Page 101 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

"Selene—"

"Please, guys. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

* * *

Back at home,I helped Ollie freshen up, gave him his lunch, and sent him to take his nap. He kept chattering about his day and how happy he was that we were getting three roommates.

The prospect of having so many other houses to stay in and new parts of Boston to discover excited him too.

Aiden, Dom, and Niall did not let me out of their sight. They fixed me a quick lunch, took care of everything else that needed doing in the house, and even tolerated a few dirty looks from Biscuit.

"He'll come around," Dom said, running his hands through my hair as I lay in bed. "It's Ben, Selene. He takes time to process these things. But he will come around."

I chuckled wearily. "Put it as number two on the list of things that are probably never gonna happen."

"What's number one?"

"Aiden doing a naked dance for me on our wedding night."

"Hey," Aiden protested.

"What?" I inclined my head to grin at him. "I saidprobably."

I closed my eyes. "Guys, I need to take a nap. Can you... I'm sorry."

Aiden leaned down to kiss my forehead. "Sleep, Selene. We'll be here when you wake up."

33

AIDEN

Two Weeks Later

The boys and I were busy planning a dinner for Selene and Ollie when Biscuit trundled into the kitchen. I could never figure out whether this man wanted to be on our team or beat the crap out of us.

"Hey, Biscuit, fancy a cookie?" I asked him with false cheeriness. I held up a choco-pecan cookie and wondered if he'd break it into component parts and shove it down my throat.

"Hmm." He actually took the biscuit and chomped on it thoughtfully. "It's good," he concluded. I decided this was as close as we'd get to being friends. "You have a guest."

"Who is it?" I asked, surprised.

"Waiting for you in the foyer."

He rumbled back out, and I signaled to the boys. "Someone's here."

"Should I take a knife?" Dom asked, brandishing one of Selene's choppers at me. I rolled my eyes. "Sure, big boy. Whatever helps you feel better."

We stepped out into the foyer, expecting just about anyone but the person who stood there.

"Ben." I didn't know whether to say sorry or shout at him for what had gone down between him and Selene. It was a rough way to find out things, but in our case, there was no easy way at all.

"I have one question before I meet Selene."

"Fire away."

"Do all of you love her enough to never hurt her the way Dave did?"

Ben honestly looked like he'd been through hell in the weeks that had passed since his last meeting with Selene. His posture held a weariness that was hard to ignore.

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