As soon as I return to my room I get into the bed and pull the covers up around me. “Dim lights,” I say, my voice wobbling. I’ve just revealed my heart to them, and they said nothing. A sob escapes my throat as I lay in the dark. I hear low voices next door and wonder what they are talking about. A horrible cloud of doubt settles over me, they are probably trying to find ways to let me down gently. Perhaps I’d said too much too soon. Curling onto my side, I close my eyes and try to ignore the ache in my heart. Sleep doesn’t come, so I remain like that, wide-eyed in the dark, for what feels like hours.

Some time later, the door to my room eases open and I see Bryce step inside. Max follows, shutting the door behind him. There is barely any light, but I can just about make them out as they climb onto the bed, my eyes having got used to the dark since I’ve been awake so long.

“What are you doing?” I whisper quietly, afraid this is all a dream and I am about to wake up.

Bryce gently curves his body around my own, clutching me to his chest. “We want you to know that you will always remain safe within our arms, darling.”

I smile in the dark at that, feeling instantly happy at his words. He understood me, they both did. On the other side Max scoots close to me, presses a light kiss against my forehead, then he settles himself down, takes my hand in his and pulls it against his chest.

“Hey, Icy. I hope you don’t mind us coming in here to warm you up?”

“Of course not. What took you so long?” I whisper.

“Stupidity mostly,” Bryce chuckles, the sound reverberating through my back, he’s so close.

I am sandwiched between them. It feels wonderful, except for one thing. Hudson isn’t with them.

“Hudson?”

“He’s sleeping off the alcohol. This isn’t a rejection from him. He wants to be sober when he speaks with you next. For now, we’ll have to do,” Bryce says, pressing a light kiss into the curve of my neck.

“Hey, I care about you all equally,” I say in mock defence.

“We know you do,” Bryce says, pulling me closer against his back, nuzzling his lips against the crook of my neck.

Max presses his lips against my knuckles. “We want you to know that this is just the beginning, Icy. The first night of the rest of our lives. We’re not going anywhere. So long as you’ll have us.”

“Okay,” I whisper. My heart soars.

The feeling of being encased between them both makes me feel safe, loved. Both are aroused, I can feel the hardness of their cocks pressing against me, but they make no move to try and initiate sex. This is their way of showing me how they care, how they understand what I need from them most of all. That I need to feel safe. I can’t deny that I am turned on, that every inch of my skin pressed against theirs is fizzing with sensation, but my exhaustion overrules that desire. Lying here in their arms is enough.

Before long I can hear the soft, even breaths of Max and Bryce sleeping, and I find my thoughts wandering to Hudson as I too drift off to sleep.

* * *

I awake the next morning to loud music being played. It startles me out of my sleep and I jerk awake. A sharp pain stabs me in the side. “Fuck a duck,” I say.

“Fuck a duck?” Max laughs softly. He is still pressed close to me, his face not far from my own.

“Just a funny saying I picked up.” I grin, then stop when my lip starts stinging.

Max lifts his fingers to my face, his warm brown eyes taking me in.

“That arsehole who did this to you, he deserves to be beaten to a pulp. No one is ever going to touch you again.”

“Hey,” I say, pressing my hand against his chest. “I don’t want any of you getting into trouble on my behalf. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

Max frowns, a muscle feathering in his jaw. “We won’t, of course we won’t, but every time I think about what could have happened if Bryce hadn’t turned up when he did, I find myself wanting to commit murder. When Bryce told us the full story last night I was fucking furious. I still am. If Hudson hadn’t been so drunk there is no doubt in my mind he would have hunted the man down and killed him, no matter what Bryce said.”

“Is that what you were talking about? When you didn’t say anything after…” I stop. I know I am being ridiculous, that them both being here with me now should be enough for me not to feel insecure.

“What, Louisa?”

“None of you said anything… After I explained why I left the way I did, why I am the way I am, you didn’t say anything. I thought you didn’t care.”

Max’s palm presses against my cheek. “No, no that wasn’t it at all. I’m sorry we made you feel that way. Why do you think we came in here? We wanted you to feel safe. We wanted to be with you. Hud too. Like Bryce said last night, he wanted to be sober. He felt ashamed.”

“I know that now. Old habits die hard,” I say gently. Leaning forward, I press my lips against Max’s mouth. I don’t care that it stings, all I want to do is kiss him. Max responds gently, aware that my lip is sore. It is a beautiful kiss, soft, tender, and yet still passionate, the soft delicate press of his mouth against mine.

“God, Louisa, I want to make love to you. But I don’t want to hurt you.” Max pulls away. His blonde hair has fallen over his eyes and I brush it back.

“There are other things we can do.” The words slip from my mouth in a breathy rush.

“Louisa, don’t tempt me,” Max says, his deep brown eyes lighting up with need.

Behind me, I feel Bryce stir. His firm body presses against mine as his warm hand absentmindedly strokes along my thigh.

“Morning, gorgeous,” he says sleepily.

“Morning,” Max responds.

Bryce lifts his head and reaches over to gently punch his brother. “I wasn’t talking to you!”

“Well, why not? I’m offended. I’ll have you know, it’s common knowledge that I’m the most handsome of the Freed brothers.”

Bryce laughs. “Yeah, as if. You’re just a grown-up version of a puny skater dude.”

“Funny, ha ha.” Max grins, not in the least bit annoyed. “Well, at least I’m not gorilla man. You’ve got more hair on your chest than you have on your head.”

I giggle at that. Bryce is hairy, but I like it.

“Hey, don’t encourage him,” Bryce says lightly. “I thought you liked my manliness?”

I twist my head to the side, catching his eye. “Oh, I do, very much so.”

He presses a soft kiss against my cheek. “Well, that’s alright then. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thank you,” I say, twisting my body slightly to face him. The action has me wincing with the pain.

“Hey, go easy,” Bryce says. “Max has already arranged an appointment for you today. I want you checked over, just so we know you’re okay.”

“Sure, if you want, but I doubt there’ll be much he can do.”

“She,” Bryce corrects me.

“You have a female doctor? That figures.”

“She’s old enough to be my mother,” Bryce says in mock offence.

“Yeah, Dr Salahan is a lovely older woman, but not really our type. She’ll be able to prescribe more painkillers at least.” Max sits up in bed and pulls back the covers. “Blinds,” he says. Bright sunlight pours into the bedroom as the blinds lift. The day is bright and clear. No rain this morning. I am hoping it’s a good sign.

“As much as I’d love to stay here all morning, we have work to do, bro. Hudson is skipping today, so we’ve got to take the board meeting at ten.” Max steps out of bed and stretches his arms up in the air. The firm muscle of his abs pulls taut, and I find myself wishing that he would get back into bed and devour me, but I know that that kind of attention will need to wait until I am feeling a little better. Max notices I’m staring.

“If you keep looking at me like that, Icy, I’m not sure I’ll be able to control myself.” He swipes a hand through his blonde hair. “You look good enough to eat.”

Bryce chuckles in my ear. “That she does, Max, that she does,” he says, brushing his lips against my cheek.

“So, come back here and have a taste.”

Bryce growls into my ear at the words. “Don’t tease us, darling.”

“Why does everyone think I’m teasing?” I say, frustrated.

“You, beautiful, need to heal,” Bryce says, chuckling. “There is plenty of time for that.”

He untangles himself from me and gets up too, leaving me more than a little frustrated. His tall frame, broad shoulders and dark chest hair have me practically panting. The bed feels awfully large on my own. I want nothing more than for them both to get back in.

“Feel free to look around. There isn’t anywhere in this house that is off limits to you or Nisha. We want you to feel at home.”

“Thanks, lads,” Nisha says as she practically skips into my bedroom and climbs on the bed. “I’m happy to take you up on the offer. This place is epic!” She flops down next to me, her hair awry, with a huge grin on her face. It’s just as well we didn’t start anything, this could have been more than a little embarrassing.

“What have you lot been up to, hmm?” she asks, wiggling her eyebrows.

“None of your damn business, you cheeky mare,” I say.

Nisha laughs, crossing her long shapely legs. I look at Bryce and Max to see whether they notice her ridiculously fit figure. She has an athletic build, with small pert boobs and a perfect taut butt. Thankfully, neither are looking at her. A strange sense of relief floods through me. I love Nisha more than anything, but I don’t think I could take it if my men felt attracted to her too. I am feeling more than a little territorial this morning.

“Morning, Lou Lou. What’s up? Cat got your tongue?” She winks at me and I roll my eyes. “You had a good night?”

“As a matter of fact, I did,” I say with a smile.

Fortunately, Bryce and Max seem to take Nisha’s enthusiasm with a pinch of salt.

“Are you always this… bouncy?” Max asks. “You remind me of Tigger from Winnie the Poo.”

Nisha laughs. “Well hell, I’ve been called many things, but Tigger isn’t one of them.”

There’s a gentle knock at the door and a thread of excitement mixed with worry slices through me at the thought it might be Hudson.

“Come in,” I say.

The door pushes open. Calum takes in the scene, his eyes moving from each of us before finally resting on Nisha. If I’m not mistaken I see a hint of something in his eyes. Anger perhaps, or jealousy. It is gone so quickly I can’t be certain. Bryce and Max don’t appear to notice, but Nisha does. She sits up in bed, adjusting her t-shirt, her gaze fixed firmly on Calum.

“Sorry to disturb you all. I’m just coming to remind you of your meeting at ten this morning. I’ll be ready to take you at nine.”

“Thanks, Cal,” Bryce says. Calum nods and exits the room, but not before he glances quickly at Nisha. I look between the two. Something is brewing between them.

“Well, we’re going to leave you both to it. Hud is around, but you might want to swerve him for a bit until he’s recovered from his hangover. Catch you later, Icy. Don’t go anywhere,” Max says.

“I won’t,” I respond.

He stops at the door, hesitating. “What the hell am I doing?” he says, striding back towards the bed. “I can’t go without a proper goodbye.” Max leans down and brushes his lips against mine. It’s a sweet kiss, one that starts my pulse racing and is entirely inappropriate, given Nisha is sitting right next to me.

Nisha coughs loudly. “Jeez, you two need to get a room,” she jokes.

Max pulls away and smiles. “We’re in one.”

“Oh, so we are,” she says with an amused grin.

Bryce slaps Max on the back. “Come on we need to leave.” He presses a quick kiss against my forehead. “The doctor’s appointment has been made for three o’clock this afternoon. Hudson knows, he’ll get Cal to take you both. Rest easy, Louisa. I’ll see you later,” he adds, brushing his knuckles gently against my cheek.

“Hudson’s taking me?”

“Yes, he insisted. At some point this morning I’m sure he will come talk with you. Are you okay with that?”

“Sure,” I say, even though the flutter of nerves seems to tell me I’m not as relaxed about it as I sound.

“Okay, good. Make yourself at home and I’ll see you later.”

I wait for them both to leave, then turn to Nisha. “Okay, spill. What’s the deal with Calum?”