Page 118 of Their Wicked Ways

“Almost a year and a half now.”

“That’s not a lot of time when you think about all the work you’ve done on yourself,” Wes said. “You had to unlearn all the crap that was forced on you and basically rework the way you look at the world. And you had to do it while dealing with the aftermath of something horrible and the loss of your support system. That’s a lot of trauma to process in a short time.”

“Are you going to tell me to be kind to myself?”

“Yup. And you’re going to listen.”

“I am?” I couldn’t help smiling at his teasing tone.

“You are.” He nodded solemnly.

“And why’s that?”

“Because I said so.”

Something about the way he said it sent a shiver of awareness up my spine, and all my rogue thoughts went quiet at the same time.

“Jesus,” I muttered.

Wes’s gaze intensified. “Now, are you going to be a good boy and listen to me?”

I glared at him, which only made him laugh.

“Well,” Ez asked. “Are you going to be our good boy or not?”

My dick stirred in my sweats. “That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?” Ezra asked innocently.

“How am I supposed to keep being an ornery jackass when you can just call me a good boy and I melt like a puddle?”

“I guess you’ll just have to stop being an ornery jackass,” Wes said simply.

“You’re annoying.”

“You love it.”

A sudden burst of adrenaline detonated in my chest, so hard and fast it had the same effect as a punch to the gut.

I didn’t know what I felt for them. It went beyond like and lust, but was it love? Did it even matter? As much as they might want to date me or whatever, there was no way they could ever love me. Not when they loved each other so deeply.

Thank fuck I’d perfected the ability to hide my reactions to things, and I just leaned back in my chair and shot them a lazy grin. “Maybe.”

Wes pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time. “Shit.”

“Do you need to leave soon?” Ez asked.

Leave?

He nodded and made a face. “I really need to remember that the me who makes plans is usually not the me who has to go through with them.”

Ez glanced at me. “He volunteered to go with Adam to pick up some stuff for his new place.”

“I’ll grab a shower and head out.” Wes stood and tucked his phone away.

“I should go too.”

“Do you need to go, or are you leaving because you think you should?” Ez asked knowingly.

---