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It all led to this moment.
And she was afraid this platonic comfort would be the straw that broke her.
She’d been arguing with herself all day. Cornering them about it before Thanksgiving dinner seemed like a really bad idea. The dread of later, when she told them to just go, to leave her, sent icy prickles of dread down her spine and made her stomach roiled.
Pushing the subject sickened her, but she didn’t think she could go another day.
“I’m not thinking about…that.”
His arms tightened, and she felt his chest move beneath her cheek as he swallowed hard.
“We know it must be bothering—”
“It’s not about that,” she interrupted, pulling out of his embrace and pacing a few feet from him.
So this was happening now. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t keep stuffing down her feelings and ignoring the destruction of their relationship before it had bloomed.
Stupid, annoying tears burned her eyes, and she swiped them away with a furious gesture. Her hand went up to stop Cannon when he stepped toward her again. She’d break down if he touched her right now. Fuck, she’d probably break down anyway.
“It’s not about the kidnapping. It’s… Things are different now. I feel it. You guys clearly feel it. And… Well, I’ve been thinking. Now that I’m safe, you and Hawk…” The words caught in her throat, and she blinked hard. She wasn’t going to start sobbing. “Well, I think you should feel free to move on with your lives. I mean…since the responsibility you took on, the job of protecting me, is over.”
He just stared at her as she finished forcing out her statement in a whisper, his expression blank and body frozen. A moment later, his startled her.
“Hawk,” he bellowed, stomping toward the kitchen doorway. “Hawk, get in here now!”
Feet pounded across the house, and the man skidded into the room as if it were on fire and he needed to save her. Again.
And damn it! She was so sick of being saved.
“What? What’s wrong?” he exclaimed.
Cannon gestured at her, his arm jerking emphatically. “Devon, our sweet, sweet, beautiful Devon, the love and purpose of our lives, just said…” he gritted out through his teeth. “She thinks, now that she’s safe, the two of us should feel free to move on with our lives. That our responsibility is over.”
Hawk’s brows furrowed, and he stared at her, aghast. “Move on with our lives? The fuck…?”
Why did they have to make this so difficult? It was obvious the romantic connection between the three of them was severed. She was barely able to stand here under the heavy pain weighing on her. Her hands shook, and she folded her arms around her again, hiding her fingers under her elbows.
“I mean, you don’t have to bodyguard me anymore. You can do whatever it was you planned to do before you overheard my problem that day in Briar’s living room.”
“Why would we do that?” Cannon asked, his voice incredulous. “Our lives back east weren’t great. That was why we jumped at the chance to come to Daly on the work study. Last Chance was our chance to finally find a better life.”
Which was why she had to release them. So they could have that life. “No one’s saying you have to leave Daly. It’s just, you don’t have to be with me. Obviously, you don’t want me anymore after—”
“Stop right there. What?” Hawk demanded.
“Since last week, since I was taken, you won’t touch me or…anything. We haven’t even kissed since on the plane. It’s like I’ve gone back to having two roommates—except for, instead of being alone in my room, I sleep between you each night.”
Which was pure torture.
His arms shot out to his sides. “We were giving you space to heal! You went through a horrible trauma, one where you were assaulted and you were in imminent danger of being raped and abused. We didn’t want to push you. But fucking hell. We want you.”
He grabbing her wrist, pulled her arm toward him and pressed her palm over the hard ridge of his cock. She couldn’t help but flex her fingers, and he groaned.
“You feel that? Want is an understatement. I want nothing more than to bend you over the counter and fuck you until you beg us to stop. Though spanking you is a real temptation, right about now.”
“We love you,” Cannon cut in, tempering their dominant partner’s pronouncement. He moved in close, his hands running over her in a way they hadn’t since before her abduction.
“We do,” Hawk agreed. “We love you. As much as I love Cannon with everything in me, I love you, too, with my whole heart.”
