Page 67 of Eternally Devoted

“I consider it an honor that we were the first to discover you, Juniper,” Sterling says, turning onto his side to face me, stuffing his hand beneath a pillow.

I lean in and kiss him, pulling Dash flush to my back from behind. Dash kisses the top of my shoulder as I reach out, draping my arm over Sterling’s chest as he rolls onto his back.

And we fall asleep like that, a tangle of friendship and more.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

DO YOU THINK I’D BE A GOOD MOTHER?

Juniper

My eyes pop open, and it takes me a moment to remember everything that happened. But last night still burns between my legs, reminding me that I took themboth. And they’re here, in my arms. Sound asleep.

I had them unsheathed, the way I wanted. The only men to ever be inside me, the only ones who will ever come there, too. Sitting up, I carefully unlock my limbs from the tangle, and slip out of bed over Sterling’s sleeping body. Collecting my satin robe from my dressing chair, I slip it on and quietly pad through the hall, toward the front door. Thankfully I have no squeaky hinges or doorbell camera, and can close it behind me relatively quietly.

Holding my robe shut I carefully tiptoe across the gravel, toward Dolly and Hudson’s house.

We made love, the three of us, that’s what it was to me. Whether we’ve labeled it or not, I felt loved. But now that the chaos of desire or impending orgasms has subsided, I have to face what we did. Quietly, I rap on the front door a few times, hoping I don’t wake Bear and Honey, just Dolly or Hudson. It’s late afternoon, naptime at my sister’s place. But not everyone sleeps at naptime, if you know what I mean.

Soft footsteps gently rattle the door from the other side, and I’m hit with a barrage of metallic pings and twists as someone takes the chain off then unlocks the deadbolt. A moment later, the door swings inward and I’m met by Hudson, naked but for the pillow he’s holding to his groin, his hair sticking up everywhere, his skin flush, teeth marks carved into his belly, chest and shoulders.

“Juniper,” my brother-in-law says, out of breath.

“I was hoping to talk to Dolly for a few minutes?” I chew the corner of my mouth, keeping my eyes on his, and not the pillow covering him.

He sweeps his hand through his hair. “Everything okay?”

I nod. “Yeah.” Lowering to the first porch step I say, “I’ll just wait here.”

He flicks on the porch light. “Okay. I’ll get her.”

A minute later Dolly slips out, her blonde hair twisted into a bun, one of Hudson’s t-shirts swallowing up her frame. Shepresses a hand to her bump as she lowers to the step, smiling in the dim incandescent light.

“You’re always having sex, aren’t you?” I whisper, smirking at my little sister.

“I can’t get enough of him. I don’t think I ever will,” she admits in a dreamy sigh, dropping her head onto my shoulder. Nodding against me, toward the barn, she says, “I saw Sterling’s truck in there. And I saw the shoes lined up on the porch.” She lifts her face to find my eyes. “What’s the matter? If they’re sleeping over, why are you here?”

I stare at my house. The one where all of my memories are stored. With my parents before they passed, raising my sisters, getting them on their feet, starting my business, everything. Everything happened in that house. I even lost my virginity there.

“I’m just… confused.”

She loops her arm through mine, sighing. “You finally ready to tell me you’re in love with those two? Because we pretty much all already knew,” she says through a yawn.

“How’d you know?” I breathe, pulling back to analyze her face.

“Ivy caught them arguing over who gets to hand you back the jam jars,” Dolly says, twirling a loose strand of flaxen hair around her pointer finger. “They have little hearts in their eyeballs at the farmers market every week, just watching you from afar. Sterling’s route makes special stops for you. You guys are in a bowling league, movie night, and book club together. Just you three.” She taps her bare foot on the concrete step. “If you said jump, one of them would simply jump and the other would ask how high you’d like him to go,” she adds, resting her hand on my knee. “And you? You look at them like they hang the stars. But you’re guarded. And I get that. So we never pushed. But if you’re ready?—”

“I’m ready. I mean, you’re right. I— We—” I struggle with my response because we haven’thad any talks about how our relationship is evolving. We haven’t labeled a single thing. Still. “I love them, Dolly. And I know it seems sudden but it’s not. I’ve loved them both a long time. Only now, I think it could be real—more. My heart is big, I want and need both of them.”

Dolly’s smile is both warm and reassuring, and exactly what I need. Sisters have an amazing way of doing that. “What changed? It seems like you guys have been vibing for a while.”

I let out a sigh because the answer to her questions comes back to me. The murders. Coming clean. The plan. The first retrieval. “I shared some things with them—things I’m deeply ashamed of—and they accepted me. Both of them.”

Dolly knocks her arm into mine, her focus intense on my profile as I stare at my loved, worn home across the way. “What things? You have secrets from me and Ivy?”

I swipe at an unexpected tear. “There are things about me, bad things, things that neither you nor Ivy can ever know. But I told them, and look,” I say, nodding to the house where they are tucked inside, asleep. “They’re here.”

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