How can I be so tangled up in the Clemsons?

I went from being the girl next door who dated the same boy her whole life. But that boy, Jared, tangled me up with his stepbrother Derek…and now their stepfather, Elias, spent much of this year in Paris charming me.

Being trapped in a big dick shaped steel tube with no company but your thoughts…well, it tends to make the fact that you’ll be home for the first time in a year more evident.

I have been with Jared my whole life…and Derek and I have always had chemistry. He was Jared’s stepbrother, his best friend. So I ignored it.

But then one crazy goodbye threesome and I’m thinking, okay, no way things can get any crazier, right?

Wrong. So so so very wrong.

I see that I have a message from Elias.

Say hi to my stepsons.

I’m grateful to have the legroom of flying business class, but right now the wifi that it also affords has me nervous.

You should say hi to them yourself. And not just Jared.

I send the message. Yes, Elias charms me, but I know how he and Derek got to the stilted relationship they are. I shouldn’t be the only one to see the more gentle, tender, caring side of Elias Clemson. After all, Derek is his chosen heir in all ways that matter…except love. Elias treats Derek like the stamp that should roll out the exact image he impresses into him.

And Elias knows damn well that because he and Derek and are so much alike, that’s never going to work.

“This is your pilot speaking. We’ll begin our descent momentarily.”

The flight attendants are milling about, getting everyone in their seats and buckled, and the wifi is about to kick out.

Just before then, I get another message. This time from Jared.

See you soon.

I’m a little grateful not to have to answer yet. I was excited to explore art…instead of my complicated feelings for Derek and Jared. Because now I’ll see Jared in twenty minutes or so.

Derek? I’ll be working with him at the cafe and art galley we co-own.

Even though it has been almost a year since I saw either of them, that sendoff feels like it just happened yesterday.

How could I not feel that way? Even though I enjoyed my time with Elias, it isn’t like I could stop thinking about the other Clemsons in my life…and no matter how carefree I want to be, I can’t!

It isn’t like Jared will stop being the boy next door that’s always been, my first love.

Derek is not going to cease being the best friend that I have forbidden feelings for.

Elias is the man who kinda swept me away from it all, but hasn't I really ended up in the eye of the storm.

I barely even felt the pull of the plane descending, and the impact with the ground had even less of an impression in my harried mind.

People are standing around me, so I gather my wits and my purse, shoving my phone inside my purse for now.

I anticipate after some in-airport Starbucks, I’ll feel more up to the task of greeting Jared.

Except when I’ve de-boarded and entered the airport, there he is.

Jared is waiting for me with that same sweet smile he’s always given me. His dark eyes are soft, sweet, sensual. His chiseled jawline with the adorable fucking dimples, God, when he smiles at me I can totally forget everything that worries me. Even if only for a few seconds.

I run toward him and wrap my arms around him, kissing his cheek and inhaling the scent of him. “Jared!”I can feel every inch of his eight-pack-abs pressed against me, along with his rock hard cock. It presses hot against my thigh, and I feel my face heating.

“Kristin, fuck it is good to see you.” Jared’s lips brush my ear.

I shiver at the feel of his warm breath and those sensual lips rasping over my skin. This is the sorta thing that makes you forget all the reasons why you were nervous and makes you focus on all the reasons you like getting naked with a person in the first place.

Jared, it is good to feel you. More than just the way his body lights mine on fire with the electric sensation from his touch, it feels warm. It feels like home to see Jared.

I release him, and I search his face for any evidence that he’s mad at me for leaving. I don’t see any resentment. His fingers entwine with mine. “Frappuccino?” he asks, already starting to walk in that direction.

He knows me so well. “You don’t think I want a latte or cappuccino after all my time in Paris?” My voice is playful. It sounds innocent to my ears. Not full of the trepidation fluttering in my stomach and making me a little weary of the caffeine buzz I was hoping for.

Jared walks towards my gray herringbone suitcase and lifts it. “No, I don’t think so. I think you’re happy to have your favorites. Am I wrong?”

My luggage tag is on there, and I check because it would be terrible to have the wrong bag, but of course, he’s right. “No, you never are.”

“Tell Derek that!” Jared says with a laugh.

I wish he hadn’t brought him up, but I suppose that’s only fair. I don’t want to have to choose between them…because I can never make a choice that involves letting one of them go. Not when they’re both already in my heart.