Page 62 of My Three Rivals

As quietly as I could, I padded into the adjoining bathroom, closing the door behind me as I peered at my face in the mirror.

What are we doing here? Just because they’re watching out for me now, doesn’t mean that anything’s really changed.

“Princess?”

I opened the door and peeked out at Maverick, half asleep as he looked for me. “I’m here.”

“Come back to bed,” he mumbled. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“I’ll be there in a second.”

I half expected him to be gone when I got back, the sheets still lingering of Atticus and Wyatt. But when I opened the door again, I found that the other two had returned. I blinked and stared at them as they reclaimed their places in the bed.

“We’re going to need a bigger mattress,” Atticus yawned, nodding toward the bedside table, where he had brought me a glass of cold water.

Laughing, I cannonballed in between them, my earlier worries forgotten in the midst of the strong, secure arms around me.

“Yeah, maybe,” I murmured, placing my head on Wyatt’s bare chest, his hesitant hands reaching out to stroke my hair as I again succumbed to sleep. “Maybe.”

* * *

Wyatt was the only one in the bed when I opened my eyes again, but he was wide awake, reading a book on winemaking. I cracked a grin at him, rubbing my eyes.

“Are they coming back?” I mumbled through a yawn.

He nodded. “I’m supposed to keep you here until Atticus is finished making breakfast.”

“I won’t tell them you ruined the surprise,” I teased, sliding up beside him to read the pages.

He set the book aside and peered at me. “You’ve been really melancholy since… well… you know.”

My smile faded, and I exhaled, fully sitting up, the sheets falling away to reveal my naked breasts. Wyatt’s eyes fell over me, but his expression wasn’t laced with lust, just concern.

“It was a lot to take in,” I admitted. “And for a minute there, I was ready to throw in the towel.”

Wyatt’s inky irises darkened to almost black, his mouth twitching. “I know I don’t always say the right thing, Tegan, but I want you to know that you’re probably the best thing that could have happened to us.”

My heart swelled at the unexpected compliment from the most serious of my three guys. I knew what he was telling me was genuine.

“We’ve been together since college, but sometimes, I wondered if it wasn’t a relationship borne from necessity, not true likeability.”

I half-smiled, understanding his position.

“I liken you three to brothers,” I offered lightly. “You won’t always get along, but you’re family.”

I frowned immediately after the words left my lips and thought of my own family.

“We’re better than family,” Wyatt corrected me, reading my face clearly. “Because we picked each other, but sometimes, I think we won’t much care for one another.”

“And I changed that somehow?” I joked, but Wyatt nodded earnestly.

“Yes. You did. You gave us a common goal for once.”

My grin faded, jaw grinding. “As happy as I am to hear that you guys are all on the same page, I’m not exactly the goal you need.”

“Knock, knock!”

Eggs and bacon wafted into my olfactory sense, our conversation put on hold for the moment as Atticus appeared in the doorway in nothing but an apron, holding an antique silver tray.

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