Page 82 of The Triple Play

I probably shouldn’t have gotten in the car.

I probably shouldn’t have let him back into my life. Shouldn’t have agreed to let any of them back in.

If I hadn’t met them, hadn’t sung my set that night, left quicker, something — if I hadn’t let myself fall for them — I could’ve kept chasing music, could’ve kept pretending that I was happy with Elliot and playing the part my father had come to terms with. I could’ve had music and my fund.

But…

I looked at Cole from the corner of my eye. His sharp jaw was tight but his shoulders were relaxed, his brow furrowed the way it was when he was thinking too hard. He hadn’t asked me what I wanted. He’d given me what I needed.

I dragged my hand over my face, trying to calm the nausea, and let it settle gently over my stomach. It was barely there but already the most real thing I’d ever carried, ever owned.

No. No, I didn’t wish I’d never met them. I didn’t wish for a life without this, without him, or Colton, or Xavi, or the wild, reckless decision growing inside of me. I just wished I didn’t feel so scared about it.

I’m going to figure this out,I said to it in my head, my palm resting flat against myself, protective and soothing.Even if I have to give everything up, I’ll make it work.

For you.

————

Cole’s Escalade rolled to a stop in front of the house, smooth and quiet, but it wasn’t an overarching relief to be here like I wished it was. It felt different now, like the weight of everything hadn’t quite lifted just because Cole was okay with this.

He cut the engine, his hand grasping mine. “You all right?” he asked softly.

I nodded a little too fast. “Yeah. Just… nervous.”

He kissed the back of my palm, his mouth lingering there for a moment like he wasn’t quite convinced all of this was real. But then he was getting out, circling around to my side before I could do more than get the door open. His hand was warm when it met mine again, his eyes softer than I’d ever seen from him, like he could see all of it — the weight I was carrying, the future of my life pressing down on me — and couldn’t bear the idea of letting me shoulder it alone.

Like he loved me.

I swallowed down the guilt of being too much of a pussy to say it back when he’d said it. The feeling was there, I knew it was, but I didn’t want to give it to him before I knew if everyone was on the same page. I didn’t want it to feel like I was giving someone more.

Cole led me in through the garage, a motorcycle I didn’t even know existed sitting in there, and opened the door into the kitchen. Familiar scents hit me first — their laundry detergent, Colton’s cologne, the faint scent of coffee. But then Cole moved a little, his massive frame no longer blocking my view, and Colton stood in the kitchen, his hair a mess but still tied low and his eyes wide, wearing grey sweats and a Fire hoodie.

“Annie,” he breathed.

He crossed the kitchen in two strides, his breathing a little shaky, and pulled me into a hug so tight it nearly knocked the air from my lungs. My body trembled as I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my head in his chest, not sure if my shaking was from how much I needed to see him or from nerves — but my chest cracked open, my fingers digging into him through his hoodie.

“You’re really here,” he murmured, his voice caught somewhere between disbelief and relief. “I didn’t think—Cole said, but I didn’t…”

His arms tightened around me, his head resting on top of mine, and a flood of desperation to just tell him and get half of this over with now hit me, but Cole started talking instead. “Xavi?” he asked quietly.

Colton nodded against my head. “Distracted him before he could start for the night. Told him to shower and said I was ordering dessert delivered. He’s mostly fine right now.”

I wanted to ask what he meant, but Colton just tucked me in tighter, his hand coming up to cup the back of my head. “Should I warn him?” Cole asked.

The sound of a door creaking open had Colton reluctantly releasing me. “No time for that now,” he chuckled lightly.

Footsteps padded down the hall, heavy and casual, and just as he came into view, he paused. Xavi stood in the entryway of the hall that led down toward their bedrooms, his chest bare and a pair of black joggers hanging low on his hips, a towel slung over his shoulder, his hair damp and dripping. A fresh cut on his chin looked angry and red, but it couldn’t compete with the shock of blue in his tired, darkened eyes as he stared directly at me like I was some kind of horrifying figment of his imagination.

“Annie?”

His voice cracked in the middle of my name. My eyes were already burning from seeing Colton, but they were starting to spill over, and I couldn’t hold back the little choked sound that crawled up my throat.

Xavi crossed the space like we were kids playingthe floor is lavaand he truly believed it, heading to me like I was the only safe space he could be in. His arms locked around me in an instant, lifting me right off the floor in a crushing hug, one hand tucking my head into the crook of his neck and the other wrapped around my waist and back. His chest was shaking, his breathing uneven, and I wrapped my legs around his hips, pulling myself closer.

“I don’t understand,” he croaked. “You… You said?—”

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” My words were barely more than a whisper — I couldn’t handle much else. I didn’t want to cry again, but the tears were already coming, and they only hit harder the longer he held me, faster than I could blink them back.

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