“Hang on,” I said, my eyebrows narrowing. “What do you mean by again?”
All three of the men froze at my statement, looking suddenly a lot less comfortable. Rather than let them off the hook, I crossed my own arms and awaited an answer.
“We’ve… uh…” Bryce stammered. “Maybe we’ve…”
“Done this sort of thing in the past?” I offered.
My breathtaking blond lover swallowed hard, like he was trying to get something down. Camden nodded.
“Thought so.”
“Karissa—”
“It’s okay,” I shrugged. “We all have a past. Whatever you did before me is your business, not mine. I’m a big girl. I’m fine with it.”
“Still, you need to understand how—”
“We can’t want this again,” Roderick declared abruptly. He was inside the room now, standing by the bed. “We can’t need this, not like we did before.”
His statement was strange, the way he worded it. I wanted to ask more, to understand what he meant by it, but I was already too angry.
“And what about what I want?”
I said the words so harshly they all turned in my direction. I was sitting with my back against the headboard, arms folded, mouth tight.
“You guys strut around here taking your pleasures,” I said, “and I’ll admit I’ve taken some too. But to sit and brood and fight amongst yourselves is just plain stupid.”
More silence followed, until it was eventually broken by Roderick.
“Why?”
“Because you act like one or more of you is taking advantage of me or something, and that’s not the case,” I replied. “I guess it’s protective and cute and all that, but no one’s ever stopped to ask me what I want.”
The room went silent again. This time they were staring my way, expecting me to break it.
“And what is it that you want?” Bryce finally asked.
“I’ll tell you once I’ve figured it out.”
Gathering myself together I hopped off the end of the bed. All eyes followed me as I swept past Roderick, reached the door, and held it open as I gestured to the empty hallway.
“You want us to leave?”
No, my body screamed silently. But it was my ego that won out.
“Look,” I told them simply. “Seems to me you guys have some talking to do, amongst yourselves. Once you’re all done working that out, get back to me.”
For five long seconds no one did anything. But then Camden rose, and Bryce followed suit. They picked up their clothes in silence, the party over. One by one, looking somber and forlorn, all three of them filed out the room.
“Cheer up,” I called after them from the doorway. “This probably isn’t as bad as you think.”
Bryce risked a look back, but he couldn’t meet my gaze. It was almost adorable.
“And I’ve got a feeling a lot of this has nothing to do with me.”
Twenty-Four
BRYCE