Page 48 of My Ex-Best Friends

I grinned and she settled back in my arms like nothing happened. “I guess you’re fine if you can attack Noah.”

“He was asking for it.”

Colt slowly sat up and looked around at us. “Sure wish we could go to the diner and get breakfast.”

“Dammit.” Brooke sighed. “Don’t look at me to make breakfast. I just served you guys breakfast, lunch, and dinner and you left no crumbs. Someone else can work now.”

Noah grabbed her foot and kissed her ankle. “I think I had dinner. I’m ready for bed.”

I groaned and sat up, pulling Brooke with me. “Fine. I’ll cook but you’re coming with me, little bunny. I want you spread out on the island so I can look at you while I flip pancakes.”

38

***Brooke***

The mural had come a long way in just a few days. I’d worked for hours each day so I’d be out of the house and away from temptation. I hadn’t been kidding about needing time to recover. It felt like I’d been riding a horse cross country after taking all three of my guys. My boyfriends. That sounded silly for what we were, though. They had so quickly become everything to me, like they’d been for most of my childhood and adolescence. I knew that I loved them, was in love with them.

I thought I might have been in love with them all along. The fear I felt after we’d woken up and they’d screwed me to heaven and back was so visceral that I’d had that same itch to get the hell away from them. I’d woken up after Logan made pancakes and known it was love. And I’d wanted to run. It was terrifying. Loving them the way I loved them, it was the shit that destroyed people if it went wrong. The longer I stayed in bed next to Logan that day, though, the calmer I felt and the more I realized that I’dfelt the same way at eighteen. I’d slept with them, felt the way I felt and was scared of as an adult, and I’d booked it.

I couldn’t bring myself to say the words, though. As much as I felt them and knew they were true, I was too scared to utter them aloud. Not too scared to stay, though, so it was an improvement.

On the third business day after our morning hook up, Noah showed up at my mural with Sin. He looked at me with so much desire that I’d nearly ruined my entire painting with shaky hands. It’d been so bad that I’d told him to give me and Sin twenty feet to paint in peace. With him away, I could focus and Sin got more and more talkative.

“Daddy likes you.” She brushed paint on her hand when I wasn’t watching and then pressed it to the wall. “Pretty. Now you.”

I stepped back and looked at it. “Not bad, kid. Here, paint my hand.”

She did and then she smiled at me. “Do you like my daddy?”

Glancing back, I saw him taking a picture of us. My heart fluttered happily and the smile on my face was ridiculous. “I do.”

Sin screamed and laughed. “Daddy! Brooke likes you!”

I scoffed down at her. “Hey!”

She giggled and ran over to leave paint handprints all over Noah’s cute gray joggers. He raised an eyebrow at me and then chased after Sin before turning on me. I laughed and ran, screaming when he grabbed me and picked me up.

“Paint goes on the wall, B. We’ve been over this.” He nipped my neck and groaned when I brushed my wet paintbrush over his cheek. “You’re terrible.”

Sin was back at the wall. “Hurry, Daddy! Add your hand, too!”

He kissed me quickly and put me down before strolling over. “Maybe Brooke doesn’t want my big handprint next to y’all’s cute ones.”

I suddenly did, very badly. “No, do it.”

He beamed at me. “Yeah?”

I nodded and helped Sin cover his hand. “It’ll be perfect.”

After he left to take Sinclair back to Kelly’s I stared at the three handprints and decided I really did love them in the mural. They were there to stay.

I lost myself in it again and only realized how badly I needed to pee when it was close to being too late. I dropped my brush and hurried into the hardware store. They were being kind enough to let me use their bathroom. I didn’t see the owners, a very elderly couple, as I raced to the bathroom but I didn’t look all that hard. I locked myself in and let out a relieved sigh when I finally got to go.

I washed my hands and then opened the door to leave when a large body pushed its way in, covering my mouth in the process. I saw that it was Logan fairly quickly but I still slapped his arm when he let me go. “You scared me!”

He stalked closer to me while I backed away. “We’ve got exactly ten minutes alone in here before old Mr. Bob gets suspicious and puts in his hearing aid. His wife is at the doctor today.”

My lips tipped up. “Why, exactly, did you burst into the bathroom? What would you possibly need ten minutes for?”

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