Page 58 of Hiding for the Holidays
“Fuck, you’re right.” He scrubs his hand through his hair in frustration.
“What if we don’t back away, but, for now, we tell her not to choose?” Grant says carefully.
“What do you mean?” Leo asks. “Like, date all three of us at once?”
“I mean, she’s sort of doing it now, anyway. This way we can keep her safe, and we don‘t have to push her away.”
“Are you going to be okay if you see me or Leo kiss her in front of you?”
“You just kissed her in front of us a minute ago,” Grant reminds me.
“And?” I ask, swiveling my head to look at both of them. “Did it make you jealous?”
They scrunch their brows in thought before Leo speaks. “Actually, it turned me on a little.”
“Seriously?” I ask in doubt.
He turns to look at me and smirks. “Yeah. Maybe cause you’re like my brother, and I know you’d treat her well? But also because I’m not out of the picture yet. I think if I knew she only wanted you, it’d be a different story.”
“Yeah,” Grant adds. “She seems to like all three of us equally, so I felt that if I had pulled her into my lap, she’d kiss me, too.”
I take a moment to think about what it’d be like to watch her kiss them. I’d only given her a peck, and I’m pretty sure they both kissed her much more thoroughly than that, but I hadfallen asleep cuddling her, neither of them had, so it doesn’t feel like I’m behind in my relationship compared to them. Besides, we’d had all of those bike rides to and from work. Even though we couldn’t talk, it connected us on a physical level that felt intimate. I kissed her forehead goodbye every time, even though I longed to kiss her lips instead.
“Okay, so we go all in with her. We tell her that for now she doesn’t choose, and we can discuss it again when the situation with her ex is over.” I lay out the plan, and they both nod in agreement.
Just then, Rosalie comes walking down the stairs in only her old ratty t-shirt she arrived here in. “Oh, hell no.” I push to my feet and storm towards her. Her wide eyes watch me as I grab her hand and lead her back upstairs and into my bedroom.
“Uh, Asher? What are we doing in here?” She asks as she takes in my bedroom.
“Did you get that from the secondhand store?” I ask, keeping my eyes on the dresser drawer I’m rummaging through.
“What? Oh, my shirt? Yeah.”
“Take it off,” I tell her as I open another drawer.
“W-what?”
I frown as I turn to look at her. Why does she look so shocked? I run my words back through my head and curse.
“Shit, baby. Sorry, I didn’t mean—” I sigh, and grab the t-shirt I was looking for, a soft plain green one. I open the next drawer and pull out a pair of sweats and turn to her, offering them to her. “I just meant I don’t want you wearing someone else’s shirt.”
“I bought it, so it’s mine.”
“But it belonged to another man. If you are going to wear someone else’s clothes, they belong to one of the three men living in this house. Understand?” I ask, thrusting the clothes into her hands.
“Not really,” she says, eyeing me nervously.
“Change into these, then we’ll explain.” I leave the room and turn to pull the door closed. “I’ll be in the hall. Bring me the shirt you’re wearing once you’ve changed.”
She frowns but nods in agreement, and I close the door gently. I lean back against the side wall and let my head fall back with a small bang as I groan at my caveman behavior.
I don’t know what it is about her, but she brings it out of me. I just want to wrap her up in my arms and keep her safe. I’m so fucking happy we decided not to hold back with her, but I’m also dreading what happens in the future. If I get close to her, and I continue to feel the way I do, will I even be able to pull away? Would I be willing to put my friendship with Grant and Leo at risk to keep her?
My door opens, and I push off the wall as Rosalie steps out, dressed in my clothes. The caveman in me smiles as I take the old shirt from her.
“Much better.” I nod in approval and grab her hand, leading her downstairs.
Leo smiles up at her and pats the empty space between him and Grant, I move my hand to her lower back and gesture for her to sit there as I move to the recliner.
