Page 72 of Eternally Devoted

“Hey,” Sterling calls from behind me.

I blink at the gauzy clouds swimming through the blue sky, taking in one last moment of calm as I steady my breathing. It’s hard, though, because I spin to face Sterling, finding compassion and concern in his eyes, and I just can’t hold on.

“I moved to Bluebell chasing some Hallmark life,” I tell him, my eyes threatening to well with tears. I thought I wanted a peaceful, piece-of-cake life in a small town. I came here for that. But being in a relationship with my best friends? The townpetitioned against the tattoo parlor, Ink Time, for Christ’s sake. They’ll never accept us.

I shake my head, dragging my hand down my face as I search for the words. He’s so calm as he wraps an arm around my shoulders, guiding me back to the truck.

“Here,” he says, reaching into the back to snag a bottle of water. I lean against the truck and take the bottle, drinking the whole thing in three big swallows. Heart still racing, I blink at him. He narrows his eyes. “I think we both know Juniper is safe.”

I remain motionless and yet my heartbeat refuses to steady. “Bluebell isn’t built for this,” I tell him, speaking slowly, hoping he will see the way those words give way to my true fears. Bluebell isn’t built to have their beloved jam maker revealed as a murderer, no. But I’m not talking about that. And the way his face softens and he licks his lips, taking a step closer to me, I think he knows exactly what I’m talking about.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Sterl says, voice brimming with raw masculinity and virility. He splays his large hands against the side of the truck, around my shoulders, pinning me there, his eyes holding mine. “We’re going to be okay,” he says slowly.

With my back against the truck, he stays there, pressed over me, his eyes intensely holding mine. A minute passes, and the longer I stay beneath him, the more sure I feel. The more certain I am that he’s reading my fears and trying to assuage them in the best way he knows how.

“Let’s get out of here, okay?”

I grab his wrist before he pushes off the truck, keeping him there. His eyes drift to where I’m holding him, before coming back to mine. “I wasn’t gonna go for you. I was gonna let you have her. I never planned on going for you. But I always wantedto.” I lick my lips, my heart beating so fast my ears are ringing. “I’ve always wanted you.”

Before I know what’s what, Sterling crushes his mouth to mine, filling me with his breath and tongue, his feral moans and the taste of coffee. My grip on his wrist intensifies, but he pulls back, breathing hard, eyes glassy. “Get in the truck.”

I nod and get in, Juniper immediately waffling her hand with mine. Sterling walks around the front of the truck, headed toward the driver’s side. We watch him together. “He loves you, you know,” she whispers right before he pulls the door open.

“We need to do something normal that has nothing to do with digging, bodies or fires,” Juni says after we’re back on the main road. “Let’s shower and go to Goode’s for a meal, hmm?”

Sterl glances across the cab at me. “You good with that?”

I nod, stroking a hand through my sweaty hair. “Good.”

We could use a slice of pie and normalcy.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SIX

I’M THE DAMN QUEEN.

Juniper

We’re quiet as we trudge up the steps to Sterling and Dash’s place, but once the front door is closed and locked, I can’t stay quiet a moment longer.

“I think we should shower together,” I tell them, “and talk.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t think the three of us—” Sterling glances at his feet, insecurity giving him pause. I can see it, I’ve seen it for years. He views himself through a skewed lens, and I’m ready to throw that lens on the ground and stomp all the fuck over it.

“Can fit?” I finish, causing his gaze to jerk up to mine. “We can fit. We will fit. So get naked and get in the shower,” I command, stripping my clothes off right then and there, leaving them in a heap by the front door.

I don’t look behind me, but the thuds along the hardwood tell me all I need to know. I start the shower in Sterling’s room, because it’s slightly bigger than Dash’s. After I climb in, I hold the door open, greeted first by Dash, in his birthday suit, smiling as he steps over the threshold into the shower. Water pelts his back as I watch the door and wait.

A moment later Sterling appears, fully clothed, looking somewhat anxiously between the two of us. I step out of the shower, not caring about the water I’m tracking on the floor. I rock to my toes and take his face in my hands. “Watching you cut and stack wood in winter, watching you scramble eggs, when you put your glasses on to read, when you hold a kitten, oh Jesus—when you hold a baby, ummm…” I trail off, still holding his face while I recount. “When you put gas in your truck, when you’re sick, the way you make your bed…”

His brow furrows. “What are you talking about?”

I smile, because telling him the truth about how I feel—finally—feels so right. “Just making a list of all the things I’ve thought about while touching myself.” I press my lips into his, absorbing his shock. “I want you,” I tell him slowly, “Dash wants you.” I kiss him again and step back, hanging onto the hem of his shirt. “We’re yours.”

I hope he knows what I’m saying. Because the way we see him is on a throne, on a pedestal, in the highest regard. If only hecould see himself that way. “We’ll make you see what we see,” I tell him, helping him lift his shirt off over his head.

From behind me, Dash says quietly, “It’s getting lonely in here.”

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