Chapter 32
Even though the saga was over, I still didn’t sleep well. Officer Rowland kept calling me all night to update me on what was happening with Jeremy. He was being processed and held, and Officer Rowland kept guaranteeing me that there was no way he would see the light of day again. That should’ve provided some relief, and it did. I no longer felt the need to look over my shoulder. I could tell Courtney that she was free to live her life the way she wanted. I no longer had to be a walking prisoner that continuously dragged other people along for the ride.
But the looming conversation with the guys kept entering the forefront of my mind.
The Wolf brothers seemed to be the only twins onboard. The rest wanted me to choose. And I couldn’t. I honestly couldn’t. I got out of bed and walked through the hotel suite, bypassing the comfortable couch to throw open the massive double doors. The rocking chairs on the porch were beckoning me as the sun slowly began to rise in the background of LA, and I sighed as I sat down.
“Can’t sleep?”
Courtney’s voice startled me, and I jumped. She pulled her robe tightly around her and sat down next to me, her eyes never leaving the side of my face.
“You’d think I’d be able to now,” I said.
“That’s true, but your damn phone kept ringing all night,” she said.
“Officer Rowland updating me on Jeremy’s bullshit.”
“I think he likes you.”
“Yeah, well, I have enough men to deal with,” I said, grinning.
“I said you could always share.”
“Nope. I want all of them. All of them or none of them. That’s how this works,” I said.
“That’s selfish.”
“That’s life. I care about them all, especially after the protection they afforded us after the vandalism at our apartment. I can’t choose and I won’t.”
“Well, at least tell me about your rousing night with the Wolf brothers. You know, minus the whole Jeremy saga and shotgun-pointing fiasco.”
“You would’ve been proud of me. I didn’t back down for a moment,” I said.
“Of course. The moment you’re about to die is the moment you find your balls again.”
“Better late than never,” I said, grinning. “And the night was wonderful. Perfection. Terry is a fabulous dancer and, ironically enough, the harder one in bed.”
“Harder one?” she asked.
“What I’ve found with the twins is that there’s always one who is a bit more dominant. Maybe not by much, but one always has a softer touch. I just assumed that would be Terry. You know, with his facts and Tony being so suave all the time.”
“I guess they all have their talents and surprises,” she said.
“Yep. I’m sitting down with all of them tomorrow to talk,” I said.
“About what?”
“About this choosing thing. Tony and Terry seem to be the only ones not actually making me choose. Hell, they even told me they’d just bought a mansion and wanted me to move in—and didn’t give a shit if the rest of the guys moved in, too. The rest want me to choose.”
“Wait. Back up a second. Unpack that statement for me,” she said. “I haven’t had coffee yet.”
Just then, someone knocked at the door. A voice called out “breakfast,” and I heard my stomach growl. Courtney flew from her rocking chair and ran for the door of the hotel. She groaned after she threw it open. Breakfast had been delivered to us again, and I merely shook my head and smiled. I’d have to give the Wolf brothers a call and thank them once again for the room service.
I heard the squeaking of wheels as a tray was wheeled between the two rocking chairs on the balcony. A warm mug was placed in my hand, and I gladly took it. The sunrise draping over the buildings of LA was astounding, and for a moment I was able to appreciate its beauty.
Now that I was no longer prisoner to it.
“So, the mansion. Go.”
“Terry and Tony were talking last night about a mansion they bought just outside LA They said they were doing a lot of traveling to and from the area and had decided the traveling warranted a permanent home. So, they bought this mansion on something insane, like twenty acres of land or something, and they’re furnishing the shit out of it.”
“Wow. Must be nice to just be able to buy a home,” Courtney said.
“Apparently it’s got, like, a dozen bedrooms alone. They offered up the idea of me moving in because I’d mentioned to them that you didn’t want to room together after this was all said and done.”
“I would if a room in a mansion was on the table,” she said, grinning.
“Of course you would.”
“I’m just kidding. I really do need a place of my own. I’ve been looking at some places. Remind me to show you once you’re done,” she said.
“I will. So, they told me they’d enjoy having me live there because I could look after the house and stuff while they’re away.”
“So they want you as a personal maid,” she said.
“No. They just want someone occupying it. They said it would make them feel better because they’d know I was protected—and some other stuff I wasn’t paying attention to because fuck those men are beautiful.”
Courtney’s giggle caused a grin to appear on my face.
“Then Terry made a quip about the guys coming and going as they pleased while I was living there, and then they made an offhand comment about how the other twins could move in for all they cared. That sparked a serious conversation about it, which morphed into me sitting down with all the guys tomorrow and actually having that conversation.”
“All of you moving in together?” she said.
“Well, I’m starting it off by telling them I’m not choosing. I just can’t. It’s not that I’m selfish or something. I just care about all of them. A lot. At this point, I’d never be able to be with one without being reminded of the others. Not in some weird way, but they all seem to fulfill a part of my life that is vital to me being happy. I wouldn’t be able to sacrifice one of them without feeling somehow incomplete.”
“I gotta say, I’ve got no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
“I know, I know. Sometimes I’m not even sure I get it. I just miss having a family. Like right now, there’s a party going on at work for a 99-year-old woman. Her family is throwing her a massive surprise birthday party. Her fucking family. I mean, that’s incredible, right? Having a family that’ll do that kind of stuff for you?” I asked.
“It is,” Courtney said.
“I feel that with them, all of them. They feel like family every time I’m around them. Court, having them all here at the same time—save for the Wolf brothers—was the happiest and most secure I’d felt in a long time. Yes, I was hiding because my life was in chaos, but never once did I feel—I don’t know…”
“Alone?” she asked.
“Exactly.”
“You know you could probably feel not alone with only one or two of them, right?” she asked playfully.
“You’re just jealous,” I said before I sipped my coffee.
“Yes I fucking am. Any woman would be. And even though I have absolutely no idea what to say to advise you, I hope the talk with the guys goes well. I want my best friend happy, and I think you’re finally at a point where you could be.”
Tears puddled up in my eyes while I continued to sip my coffee. The sweet smell of breakfast wafted underneath our noses as Courtney began to pick and eat, but all I could think about was the sunrise. It painted the sky in blues and yellows and oranges as it swept across the sky, and it was peppered with clouds. It was as if the nighttime was physically ripping itself in half just to make way for the beauty that was the coming of the daytime hours.
Just like I’d ripped myself apart for the beauty of the eight men that had bombarded my life in ways I couldn’t yet explain.
“Lexi?”
“Yeah?”
“You want some more coffee?”
I turned my gaze toward my best friend as a small tear escaped and ran down my cheek. To have a family like them, people who loved and cared for one another, it was like a dream come true. I was so close to having everything I could have ever wanted in my life, despite the twists and turns it had taken to get here. Jeremy was gone for good, my heart was full of love I hadn’t experienced in years, I was about to take a couple of beautiful men up on their offer for me to live in a fucking mansion, and I was going to be applying for a massive promotion at work.
Life felt like it was finally falling into place. Now if I could just get them all to understand.
“Not only do I want more coffee,” I said as I held out my mug, “but I want you to tell me about these places you’re looking at.”