Page 48 of Crave: A Reverse Harem Romance

“Then are you going to hide away from potential pain forever at the cost of your happiness?”

“No.” She sighed and shook her head. “No, you’re right. I don’t want to do that.”

“So, you’re okay with this, then? With all of us talking?”

She still looked wary. “I don’t know if ‘okay’ is the right word… but you’re probably right, it’s for the best.”

“I am right,” I responded. “I promise, this is the best thing we could do. We just need to get this out in the open. And whatever happens, happens.”

“Okay, sure. Yeah… let’s do this, then.”

I gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. Then I realized this could be the last chance I had to kiss her. There was a fair probability she was going to choose someone else today. And though I’d respect any decision she made, I wanted to savor any moment I had with her.

So I then took my lips off her cheek and put them to her mouth. I ran my hand through her soft, brown, slightly tangled hair. She kissed back, gently but sweetly.

If it was going to be our last kiss, at least it was pretty much perfect.

“I really do care about you, Axel,” she said as she pulled her mouth from mine.

"I really care about you, too,” I told her.

She smiled and nodded, a little sadly.

Whatever happened, this was going to complicate things and we both knew it.

But I was prepared for any complication.

I just hoped I could see Harlow happier for it.

Chapter 14 - Harlow

I was terrified out of my mind. I had butterflies in my stomach. My nerves were taking hold of me now that I knew that Ryker and Diesel would arrive at any moment.

Axel had been really sweet about this whole thing. I truly did believe him when he said that he’d be okay no matter how things ended up.

But that wasn’t the problem in my mind.

The true issue was… was I going to be okay no matter how things ended up?

I had been enjoying my time with all three of them so thoroughly. I thought I was going to get to explore that more before I had to choose. I couldn’t help this feeling that was rising inside me that told me that as soon as I picked only one, I was going to be enjoying life a lot less than I currently was.

How the hell was I supposed to pick just one?

They were all great guys. I’d be lucky to end up with any one of them.

Ryker had this serious, smart, clever way about him that also made me feel emotionally desired. Then Axel was just a total sweetheart down to his core, obviously. I couldn’t imagine letting go of him and losing the guy who had become such a comfort to me. But then his twin, Diesel, was this strong, masculine, mysterious guy that drew me in effortlessly.

It was truly an impossible choice. I felt greedy for thinking so. But how was I supposed to pick only one Prince Charming?

I mean, maybe that sounded a little lame, but it was really how I felt. At one point or another, they’d all become my Prince Charming.

Ryker was first, obviously, by saving me from almost being drugged. And then there was Diesel, literally fighting a man for putting his hands on me. And Axel, well, he was there for me emotionally when I needed it most.

The worst part was that if Axel was right and they all had feelings for me, then I was going to end up hurting two of them in the process of picking just one.

That broke my heart. I didn’t want any of them sad because they couldn’t have me.

It just wasn’t fair. They all deserved to have me. At the risk of sounding cocky, I might say that I believed I deserved all of them, too.

---