your Mum, your sisters, work, me. Just allow yourself to be adored by literal millionaires?”

She has a point.

It’s the same thing my mother said to me. Maybe I should stop worrying.

Just then, our intercom rings. I look at Jenna. “Is Marie coming over?”

She shakes her head as she stands to get it. “I don’t think so? I’m supposed to go to her.”

“Delivery for Kai Thomas,” a man on the other end says when Jenna answers.

“Late-night shopping without me?” she asks.

I shake my head and a few minutes later, there’s a knock at our door. I swing it open and all I see is a huge bouquet that completely covers the delivery man’s head. He hands them to me without a word and stalks down the hallway. The sweet scent of flowers hits me like a wave.

There’s a card and when I open it, I feel like a teenager.

Good morning,

Just a reminder that we still want you.

Badly.

Cole and Levi

Jenna all but screams and I can’t seem to get rid of the smile on my face. The bouquet is huge. There are fully bloomed white and red roses, peonies and a smattering of chrysanthemums.

They definitely won’t fit in a single vase.

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