date with me at the same time?” Maybe it was silly to bring this up now, but I wanted to know.
“Fuck no,” he replied automatically. “Why would we mind?”
Figuring that was a rhetorical question, I turned to Tristin. He gave me one of his soft smiles that never failed to make my heart flip. “I value the time the four of us spend together as much as I covet being alone with you. In my opinion, both will always be best.”
“Good answer,” I said, turning to Hayle. He was my wild card, so I’d saved him for last. “And, you? What do you think?”
He didn’t answer for long enough that I began to worry. His relationship with his brothers was improving but still new in many ways. He’d held himself apart ever since joining the family, and that wasn’t something that could—or even should—change overnight.
Finally, he leaned forward and placed both hands on my knees. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. It’s that simple.”
“I’m happy,” I whispered, relieved yet also frustrated.
Because “happy” wasn’t good enough. It didn’t encompass all of the emotions bubbling inside of me—the contentment of today or the expectations for the future. And it sure didn’t describe my elation of merely being here with the three of them. Of being the center of their galaxy while, together, they made up my entire universe.
“Since we’re all so happy,” Leo said, interrupting my wandering thoughts. “Why don’t we agree right here and right now that we’re not going to let anything change when we return to Moss Harbor? We won’t let petty or not-so-petty differences come between us again. We won’t get too busy to hang out. And we sure as hell won’t let Vincent Sharpe run our lives. Agreed?”
“Fuck, yes,” Tristin replied, raising his cup, as though for a toast. “We’re in this together.”
Hayle hesitated before reaching for his cup in the seat next to him. “And we’ll push each other to be better.”
I lifted my own hot cocoa. “And we’ll be there for each other.”
Leo raised his. “We’ll do things right this time.”
Tapping our paper cups against each other, we essentially made a vow, and it felt damn satisfying. We would do it right this time—I could feel it.
Chapter Thirty
Thea
“Are you sure you want to stay home?” I asked Hayle and Tristin, glancing between them.
It was New Year’s Eve, and Leo and I were going to a party at the football house while my other two boyfriends stayed home. I’d never really cared how I rang in the new year, but it still felt wrong being separated from them tonight, of all nights.
I would have suggested we all spend the evening at the townhouse instead, but Tobias had texted me the invitation a couple of days ago, and I hadn’t wanted to say no. We’d barely spoken to each other since our parting at the Seattle airport over a month ago. And, despite my lingering irritation with him, I didn’t want to start the semester off on the wrong foot. He’d made his decision to transfer, and being upset about it wasn’t going to change anything.
Honestly, with everything else going on, I hadn’t wasted much time obsessing over his declaration of love or subsequent insistence that he needed to be here to pick up the pieces of my inevitably broken heart. I had no desire to hold a grudge. I just hoped we could find a way to repair our friendship. There would be no running away from him now that he was in Moss Harbor for good.
Tristin looped his arms around my waist. “You know it’ll be easier on all of us this way. If Hayle and I go to the party, there’s no way we’ll be able to keep our hands off of you all night. Besides,” he added with a sly grin, “do you really want to spend your night watching other girls hit on us?”
I huffed out a laugh. “Cocky, aren’t you?”
“Only when it suits my purposes.”
Hayle approached and rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about us. We’ve got beer and pizza, and I’m going to catch Tristin here up on the newest Star Wars films he missed for obvious reasons.”
A few weeks ago, the three of us standing here, in these positions, speaking so freely, would have been more than a little strange. But, now, it wasn’t strange in the slightest. Our vacation had seemed to make all of the difference. Hayle was finally one of us, rather