over this.” I shifted a little, pressing my elbow onto the armrest. “Now you want to…” I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
Will nodded. “We did have a crisis over it, because I got angry with Aaron for breaking the rules and getting so invested in you. But then I realized I’d broken those rules too.” He glanced at Aaron and squeezed his hand. Meeting my eyes again, he added, “And once we sat down and talked it over, we realized that we don’t want to ignore the feelings we both have for you.”
Holy shit. I barely knew how to process all this. As it all came together in my head, though, another question rose to the surface. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer, but I asked anyway: “If I say no… If I don’t want to do this anymore at all…” I searched their eyes. “Will you guys be okay without me?”
They glanced at each other, and the soft smiles that passed between them said it all. Those looks did wild things to my heart, too. All I’d ever wanted in the world was for a man to look at me the way these two looked at each other.
Then they turned, and…
And they did look at me that way. Oh my God.
“We’ll be fine,” Will said. “But if we have a choice between going on with just each other, or going on with you, I mean…”
“It’s a no-brainer.” Aaron studied me. “You’re afraid we want you to hold us together?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “You brought me in because you needed something. And I was glad to give it to you.” I folded my arms and hugged myself. “But I don’t want to be a Band-Aid, you know?”
“You’re not,” Will said.
“Definitely not.” Aaron glanced at Will, then at me. “Remember how I told you I didn’t know I needed that kind of pain until the first time I experienced it?”
Mute, I nodded.
“Okay, well, once we experienced life with you, we realized we didn’t want to go back to life without you. We can. And we will if being with us isn’t what you want.” He moistened his lips, and his voice was barely a whisper as he said, “But what we want is to go forward with you.”
“Exactly,” Will said. “We’re happy as two, and we can stay that way. But if you’re happy with us, I think we can all be happier as three.”
My heart fucking melted. They were still looking at me like that, and everything they’d said… Was this real? Was I about to wake up alone and feel like shit because I’d imagine this whole thing?
“Do you want to join us?” Aaron asked.
The answer wasn’t written all over my damn face? Apparently it wasn’t, because there was a touch of uneasiness in both of theirs.
Struggling to keep a handle on my emotions, I nodded. “Yeah. I do.”
“You do?” Aaron sounded more hopeful than I’d ever heard him. “Really?”
“Are you kidding?” I laughed because it was the only thing that stood between me and crying. “You guys are amazing. Of course I want to be with you.”
They both smiled. Then Will let go of Aaron’s hand and stood. He beckoned to me, and I was on my feet so fast I wavered a little as blood ran back into my feet.
He didn’t let me fall, though. Instead, he wrapped an arm around my waist, steadying me, and then with his other hand, he tipped up my chin and pressed a kiss to my lips that almost dropped me to my knees right there at his feet anyway.
Of all the effects a kiss had ever had on me, I had to say this was the first time one almost made me cry. The relief, the tenderness—this was real?
He touched his forehead to mine. “Stay with us, Kelly. We love you.”
My voice barely held as I whispered, “I love you too. Both of you.”
Will smiled. He kissed me once more, then wrapped his arms around me. Releasing a breath, I relaxed against him, burying my face against his neck and just savoring his familiar scent and the warmth of his body.
Another hand materialized on my shoulder, and soft lips brushed the back of my neck. Squeezing my eyes shut, holding on to Will and basking in Aaron’s soft touch, I really had to fight back tears. Not just because Will and Aaron were back, but because here and now, this was the first time I’d ever stood