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“And you would?” she asked, sounding curious.
“Absolutely not,” he said adamantly. He looked down at his fists, saw the blood dripping off them even though logically he knew it wasn’t there. “I’m not good enough to touch you.”
“Liam,” she said softly, climbing from Nico’s lap and moving toward him. “I’m not hesitant because I don’t think you’re good enough for me. Or that I don’t feel an attraction toward you. Both of you.” She placed her hands over his fists.
Liam’s heart stopped at her words then her soft touch left him, and he felt the loss deep inside. She stepped back, her arms going around herself defensively as she stared from him to Nico. Her gaze was hungry. And he knew what she was going to say before the words came from her mouth.
“I’d like you both to leave now. And I think it would be better if you didn’t return.”
8
Nico sucked in a breath. He opened his mouth to tell her that they weren’t going anywhere when Liam spoke.
“Why do you want us to leave? Are we scaring you?” he asked in the softest tone Nico had ever heard from him.
“Scaring me?” She shook her head. Then she paused, thinking it over. “Not because I worry you might hurt me physically.”
“But you’re scared of being emotionally hurt.”
She nodded.
“All relationships are like that,” Nico said to her. “There’s always an element of risk, of needing to trust.”
“And you think I should instantly trust you both?”
“We’re not asking for that,” Liam told her. “We’re asking for time. For you to give us a chance.”
And Nico knew how badly they’d both react if she couldn’t give them that.
“I don’t think I can do it.”
Nico’s stomach dropped. He felt like he was going to be ill. He’d known it wouldn’t be easy to convince her of their feelings for her. But he thought they could bring her around.
“I don’t think this is about trust, is it?” Liam queried. “Being vulnerable is hard. But if you got to know us, you’d realize that Nico and I are completely serious about you. I don’t care for people, Charlotte. I have emotional attachment issues. I have some friends, like your brother. However, I could walk away from him today and not be concerned about it. The only reason I would care was because it would affect you. I only became friends with him because of you.”
“But . . . but no, you knew him before you knew me.”
“Did you meet me before? Did I come here? Did my name ever get mentioned much?”
“Well, no,” she whispered. “But . . . ”
“Before I met you, he was an acquaintance. After I met you, I built our connection. I wanted to be sure you lived in an environment I approved of. Especially after you were taken.”
She sucked in a breath.
“I struggle to make connections. I struggle to give a fuck. You know who I do care about? Who I most definitely give a fuck about?”
“Nico.”
“Of course. And you.”
“This is crazy. Insane.”
“Most people would say two men and a woman loving each other is insane,” Nico pointed out.
“Do you have a problem with that?” Liam asked.
“You know I don’t. I know that can work. Jardin has Carrick and Thea. My cousins share a woman. Where my cousins live, there are a lot of different sorts of relationships. There’s one I know of with three men and one woman.”
