He caught the edge of my bag and peeked inside. “Wear something from here, too.”
I growled in frustration at him and walked away. There was something extra to my step, I knew. Part unrequited desire and part happiness. “I wear what I want.”
Andrew caught my arm and pulled me back into his chest, just to kiss me so thoroughly that I wasn’t sure where I ended and he started when he was done. Pressing one final kiss to my lips, he gently pushed me away. “Go on, Cupcake.”
I stumbled away in a daze. By the time I got to my room, I was back to myself, though. Feeling stubborn, I tossed the bag of lingerie in the closet and closed the door. I wasn’t dressing up for them when we were going to be having a conversation about why they were assholes to me.
I sighed. I just hoped I could keep it in my pants while we spoke. I really seemed to be having a problem with that.
I told myself that I wasn’t cleaning up for them but that I just needed a bath. Soaking in the massive tub felt amazing, and it helped me relax and stop thinking so much about what could go wrong. It kept me from obsessing over every little thing I’d done and every big thing that I wanted to do. It also kept me from thinking about Macy and what she would feel if she knew what I was doing.
I’d built up a pretty great wall of denial by the time dinner came around and Andrew sent me a text to tell me I was late. Rolling my eyes at him, I made a point of dressing in my old panties and bra. Just to be safe, I also dressed in leggings and an oversized t-shirt. I put on no makeup and pulled my hair into a knot at the top of my head, both an effort to make myself as unappealing as possible.
Only after I’d taken my time and wasted another fifteen minutes did I trail down to Andrew’s door. It opened as soon as I knocked, and Warren pulled me in. He wrapped me in his arms and then stole a heated kiss that left me wondering why I hadn’t put on good underwear.
“War.” Andrew’s voice came from the other side of the room, an amused look on his face. “Talk first, remember?”
Lucas sat next to Andrew, his expression hot as he looked me over. “Are we sure?”
Andrew held my gaze and nodded. “Cupcake is here to talk. We keep our hands, our mouths, and our cocks to ourselves.”
“Says the guy who got his—” Lucas grunted with Andrew smacked him. “Sorry. I said we don’t do jealousy, but I’m jealous right now.”
I rolled my eyes at them and sat at the table across from them. There was a mound of food and my stomach growled when I looked at it. “You can all keep everything to yourself right now. I just realized I’m starving.”
Warren grabbed a plate and started piling things on top of it before pushing it to me. “Eat.”
I grumbled but still took the plate. Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and mac and cheese filled my plate, plus a roll. I was in heaven. I ate several big bites before looking up and finding them all watching me. Instantly mortified, I dabbed at my lips with a napkin and pushed my plate away.
Andrew growled and pushed it back at me. “Keep eating. You’re clearly not taking very good care of yourself. When’s the last time you ate?”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you consider what happened in the hallway a meal?”
Lucas groaned. “So jealous.”
Andrew shook his head. “I promised to keep my hands off of you until we had this talk, but you’re going to have a hard time walking out of this room if you keep acting like a brat.”
I laughed, his threat not holding any weight because he couldn’t stop himself from grinning when he said it. I looked around the table at the three of them and sighed. They were all so beautifully handsome and insistent on taking care of me. It was a big change from childhood.
“Lucas said he heard Macy talking to you about how awful we were. It still bothers you?” Warren shifted to face me and tugged at the end of my hair gently.
I bit into my roll and tried to think of what to say. Finally, I just decided to go with the truth. “Growing up, I used to practice this speech. I knew just what I was going to say to the three of you. I might’ve still even had a version of it until this week. Now, I don’t know what to say. I don’t quite understand the change, but this definitely beats the three of you pushing me into a pool and telling everyone that I was diseased.”
Andrew sighed and rested his elbows on the table. “I’m sorry, Cupcake. We were...wrong, to say the least.”
Warren nodded. “As impossible as it is to hear, some of that wasn’t done with ill intentions.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell me how telling my entire school that I had crotch gangrene wasn’t ill-intended.”
Lucas sighed. “I’m sorry. That was me. I thought that you were going to get hurt. We knew guys that age. Wewereguys that age. You were so innocent and sweet. The idea of them taking advantage of you killed us.”
Chapter 13
I shook my head, unsure I was hearing what they were saying. “What?”
Andrew nodded, his eyes downcast. “As stupid as it sounds, it’s true. The rumors were to keep guys away from you. Again, we were astronomically wrong. We should’ve let you do what you wanted. You always liked the biggest asshole around, though, and we had a hard time staying out of it.”
“We wanted to keep you safe.” Warren leaned back in his seat. “We couldn’t touch you back then, Cupcake. You were too young and we weren’t really sure what we wanted ourselves, but we knew that we weren’t allowed to touch you. No matter how much we wanted to.”
