Page 65 of Theirs

Chapter 18

I must have cried myself to sleep while on the drive home, because when I wake up, I’m in Colin’s huge, fluffy bed. Someone is spooning me, his arm wrapped over my torso. A knock comes from the door, and it’s opened, light from the hallway streaming through. I’m too tired to say anything when Ben walks in, and sits on the edge of the bed.

“Hey, baby,” he whispers, smoothing down some of my bed head. “You’ve got a guest.”

My forehead scrunches in confusion. Alex, and Mac are really the only ‘guests’ I would ever have, and at this point they just come and go as they please. They’ve practically moved in, just like me.

“Who?” I ask, my voice hoarse from crying.

The body behind me stirs, but just holds me tighter, making me feel anchored to the ground.

“Kristen,” Ben says softly. “I can tell her you’re asleep if you don’t feel like talking.”

“Is Kane with her?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

“Tell her I’ll be out in fifteen minutes,” I ask, he nods and places a kiss on my forehead. “Thank you, Benjamin.”

Ben closes the door as he leaves the room, and I roll over on my back. When I turn my head to see who’s been holding me. I find Alex’s eyes looking back at me.

“You okay?” he whispers.

“I’ll be fine,” I say. “You’ll stay the night?”

He nods. “Wouldn’t dream of leaving you.”

I roll over and place a kiss on his cheek before climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom to wash my face off, and put my hair up in a ponytail. I stay in my rumpled clothes, not really feeling like going through the effort of going to my closet in the other room to change. When I come back in the room, Alex has remade the bed, and I find him sneaking out the back door to go hang out with the guys.

Kristen is sitting on the couch, and she stands when I enter the main room. Mac comes over to me, placing a kiss on my forehead, and handing me a glass of wine.

“We ordered Chinese food while you were resting,” he tells me. “Help yourself, we’ll be outside if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Mac,” I whisper, glancing outside and seeing that it’s almost dark out. I slept through the afternoon and early evening. Now I’ll probably be up all night. Great.

Mac leaves us, and I take my wine with me, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

“I’m so sorry,” Kristen blurts after many seconds of silence. “About everything.”

I don’t say anything. I don’t accept her apology, because I’m not sure if she knows exactly what she’s apologizing for. That I was raped in high school? For the fight between me and my brother? For being weird about telling me she was pregnant? For approaching my change in relationship status the way she did?

“Kane and I had a really long discussion after you left,” she says softly. “I am so sorry that you didn’t have anyone in your corner when you were... raped. I wish I was there for you, Tea. That you felt comfortable enough to come to me. I would have been there for you.”

I shrug my shoulders. “It’s in the past. That’s where I wanted it to stay.”

I watch my guys out on the patio, the string lights Colin installed last weekend after I told him I wanted to create an intimate vibe out there, shine brightly. I crave to be out there with them right now, I feel happy and safe when I’m with them. I feel loved, even though we all haven’t actually said it to each other yet, I can feel it. I confessed to loving all of them earlier today, and I don’t plan on taking those three words back. I just need to actually say it to them individually.

Kristen follows my gaze, watching the guys. “Do they all make you happy?”

“Yes,” I say, smiling. “They make me so happy, Kristen. Each of them in their own special way. I don’t want to lose them. I don’t want anyone’s shitty opinions of our relationship scaring them away.”

She looks back to me, reaching across the couch for my hand. I give it to her. “I’m so happy for you, Tea. You deserve the world.”

“But what about Kane?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes. “He’ll come around eventually. Don’t worry about him. He would have still been pissed if it were only one of them. He’s a protective big brother. It’s probably best that it’s all of them to be honest.”

We drop each other’s hands, and sit in silence again. I take a sip of my wine and glance over at her belly. I still can’t believe there’s a baby in there. My brother’s baby, my best friend’s baby. A little being that they created.

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