“Tessa,” Lucas whispered over my shoulder. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not true. Levi and I don’t want you for the sake of fame, fortune, or to tarnish your reputation. There’s just something about you that’s… magnetic and draws us in. There hasn’t been a day that’s passed where I haven’t regretted not chasing after you at that hotel.”
“But you slept with me as Evie.”As if that fact even mattered...
“Imagining and wishing that she was you, and in the end, she was… And yeah, under any other circumstance, that would have sounded fucking stupid and cruel to say to a woman, but shewasyou. She wasn’t someone else.”
“And Brandi?” My voice cracked as the thought of her came rushing to the forefront of my mind—the things she’d said, the claim she had made, what I’d seen…
“What about Brandi?” Levi shot a glare at Lucas, his brows knitting into a scowl. “Luke, you—”
“I didn’t.” He barked in response. “Shecame on to me and I wasn’t fucking interested.” Lucas’s grip tightened around my body, as if he were scared of letting me go. “I would never jeopardize your relationship, and from the moment I saw Tessa, therewasn’t a woman on this goddamn earth who could ever have compared to her.”
I sank into his chest, his words hitting home in a way that reassured me that I wasn’t the only one feeling these intense emotions, that I wasn’t the only one who had become infatuated with the two men sitting in front of me.
“This doesn’t need to be an argument. We’re all on the same page.” Levi calmly voiced, taking a deep breath and standing from the bed. “Babygirl, Luke and I need to talk for a minute.”
I felt the hesitation in his brother’s hold—his reluctance to release me as if I’d suddenly vanish from existence. If only I’d known that my disappearance would have affected him like this. But how could I? It was one night… as unforgettable as it was.
I twisted in his arms to cup his cheeks, holding his troubled eyes with mine.
“I’m not running anymore.” In that moment, I didn’t need to. I’d never felt more at home until last night. “I’ll be here.”
He waited for me…
