Page 47 of Crave: A Reverse Harem Romance

I took in a deep breath. “Look, this is a little awkward to say, but… I think there’s no denying that I have feelings for you.”

She looked at me, wide-eyed. “You do?”

“Yeah. And the thing is… so do my brother and Ryker. Which complicates things. And from what I can see… you might kind of have feelings for them, too.”

Her eyes darted around nervously, confirming what I thought.

“Right, okay, well that’s why… I asked Ryker and Diesel to come over to talk.”

Her jaw dropped. “You did what?”

“I’m sorry, I probably should have asked you first. I realize that now. But Harlow, you know we can’t just continue like this, right? I mean… we’re all close, the three of us. If we don’t figure this out now, it’s going to damage our relationship. We’ve got to get the bottom of this, don’t you think?”

She paused. “But maybe there’s nothing to get to the bottom of. You don’t know if Ryker or Diesel have real feelings for me. I mean, sure, maybe they’re attracted to me. But that doesn’t mean anything, Axel. I think you might be jumping the gun a little bit here.”

I shook my head. “Harlow, I know. I know them extremely well. They like you. I know they do. I can see it.”

“But…” she stumbled on her words. “It’s not like they confirmed it.”

“By agreeing to come over here, they kind of did.”

“How?” she asked.

“I told them that I knew we all had feelings for you and that we needed to discuss it. They agreed to come over. That’s… pretty much how I know.”

She looked genuinely surprised to hear this. “So you… all have feelings for me?” she asked.

“Yes. Definitely.”

“And we’re all going to discuss it?”

“Well, you don’t have to,” I said. Even though I definitely wanted to do this, I had to give her an out. I certainly couldn’t force her. “But don’t you think this needs to happen?”

“I just… I’m not sure what to do. What to say. I’ve… you know, it’s been a really long time since I’ve been in a relationship. And after that, I didn’t date for a really, really long time. I mean, I guess I didn’t really date at all. I just jumped into bed with you guys.”

“Why not?” I asked.

She looked caught off guard by my question. “Why not what?”

“Why didn’t you date for so long after your last relationship?”

“Because I… I don't know, if I’m being honest. Things didn’t end well and I felt really hurt for a while… and pretty lonely. I mean, I got over him a long time ago, but I guess it was hard to imagine putting myself out there again like that. At any time, you could just… be heartbroken.”

I was acutely aware of that right now, fully expecting I might get my heartbroken today. “Is that why you’re so nervous to talk to all of us?” I asked.

She snorted. “I mean, there’s a lot of reasons why I’m scared to talk to all of you.”

“But that’s one of them, isn’t it?”

She looked down at the ground and I walked over to her, sat next to her on the bed, and took her hand in mine.

“Look, you don’t need to be scared, Harlow. Whatever happens, I’ll understand. We all will. I… I can’t explain it, but I just know that we all genuinely care for you. I guess I can’t speak too much for the other guys, but as far as I go, I only want the best for you. Even if that means you not being with me. We all know this conversation might lead to any of us not being chosen. And we’ll deal with that without hurting you, I promise.”

She looked touched. “That’s so incredibly sweet. But, you know, just because none of you might not hurt me in this very moment, that doesn’t mean that whoever I did date wouldn’t end up hurting me down the line…”

I put my hand on her cheek. “Yeah, that’s always a possibility. But is that really how you want to live your life? Always waiting for the other shoe to drop? Harlow, what was your life like back when you were too afraid to date compared to now? Aren’t you happier for at least trying?”

She nodded slowly, my hand still on her cheek. “I really am happier.”

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