“She can,” Danny agrees with a small smile on his face. “If there’s one girl in the world who has enough backbone to handle us, it’s Cora.”
“Handle you, you mean?” Mark says.
“Exactly.” Danny’s full-on grinning now, my idea settling into his mind.
“All of us have been trying our best to be the kind of men she’d want to date. I’ve watched you guys and the way you are with her. I’ve felt the way I am when she’s around, and it’s different.”
“Cora’s a beautiful girl,” Mark says, shifting forward in his seat. “And she only deserves the best. What you’re describing…asking her to start a relationship with all of us…well, I just don’t think she’ll go for it. Not after what happened when she moved in. You’re expecting the pendulum to swing back too fast.”
“Maybe we need to go slow,” Tobias says. “Take it one at a time.”
“No,” I say. “That would only be confusing and not fair on Cora. We’d have an ulterior motive, and she’ll feel betrayed when she finds out. We have to be upfront. We have to tell Cora that we all want to date her.”
The room is silent, and for a moment, I think it’s because my brothers are thinking about what I said, but then I follow Tobias’s line of sight and find Cora standing in the doorway, staring at us like we grew multiple heads in the time she went to shower.
Then, as though she’s come to her senses, she dashes out of the room, and I’m left sitting with my mouth open, wondering if I just fucked everything up.
17
CORA
I should dash back up to my room and lock the door, but I’m so stunned by what River has said that I end up striding into the kitchen and then pivoting on my heel, staring around at the tidy space, with my mind in a total jumble.
We have to tell Cora we all want to date her.
Maybe I imagined it, I think. Maybe I didn’t hear right. Maybe they were talking about another girl called Cora, and I’m jumping to conclusions. But then my mind skitters over all the lingering looks and warm smiles, all the little touches and considerate acts that have existed between the Carltons and me recently, and I know.
They weren’t talking about anyone else. They were talking about me.
They’ve seen Maggie’s home life and want the same thing for themselves.
I rest my hands on the cool marble counter and draw a long shaky breath.
Footsteps sound on the tiled floor, and I spin around, finding my five stepbrothers have gathered behind me with worried expressions.
“Cora…” River says, as though he wants to explain, but I don’t want to hear those words repeated. My heart beats faster in my chest as he takes a step forward.
“Don’t,” I say, raising my hand. I need to keep the space around me because I know my resolve will disintegrate if any of them get too close.
Danny takes a step forward, not caring about my resistance. Of course he wouldn’t. Of all the men in front of me, he’s the one who pushes the hardest. “Cora, listen. You heard only a part of the conversation.”
“I don’t want to hear any more.” My back is against the counter, so I can’t move away any further, and he gets close enough to loom over me, staring down at me with his black hair flopping over his forehead and his crystal blue eyes swamped by wide dark pupils.
“Why,” he says. “Because we disgust you?”
“No,” I blurt quickly. “Of course not.” Can he not see how his proximity affects me? All he has to stand close, and my heart is pounding, and my chest heaving. Even knowing eyes are on me is enough to set my pulse racing.
“Then what?”
I hesitate, drawing my bottom lips in to moisten them. Danny watches it all, his pupils dilating at such a ridiculously simple act. Except it isn’t. My lips tingle to feel the press of his against them. The touch of each of these men standing in front of me is an ache I don’t want to accept.
“This is crazy,” I say, glancing across the group and finding only serious expressions. No one is laughing. No one gives any indication that this is a joke.
“It’s not crazy to feel something for you,” Danny says softly. His hand reaches out to touch my hair, and I’m stunned at the reverential slowness and innocence of his actions.
“Do you have feelings for us?” Mark asks. “Because sometimes, I feel this crackling connection between us. I’ve noticed you looking at my brothers in a way that’s made me wonder if you think of us as more than just housemates .”
Shrugging is a ridiculous response but it’s the only one I have.
“She doesn’t want to acknowledge it,” Alden says.