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He didn’t let me go, though. “Sloan’s gonna fall in love with you,” he said. “Maybe it’ll take weeks, maybe months, but it’ll happen. Archie will follow.”
I clenched my jaw and kept my stare fixed on the laundry basket. “We can’t have that happening. I get it.”
I saw Sloan’s face in my mind, his kind eyes and the compassion he’d shown me, his protectiveness and… Pain slashed through me, and my eyes burned. I wanted him to be my Daddy so much. I wanted to make him happy every hour of the day. I wanted to meet his kids and go to the movies with them.
“I’m playing the odds here, pet.” Greer’s tone lost some of its tightness, as if he was trying to make room for patience. “You haven’t even broken up with Marcus yet. And I’m not saying I give a shit about boundaries where he’s concerned—I’m saying you’re neck-deep in your old relationship, one that’s hurt you deeply.”
I glanced up at him. “Do you play the odds with Archie and Sloan too?”
He furrowed his brow.
“I can go home first thing in the morning,” I said, “but I don’t want to stop seeing Sloan. Or Archie, for that matter. Screw the odds—I can breathe for the first time in years, and I’m not latching on to them because of how Marcus has treated me.”
“How can you be sure that’s not the exact reason?” he pressed.
Anger grabbed ahold of me. “Partly because of you, asshole!”
My outburst made him shoot me a quick glare, and then he moved me away from the door so he could shut it.
“Like you just said, we’ve known each other for three years,” I said irritably. “I trust you completely, and I’ve had a stupid crush—fuck.” I screwed my eyes shut and pushed forward, not wanting to see his reaction. “I’ve never felt as safe as I have in our community, and it’s because of people like you, Reese, Mr. West, Penelope—all of you. And…you. So if you have a partner you’ve known for fifteen years, one you want to spend the rest of your life with, I…I already trust him more than I’ve trusted Marcus the past eleven or twelve months. I just haven’t been able to pinpoint where the bad feelings stemmed from—and why I’ve felt so weak and unsure. But now I get it.”
I released a breath and opened my eyes again, though I refused to make eye contact.
“It’s them too,” I croaked. “How they’ve welcomed me here. How they treat me. How they are as men. They’re amazing, and I don’t want to say goodbye to them.”
The idea hurt so much that my eyes actually welled up.
“Corey, look at me.”
I sniffled and shook my head. “No thank you.”
He sighed and shifted his hands to the back of my neck, and then he rested his forehead against my hairline. “I’m gonna repeat something I said earlier and finish the sentence this time,” he murmured. “They haven’t known you for three years, Corey. They don’t know the impact I know you’ll have on them—and I know because it’s the impact you’ve had on me. Now, I know Archie’s told you I’ve had my head so far up my ass that I’ve deluded myself into thinking whatever I needed to think to maintain my friendship with Sloan.”
“Not in those words,” I mumbled.
I saw how the corners of his mouth tugged upward slightly. That was as high up as I was willing to look.
“Regardless of the words he chose, he isn’t wrong. I was in denial for years about Sloan. I did something similar with Archie—where I bailed when the world stopped being black-and-white, and it cost us five years away from each other.”
I swallowed the last little crumble of my mint and wiped at my cheek. Christ, just minutes ago, he’d Frenched the mint into my mouth, and now I was standing here, sniffling, wondering if I was about to pack my bag or not.
Wondering if Greer wanted me around or not.
“Makes perfect sense I’ve been doing the same with you, doesn’t it?”
At the sound of Buddy’s and Beast’s loud barking, I deduced that River, Shay, and Reese had arrived. I heard Sloan and Archie in the hallway too, but they were talking too quietly.
Wait. What did Greer just say? He’d been in denial about me?
I hitched my stare a little higher and hoped he would elaborate.
“It’s been an eye-opening weekend,” he admitted. “And it’s been a long time comin’. After a thousand little moments, you get a full picture and an answer that slaps you in the face.”
I grinned quickly, but then it was gone again. I didn’t know what was happening, only that things suddenly felt more hopeful. The air around us wasn’t as heavy.
“What thousand little moments?” I asked.
“I think you know, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “For instance, I was never a fan when you disappeared for a whole summer. Going to an event right after you took off to Denmark and Thailand and wherever else was always a bit less fun. I’d think, all right, here goes another summer of not seeing little Corey Cruz.”
