you do, we’ll forget this ever happened.”
There was one interesting part of his speech. A statement I could not let go. “You loved Camila?”
He bobbed his head roughly. “Yes, I loved her. And she wouldn’t want this either.”
“Those fuckers don’t know they’re the reason we’ve been together this long,” I said slowly, watching his jaw slacken with shock. “I get to screw her as much as I want and, for once, I don’t have to pay for it. The perfect girlfriend.”
I raised a brow. “Who said that, Nolan? Wasn’t it you? Kind of a nasty thing for a loving boyfriend to say about their girl.”
Nolan didn’t reply. He didn’t give another speech. He didn’t breathe.
“But this isn’t about Camila, Cassius, or Clay.” I held out my hand and Clay pressed the handle into my palm. “This is about you and me.” I shook my head. “No, it’s completely about me and how fucking exhausted I am with people hurting, abandoning, and lying to me. I can’t change what my parents did. I can’t stop the blackmailer. But I can make sure right here and right now, that the next time you get it into your head to manipulate and degrade another woman, you’ll think twice.”
Gripping the handle, I lofted the knife over our heads.
“Ember, no! No!”
I stabbed with all of my might, his screams a distant echoing in my mind.
The blade stuck in the dirt between Nolan’s legs. I stood up, dusting myself up.
“It’s your turn to be left alone and vulnerable in the woods,” I stated. “That knife will cut you out of those ropes but I’m betting it takes a few hours when your wrists are bound. Better get started.”
I stepped around him, untied him from the tree, and gave him my back. Clay and Cassius fell in behind me, the three of us leaving him behind without a backward glance.
Nolan’s shouting began anew—laced with vile threats, promises of revenge, and merciless consequences if we didn’t come back and untie him.
I took Cassius’s and Clay’s hands as he faded in the distance. “I love you.”
“We love you too.”
CASSIUS UNHOOKED MY bra in the hallway. He flung it over his shoulder, smacking it square on some guy’s doorknob.
Giggling, I twisted out of Clay’s arms and ran to get it. I picked it up just as Cassius took hold of me and threw me over his shoulder. He carried me unceremoniously into their bedroom.
The triplet tossed me on his bed and Clay was on me before I caught my breath. Drawing up my hoodie, unloosing my hair, removing my bottoms in one swift tug.
“Say it again.”
His order was a deep, husky whisper that made my toes, hairs, and fingers curl.
“I love you.”
A screech interrupted my undoing of his belt. Cassius pushed the beds together, gazing at me as he hopped on top and came closer.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. I joked about it. Fantasized. Dropped hints. But I didn’t let myself believe the night would come that Cassius, Clay, and I would share in all that we felt together.
Clay kissed the tip of my chin. His sweet lips caressed a trail to my breasts. I fisted the sheets as he blew hot air on my nipple. The poor thing was already harder than a pebble. Teasing was unfair.
Clay seemed to agree. He took me into his mouth, licking and flicking the pebble into submission while the other stood to attention under his tweaking fingers.
My moans were loud and wanton. Wildly I pushed on my underwear, desperately trying to get it off and without stopping what Clay was doing.
Cassius watched the show, slowly taking off his shirt, then unbuckling his belt as his ridge hardened in his jeans.
Noticing my struggle, Clay gripped the lace and ripped it off my body. I gasped as my favorite panties landed in tattered strips on the floor.
“Is destroying my underwear going to become a habit with you, Clay?”
His chuckle rumbled my sensitive nub with tantalizing vibrations. I instantly forgot what I was mad about.
Cassius pulled off the last sock. He was wonderfully naked before me and I reached for him, wanting to touch him. Wanting him to touch me. Desiring to melt into the men I loved like a raindrop becomes the sea. Joining in something bigger and more powerful than myself.
Our mouths connected in a hungry clash of warring tongues that lit a blaze in my lower belly.
Both boys released me at the same time. I made an angry noise, vision blurring under