Page 9 of Four Love (Ever and Always 2)

Not only for him and Holly, but also for Lorenzo and Owen, who were frozen enough to resemble mannequins while observing their exchange.

“No, Holly. I’m not going to be that stupid ever again. I want this every bit as much as you do. And the reasons why have nothing to do with dollars and cents. Hell, I would have given it up to get you back and considered that the best deal of all time.”

She bit her lip, then glanced over at Lorenzo and Owen.

Owen kicked Lorenzo’s boot with his own sneaker, making him jump. “Yeah. That’s what I want, too. All three of us do. We never want you to leave again.”

Trent winced, thinking of how her departure had been salt in Lorenzo’s clearly unhealed wounds. He would damn the woman who’d left his friend at the altar, but then they would never have met and have formed the bond that was about to change their lives forever.

“How about we take it one night at a time?” Holly sighed. “I’m not ready to think about the future. For now, all I can focus on is being free, here with you. I want you to surround me again and make me feel safe and warm.”

Trent could see the rest of what she left unsaid hanging between them.

That’s what she wanted,even if it meant getting hurt later.

Well, that wasn’t going to happen. Not if he had any say in how things played out.

From the looks Lorenzo and Owen were shooting his way, they all had the same thing in mind.

They needed a do over on the night before.

He wasn’t about to fuck up their second chance.

5

Owen chewed his thumbnail as he peered into the visor mirror from the passenger seat of one of the unmarked sedans Jordan and his team had commandeered. Holly was sandwiched between Lorenzo and Trent on the backseat of the vehicle as they sped toward their house.

Thank God she was okay.

Relatively. He’d seen the terror in her eyes, which darted around every few seconds, as if making sure no one was going to reclaim her and try to sell her back to them.

He hated the fact that even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t have met the blackmailers’ demands. Sure, he’d wished he’d been born loaded like Trent a million times in his life—had even dreamed about it on the nights he’d gone without anything to eat growing up, or the year and a half he’d spent living under a railway trestle on the outskirts of town. That had been before Trent had stumbled across his turf on an urban hike with Moose, helped him get a job, and eventually invited him to be roommates. But never before had he realized how woefully inadequate what he had to offer someone was compared to men like Trent, or Ford, Brady, and Josh for that matter.

All he had to give was himself. And maybe a handful of orgasms, which Holly could get from any guy lucky enough to be welcomed into her bed.

Since she’d escaped, she’d been glued to Trent. It made sense. After all, he was the one she cared about. He and Lorenzo were simply guests in their bed, toys to make their sex even better. He felt like a leech. And yet he knew that if she asked for all three of them when they turned this next corner and walked into their house together, he’d be right there.

Because he was weak. Being needed was his kryptonite. No one had ever needed him for shit before. And though he didn’t have money, he could give her a whole lot of himself if she would accept it. He’d never been able to count on someone before Trent, and if he could repay his friend while also making his best friend’s girlfriend happy, then Owen was in despite the risks he was taking with his own feelings.

He ground his teeth as he watched Lorenzo caress Holly’s hair and murmur foreign shit to her that sounded sexy, even to him. Trent had cash and his romantic side. Lorenzo, brought the spice. What the fuck did Owen have to add to their arrangement?

Nothing.

Would he be left out in the cold, like always, when Holly realized that too?

Owen gripped his knee so hard his knuckles turned white. When Jordan glanced over and raised a brow in question, he shook his head. This was fine. Everything was fine.

Or at least it would be if he didn’t let his demons get the best of him. What had happened the night before, when Trent let his past overcome his better sense, had showed Owen the dangers of getting choked by his hang-ups. He had to avoid making the same mistake.

He was completely out of his element, in over his head. But he had to figure it out how to act like a normal guy who knew how to care for someone else and let them do the same for him. And he had to do it fast.

Before Owen was entirely ready, Jordan pulled into their driveway. Moose barked his head off as they spilled out of the car. He was probably pissed at being left behind, or maybe just glad to see them reunited.

I know, buddy, me too,he thought to the dog. Hell, even that he owed to Holly. She’d found the puppy and given him to Trent to look after. The animal had been the first “person” Owen had ever fully trusted. Then Trent had proven that sometimes decent people did decent things for those around them.

And now Holly…

Owen refused to get too far ahead of himself until he knew where he, and Lorenzo, stood with her.

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