Page 88 of The Triple Play

I chuckled, dragging my knuckles up and down her back beneath the towel. “Yeah. For you.”

My fingers splayed out across her waist. “You want to get some air? We can go out on the back porch. Don’t think it’s too cold tonight.”

She shifted, her chin resting on my chest as she looked up at me. “Yeah. That sounds nice.”

I helped her up slowly, steadying her. She brushed her teeth first, eager to get the taste out of her mouth.

We walked to my room first, and I scanned it for the briefest of seconds to make sure I hadn’t left it a mess, even though I never did, before pulling her in. I slipped on a pair of pajama bottoms and tossed her a spare sweater from my top drawer, offering her something for her lower half, but she mumbled something about being too warm already and pulled the sweater over her head.

We padded through the dark house to the back door, and I pulled it open as quietly as I could, the soft creak of the metal squeaking hopefully not enough to wake the guys. The porch was quiet when we stepped out, moonlight casting shadows across the wood, a bit of wind moving through the trees. Somewhere far off, a car hummed past. Other than that, there was nothing — it was the kind of quiet that settled heavy in your bones.

I led her over to the wide lounger and sank down first, tugging her down with me so she could curl into my chest, her knees drawn up and her arms tucked in close. “You sure you’re not cold?” I murmured, wrapping my arm around her.

She shook her head against my chest, her gaze pointed up at the sky, her fingers playing with the hem of her borrowed sweater’s sleeves.

I tilted my head back, looking up at the clear sky, scanning for constellations. I loved them, knew too many of them, and I couldn’t help but think of that first night I’d truly met her, when I’d taken her outside at the afterparty and the sky was full of clouds. I’d wished for constellations then.

“See that weird W shape?” I pointed up with my free hand, trying to direct her gaze. “That one’s Cassiopeia. I used to tell my mom it was actually an M and that we were just looking at it wrong. M for Maxwell.”

She huffed a little laugh into my bare chest.

“Orion’s out too,” I said, nudging her gently with my chin against her head. I pointed toward it. “I used to camp out in my backyard with my telescope as a kid sometimes. It was just one of those shitty NatGeo ones, but I loved?—”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say it back.”

I went still. My heart skipped a beat. I’d been trying not to think about that — I’d told her she didn’t have to, and I’d meant it, but it still hit like a blow when the words hadn’t come. “You don’t have to apologize, darling.”

“I do.” She turned her face up toward me, her eyes shadowed by the moonlight, but I could see the hint of shimmer in them. The way they sparkled like she wanted to cry. “It’s not that I don’t feel it. I do.”

The breath left my lungs quietly.She feels it.

“I just—I…” She took a deep breath, wetting her lips. “If I say it to you, I want to say it to all of you. I don’t want anyone to feel like anyone else is a step ahead or above. I don’t want Colton and Xavi to think I’m playing favorites.”

Relief tangled with something bittersweet in my chest. “Yeah,” I breathed. “I get that.”

“And I… I just don’t know where they’re at yet,” she said quietly. “And I won’t want to put them on the spot. It’s already so weird, this whole thing. It’s so fast, and it’s complicated, and I just want to make sure everyone’s on the same page in case I fuck anything up. I don’t want to run, Cole, but I feel insane trying to keep up with it.”

I ducked my head to press a kiss to her temple. “You’re not insane, Annie,” I rasped. “This whole situation is insane, yes. But you? No. You’re the sanest person I’ve ever met for considering everyone else like that. I probably should have, too, before I told you.”

She sniffled softly, tucking her head in a little more, her fingers still playing with her sleeves.

“You don’t have to say it yet, then,” I said. “I’ll wait. Knowing you feel it too is enough for me for now, even if you’re not saying it fully. So, thank you for that. I’ll wait as long as you need me to, even if it kills me a little.”

She moved, then, crawling further into my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck, tucking her head into me, her legs astride me. I pulled her in close, breathing in the scent of her, my heart still thudding in my chest, my breathing still a little uneven. I loved her, and it would drive me insane until I heard it back, but I’d take that over her disappearing for god knows how long.

“Just, please don’t go again,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “Please. I know I sound desperate, but I genuinely don’t care anymore, Annie. We can’t survive that again. It was bad.”

“What do you mean?” She croaked. “I’m—I’m not going anywhere, but what do you mean it was bad?”

I swallowed. Part of me didn’t want to say, didn’t want to make her feel bad for the weeks she’d been gone, but part of me felt she deserved to know what she’d walked into earlier, especially if it changed her opinion on any of us.

With a kid to consider, now, it didn’t feel fair to keep it from her.

“We were at each other’s throats,” I said, swallowing down the lump in my throat. I’d tried to stuff down everything over the last six weeks, but it felt like it was all rising back up. “All of us. Colton and Xav kept arguing almost every day, and I lost count of how many times I had to step in before it became physical. I lost it at Colton a few times. Colton kept trying to be positive, but it was a weird, broken form of him I’ve never seen. I went numb. And Xav…”

I let go of her with one arm so I could scrub my face, trying to push down the images of Xavi throwing up in the living room, the weight of just how much he’d been drinking, the fights he’d been in, the chaos on the ice.

I took a deep breath. “Look, I don’t think it’s an ongoing problem, but Xavi was drinking a lot. Far too much. We got him to dial it back a bit the last few days, but it was bad. Kept getting into trouble on the ice. But he hasn’t had anything since yesterday as far as I know, which is a personal best for him over the last six weeks, so I think it’s safe to say it was a phase and not something we need to look out for.”

---