Page 74 of Four Times Forever

His sleep was not as restful. Each time he tossed and turned, I kept wishing he'd open his eyes, catch me, ask me what I was doing and pull me into his arms, grinning, when he found out I was filming him. He didn't awaken. But there was a moment where his labored breathing slowed into a soft snore and peace settled over him. I snapped the picture while in record mode before he lost that peace again.

Deciding that watching him for this long and filming him while he was unconscious was borderline creepy, I closed the camera app and ventured into the bathroom for a shower before a breakfast that would blow their minds.

Or blow their guts.

Oh, what was I thinking? I wanted to surprise them with a homemade Parisian breakfast, topped off with desserts. Instead, I'd blackened the pastry. Well, at least I could make coffee, there was jam and butter in the fridge, and a half-eaten baguette.

"What's gotten into you?" Eric rumbled when I surprised them in bed with breakfast.

"I can think of a few things." Matt chuckled, reaching up to kiss me good morning. "Though, I was thinking of something else for breakfast."

Ethan grinned and kissed me on the neck before reaching for a slice of baguette with jam. "I'm starving. Thank you, sweetness."

I flushed. I remembered thinking that we'd lost the spark in our relationship. That I'd gotten somehow bored or tired of sex. What the fuck was I thinking? My belly fluttered like it was our first time together from all their attention. It must have been the Parisian air that had gotten us all like this.

"I'm sorry it's not much. I kind of wasted a bunch of ingredients on the pastry." I scrunched my nose.

"Mmm, what's for dessert?" Matt licked some butter off his fingers and my ovaries wept.

"I burnt it." I confessed.

They all grinned.

"That's okay. I'm looking at something even more scrumptious." Matt eased the tray out of his way. I hopped back.

"As much as I would love to, I haven't given Ryan breakfast yet." I laughed.

"Oh." Matt's brows pinched. "I'll do it."

Eric and Ethan stopped munching to look at me.

"No, it's okay. I can do it," I said softly before hurrying out of the room before they could stop me.

The tray shook a little as I made my way back to the living room.

"Ahem." I cleared my throat.

He didn't rouse. My pulse grew louder and I put down the tray before I lost feeling in my fingers. I was starting to think he was right about last night.

"Ryan." His name came out softer than I intended and my skin flushed.

Last night, I saw the Ryan I recognized. But as a recovered addict who wasn't so well adjusted a few years ago, I knew that being startled awake didn't always go down well. Hell, with my recent trauma, being startled awake wasn't pleasant.

My heart was thudding by the time I approached him. As I reached out to touch him, Matt came up behind me, scaring the shit out of me. I yelped. Ryan yelped. And he surprised me with the groggy way he came awake. Relief rushed through me at the lack of wide bloodshot eyes.

I slapped Matt lightly. "Damn it, Matt."

"I just wanted to make sure you were getting on okay." He flashed a look at Ryan.

"I was handling it," I said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, well, I'll always be here to protect you." He rested his hand on the small of my back.

Ryan squinted his eyes at us and rubbed his chest as he rose. "Morning."

That gravelly voice sent shockwaves through my body. Yes, I was still attracted to him and yes, I still loved him. But last night would have been a mistake. I still didn't trust him. My heart kind of broke at that.

"I was bringing you breakfast." I swallowed before giving Matt a half smile and hurrying out of the room.

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