Page 67 of My Ex-Boyfriend's Brothers

Before I had a chance to question her, Mom took off. I’d never seen her wheel herself so fast and I was almost too happy about her improved mobility to realize that she was charging into the crowd. I swore and hurried after her. “Mom! What are you doing?”

“Move it! Out of my way, lady!” Mom definitely ran over a few toes on her way through. “Move it or my daughter will kick your ass!”

I gasped. “Oh, my god! Mom!”

Sarah appeared out of nowhere to give Mom’s wheelchair the last push Mom needed to clear the crowd. She grinned at me. “She’s doing great, isn’t she?”

I stumbled over a pink jeweled cane and would’ve fallen on my face if two big arms hadn’t caught me. I noticed a few things while being caught mid-air. The crowd of women had made a perfect circle around the sitting area but the sitting area itself was clear, minus Mom and Sarah. The sitting area might aswell have been a stage. Sitting on that stage were the three men who’d starred in more of my fantasies than I ever wanted to admit, pre and post wedding.

Well. Jackson wasn’t sitting. He was holding me after catching me. His scent hit me and I had to close my eyes against the onslaught of need crashing through me. My body was a traitor with no loyalty to my heart or mind.

“Alright, you old perverts! These men are spoken for! Go back to your rooms and mind your own business!” Mom waited a second and when no one moved, she tried a different tactic. “If you leave now, I’ll have the guys take off their shirts later.”

I extracted myself from Jackson’s hold and inched closer to Mom. Wrapping my arms around myself, I watched as the crowd vanished like it’d never been there at all. The promise of muscles had worked. I almost wanted the crowd back. Facing the guys alone seemed way more daunting.

“Maggie.” Ryan said my name quietly, almost reverently. The sound of it left goosebumps across my body.

“Well, you three finally showed up.” Mom grunted. “It took you long enough.”

I gaped at her. “Mom.”

“What? They should’ve been here from the start.” She crossed her arms. “I’m not going anywhere. If you think you’re going to win my daughter back and not have me listen in, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Same goes for me.” Sarah flashed me an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”

“That’s fine. You should hear everything. That way there’s no confusion later.” Luke’s stern tone drew my eyes to his. His eyes didn’t match his voice. His eyes looked worried.

I looked between the three of them and had to turn away. They were there. They were really there and I was terrified of what they were going to say.

“I can speak for Ryan and Jackson when I say that we’ve wanted you for over half a decade, Maggie. I’ve dreamed of a reality where you’re mine for way longer than is appropriate, considering you were with Brad for three of those years. You gave us everything we ever wanted at the lodge and it was better than I even imagined. Having you as ours changed something in my brain, Maggie. I don’t give a shit about anything else. I just want you. You’re all I think about. You’re all I dream about.” He took a deep breath. “We fucked up. We never should’ve left you behind. I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I was destroyed at the idea of you even looking at another man. It was such a crushing idea that I didn’t stop for a second. I just ran. I’m sorrier than you’ll ever know. I regret very few things in my life and leaving you behind will always be my biggest regret.”

Sarah nudged me. “Breathe.”

I sucked in a gasping breath and gripped the back of Mom’s wheelchair. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be sick or pass out but my body was on the fritz.

“I don’t want to live without you.” Ryan smiled at the sharp gasp I released. “Don’t worry, I’m not ready to end it all. I’m just really motivated to get you back. I’m done with traveling constantly. I’m done with living my life not knowing where I’m going to sleep each night. I want to wake up each and every morning knowing that I’m coming back home to bed with you, Maggie. I’m so sorry that we ran. I’m sorry that we needed Christina to tell us what we should’ve known. Blame it on our head and not our hearts because our hearts are yours, Maggie. They belong to you.”

Jackson stepped closer. “I’m a really big asshole without you, Bubbles. I’ve missed you. I spend all my time angry at myself for not stopping to think for a fucking second that night, angry at these two for not being smarter than me, angry at the fucking world for carrying on like everything’s fine. We know you.We know your heart. If we’d stopped for just a moment, we would’ve laughed at Brad. You loved us. You gave yourself to us completely and no woman who loves like that would ever cheat. I’m hoping you love us enough to forgive us.”

56

***Jackson***

My heart thumped painfully in my chest. We’d found her but that was only the beginning of our fight. We hadn’t practiced what we were going to say but I felt like we were doing okay. At least we weren’t blowing it completely. When I could tear my gaze away from Maggie, I could see that her mom was smiling. I needed that to be a good sign. I needed Maggie to forgive us.

Maggie’s face went red and she took a deep breath just to open her mouth and lose her shit on us. “You’re telling me that I love you. It took you almost three weeks to come here and you tell me thatIloveyou?Are you nuts? That’s your big redemption speech? Do you love me? I guess I’ll never know, but at least we’re all clear about me loving you!”

Beth snickered and shook her head. “She only rages once every few years but here we go. Good job, guys.”

“I dove into this thing head first. I gave you whatever I had, as freely as I could. I did love you. I think I always loved youbecause you were always kind and gentle with me. You made me laugh and you always showed up if I was going to be around your awful father and stepmother. But you wait until you fuck me to take it all away?” She tossed a look at her mom. “Sorry, but it’s true. You introduce me to this fairytale romance where you all spoil me and give me amazing orgasms and then you just ghost me?”

I felt myself blushing at the amount of sex talk she was doing in front of her mom. “Maybe we should-”

“I can’t believe you thought I was sleeping withBrad. You freaking idiots. First of all, been there and got the shirt. No, thanks. Second of all, when do you think I was sleeping with Brad? When I was with you all during every spare hour of the day? When I was with Brad in the dining hall with Gregor watching over us? When I was asleep in between you? It pisses me off that you trusted me so little that it made you stupid!”

“Pissed is better than crushed, baby. Yell as much as you want. It doesn’t change how we feel about you.” Luke chanced his life and limb by getting closer to her. “We love you. I love you. I want to marry you and have a massive family. So, get it all out. Scream at us. Do what you have to do to feel better because we’re not going anywhere.”

“I…” Maggie’s next words died on the tip of her tongue. She stopped and looked back at her mom. When she looked back at us, tears filled her eyes and spilled over. “How do I know you’re not going to leave me again? How can I trust you? It hurt too much this time. I don’t think I could go through it again.”

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