what he was doing. He just asked me if I wanted to go with him somewhere when I was still trapped in the house most of the time. And of course, I wanted to do it, so I jumped at the chance. He laid out a picnic and everything, and then we just...did it. Out in the open. I never thought I’d be the person who went and did it...but yeah.”
“Wow,” she said. “You’re a naughty girl.”
“I didn’t think that I was,” I said. “But these boys...changed everything for me. They made me realize that there was a side for me that I didn’t normally...visit.”
“Fantastic,” she said. “Nick was the same way. I didn’t think I was anything like the way that I was with him...but he made me understand a whole side of myself that I thought didn’t exist.”
“I think that’s beautiful,” I said. “I think when you find the person that you are meant to be with, then you feel open and comfortable. But what if I found three people that I thought I was meant to be with?” I asked, and she shrugged with a grin.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess it’s a whole different scenario. But that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with it.”
“No,” I said. “I mean, if you asked me a year ago, I would have said that’s weird and all...but now…”
“Now, it’s fine,” she said. “If you think it’s right.”
“I still want to hear from them,” I said. “I can’t just pretend that none of it happened. However, if they are the people that I think they are...it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Exactly,” she said. “So everything is going to be fine. Now, get up so you don’t waste the day away.”
“Never,” I said as I swung my legs out of bed. I put my empty coffee cup on my dresser table and got up. “You know...I think I'm going to dress up today. I have a feeling that something big is going to happen.”
“Awesome,” she said to me with a grin. “Put on your prettiest dress and we’ll have the best day ever.”
“Yay,” I said. I didn’t know what exactly I expected to come of a picnic with a friend, but I had a feeling it was going to be awesome. Maybe it was because I had finally embraced it, or maybe it was because I was afraid, anxious, and excited all at once, but either way, I couldn’t wait to see what the day brought.
I picked a dress with long sleeves and then I did my makeup for the first time in a long time. I thought that I looked cute when I finally came downstairs, with my hair curled and a smile on my face.
I did not expect the three brothers to be standing there.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Frances
“Hey,” I said to Jenny, casually, when she walked down the stairs. I could barely catch my breath because I thought that she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. With her short dress and curled hair, I thought she looked like a supermodel.
From the look on the rest of my brothers’ faces, they also thought that she looked incredible.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asked. She turned to Anna in shock, who was coming in front of the kitchen. “Did you plan this? Did you know that they were coming?”
“No,” Anna said, as she looked between the three of us. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey,” I said. “How are you?”
“Well, a little bit stunned,” she replied. “I can’t believe that you guys didn’t call.”
“We had our reasons for not calling,” Jacob said. Anna put her hands on her hips.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because…”
“Because they did not want me to run,” Jenny said. “Right?”
“Would you have run?” Jacob asked, and Jenny took a deep breath.
“I don’t know,” Jenny said. Anna looked between us and then sighed.
“You know that Nick isn’t here, don’t you?” she asked.
“No,” Jacob said. “I didn’t know that. But we’re staying until we sort this out.”
“Jenny, are you OK with this?” Anna asked.
For one moment, I was afraid that Jenny was going to say that she wasn’t OK with this. And if she had asked us to leave then and there, I had a feeling that we would leave. We would probably wither and die in a field somewhere, away from any sort of humanity. The discussion on the plane ride had pretty much cemented the fact that she was our mate.
“Yes,” she said. “I’ll talk with the three of