whose opinion are you so concerned about? Strangers we pass on the street? People we’ll never meet? Our families who don’t give a shit if we’re sad, much less if we’re happy? We get to define what true love is for ourselves. No one is entitled to do it for you. Once she’s mine, I’d never hurt her, neglect her, or let her forget that she’s the axis on which I spin. I can do the same with my best friends hanging around. We were already family, Lo. We built a career together. We share a house… We don’t even have separate bank accounts. What’s mine has always been yours. This world is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, and the people in it would rather you be miserable as long as they’re comfortable. Why not carve out our own piece and be free to love how we choose?”
Loren was quiet for a moment, staring at the wall ahead of him before muttering, “Maybe.”
Afraid I might be forcing him into something his soul couldn’t take, I continued. “I’m not telling you that it’s wrong to want Braxton for yourself. It doesn’t make you anything other than who you are. But if your only objection is what other people will think—”
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” he said, cutting me off.
It was probably for the best since I could feel my heart racing inside my chest. This was the closest I’d come to keeping us all together. It wasn’t just about Bound. Besides my grandmother, Rich and Loren were the only family I ever truly cared about. I had to seize the opportunity Brax had unwittingly given us. I never thought sharing my woman was something I’d ever do. It contradicted everything I thought I knew about myself as a man, and I had the feeling no other woman could have convinced me to take such a leap of faith. No one.
“The girl always gets the most shit during a scandal,” he pointed out. “Men will pat us on our backs while Braxton is belittled by the same women vying to take her spot. Guys will assume she’s easy game. It—” A frustrated look twisted Loren’s features. “I already want to commit murder, and nothing’s even happened. She won’t even hear us out.”
“She will.”
“How?” Loren returned skeptically. “We buy her diamonds and flowers? You know Braxton better than that. She’ll just find the highest window and throw them out.”
I scratched my chin because he had a point. Braxton could hold a grudge and had the temper to keep it going. It definitely made me think twice about crossing her in the future.
“We’ll figure something out.” I tipped my chin toward the closed door of the spare bedroom. “Go make up with Rich. He’s always been Braxton’s favorite, and three heads are better than two.”
Eavesdropping is only wrong when you’re not the topic of conversation, right? It hadn’t been my intention to listen.
Okay, so maybe it had.
Their muffled voices had drawn me to the door, and when I heard Loren vowing not to keep me a secret, I couldn’t walk away. Once again, my heart and mind were at war.
All night, I replayed their conversation.
When the clock read a quarter to five in the morning, and I still couldn’t sleep, I found myself slipping into another dress and tiptoeing from our hotel suite. Not even Houston was awake, and he was the early riser. I’m sure it crossed their minds that I’d sneak out, but they’d never count on it being this early.
The sun was still a couple of hours from rising, and since the streets would be mostly empty this early, I wasn’t worried about being recognized.
Just to be sure, I borrowed the ball cap Houston had left on the kitchen counter. I might have even sniffed it a little for a hint of his shampoo before throwing it on and keeping the bill low.
I emerged from the hotel without being accosted as Houston would have claimed and spotted a French café just across the street. Even though they weren’t open yet, I could still smell the coffee and pastries.
My stomach growled, reminding me that I’d been too stubborn to come out last night to eat. Rich, Houston, and Loren had even knocked on my door twice each to ask if I was hungry.
So nice of them to be concerned when they thought it was too late.
As I wandered down East Seventy-Sixth and cut across Fifth Ave toward Central Park, I set