Within minutes, the police are in the room. This time I’m not afraid to give a statement. We’ve just finished up when Smith comes in, dirty and worn, his lip busted again. He walks over, and I hold out my arms, and he buries his head in the crook of my neck.
I glance at the police, at the EMTs, looking to see if they notice the closeness of me and the guys. No one pays the slightest bit of attention as they pack up their supplies. A moment later, it’s just the four of us.
“I flipped out when I saw the blood,” Smith says, cutting the silence.
I kiss his forehead. “Thank you for showing up.”
“Why wouldn’t I? It’s my home.”
Adrian and Holden nod in agreement, their worried expressions replaced by something else; something I can’t pinpoint.
“What’s going on?”
Adrian grins. “Like I said before, we have something to talk about, or really a question for you.”
“Okay,” I say.
Holden sc
ratches his neck and Smith crosses his arms over his chest. I wait for Adrian to speak, feeling a sudden flood of nerves.
“We don’t want to move out—or really, away from you. Thinking about moving to the lodge and not living together feels like a nightmare.”
“It feels wrong,” Holden says.
Adrian nods. “We have faith that we can work it out, one way or the other, but tonight we got some good news.”
Smith reaches into his pocket and pulls out three slips of paper. “We got paid.”
“Big time,” Holden adds. “And with the money we’ve already saved since we live in park housing, we want to combine it together and well, can we buy your house?”
I blink. “You want to buy my house?”
“For all of us to live in together,” Adrian says.
I feel lightheaded. “You want us to live together? In this house?”
The idea is crazy. Deranged. Impulsive.
“We put our blood and sweat into this place. As crazy as it sounds, it already feels like ours.”
“As for a relationship with you,” Smith says, “were in. One hundred percent. None of us have had a home since we were kids, Sierra. Nothing permanent, but you opened your doors and let us in. When we lost everything we owned, you let us in, fed us, gave us a roof over our head.”
“It’s my weakness, sheltering lost boys.”
Smith takes my hand. “Your heart is so big, and I know that you and the boys you raised had a hard time, but this is different. We found a home, we found you, and don’t want to leave.”
My heart swells, but Smith isn’t done. “We’re committed and,” he glances at the others, “we love you. This is what we want. You are what we want.”
Did he just say they love me?
I swallow back emotion, a tear falling down my cheek. “I love you, too. And I want you, all of you, but I can’t sell my house to you.”
Holden’s face falls and Adrian blinks.
“Wait!” I say, “I’m not finished. I can’t sell my house to you if we’re all going to live in it. This relationship is about the four of us.”
“What are you proposing?” Smith asks.