Page 30 of Every Sunset
“I won’t be too long,” I assured him, so amazed how grown up and strong he was right there in that moment, and throughout everything that had happened in the last month. I never would have gotten through any of it as much as I had without him at my side. Hell, without him I may never even have survived that weekend of torture.
He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. I forced myself to stand and find my balance. I wasn’t at my best right then, feeling weak and shaken after the events of the evening before, but I was resolved to find myself again in the chaos, even if that meant taking Logan up on that offer to allow him and Madd to help me. Maybe I couldn’t trust my own decisions, but my son was smart. Maybe I could trust his intuition, just for now. Just until I felt strong enough to trust myself again.
***
I walked hesitantly down the stairs and towards where I was pretty sure the kitchen was. I hadn’t been in that section of the big house before, and it was just making me feel even more like I didn’t belong there, the more I saw of it.
I had only ever really been in the kitchen when Maddox fixed up my hands, and to help clear up when we’d had dinner there. I had never fully taken in just how grand the place really was.
Downstairs the floors were not just hardwood, but all polished parquet, and fancy. Almost chandelier like, modern light fittings hung down from the tall and vast ceilings. The furniture throughout was all matching to the high class, solid oak, handmade pieces I had seen the first time Maddox rushed me through the lounge.How rich were Logan and Maddox?I thought again and again. I walked down a small hallway that led off of the large open plan living space, just being nosy really, but also wanting to give myself a few more seconds before I found Logan and Maddox and had to face them.
There were a couple of doors off of that short hallway, one of which was ajar. When I peeked inside I could see it was a sizeable office, with bookshelves lining three walls, and a vastpicture window overlooking the garden. It looked like a perfect place to cuddle up with a blanket, a glass of wine, and a good book. Two other doors were closed, so I didn’t open them. I didn’t want to snoop too much.
Thankfully, the quick shower I took seemed to have restored me a little, and I was feeling steadier on my feet, even if the shaking wouldn’t stop. I’d dressed in the plain, black yoga pants and cropped pink hoody I usually wore to work out. Clearly my son had no idea what a woman needed over night, but I was clean and decent, even if I did look pale and messy with my still wet hair scraped back and piled on top of my head. I didn’t even have any shoes or socks, and definitely no makeup to hide how ghostly my complexion was.
I felt completely underdressed as I reached the end of the hall where I was pretty sure the last door led into the back of the kitchen. I had seen the door last time I was in there and pondered where it could lead to.
It was unsettling being there. It was the fanciest house I’d ever been, and I was dressed in my workout clothes, about to face the two guys who had been forced to scrape my near catatonic ass off of the floor of my home, take me in, and stay with me all night. It was far from ideal.
“I’m gonna go and check on her,” I heard Maddox call loudly, then before I could move, the kitchen door thrust open and right into me, knocking me sideways into the wall with an escaped gasp of shock.
Mercifully, I managed to save myself against the wall and didn’t end up on my ass as Maddox peered around the slightly open door and looked to me.
“Anna! Fuck! Sorry.” He managed to slide his body through the gap in the door, not opening it any further, despite me no longer being in the path of it. He grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet, then held me there while he looked me up and down. “Are you hurt?” he fussed.
“It’s fine. I’m okay,” I assured him . “Guess that’ll teach me to hesitate outside a closed door,” I added with a laugh that fell flat.
“What happened?” Logan asked as he opened the door all of the way and peered out at me.
“Nothing. I’m good. Sorry I took so long,” I answered as I slipped free of Maddox’s hold and pushed past Logan into the kitchen.
“Why were you hesitating?” Maddox asked as both guys followed right behind me. Logan went back to where he was cooking something at the stove, and Maddox sat at the counter, watching me way too closely, waiting for my answer.
“Do you really need to ask?” I scoffed as I leant back against the wall, leaving a few feet of distance between all of us. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them, it was that I didn’t trust myself around them. I wanted them. Both of them, and that was bad. Wanting one of them would be bad enough, but both of them? That was far from a realistic prospect, even if I wasn’t celibate. Which I was.
“Don’t even start with any bullshit about last night, Anna. We’re both just glad we were there,” Logan told me.
“I don’t even know what happened, but losing my shit so badly that even my body gave up on me, isn’t exactly my finest moment,” I pointed out.
“I’m sure it wasn’t, but it did happen, and none of us want to just pretend it didn’t. We need to do everything we can to see itdoesn’t happen again,” he told me, and I couldn’t exactly argue. He wasn’t wrong.
“Where’s Max?” I asked as I looked around me, not wanting to even discuss what happened in front of him. He’d been through enough.
“He went to your place to grab his bag for work. He’ll be back soon,” Maddox told me.
“Then can we not discuss this now, at least? I don’t want to upset Max anymore than I already have,” I almost pleaded.
“Fine, but after he’s gone to work we need to talk,” Maddox sighed like an exhausted parent. It wasn’t even like I could be annoyed with him for it though. I hadn’t really been doing my best impression of a responsible adult since either of them met me.
“Why do I feel like I’m in trouble?” I asked with a smirk.
“Maybe because you are,” Maddox threw back and when I turned to him he was looking at me with his eyebrows raised and no sign of humor on his face. “You scared us all last night, It’s not happening again,” he added, and it sounded like a warning, not a promise. It should have scared me, but instead it had heat flooding my body and flushing my cheeks as he once again wrapped his spell all around me. It was a reminder of how dangerous it was to get close to either of these brothers. My feelings for them ran deeper than anything I had ever felt, romantically, for any guy I ever knew, and I was finding it harder and harder to push back against. But I had to, didn’t I?
Keeping men at arm’s length was the only way I could see to protect myself and my son from the danger they had proven to be in my life thus far. Surely with the strength of my feelings forthe Easton brothers, giving into them could only lead to more pain and betrayal for me and for Max when they realized that I truly was trash, and tossed me aside. I didn’t want to put myself through that, and I damn well refused for my son to suffer it. Friends. That’s all Logan and Maddox Easton could ever be. Nothing more. No matter how much I craved more.
CHAPTER 13
ANNA
