Skirt Steak (Grade-A Beefcakes 5)

I shrugged, then looked up at Liam. “I didn’t have much choice. If I stayed, I’d have to do what they wanted. I just… couldn’t. Not just for me, but for you.”

“For us?” Liam asked, frowning.

“Your jobs. You’d get fired. Just like what happened to you with that woman,” I said to Porter. “I didn’t want anyone to think less of you because of my mess.”

Liam turned me about so my knees settled on the bed on either side of his hips and I faced him. He cupped my face with his big hands.

“It’s not your mess. It never was, but it definitely isn’t now. You hear?”

I nodded, but couldn’t go far with him holding my head.

“I know you love your brother, but he’s going to jail. He made a deal and is going to testify against bigger fish, but he’s going to do time.”

He was studying me, clearly worried about how I was going to react. They knew how much he meant to me, all the things I’d done for him without a bit of gratitude.

“Good.”

He frowned.

“Good?” Porter asked.

I bit my lip, then said, “I sent him a text, told him those two guys would be after him and that he should run so he didn’t get hurt. I wasn’t telling him to avoid the law, just the opposite. Maybe he’d go somewhere new and get a job and abide by the law.” Liam looked at Porter, who nodded. “I’m glad you caught him though. He… he needs to go to jail for what he did. I tried my best, but it wasn’t good enough. He—”

“Shh,” Liam said, kissing my forehead. “You did a great job with him. Just because he’s a fuck-up doesn’t reflect on you. He was dealt a bad hand with your dad leaving you all and then your mom getting sick, just like you were. You chose to bust your ass for a degree and to work. To care for people. He chose the shortcuts and found out that’s not how it works.”

He dropped his hands, set them on my thighs.

“You’re not alone, sweetness. You have us. Well, you have Liam, and you have me, too, if you’ll forgive me.”

“I love you. Of course I forgive you.”

He grinned and his chest puffed up. I made him like that. Happy, relieved. Loved.

“Will you forgive me?” I asked in return.

“You’ve done nothing wrong.”

I felt like we were getting a second chance. I’d been giving my heart and soul to Tommy when he didn’t

want it. He didn’t value it. I should have given it to Liam and Porter. They’d proven they would cherish both. They’d proven it time and again and I’d mistaken it for smothering. For being overbearing. Boy, was I wrong. “Remember when we argued about you helping me with money? With working too hard?”

Porter picked up my hand, kissed my palm and nodded.

“You’re right. I work too hard. But I also don’t want you to take on my debt. That’s not fair.” I paused and took a moment to feel. There was no doubt. I felt confident in my plan because I had these two men. “I’m going to sell the house. I was saving it because of Tommy; it was the one place that connected us to Mom. To what I longed to get back. That was the past and… and you two are the future. The house sale will pay off all my bills and I’ll have some left over. I’m going to go back to school. Dr. Metzger and I talked about me being a nurse practitioner, well, before all this mess happened, and working with her full-time, but there was no way.” I paused. This was the scary part, where I had to trust. “Now, if I… if I live with you, then I can quit the hospital, continue to work part-time with Dr. Metzger while I go to school.”

Liam leaned forward, kissed me. Fiercely and with lots of tongue.

“That’s a great idea, baby.”

I was grinning and breathing hard and I looked to Porter to see what he thought.

“I love everything about it. And you.”

“And since you’re moving in, I am, too,” Liam added, kissing me again and ending the conversation.

“We’re in a hotel room in a snow storm. Nowhere to go. What should we do with ourselves?” Porter asked. “Talk?”

I could tell by the heated gleam in his eyes that talking was the last thing he wanted to do. I was all talked out. We’d worked through this mess, and it had been a big one, but we were together and better than ever. This was what love was all about. Unconditional, desperate.