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“But I did meet a guy.”

She pauses for a moment. “You met a guy...” she repeats in shock. “Cove, did you run off with a strange man?”

“Uh, kind of.” I laugh awkwardly. “More like three.”

“Three!”

“They’re brothers.”

“You’re dating three brothers?!”

“So, remember the summer my parents died, those boys I met on the train tracks?”

“The ones you ditched me for all summer? Yeah, I remember,” she grumbles and then gasps. “Oh my god, are you with them!?”

“Yeah.” I can’t help but smile. “They came back for me.”

“Holy fucking shit. Tell me everything!”

And I do. Kind of. I tell her what I can without giving away too much. I tell her what I think of each of the guys and how they’re perfect for me.

When I tell her they accept my... ‘adventurous’ side, I know she’s worried that it’s going to be the same situation as it was with my ex.

I promise her they’re nothing like him. And maybe I shouldn’t be making promises like that, seeing how I’ve only spent a month with them, but I feel it in my soul. I see it in the way they treat me, the way they talk to me.

Hell, Maverick banned them from fucking me until I made my decision about getting pregnant. If my ex found out I had a breeding kink, he’d have jumped on it just for the chance to have more sex, especially without using a condom.

“You sound really happy,” Olivia says after we had been talking for over an hour.

“I do?” I ask, sounding surprised.

“You do,” she laughs. “And I’m so damn happy for you. I wanna meet these guys. When can I?”

“Soon,” I tell her. “We’re still in our little love bubble.” That’s one thing to call it.

“You better! I’m having this baby in four months, and I want you there for my baby shower in September."

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I promise her. Because nothing will stop me from keeping that promise. I’m willing to look past a lot of things, but I won’t allow them to take over my life and take away the few things that matter to me.

Once we’re done talking, I hang up and delete the call log, doing the same to the burner phone. I’m sure Maverick will find out some way or maybe he’ll see it, but I don’t care. I needed to talk to my bestie. And I’m so glad I did.

I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. After talking to her about the guys and what we have going on, it made me realize something.

Call me crazy, because we all know I am, and maybe it’s too soon, but I think I’m in love with Maverick, Saint, and even batshit crazy Shepherd.

When the guys aren’t home by eight pm, I give up waiting for them and go to bed.

“Leave it to you, Cove, to fall head over heels for your stalkers,” I mutter to myself, a smile on my lips as I bury my face into the pillow.

You know what, fuck it. I don’t even care anymore. It’s not like I can hide how I feel about them. It’s about time I stop lying to myself, just save everyone's time, and embrace it.

Shepherd

There's an unease inside me that I haven’t been able to kick since the other night. Something that claws at my bones, demanding I make it better, make her better. Make her feel safe, feel wanted.

I saw on the cameras the way she woke up from her nightmare, gasping for air. How she started to cry at something that made her heart shatter into pieces.

And when I saw how her hand went to her stomach, how she stared down at her belly with tears flowing from her eyes, how she whispered the words ‘my baby’ with a sob... it fucking wrecked me.