“At school, I wallowed in resentment and anger. I despised my family, and I blamed Luke. For Andrea. For leaving me behind. It’s how I got into hockey. I needed to hit something, so I did.” I touched my nose tenderly, wincing at the sharp spike of pain. “I’m still angry. At the world.Fuck. At Luke. After school, I didn’t know how to regulate that feeling.”
“So, channel it,” KC snapped, causing my attention to center on him. His tone was sharp and biting. “Join a hockey league. Join a boxing club. Do something. You don’t take it out on people who love you.” Something like hope or longing rooted in my chest, but he shook his head when I opened my mouth. “Barber loves you. I’m not saying he wasn’t at fault. He’s a real idiot when he wants to be, but he’s got a good heart. I don’t see him purposely hurting someone. I think he really regretted what he said to your friend after you told him what happened.”
“He does,” Oli cut in. “He’s not a bad person.”
“You need to have a serious discussion with him. Without yelling, without accusing. An adult conversation.” KC crossed his arms, chin dipped. “If you want us to forgive you, then you need to earn it. Do better. Be better.”
“And don’t be as stupid as Barber,” Oli said.
KC looked at him, and they burst into laughter. I smiled despite their anger. It was beautiful to hear them laugh, the sound tinkling around the garage in a way that warmed my insides.But, I wasn’t sure I could forgive Luke, either. How thefuck could I get past this rage that swelled in my chest? Forget the years of resentment? I had a choice—let go of my anger or lose the men I loved.
The decision wasn’t hard.
“I’ll work on it, I promise.” They each took one of my hands, and I jolted and curled my fingers. All I could do was hold on tight.
“We’re not forgiving you yet.” KC was taking charge, but that didn’t surprise me. Oli looked up to him, idolized him. “But, you changed our lives, and we love you, too. So, you need to get your shit together or, so help me, I will kick your ass. I’m a big guy. I’ll take you down. I fucking will.”
I sucked in air, glancing between them.
Oli nodded in agreement, chin raised but eyes soft. “What he said.”
“You’ll need to work hard to earn our trust again.” KC leaned in closer and laid a gentle kiss on my cheek. “We have time. You hurt us and especially hurt Oli. You have a lot to make up for. And youwillget your shit together.”
“I will.” I hauled them both closer and brought each of their hands to my lips, kissing the back of them. “I’d move heaven and earth for you.”
“We don’t need you to do that,” Oli said, snorting. “But you do something like this again, we’re done.”
“Deal, Kitten.”
Oli rolled his eyes but smiled.
25
OLI
The shower was running in the other room, and I was sitting on the edge of Ren’s bed in my boxers. A drop of water from my damp curls dripped onto my back and ran down my spine, giving me a little shiver as the AC kicked on. KC hung his towel on the rack on the back of the bedroom door that Ren had bought because, over the last week of KC and I basically living here, it had quickly become apparent that the one hook in the bathroom would not work for three people.
Perhaps from someone else the rack wouldn’t have meant much, but from Ren it was a thoughtful gesture that told me he wanted to invite us into his life.
Obviously, he wanted us here. I bit my bottom lip.
I was still struggling to rebuild the trust in Ren I’d had before the day of utter and complete disaster. KC distracted me from my serious thoughts by walking over to his duffel bag near the dresser and bending down. That perfect, muscular ass had me licking my lips, but he pulled on a pair of green boxers and covered it up, snapping me out of my haze.
“Is Ren still in the shower?” I asked.
KC turned and smiled at me. His damp red hair was everywhere. My heart galloped faster. God he was so fucking amazing. His muscles rippled with his movements as he dropped his hands to his hips.
“Yeah.” He frowned. “You okay? I know two hours at the gym can feel excessive if you’re not used to it.”
I shuffled my feet on the cool floor. “I was walking on the treadmill with an audiobook I needed to read for one of my classes. I’m fine. Besides, I do go a few times a week on my own. Not all of us live there, though.”
He came over and sat next to me.
A spike of anger took me by surprise. “I’m still pissed off at Ren. I don’t want to dump him. I do love him. But he got away with treating us like crap. Like, I know he didn’t want to do that after a while, but I don’t know. I want to trust him the way I didbefore, but he needs to hurt in some way to really understand what he put us through.” I traced a seam in the vinyl floor with my big toe.
KC leaned his shoulder against me, all that coiled power a thrill because it belonged to a man who loved me. I ran my fingertip along the mountain of his thick bicep, a giddy jolt of arousal speeding up my heart.
“You know—” He slid his arms around my waist. “—you don’t want to hurt the people you love.”
