“So you are running,” Archer growls. “Now. After everything Neil has done to ensure you can stay here as long as possible.” “It’s not –” “You are a selfish, vindictive little bitch. He’s in the hospital, fighting this for you, and you are ready to throw us all away and disappear.” “I’m not –”
Archer considers this, but his face says he doesn’t quite believe it. Or at least, he doesn’t believe that’s all of it. I really wish I could tell him more, but I just don’t know. The Wyatt I thought I got along with okay was apparently an illusion. He never existed. I don’t know the real Wyatt at a
When Beau and I arrive at the hospital, Neil is doing much better than when we last saw him. In fact, he looks better than he has in weeks. He’s not even in bed right now, but walking around the side of it, dragging his IV along. “Chloe! Beau!” he says as he sees us in the room. He comes closer to
An hour later, a knock sounds against the door of Neil’s room exactly three seconds before Beau bursts inside. He has a big smile on his face that only grows bigger as he takes in the sight of us. Neil has just proven his virility, and while he gave me just enough time to get redressed, I’m still
“This is a big change for you,” Beau says. “Standing up to dad…” Neil glances at me. He’s wearing a small, pleased smile that I can’t help but mirror even as my heart is in turmoil. “Some things are worth fighting for,” he says. Later, while Neil lays down to rest for a while, Beau and I head
Two days later, Neil is officially able to return home. Steven travels with him and helps the doctors and the technicians set up the medical equipment in Neil’s bedroom. It is a bit unsettling, walking into his room and seeing the IV bags and the heart machines and other things I don’t even know t
“Absolutely not,” Archer says first, the most abrupt, and the loudest. “What a fucking terrible idea,” Beau says secondly. “No,” Steven says simply, as if this is all a scientific process he can refuse. “You can’t take it back,” Wyatt says. “The challenge has been cast and accepted. It’s the r
I need the element of surprise to have a hope’s prayer of winning, so I fake like I mean to go left, but actually go right. Yet before I can even wind up for my jab, Archer moves so fast, I don’t even see him move. Next thing I know, I’m on the floor with the wind knocked out of me. Archer stands
I’m happy because I have four hearts beating alongside mine.“Do you feel it, too?” I ask. “My connection to each of you?”I blink my eyes open once more. I want to see their faces, their reactions.Neil has his hand over his own heart. “It’s strange. It’s like part of you is inside of me.”“Me, too
In the darkness of my mind, I floated, surrounded by the comforting embrace of love. Distantly, I could feel another presence, one that grew stronger and stronger, the more I focused on it: my wolf.As I thought of her, she appeared before me as if I willed her into being. Maybe I did. We are in my
Damn alpha wolves and their heightened senses.“I’ve already made my choice,” I say. “Honestly, I think I made it a long, long time ago.”Archer relaxes marginally. Steven starts to smile.Neil turns to me, worry still on his face. “You say that now, Chloe. But the pull could be strong…”“I don’t ca
The eve of my birthday, I rest in bed and stare at my ceiling. It’s late, near midnight, but I still have my bedside light on.With my feelings shared and grown with Neil, Archer, and Steven, I didn’t expect to spend any night alone, especially the one right before the day that could change everythi
I awake to a sharp knock on my bedroom door. Neil’s arm is still draped over me but some distance had inched between our hot bodies in the night. I’m able to slink out from under his arm without him waking.Naked, I quickly stop by the bathroom to throw on my fluffy bathrobe. Then, after glancing ba
They.Beau glances at me and see my incredulous look. “What do I need to go out every night? Can’t a man just enjoy staying home for a change?”“You can do whatever the hell you want,” I say.“Good, then.” Beau slumps down on the couch. He stretches out, lifting his feet up and into my lap. “Now tel
For the rest of the morning, I desperately try not to think about Neil. Whoever he’s in love with, I won’t be offended by it. The hurt I feel has nothing to do with this new person. She must be great for her to have won Neil’s affections.The hurt is my own loss, my own problem. I let my feelings fo
After Steven and I have cleaned ourselves up with a quick shower, we fall back into bed together, giggling and laughing all the way. My now, Steven has discovered a few of my tickle zones, which he is exploiting. As revenge, I touch the places I now know make him shiver.For a while, nothing seems l
His hands fumbled with the buttons of his own shirt. Such usually steady hands are rendered useless by his nervousness.“Allow me,” I tell him. I lightly bat his hands out of the way before replacing them with mine on his shirt buttons. My times with Neil have served me well. I’m able to undo all th