Page 27 of Fractured

“Then let me prove you wrong,” he whispered.

And fuck me, but I really did want him to prove me wrong.

Eight

So hear me out, but today made me believe in reverse harem relationships. - September 3rd

The shrill alarmwent off on my phone, plucking me right out of another nightmare where Drake symbolized every bad decision I’d ever made. That was enough to make anyone not want to communicate. Reaching over, I tapped the screen to turn it off.

My phone dinged again, but this time, it was a text message.

“Are you going to get that?” a gruff voice said from underneath me. Pushing myself up, I looked down to find a sleepy, sexy Ambrose. His eyes were barely open as he rubbed a large hand up and down my back. A little pressure had me going back down to his hard but comfortable chest.

“It’s a text. Give me a minute.” I closed my eyes, not quite ready to let the day claim me. Last night had been so much fun—exactly what I needed.

We’d stayed up late, talking about so many random, deep things. It was almost three in the morning before I drifted off. If I’d been smart, I would have turned off my seven am alarm. I squashed the thought as soon as it crossed my mind. There was too much to do today.

Another chime signaling a text filled the silence.

I reached over to the table and grabbed the phone to see the alarm was on snooze with a string of missed messages.

First, I turned the alarm off. Then I opened the texts, smiling to myself when I saw they were from Atticus. We’d chatted periodically over messages the last couple weeks, and his texts had become a bit of a bright spot in my day. He had uncanny timing. Or either I was just too stressed all the time now.

Atticus: Hey! You said you don’t go into the studio until nine. How about breakfast?

Atticus: I’m going to take your silence as a yes.

Atticus: Don’t be mad, but I may or may not be parking at your house right now.

Shit. I jumped up and ran down the hallway to brush my teeth and see what kind of tangled mess I had on top of my head. Also, what to do about Atticus on my front porch was top priority as well. Or what to do with Ambrose.

I laughed. This was something right out of a college drama, and I kind of loved it, even though I was a little freaked out.

When I came out of the bathroom, I was more awake and less frantic as I found Ambrose leaning against my bedroom door. “Is there a reason you have a man sitting on your porch?”

I waited for some kind of cue to tell me how he felt about that, especially so soon after his declaration about wanting to stay close to me last night. There was nothing. No twitch of the lips I’d come to crave, no tightening around the eyes or any type of aggressive body language. He was loose and calm as he watched me grab some clothes out of my dresser.

“He’s a friend,” I said as I turned my back to get dressed for the day. Another pair of jean shorts and white T-shirt. I wasn’t shy with my body, clearly from my time with Kenzo, but Ambrose wasn’t flirting with me or watching me in any sexual way. It made it kind of hard to just strip in front of him.

The floor creaked as he shifted, and I glanced over my shoulder once I had my shirt off.

He’d turned around and was facing the front of the house now. What a gentlemen. I smiled to myself.

“Hmm, a friend that shows up at seven and comes baring a box of donuts and what looks like a jug of fresh coffee. Sounds like the kind of friend I’m familiar with,” he said dryly.

I snickered as I threw my clean clothes on and dropped the ones from yesterday in the hamper. This was a situation that should’ve had my anxiety running haywire. But outside of the initial scare of reading his texts when I first woke up, I was missing those feelings I’d carried like determined badges constantly glued to my chest.

This was nice. I loved the me I was with these men. Now I just had to figure out if they loved who I was with them and how to build authentic friendships. The familiar seed of doubt that I’d be anyone they’d seriously want to keep in their lives after they knew all my secrets was heavy on my shoulders, but I pushed the thought away.

I wasn’t going to tell them my past today. That meant I could enjoy their company for as long as I could.

“Is this a boyfriend?” Ambrose asked lightly as I pushed past him in the narrow hallway. My house was tight, both on width and height, apparently built for short people, making it hard to walk by without brushing up against him.

Not that I was complaining. The delicious shiver that travelled up my spine as I pressed my hands to his chest was a high I wouldn’t soon forget.

“No, I’m not a commitment kind of girl, remember?” I cut my gaze to him to gauge his genuineness. The idea that he would really stick with me if I dated other men both thrilled and baffled me. Unfortunately, the world just didn’t work that way.

“Good. Then me and our guest on the porch are on a level playing field.” He smiled with his eyes as he glanced down at me. I was struck by the way it transformed his face. This man was beauty incarnate, and I almost forgot my name. Then I shook my head, remembering the situation I was in.

---