Page 66 of Finding Chloe

My feet hadn’t touched the ground since Hunter threw me over his shoulder, determined I was done for the night. He lifted me into the backseat of his SUV to sit in Matt’s lap, and Kyle relieved me of my shoes. I slid my arms around Matt’s neck as Hunter drove us to the ranch. Within seconds of arriving, Matt carried me to his room in the loft of the barn with the other two guys following behind.

“Okay, will you please put me down now?” I grumbled halfheartedly.

Matt set me on my feet. The second I glanced up at him, I couldn’t miss the hunger in his eyes. My insides flipped, my heart pounded against my ribs, and my nipples tightened. I hadn’t seen this expression from him in days. I’d missed it so much.

A slight ache took residence in my heart as I remembered how he’d left me.

I stepped out of his arms and moved away from all of them. I tried to ignore the hurt that flashed across each of their faces. “Before we go any further, we need to talk.”

I needed to say my peace before I could throw myself at them.

Crossing my arms to stop myself from reaching out, I stood there and waited. “I need to know what’s changed.”

Matt’s head fell forward. “I’m sorry, Greene.”

When he didn’t say more, I couldn’t stay quiet. “Sorry? That’s all you have to say?” Did he really think that was going to make up for everything he put me through? All the hurt and rejection I felt. “Do you know what it’s been like for me this last week?”

His face jerked up. His face and eyes held so much emotion in them, it tore at my heart. “I messed up. I shouldn’t have walked away like that.”

“Why did you?” I hated how small my voice sounded. The hurt that had settled in my heart had returned. I didn’t understand how he could walk away so easily from us. From me.

“I was scared, Greene. It wasn’t just the fact that I was afraid I’d lose you to them, but also that I actually enjoyed it. I liked sharing you. It was hot, and I could see that you loved it.” Matt’s voice cracked. “I wasn’t ready to admit this could work… that Iwantedit to work. I need you to understand that in one night everything I thought I knew about myself had changed, and I didn’t know what to do with that.”

“You should have talked to me. I pressured you into this, and then I thought I lost you. Do you know how awful I felt and how much I blamed myself for what happened? You wouldn’t talk to me, look at me, be anywhere near me. It hurt.” My throat tightened.

Matt closed the distance between us and dropped to his knees. “I know. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make it up to you. I hurt not only you and myself, but I hurt Hunter and Kyle. We are supposed to be a team, and I nearly lost us the future I now realize we can have.”

A smile snuck its way onto my face. “Does that mean you asked Hunter and Kyle for their forgiveness too?”

He shook his head and turned to face them, still on his knees. “I was a fool. I should have listened to my heart and my gut. I know I wasn’t initially part of your life plans, but I want to be. Will you forgive me for being stupid? For hurting you guys and almost ruining our chances with Chloe? Will you forgive me enough to accept me into this relationship?”

Wow. I hadn’t expected Matt to be so open with them. He wasn’t really an openly emotional guy in the first place, but the way he laid it all out for them made me want to beg them to forgive him. I already had. But it was their decision. I couldn’t influence them.

Hunter and Kyle both glanced at me.

I stayed silent, letting them come to terms with Matt’s apology.

“We’re a team. We will all make mistakes along the way, but as long as we know where we stand and remember we’re in this together, then all is forgiven.” Kyle held out his hand, and Hunter mirrored. Matt grasped both their hands and stood.

Matt turned, so they all faced me, and I walked into their circle. Their arms wrapped around me and each other. I took a deep breath and felt my body relax. This was where I belonged. We stayed like this for a minute, and then Hunter gently pulled the guys back a step.

“We can’t do this without you, Chloe. Kyle, Matt, and I may be on the same page now, but you are the one who completes this family. What do you say? Will you be our woman?” The corner of his mouth lifted, and it made me think back to this morning when Matt said they loved me.

The grin on my face was so big I knew the corners of my eyes crinkled. “Yes.” I jumped into his arms, and Matt and Kyle closed in around me. “I love you all so much.”

“I love you, kitten. I’ve loved you ever since you handed me that drink. I couldn’t stop searching for you, because I knew you were the one for me,” Hunter whispered in my ear.

“I love you too.”

Hunter claimed my lips in a deep kiss, and I threaded my fingers through his hair so it would never end. But I knew it must because I had two other men I loved, and they needed to hear it.

“Does this mean we get to tell you how in love with you we are?” Matt whispered in my other ear. “Finally?”

“Yeah.” My voice cracked. Earlier he’d saidwelove you, and I’d known he’d wanted me to be his for a while, but he’d never said he was in love with me. My eyes pricked as tears clouded my vision.

“Greene, I never thought I’d find love, and then you went to the bar that night on your trip home and impressed me by asking me out. I didn’t know it then, but I’ve been falling in love with you ever since. I wasn’t ready to admit it until now. I love you, Greene.”

“I love you too, Matt.”

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