Chapter 10

I’m relieved that neither Sammy nor Luna picked up on my frazzled state of mind last night. Although eager to get back to the house, I knew my kids were hungry so I swung through Mickey D’s for Happy Meals on the way home, always checking my rear and side view mirrors to make sure we weren’t being followed.

By the time we got back to the house the kids were fast asleep. I carefully carried each of them inside, grateful the Danson brothers had already retired to their rooms for the evening.

I got a few hours of sleep at most, packing our bags last night after I tucked them in.

“Okay, are you two ready?”

They might still be half-asleep, but they’re dressed and ready to go.

“Yeah,” Luna mutters, her voice quiet and groggy. “Where are we going again?

”

“We’re going to take a small vacation, just the three of us. Remember to be quiet, the guys are still sleeping,” I whisper, glancing at their respective bedroom doors.

We go quietly down the stairs and head straight for the door.

“You’re up early,” Wyatt’s voice comes in from the living room, causing me to scream and freeze on the spot. “Whoa, whoa,” he laughs lightly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Luna and Sammy are wide awake now and suddenly confused. “What’s wrong, Mama?” Sammy asks with a concerned frown.

“Oh, nothing, I just didn’t know Mr. Wyatt was awake,” I reply, looking toward the living room and feeling the blood drain from my face when I see it’s not just Wyatt who’s awake and waiting for me by the coffee table.

“Going somewhere?” Chase raises an eyebrow, his steely gaze fixed on the backpack hanging from my shoulder.

I feel like a deer caught in the headlights of an incoming 18-wheeler and I am at a loss for words. I’ve kept secrets from these men who have been nothing but kind to me and my children, who opened up their home to us in the face of tragedy. I’ve lied to them. These things will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Halle, where are you going?” Eric asks.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been standing here, gawking at the Danson brothers with my kids in tow. I didn’t even get one foot out the door, dammit. My backpack is getting heavier with every passing second.

My conscience is playing tricks on me, deep down I know this isn’t one of my better decisions .

I can’t stand the way they’re looking at me.

“Mama said we’re going on a vacation,” Sammy tells them.

“Vacation?” Wyatt asks, a confused look on his face.

Eric is right there with him but Chase’s expression tells me he’s picking up on the lie. I’m guessing he knows what it is that I was trying to do and that makes me feel even worse.

“What are you three doing up so early? I thought you had the day off,” I quickly change the subject, hoping it’ll steer them away from the obvious. I’m just trying to buy some time—my brain isn’t functioning too far ahead in this situation, much to my chagrin. “You should be sleeping.”

“We wanted to talk to you,” Eric replies.

“We don’t want the kids here for this, though,” Wyatt says. “It’s for adult ears only.”

He’s not wrong. Luna and Sammy have been through enough. They don’t need to bear witness to a conversation that’ll have me tearing my own heart out, so I nod slowly and beckon my children to wait for me upstairs.

But before they can take a step, a knock on the front door has me in a cold sweat.

I look at the guys and they look back at me with equally confused expressions. A second knock on the door has me taking a couple of steps back.

“Open up, it’s me!” Marie calls out, and a wave of relief washes over me.

“What is Mom doing here?” Wyatt is the first to wonder aloud .

I open the door and let her in. “Hey, Marie. You’re super early,” I manage, forcing myself to smile.

“Gammy!” Luna cheers as she and Sammy run down the stairs and into her arms. So much for them going upstairs as I instructed them to.

“Hey, there, sweetie pies!” she giggles, catching them both in a loving hug, then looks up at me. “I figured you’d have some catching up to do with the boys, so I’m here to take the little ones to daycare for you.”

“But I thought we were going on a vacation,” Sammy mumbles, looking slightly disappointed and definitely confused.

“What’s this about a vacation?” Eric asks. “You never mentioned it before now.”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. A mere misunderstanding.” I try to do some damage control, but I can tell from the faint smile on Marie’s face that she can see right through me. She suspected that I was about bolt, that’s why she’s here so early. “Yeah, sure. Thank you, Marie. Looks like it’s off to daycare with the two of you,” I tell my kids.

“Alright, let me get these two munchkins out of here. I’ll see you boys on Friday evening for our monthly dinner,” Marie says, then waves her sons goodbye and ushers my children out the door.

“Bye, Mama!” Luna says.

“Love you, Mama,” Sammy adds.

“I love you both. Have a great day.”

Marie gives me one last look over her shoulder. “Don’t worry about them,” she says in a low voice. “We’re gonna use the back entrance, and all staff have been advised to not let anyone in without an ID.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

I wait until the three of them are out the door before turning to face the Danson brothers again. When I do, my heart starts thudding faster and faster until there’s a whole marching band of angry drums echoing in my ear.

“First of all, I need to apologize—” I try to speak first but Eric raises his hand to silence me.

“No, Halle, I’m the one who needs to apologize. I should’ve been more careful about what we did yesterday,” he says. “Or rather, where we did it.”

“Wait, what?” I blurt out, my mind drawing a sudden blank.

Eric seems even more confused. “My brothers walking in on us?”

“Oh. That.” I remember now. Right. As mortifying as that was it wasn’t the highlight of yesterday, as it turned out.

“That,” Eric repeats after me, somewhat amused. “I’m sorry, Halle. It was an intimate situation; I should’ve been more careful.”

“It’s okay,” I mumble, lowering my gaze.

“It is and it isn’t, because we still haven’t gotten to the main issue,” Wyatt replies.

“And what’s that?” I ask, not sure if I’m ready for the answer. This entire morning has already been an emotional rollercoaster. Any more twists and turns, and I might just puke my guts out .

Eric takes a deep breath and gets up. “It’s no secret that I’m into you, Halle. It’s no secret that it’s mutual, either” he says. “And while yesterday did end on a more… awkward note, I’d like to take the opportunity to propose something.”

“Okay?”

“How do you feel about us?” Chase asks, beating his brother to the punch.

I blink a few times, the question brewing in my head but with no definitive answer. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a simple question.”

“Um, well, you’re all good men. Wonderful men. Kind. Caring. You’ve been a gift from the heavens, actually,” I reply.

Chase isn’t satisfied with my answer, so he shakes his head and comes over, making my heart squirm. I don’t like it when he gets so close because it turns me on. I can’t control the outcome here, and I don’t know what their endgame is. “What are you doing?” I ask.

“Proving a point,” Chase says and pulls me into a kiss.

I try to pull away but Eric’s words have me standing still. “Let him,” I hear him say. “You want it, too, Halle. It’s okay.”

“How is it okay?” I blurt out as soon as Chase lets me breathe. Good grief, my pulse is racing. This is so strange but it’s also setting me on fire. “He’s your brother. I can’t do this.”

“But we want you to,” Chase replies.

I stare at him, utterly dumbfounded. It’s one thing to fantasize about something like this, but it’s something else entirely to act it out.

“What? What do you mean?

”

“How do you feel about us, Halle?” Wyatt asks. “Because we’re into you. All of us.”

“Oh, wow, Wyatt…” I manage. My mind says I should take a couple of steps back but my body won’t move. My body is responding to them in ways I didn’t think were possible. “This is a whole new level of wrong.”

“We’re brothers,” Eric says. “Our bond is strong. It’s unique. It’s not something you come across every day, Halle. We have shared everything for as long as we can remember. Everything. Secrets. In some cases, women too. But none of those women come anywhere close to how you make the three of us feel.”

My knees are about to give out. “Eric…”

“You are one of the most beautiful women we’ve ever met,” Wyatt adds, smiling as he joins Chase, and the two of them move in to kiss me—on each cheek. They’re sweet and tender pecks, and I cannot, for the life of me, move. I cannot reject them because I don’t want to.

“The fiercest,” Chase whispers, then nibbles on my earlobe, sending tiny jolts of lightning through my whole body. My skin tingles all over.

I take in a deep breath when Eric approaches, closing the distance between us. He catches my lips in a long and heady kiss. “The kindest,” he says.

“This isn’t right,” I say.

“It’s okay. It’s okay if you want it,” Eric replies, looking deep into my eyes. “It’s written all over you, Halle. And we’ve given you no reason to distrust us. We’re opening ourselves up to you here. Nobody else knows.

”

“It’s our secret,” Wyatt adds, trailing kisses down the side of my neck.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” I mutter, my eyes about to roll up into my head from the abundance of raw pleasure. Their hands roam up and down my body, unbuttoning my shirt, unzipping my jeans.

“That doesn’t matter,” Eric replies. “The question is, do you want to do it now?”

Just then, Chase peels my shirt off one breast and goes in for a kiss. He captures my soft flesh between his teeth and I moan, pushing my chest forward to give him more. He licks my nipple through the delicate lace fabric of my bra, and I become instantly wet.

“Yes. Oh, yes,” I exhale sharply.

And this is where the world as I knew it ends and a new one begins.