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Now I was here and I was pressed between both of my guys.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out on a sob, tightening his arms around me. He pressed harder into my neck. Another sob went through his body. And another. Then more.

Poof!

I didn’t dare move. This was more than Lee’s secret finally being out.

Noah stood just behind Lee, on the other side of the island. He was staring at him and such a sad expression came over him before poof. He was gone.

Lee shuddered in my arms.

“Dude.” Cassian’s hands reached beyond me so he was patting Lee’s arms.

“I’m not— I can’t— I’m so fucking sorry.” Lee lifted his head, his whole face wet. He started to move back, trying to wipe his face off on his own shoulder.

“Hey,” I said softly, using my hands to smooth away the tears on both sides of his face. “We don’t have to talk about it tonight.”

“I think we should.” He glanced over his shoulder.

“He’s gone,” I told him. “He looked sad.”

Cassian paused behind me. “Wait. Okay. That was a ghost thing?”

I smothered a laugh into Lee’s shoulders.

Lee grinned, looking a little lighter. “Noah’s the only ghost that can cross my boundary into the house.”

Cassian rested his chin on my shoulder, his hands moving back to my arms. He lifted up a finger. “Question.”

Lee and I shared a grin before he said, “Yeah?”

“The whole ghost thing is confusing, like when they show up and now it’ll be worse because both of you can see them. Apparently. But whatever. I’ll deal with that. Didn’t another ghost pop in here, though? Thought I heard that in a conversation at some point.”

“Oh.” Lee cringed. “Yeah. The boundary had faded. The evil bitch who took Cole’s body popped in. Noah raised holy hell to scare her away. He knew I didn’t want her here.”

I asked, now that we were actually talking about it, “Did you have a rule? Where they couldn’t mention your name?”

Lee barked an abrupt laugh. “It was something stupid. When I was at your school, I got so sick of the ghosts coming around and asking for things. They’re distracting and so self-absorbed.”

“Tell me about it.”

“That’s when I made the rule that they can never say my name. They have referred to me as ‘him’ since then and well, it came in handy over the last week.” He sobered, seemingly realizing that that was a segue into the serious conversation about why he didn’t tell me who he was.

As if he was on the same wavelength, Cassian’s hands dropped to my hips and he pressed them tight to me for a moment. “If we’re not going to get horizontal in a threesome kinda way, could I make a request that we go to bed and just cuddle all night long? I’ll even cuddle with Lee even though I have zero sexual interest in you, but it seems like you could use a hug that lasts for eternity.”

Lee shared a smile with me, but I saw the exhaustion there.

I was tired, and hurting. There was a buttload of adrenaline still in me and Sabine’s healing qualities did wonders, but I could use some cuddles too. I didn’t think I’d get to sleep.

Lee agreed as well, his hands falling to my hips, lingering for a moment before Cassian wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted me up, backing away. He set me down on my feet gently. “Okay.” There were literal bags under his eyes as he yawned and stretched an arm up. “I’m calling the bathroom first. You do whatever ghost-talking-bonding thing you need to do before bed, but make no mistake. Once you’re up there, this is a three-way thing, not a two-way-spirit-thingy. Got it?” He lifted a finger in the air to make his point as he walked out of the room.

We heard him crossing above us a second later.

Lee was still resting against the counter and he leaned down, bracing his elbows on his knees as he caught his head in his hands. “This is—I don’t even know.” He looked up at me, straightening slowly, his hands going to the island counter behind him. His eyes veered to the side of me, as if he couldn’t bring himself to look me in the eyes. “I lied to you.”

“A lie of omission is still a lie.”

“Why didn’t you say anything when I came clean about my abilities?”