Page 47 of Somewhere We Belong

“I got jealous when I heard she had a date.”

Theo and I spoke at the same time.

“Excuse me?” Atlas' eyes were wide. “You kissed her? And you like her?”

“I’m… I’m sorry, it just happened and?—”

Theo looked up as I felt his guilt all over again.

“I’m not mad,” Atlas said, stepping up to Theo. “I’m just surprised,” he chuckled.

“Surprised?” Theo asked, confused.

“Yeah, I think we all saw how you look at her and I can say I’m no better.” Atlas said, hugging Theo. “I didn’t expect you to have feelings for her.”

Atlas cocked an eyebrow at me. I looked away, not wanting to rehash my insecurities again.

“My anger was not aimed at her specifically, it was more my insecurities getting the best of me,” I said, looking away.

“Did you think we would leave?” Atlas asked.

“Why would you keep me if you had her?” I mumbled, the truth tasted like ash.

I might act like a confident grumpy asshole, but a life full of fighting for my mother’s love left me feeling like I never deserved love.

“Colt.” Atlas pulled me towards them. “That's not how we work.”

“We love you, we would never throw you aside,” Theo said, wrapping an arm around me.

“I have a bad past and why would?—”

“Nope, we are not doing that.” Atlas cut me off. “You are the product of your circumstances and we've already said you are not the same person you once were. Look at everything you've done since and continue to do. You are an incredible man.”

Atlas broke our group hug, cupping my face.

“You aren’t some toy we throw away because something new and shiny comes along." He kissed me softly. “We are forever.”

“You're stuck with us,” Theo said, hugging me from behind. “Our love isn’t conditional, and it doesn’t have a time limit. We will keep loving you until we leave this world. If it’s you or her, I will pick you, Colt.”

My stomach soured.

“So, what does that mean?” I asked hesitantly. “Do we ignore these feelings?”

“It means that while we have feelings for her, we aren’t going to pursue her,” Atlas answered. “It’s all of us or none of us.”

“So, it’s up to me?” I pulled away, not liking that.

“Well, do you have feelings for her? Now that you know it’s not you or her, are you going to admit you like her?” Atlas asked all the hard questions.

I turned away from them, knowing the answer, but once I said I did have feelings for her, things were going to change.

“What if this doesn’t work out with her? What if it changes our dynamic? What if she doesn’t want all of us, but one or two of us?” That last question was a big possibility because I had been an asshole and I had said shitty things out of anger. “What if she doesn’t want me?”

“That's a lot of what-ifs,” Theo said.

I scowled. “How are you so calm? You hate change.”

Theo shrugged. “I've had time to come to terms with my feelings for her and?—”

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