Page 45 of Four Times Taken

"You're beautiful. I'd love to photograph you one day. That's what I do, you know? I capture art in photos. I'd love to capture you. You know, one day when you're ready." I'm rambling when I noticed her lips part after a half hour of talking. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I spooned some soup into her mouth and waited. It went down. Filled with warmth, knowing that she trusted me enough to eat from me, I fought away thoughts of how good of a team Lily and I would make, caring for her mother. My mother passed away a few years ago, so there's a certain fulfillment that comes with being here.

Her mother managed half of the small to medium-sized container before shutting her mouth and refusing to eat anymore. Satisfied that she's at least gotten some nutrients, I left the room. I must have left these guys for close to an hour now, but they've both got hard-ons. Mine, thankfully, had deflated to a semi. It's not as stiff or aching anymore, so I could laugh at them as I carried the stuff to the sink. They've completed the wall, and Matt's clearing up the mess in the house.

"What?" he said, catching me smirking at him. "That story you told us of Lily was hot as hell. I can't help it if my body reacts."

"She's so fucking sexy," Ethan agreed, groaning.

Someone cleared their throat at the front door, and we all looked to see that it's Eric and Lily. They're looking at all of us without a word. They heard us for sure.

"Uh... Hey, guys." Ethan waved. I mean, he actually held his hand up and waved. I couldn't make this up. He's so fucking awkward, I almost laughed. Searching Eric's eyes to gauge where he's at after overhearing us, he didn't give anything away.

Lily's brows creased as she ran her eyes over Ethan's still-shirtless body, her skin reddening even more as she did. "What have you guys been doing?" She cleared the rasp from her throat, looking between Ethan and Matt's messy hands.

"So, I know we overstepped, but in case you get mad, this was Ryan's idea. If you're not mad, and you like it, then it was our idea." Matt smiled at her as if he didn't have a bulge in his pants and wasn't just overheard talking about how hot Lily is.

Lily rushed past us, her face scrunched in concern. She paused in the entrance of the living room, in complete silence. My pulse throbbed in my ears. This was an impulsive decision. She's going to hate it. It didn't matter what state her house was in; you don't just make changes to someone's house without their permission.

I fixed my mouth to apologize, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Eric rushed to her side. I had to stop myself from doing the same. Ethan and Matt looked at me with their hearts in their mouths.

"Where's the couch?" she asked.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to own up to my mistakes. "It was old and stained, and you told me about how your mother would be triggered, so I thought I was doing a good thing, but I know now that I shouldn't have assumed..."

"We got a truck to take it away. I've ordered a new one," Matt said, cutting in and clearing things up for her.

Her eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"You guys redid the walls?" She walked toward it and stopped to run her fingers across the new build.

"Are you okay?" Eric stroked her back, and more tears fell.

"I'm sorry, man, I didn't mean to..." Ethan started, but Lily shook her already messy hair with grass poking through it, reminding me of how she looked up at me from the ground earlier.

"Thank you," she gasped. Her shoulders shook as a waterfall rushed from her eyes. My body shuddered, crumbling at the sight of her tears. Eric held her against him and needing to offer my own sort of consolation, I reached out and squeezed her shoulder, my body shooting off in fireworks at this much closeness. I couldn't imagine how it would react at deeper contact.

Ethan cleared his throat, the area beneath his eyes inflamed, his irises glistening. "It's our pleasure. We didn't get to do the rest of the walls, yet..." he grunted, his hands on his hips, his biceps bulging with the pressure to keep them there when I'm sure he wanted to hold her too.

"Sure thing, Lily. You deserve it." Matt patted her back before making eye contact with Eric and removing his hand. I did the same. All three of us stood there, and I'm grateful to not be as pale as they are, or they'd see how hard I'm blushing. A bigger problem arose in my pants, imagining what would happen if we all pulled her into a hug, each one sampling her lips and being swept away in the wave of desire. Probably get punched in the face by Eric, that's what.

"So, uh. I'll leave you guys to it." I pulled away. "I left some dishes in the sink. Eric, you can get that, can't you?" I asked, the bitterness in my tone hard to hide.

He got to experience Lily in the most amazing way, while leaving us to do all the heavy lifting. I knew that's the whole reason we came over here in the first place, to help out so they could go on their date, but fuck, I wished I were in his shoes.

Slipping through the door with their eyes on me, I hurried to the comfort and privacy of my car, finally able now to drive somewhere quiet, whip out my dick in the darkness of the night, and groan Lily's name over the sound of pounding music, with the image of her tightening my grip and pulling me into a sweet release.

Shuddering and creaming over my hand, my chest clenched as the tremors of pleasure faded, and I'm left with the memory that I'm in my car, alone with my hand, when Eric might spend the night in her bed. Slamming my hands down on the car wheel, I drove off into the night, unable to face any of the guys tonight.

Chapter 29

Lily

Alone in my bed, I tossed and turned at the memory of walking through the front door and hearing the guys talk about how they saw me. Eric had blanched, looking at me with a mixture of embarrassment and apology. But my stomach had flipped at hearing them, my pussy fluttering in response. When they'd walked in, two fully aroused, I'd been flushed with heat. My eyes met Ryan's steaming gaze, and I knew we were both thinking of that phone call earlier. I also looked at Eric in a mixture of shame and apology, my belly hot and folding in on itself.

When I saw what they did, I knew I was in even bigger trouble. This wasn't only forbidden desire, but I'd been so touched, I'd been convinced that I was falling for them too. My polyester-blend PJs stuck to my skin from the sweat pouring from my pores with every shortening of my breath.

"Just because a guy does something nice for you, it doesn't mean you have to automatically cling to him or fuck him. What's wrong with you?" I muttered aloud to myself, punching the bed as I sat up. I loved Eric. I didn't know how to explain it, but I did, even if I didn't know how to define love. Eric was the embodiment of it, and I'd known it for years. But there was no way I was also falling for his best friends; that didn't make any sense. I was just overwhelmed by all the nice gestures. But it wasn't going to last, was it?

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