Page 24 of Ticket to the Stars: Part Two

“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Priest spoke.

“You don’t speak for everyone,” I shot back.

Bishop said, “Yes, he does. In this one case—just this once—he definitely speaks for all of us.” Before us, Deacon was busy nodding in agreement, his eyes never leaving me. “Why are you asking? Do you think…” He trailed off, apparently unable to say it.

“I don’t think anything,” I hurried to say. I stood up, which was hard to do, given where Deacon was, but I couldn’t sit there and be under their scrutinizing gazes for much longer. “Uh, excuse me. I have to pee.”

I stumbled away from the group, hoping against all odds they’d believe my random excuse. I hurried to the hall, and once the guys were no longer in view, I picked up thepace. After shutting myself in my bedroom, I went into my bathroom and sat on the toilet.

The lid was down; a habit from when Cleo was little. She loved playing with her toys in the toilet water. Ew.

I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. Leave it to me to be so unbelievably awkward about it. I honestly didn’t know what these guys saw in me, because with how often I acted like an idiot in front of them, they shouldn’t want me at all. I should be a laughingstock, someone they made fun of in their songs or something.

But the guys couldn’t leave me be, because soon enough they were creeping into the bathroom, inching inside like it was new, untouched territory to them.

“Hey, I could’ve really been on the toilet,” I pointed out.

“Technically, you are on the toilet, you’re just not using it,” Priest said, smiling that famous lopsided grin at me as he and the others huddled around me. “Besides, we all know girls don’t poop.”

Deacon glared at him. “Really? Did you really have to say that?”

“What?” Priest shrugged, throwing his hands up in the air in his defense. “I’m just saying what we all know. Girls don’t poop or fart.” To me, he deadpanned, “By the way, if I ever find out that’s not true, the magic in this relationship will totally be gone—” He may have wanted to say more, but Deacon elbowed him right in the stomach to stop him.

Bishop rolled his eyes at Priest before saying, “Ignore him. Please. Maybe if we ignore him he’ll lose his power and shrink, and we can stuff him in a closet or something.”

“You wish,” Priest shot back. “You wish you could stuff this gun show in the closet.” He flexed his arms, showing off his muscles, and then he… he actuallykissedhis own bicep, the fool.

“Anyway,” Bishop dutifully ignored him like he’d instructed all of us to do, “to answer your question from before, I think you know you’re in love when you catch yourself thinking about the other person all the time. When you dream of them. When you literally can’t imagine your life without them.”

Priest scoffed at his answer and said, “Well, I think you’re in love when you can’t imagine yourself being with anybody else. You want to get that person nakedconstantly.” When he received another dirty look from Bishop, he shrugged again and said, “Deacon, it’s your turn.”

“I think,” Deacon paused, probably to gather his thoughts, “you’re in love when you’re willing to sacrifice for that person, when you’re happy to do things you wouldn’t normally do just for their sake.”

The guys huddled around me on the toilet. Since they were standing, I had to angle my head back and gaze up at them. Being surrounded by three stupidly sexy guys made me forget we were still in my bathroom.

Bishop and his warm, welcoming hazel eyes. Deacon and his green-eyed stare that often got hidden behind hislong black hair. Priest and his unusual silvery eyes, more gray than blue. All of them watched me, all of them waiting for me to say something.

Love was about sacrifice and wanting the other person more than anyone else. Love was about thinking of them constantly, dreaming of them, to the point where every moment was taken up by them.

These guys had sacrificed for me, they’d agreed to do something they’d never done before for me, because they wanted me. And I, for one, certainly thought about them all hours of the day and night to the point where I felt like I was obsessing over them.

I tended to overthink things, so even though we all stood in a bathroom, huddled together, maybe I should just say it.

“I love you,” I said the words as my gaze flicked between them, not lingering on any one of them for too long. “I think I’ve… I think I’ve loved you for a while, but I just—I guess I was thinking too much about it. Maybe I was a little scared.” I bit my lower lip, my gaze falling to my lap, where my hands fiddled.

One of the guys knelt before me, gently touching my chin to get me to look at him. I saw Bishop kneeling, a sincere, happy smile on his face and those adorable dimples in his cheeks. “Don’t be scared,” he told me. “I love you too. I’ve wanted to say it for a long time, but… I didn’t want to freak you out by—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Priest interrupted the heartfelt moment by kneeling beside him and snatching my hands in his. He ran his thumb over my knuckles and gazed into my eyes. “I should’ve been the one to say it first, since I kissed you first.”

Bishop glared. “It’s not a competition—”

“Yeah, sure, buddy, sure.” Priest let out a sigh, those gray eyes of his locked on me. “I do, you know. I love you. I love you so much it’s hard to breathe sometimes.” I never, not in a million years, would’ve guessed the playboy flirt himself would be on his knees for me, in a bathroom, telling me that he loved me.

A few seconds passed, and it was then Deacon huffed, “I don’t have to get on my knees like you two idiots, do I?”

Now Bishop and Priest were on the same team, turning their hard stares to Deacon. It was Priest who said, “No, and you don’t have to tell her you love her if you don’t.”

“Of course I love her. You think I’d be willing to share if I didn’t love her?” When he realized what he’d said, he turned to me, his voice lowering as he said, “Not that I’m saying I loved you the whole time—how clichéd would that be—but…” He coughed, and suddenly I wasn’t the only awkward one. “I do love you. I just wish this whole conversation didn’t happen in a damned bathroom.”

---