“I came back here to be with her and my guys.” Nico nudges my hip with his foot. “Harper is everything to us. We can’t go back to who we were when any of us first met Harper or when the relationship began.”
My eyes tear up as I think of what Nico and I have been through. “You’d been my best friend, and you left me. When I got you back, you were part of the guys who owned me and were loyal to them.”
“But I also knew I had to keep you safe, sunshine.” Nico sighs. “We can’t go back to who we were and none of us wants to be who we were without you.”
“We didn’t begin as a whirlwind romance.” Jack rubs my arm as I lift my gaze to his. “We’re all trying to get out of this town for different reasons, but we wouldn’t go anywhere without Harper.”
My throat chokes a little. Jack smiles.
“I love her.” Luke’s words take my breath away. “Welove her.”
My wide-eyed gaze goes to Luke. What? My heart feels like it’s going to explode. I’m terrified to look my mom’s way as Luke professes their love.
“It’s the only explanation for what we all feel.” Luke doesn’t drop his gaze from mine. “Trust me when I say we struggle with this. My abusive father. Caden’s distant parents. Eli’s parents on the edge of divorce. Nico’s parents struggling with infidelity. Jack might be the only one of us that knows unconditional love. And maybe that’s why we can recognize it for what it is.
“I love you, Harper.” Luke’s words make my heart thump hard.
“None of us can imagine a life without you in it, kitten.” My breath catches at Eli’s words. “I love you.”
“You know I’ve always wanted to keep you, Harper. I’ve been told I know how to love even if I don’t think I do.” Caden’s gaze shifts to Jack before returning to mine. My throat chokes up. “But I promise that I’ll always be yours. I love you.”
“I didn’t know what I’d find when I came back.” Nico’s dark eyes hold me and my heart beats harder. “But I knew I needed you back in my life. I love you.”
Jack rubs my arm. “We both know how easy it is to love these guys, but it’s never been hard to love you, Harper.”
“I love you all too.” The words slip out of me as a tear rolls down my cheek.
Their smiles surround me and all I want to do is go to each of them and prove to them that I’m theirs.
Mom clears her throat and my cheeks are on fire. “I’m glad you respect and love my daughter, but before you figure out what all that means to you, we have other things to discuss.”
Jack’s warmth wraps around me. The guys all straighten and give their attention to my mom.
“We can’t keep waiting for them to figure out what Sean might have hidden.” Mom rubs her hands together.
“You know what it is.” Eli doesn’t ask it like a question.
Fuck, has she known all this time?
“One of two possibilities.” Mom glances around the living room like people are watching through the windows.
They might be. Who knows what else anyone who broke in before might have left behind.
“We can’t discuss it here,” Mom says. “They’ve watched me for years, but I also kept them happy.”
My brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
“There’s a lot I’ve kept from you.” She gives me an apologetic smile. “Protected you from. Obviously at the time when I metyour guys, I didn’t know what was going on. It didn’t take long to figure out whose sons had taken an interest in my daughter and what that might mean. It explains why my shift schedule has been crazy.”
“What we told you before, we meant. We want out of this loop. We’re not our fathers.” Luke narrows his eyes on my mom. “They’ll use anything to hold us to them, but not if we have something to hold over them.”
Mom blows out a breath. “Harper needs to be here in the morning. You guys still have plans tomorrow night?”
“Yes,” Eli says. Everyone is so careful not to say where we’re going or what we’re going for.
My heart is beating against my ribcage. Someone could be listening to us. Someone might already know that the guys love me. That I love them. They might already be planning how to use that against us.
It’s too much.
