Page 107 of My Brother's Best Friends

“Now, now, you’re stealing my lines.” He chuckles, then plants a kiss on my temple.

“Can I say I’m sorry again?”

“No,” Kellan says, tilting my chin up so that he can gaze into my eyes. “We’re done with all that. Just promise not to run away again without talking to us first.”

“I promise,” I say, pouring my heart and soul into the vow.

And just like that, the last of the lingering doubts between us melts away. That doesn’t mean everything will be perfect overnight. We’ll need time and patience to figure it out, to work on this relationship, to build something lasting.

Brick by brick.

Kiss by kiss.

I reach up to caress Kellan’s jaw, the prickle of new stubble tickling my palm. “Are you growing a beard, Mr.Not a Hair Out of Place?”

“No,” he replies simply. “But if this bothers you…”

I press my lips to his, and he lets me set the pace. “Not at all,” I whisper.

His arms circle my waist, warm but without pressure. Right now it’s just him and me, standing in the kitchen, reconnecting. Then, suddenly, he sweeps me off my feet.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he growls.

I slide my hands behind his neck for leverage. He scoops me up, laughing in that adorable, boyish way of his. He carries me down the hall to a back room, kicks the door open and twists sideways to fit us through the frame.

“Really? I couldn’t tell,” I giggle, aware that we left Alex and Oscar behind.

“Then maybe I need to be a tad more expressive.”

They’ll join us soon enough, but for now Kellan has taken charge—and I don’t mind one bit.

He eases me down onto the bed before kissing me hungrily. I close my eyes as the approaching footsteps echo through the apartment’s main hallway.

“Something feels different about you,” Kellan muses, gazing at me with a twinkle in his eyes. I look up and see Oscar and Alex standing beside the bed, eager to join us.

“Maybe I’m truly happy for the first time in what feels like a lifetime,” I reply, then pat the sides of the bed. “Alex, Oscar… Come… Sit here.”

They climb onto the mattress, hunger blazing in their eyes, while I kick off my shoes. Kellan takes that as an opportunity to playfully wrestle with me, pinning me to the bed and straddling me with his muscular legs.

I swat at his thighs in mock protest. He grins down at me like a kid who just won a game of tag. I reach out for Alex’s hand and he takes it, giving my knuckles a chivalrous kiss.

“Come here, you!” I yank him down beside me so that we’re lying side by side. Then I reach over for Oscar who comes just as easily, surrounding myself with my lovers. “Ah. This is the life…”

“You’ll have to give me a second,” Oscar says. “I dreamed about this moment so many times, I might have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not still sleeping.”

“I can pinch you,” Alex suggests.

“By all means, try.”

I can’t help but laugh at their boyish charm. “Tell me one thing you’re grateful for today,” I say with a soft, dreamy voice. “And it can’t be me.”

Kellan leans back, his erection grinding deliciously against me. I want to bottle this moment before we go up in flames. Staying grounded now will only make the explosion later that much more intense.

“I’m grateful that the sun came up,” Kellan says finally. “I wasn’t sure it would continue to do that as long as you weren’t around.”

Oscar rolls over onto his side to face me, propping himself up on one elbow. “I’m grateful that things have a way of working out, even when we think they won’t.”

“I’m grateful for good wine,” Alex says. “And I can’t wait to taste yours.”

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