Page 102 of Cold and Broken (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 1)

“Of course.” He gathers up the paperwork and moves off the bed. “We’ll see you in the morning, correct?” He, Connor, Delores, and Edward decided to have a small Christmas brunch for just the five of us.

“I’ll be there.” I give him a small smile.

“Great. Have fun tonight,” he says as he walks out of my room.

Griff is having us all over to his house tonight for our Christmas dinner. I look at my phone to check the time and see I only have about an hour to get ready before we need to go. I walk into my closet which now rivals Ivy’s in size and find a black cashmere sweater dress she brought over a few weeks ago. I grab a pair of flat black boots to wear instead of heels. It’s snowed about eight inches this past weekend so everything is covered in a thick blanket of white and the roads are a slushy nightmare. I don’t need to fall on my ass because I’m as uncoordinated as a newborn giraffe.

When I come out of the bathroom I find Connor stretched out on my bed, just like his dad was an hour ago. Aside from the silvering of Victor’s hair and the more prominent laugh lines on his face, they really could be twins. I walk around the bed to stand beside him and he moves to sit on the edge. He pulls me between his legs and cups my ass in his hands.

“I like this dress,” he rasps as he hands move over my body. “Is it new?”

“Yeah,” I smooth a hand over my hip, “Ivy saw it and bought it for me awhile back. Said she saw it and immediately thought of me.”

“She’s right. You look beautiful.” He stands and kisses me. “Ready to head over?”

“Sure.” I take a minute to appreciate the way his muscles fill out his forest green henley. The color looks amazing against his olive skin and green eyes. He notices my gaze and smirks at me. The one thing that hasn’t been affected by my current bout of depression is my constant hunger for and attraction to Connor. I can’t imagine this current that ties us together ever dissolving, nor do I want to.

When we get to Griff’s pool house Levi is already there. They’re playing a game of air hockey as we walk in hand in hand.

“Merry Christmas,” they say simultaneously, not looking up from their game.

“I play the winner,” I say as I walk over to stand beside the table. Griff scores the winning goal so I take over for Levi. “It’s weird to not have Ivy here.” I look up at him to see his reaction. Things have been tense between them since Homecoming. They’ve barely looked at each other and have almost zero interaction. After our conversation at the spa months ago Ivy hasn’t said anything else and I’ve obviously been preoccupied. She’s spending winter break with her dad and his new wife.

“Yep,” Levi says as he walks away to pour himself a drink.

Griff and I play a few rounds before we sit down to eat. Griff had his family’s chef make us a nice seafood dinner. After we finish Griff walks back into his bedroom and comes back out with a small red box that he sets in front of me.

“What’s this?” I look up at him.

“A gift from the three of us.” Levi answers.

“I thought we weren’t giving each other gifts?” I arch an eyebrow.

“Individually. This is different,” Griff responds. “Open it.”

I remove the ribbon and lift the lid. Inside sits a beautiful rose gold ring made of three bands that are interwoven together loosely. The center band holds a large cushion cut diamond. The other two bands are covered by a row of smaller diamonds. I look up at the three of them and then back down at the ring.

“It’s beautiful.” I look back up at them. “Thank you.”

Levi reaches over and taps my middle finger. “It’s for this finger. We’re sick of looking at it without something shiny when you give us the bird.” He grins at me with his golden boy smile. “It might also be a reminder that you have us as your family, always.”

I pull the ring out and see the band is inscribed with the latin phraseFamilia Ante Omnia.Family over all. Then all three boys stand and pull their shirts off. They each smirk when my eyes widen but holy fuck, it’s like a dinner and a personal Magic Mike show. On each of their biceps they have had the phrase tattooed on them.

Tears swim in my eyes and love fills my heart. These three boys have filled in the cracks in my broken soul. Connor has my heart on lock down. I couldn’t leave him if I tried. I considered going back to Chicago to stay with Z and his mom for the rest of school year but when she mentioned to Victor at Dad’s memorial he was shockingly adamant that I stay with them. It warmed my heart to see him fight for me to stay. I felt wanted instead of like a burden.

I’m brought out of my thoughts and back to the present by someone clearing their throat.

“I love you guys.” I hug Levi and give him a kiss. I do the same with Griff who holds me a second longer, giving me a wordless squeeze. Like me, he holds his feeling close to the vest.

When I stand in front of Connor he bends and grabs me by my thighs, lifting me. My legs wrap around his hips and my arms around his neck. He looks over my shoulder at Griff before saying we’re going to borrow the guest room for a few minutes.

32

Connor

I carry Lily back to the bedroom I’ve claimed as mine when I stay at Griff’s house. She’s leaning back a bit, her gorgeous ocean eyes searching my face, trying to figure out what I’m up to. I look at her and give her a cocky smirk which makes her roll her eyes and smile.

I set her down on the bed and take a step back. My shirt is still off and I start pulling my belt off. Her eyes go big and round and she looks at the door furtively.

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