Page 18 of The Triple Play

“Annie,” I said quietly, leaning forward and invading her space just a hair. “People like that? They think if they say it, we’ll believe it. But they don’t know how stubborn people like you and me are. And if you let this slide, he’ll say it again. I promise you that.”

Her eyes studied mine as if they’d find something I wasn’t saying behind them, as if she was fully expecting me to shit on her dreams too, and I ensured she found absolutely nothing to indicate that.

“Fuck him,” I reiterated.

A little grin tugged the corner of her lips up. “Okay,” she breathed, a light little chuckle backing her words. “Fuck him.”

“Atta girl,” I smirked, lifting my hand to her cheek and wiping away a bit of the smeared, wet mascara with my thumb.

She moved, then, and I wasn’t prepared for it in the slightest. My breath hitched as her arms wrapped around me, her head burying itself in my neck, and I stilled. The scent of her invaded my senses, spiced cherries and some kind of nut, and I burned it into my sinuses, committing it to memory.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice muffled from her hold on me, and god dammit, I couldn’t help myself.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her curves flush against my body and lifting her up effortlessly, her feet dangling between my knees. “For letting you punch me?” I teased, huffing a breath into her hair.

“For not being a dickhead,” she chuckled, kicking her feet like a toddler asking to be put down.

“Annie,” I pushed, her name half growled playfully.

She kicked a little more insistently. “Fine, fine,andfor letting me punch you.”

I laughed as I set her down, half because she was practically begging and half because my blood was starting to pool between my hips and it would only be seconds before she feltsomethingpoking into her thigh if I kept holding her like that.

But god, the way she looked up at me as her arms unhooked from around my neck almost made me kiss her right there and then.

Damn Colton for being right about her — she was fucking gorgeous, with those big eyes and pouty lips and the curves that were mostly hidden by my hoodie. That coupled with the fact that she clearly hadn’t had things easy made me want to connect with her in ways far more than physical.

It shouldn’t have frightened me.

But it did.

The door swung back open and almost on instinct, I wrapped my arm back around her, bringing her flush against my side but keeping my hips angled a little bit to avoid contact. I relaxed a little as Cole and Colton stepped through, the worry of someone else ending up out here fading instantly, and I almost,almostreleased her again — but she tucked herself right in, her arms curled into her chest, her cheek against my pec, and I couldn’t let go. Not with her so comfortable there.

“Hey,” I said to them, plucking the water from Cole’s outstretched hand and holding it up to her. She took it without question, barely moving from her spot with me as she gulped down the water.

Colton stared at me with the heat of a thousand suns, but oh well.

“You all right?” Cole asked her. He took a napkin from Colton’s fisted hand and passed that along to her, too.

She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” She raised the glass to her lips again, emptying it halfway. “I think I need to leave him. I just… I don’t want to have to end another relationship, you know?”

Cole huffed, that tough exterior of his cracking just a bit. “Yeah, I get that,” he said, the faintest smile pulling at his lips, the sides of his eyes crinkling. “It’s hard walking away from things. I had to leave my ex-wife. I promise it’ll feel like the right decision at some point, even if it doesn’t fully right now.”

I stilled, my hand gripping her shoulder lightly. Cole didn’t talk about Jenny often, and especially not to people he’d just met.

Annie swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she said softly.

“Don’t be. Just know you’ll be fine.”

She nodded tightly before downing the rest of the water. Cole took the glass back without her asking or offering. “Thank you,” she rasped. “And thank you to all three of you. Honestly, I don’t think any of that would have played out the way it did if you hadn’t been here. I’d have let him drive me home and cried myself to sleep.”

I chuckled lightly, my hand rubbing her shoulder for reassurance. “Nah, I know you’re stronger than that.”

“You overestimate my ability to fight for myself when it comes to dickhead boyfriends.” She glanced up at me, a little grin cracking before she rested her head back on my chest.

Her ability to just… slot herself into me as she felt like it made my chest go tight, my hands instinctively wanting to flex and close, but I held it at bay. I knew she was inmygrasp right now, but looking at Cole and Colton, seeing the way Cole actually chuckled at her words and the way Colton had seemed to relax just a little even with me holding her, told me everything I needed to know.

Both of them liked her.

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