Page 69 of Scandalous

I take a deep breath. “I’d prefer honesty than a lie, so please.”

He looks down at his hands before looking back up at me. “I don’t have the best track record with people in my life. My father shipped me off at a young age to go to boarding school and rarely visited. He even kept my mother from me. For a long time, I even resented her. How could she not be stronger? When he finally died, I learned how evil he truly was. Anyway, that’s a story for another time. What I’m trying to get at is that it’s hard for me to trust people. Especially those who threaten to take away the people I consider my true family. The guys are all I have left in this life. I mean, I have my mother, but even as much as I love her and we’ve repaired our relationship, I now know I can live without her because I have the guys.”

He takes a deep breath, moving the tray before scooting closer to me.

“I fucked up last night. I let the fear that you might choose one of us blind me from seeing the truth. You don’t want just one of us, do you?” He looks so hopeful.

I shake my head. “I was never drawn to one over another. I never even thought I’d have a chance to meet you, let alone have a choice.”

He nods. “Princess…”

I can’t help but flinch at that stupid fucking nickname.

“No. I hate that nickname. You’ve used it condescendingly since the moment we met. Like you assume I think I’m higher than everyone, which I don’t. I’m not. I’m just a normal girl trying to find my way in this world.” I huff, crossing my arms over my legs.

He presses his lips together. “I’ll earn the right to call you that again and when I do, you will know that I don’t mean it that way. That I call you it because you are as beautiful as the princess who you are named after. Right now though, I’ll stick with calling you your name.” He reaches out, brushing a finger against my knee. “Aurora, we all want you. Every single one of us. Even me. I was an idiot to try and hide it from you before, but last night only made it more obvious. I watched you break and it nearly broke me. Please forgive me.”

I shake my head. “I can’t. Not that I won’t ever, but right now, I can’t.”

Too bad my heart isn’t on the same page. It’s already started gluing its pieces back together, carving out a spot for Ezra right next to the other three.

“I understand. Don’t leave the others though. They had nothing to do with this. They are all in with you. They want this.”

I scoff. “What can this even be? A little fun? A relationship isn’t you, me, and all your friends. It’s two people committed to each other.”

He shakes his head. “You’re wrong. Poly relationships work all the time. As long as we have a clearly defined set of rules of what is and is not acceptable, we can make this work.”

“What would the world think? You said it yourself. We are public figures, you guys more than me.”

He shrugs. “I don’t think we have to figure that part out yet. Right now, we need to figure out if it’s what we truly want. What you want. If it is, then I’ll make it happen for you.”

I rub my head. “Your whiplash is giving me a headache.”

He moves away, standing. He hesitates a moment before leaning down to press a kiss to the top of my head.

“I’ll let you eat. I’ll send Liam in with some meds for your head. Enjoy, Miss Blake.”

As he leaves, I stare at the door.

What the fuck just happened?

* * *

Rolling over, I stretch out in bed. Feeling across the sheets, I remember I’m alone, which feels weird after sleeping either between Drake and Liam or wrapped around Santi. Reaching for my phone, I scroll through my feed. For twenty minutes, I reply to specific comments.

After working so hard on constantly posting and putting out new content every day, I feel guilty for posting drafts when the guys were in town.

Only you know they are drafts. The viewers don’t.

My eyes drift to the clock and I see it’s still early.

You could head to the store and pick up some stuff for breakfast and do a quick live.

It’s been a week since the guys dropped me back at my apartment and headed back to London. Well, everyone except Santi. Santi said he had some friends to see, so he’s still stateside. Still, each one has made it a point to call or video chat with me every single day. Even Ezra.

I hate the hope growing inside of me. It makes me feel like something bad is going to happen. Anytime I’m happy, something bad happens.

“Hey, you’re up early,” a voice says, making me look up from my phone as I stand in the kitchen.

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