Page 28 of The Secret's Out

“Shit, Josie, sorry. I...ah...I shouldn’t have done that.”

Silly man. Didn’t he understand and know I didn’t mind? It was as though something inside of me had all of a sudden—since these two men rode into town—snapped, and the gentle touches Caden and Eli delivered were like a breath of fresh air against my skin. Maybe it was because I had missed them so.

Maybe it was because my body craved attention and it knew that Caden and Eli would treat me with care.

Or maybe it was because my heart was involved when it came to the both of them.

I wanted their touch.

I wanted their eyes on me.

And I wanted them to care for me as much as I did them.

To show it, I stepped up to Eli, took his hands in mine and slowly, I led one of his hands to my neck again and the other to my waist. To start with, his body was tense. The pulse in his neck beat faster. I wanted to continue watching it, but I could no longer because my body was crushed against Eli’s, one arm around the back of my head, the other tightly secured around my waist.

“Sweetheart,” he breathed.

I tilted my head and whispered against his ear, “You and Caden. Only the two of you am I comfortable to have touch my skin. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and maybe that’s the case here. Whatever it is, I can’t be sure. All I do know is when you and Caden are close, when you brush by me or reach for me, I don’t cower. I may flinch sometimes, but I don’t ever cower.”

“Sweetheart,” he repeated. His voice held so many emotions. The main one was awe.

“You guys mean so much to me. You must know this by now?”

He chuckled. “Well, no, babe, we’ve only been reunited a day.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. Pulling back, I smiled up at him. “That’s true, but already it feels like you’ve both been here a lot longer and I suppose that has to do with the fact that you’ve both always been on my mind.”

Caden’s heat at my back was the first thing I felt and then his hands went to my shoulders. I looked over at him and when I did, he said, “Like you’ve been on ours, precious.”

A blush took over my cheeks. “Well, that’s good to know.” With a smile, I stepped away from them both and started toward their rides. “Let’s get out of here and find something to eat.”

For the first time in quite some time, I’d finally felt light. It was as though the big bag of sorrow was no longer pressing against my skin, heart and soul.

Finally, I felt like I could smile, laugh and cherish the days that would follow.

We decided, after the guys took me for a ride through the city, to get some takeaway to take home. So when we’d stopped at St. Kilda beach, I quickly texted Simone and told her our plan. She suggested to get Chinese delivered. The guys were happy with that, so I left her our order. As we rode the way back to the apartment, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that I wasn’t missing home as much. Of course I still missed my parents. They were, after all, the ones to show me—with the help of Zara and Mattie—not all people in the world were doom and gloom. A big need to see them was still inside of me; however, the urgency of it had been taken away when I saw two, glorious bikers walking my way.

Why two?

Why were those two men important to me more than...anything?

Because they mean so much to me.

Because they know what I am.

They know I’m damaged.

Dark and damaged.

And yet, here they were.

They knew everything about me, everything that had happened to me and yet, they were still there for me. Still willing to do anything for me and still caring about me.

They were my ending.

They were my life.

My home.

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