Page 110 of Beyond the Rules

“We need to get better at it,” Aiden said. “But we can do that, getbetter.”

“You’re pretty set in your ways,” I mumbled, my stomach sour and heavy. “You’ve got a living system going and you execute it with SEALprecision.”

Zar crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “And that’s a bad thingbecause…?”

“Things get iffy around here when the system is disturbed,” I said. “I seem to do that. Upset the system. It’s another reason I can’t stay. I would never, ever want to be the person who broke upyourteam.”

Tanner puffed out a frustrated breath. “So youoverheardus.”

Inodded.

Zar muttered something obscene and Aiden winced. They traded looks among themselves, communicating in theirsilentway.

“Okay,” Tanner acknowledged with an incline of his head. “We’ve had ourmoments.”

“Sometimes, we disagree.” Aiden shrugged. “Nobigdeal.”

“I’m a fucking dinosaur,” Zar rumbled under hisbreath.

“We may growl at each other every once in a while,” Tanner said, “but we deal with it and we’re here, together. We’resolid.”

I almost wished they’d tell me off and deny the way I felt. Walking away would be easier if they pissed me off. Instead, they were open and accepting, putting up with the emotional wreck I was quickly becoming. How was I supposed to cling to my resolutions when they were acting like the honest, standup guystheywere?

“Nina, I don’t think you understand.” Tanner hesitated. “We can work on those things. They’re important to grow our relationship. But perhaps we haven’t been clear with you. We are serious about you. Veryserious.”

I narrowed my eyes on Tanner, struggling to understand. “What doyoumean?”

“We want to commit to you.” Tanner said. “That is, if you are willing to committous.”

Tanner’s words echoed in slow motion, slamming my consciousness with the force of a wrecking ball. For a full thirty seconds I couldn’t speak, think. Terror splashed over me like a bucket of ice. They wanted to commit? To me?I couldn’t even begin to comprehend the notion. What the hell was that supposedtomean?

“You wanna live somewhere else?” Aiden said. “We go with you. You want to finish your schooling? We goforit.”

“You’d move for me?” I squeaked. “You’d leave your mountain homeforme?”

“If you want something,” Aiden said, “if you need it to be happy, we’lldoit.”

I looked from Zar to Aiden to Tanner. They nodded. They’d talked about this. They’d made up their minds. I swallowed a dry gulp. They were also a gazillion miles aheadofme.

“I…I thought…” I moistened my lips and forced the words out. “I thought you only wanted me forfucking.”

“Fucking’s nice with you.” Zar’s sexy lips curved up in a wistful smile. “Real nice. What?” He challenged Tanner and Aiden’s warning looks. “It’strue!”

Tanner fired an irritated glance in Zar’s direction then returned his attention to me. “We always knew we wanted more. Since thebeginning.”

“But…” I reeled from the discovery. “Why didn’t youtellme?”

“It was my fault,” Zar put in. “I feared that if you knew how badly we wanted you to stay, you’d take off like arocket.”

Holy hell. He wasn’t wrong. I kind of wanted to do thatrightnow.

“If you choose to stay with us, we’ll be there for you,” Aidan said, sweet and earnest as only he could be. “We can build a life together. You want kids? We give you kids. You tell us. Wedeliver.”

“Kids?” The word stuck in my throat. “You guys wantkids?Withme?”

“Of course we’d want kids with you,” Zar said. “I mean—ifyou wanted kids with us. We want to be more than a team. We want to be afamily.”

My throat closed up and the air didn’t make it to my lungs. Yes, I wanted to stay. No, I didn’t think it could happen. In my best, most hopeful moments, I would’ve gladly settled for a few more months with them. But my hopes had been so modest, so humble compared to theirs. I’d never realized the sheer audacity of theirdreams.

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