Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 245(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
“What’s got you down in the dumps?” I asked just to hear him say it and to make sure that I wasn’t all alone in my thoughts.
Aziel shifted his eyes to mine, giving me a pointed look.
“Don’t act like you don’t know,” he said as he sat up more. “I can’t stop thinking about her, man. I’ve tried, and it’s wrong, but…”
“But you caught feelings,” I replied simply. I knew that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. I saw how the other guys looked when she walked away from us at the airport. It was like a piece of us died that day, and we had been spending our time off mourning.
Aziel sighed and nodded.
“Yeah. I didn’t want this, you know? I didn’t want to fall for David’s wife, but she’s amazing,” he said. “I want more than the sex. I want… everything.”
Those were the words of a heartbroken man. The same words that went around and around in my own head.
At least I wasn’t alone. It was always easier to suffer with someone else, especially if it was over the same thing. Or person.
Even if that was a selfish thing to say.
“But we can’t have that. We can’t have her,” I told him before sinking down on the couch next to him. “She’s probably plenty happy with him. I mean, I want that… I want them to be happy…”
“But it’d be nice if the arrangement we had worked for everyone,” Aziel said, finishing my thought. “I think that’s too good to be true.”
“Can’t blame a guy for dreaming,” I replied with a weak laugh that I couldn’t put much spirit into. It sucked not being able to have what I wanted when this was the thing that I wanted the most.
“Hell of a mission,” Aziel said with a bittersweet look in his eyes. “I’ll never forget it.”
How the hell were we going to handle the next one? How could we look David in the eye when we loved the person he swore his life and love to? I didn’t know how things were going to play out next, but it was safe to say that everything changed the moment we all met Brianna. Things couldn’t magically go back to how they were before.
I parted my lips to reply, but there was another knock on my door. I pitched a confused look at Aziel, who reflected my expression. We weren’t expecting any other company. Hell, I wasn’t even expecting him!
“Maybe Andre dragged himself out of the house,” I said as I got to my feet, figuring that made the most sense.
Aziel shrugged as he did the same, following me over to the foyer. Our footsteps echoed throughout my quiet house, mingling with the firm knocking. Damn, I hoped that I wasn’t in some sort of trouble.
“Maybe,” he replied.
There was only one way to find out. I grabbed the door handle and opened my front door, my heart stopping at the sight of David. Holy hell, did all of my thinking about his wife somehow conjure him?
“David,” I said, nearly sounding breathless as my heart remembered how to beat again. He didn’t look angry, but he had a damn good poker face when he needed to use one.
David looked between Aziel and me as we stared at him in stunned silence.
“We need to talk.”
Chapter 26
David
Nervousness seeped into my very soul as I looked around my living room, taking in the sight of my unit standing in my house all together for the very first time. Honestly, it was a bit jarring, but I was glad that they were here.
I asked them to be.
After some thinking after Brianna left the house once she’d told me her true feelings regarding the guys, I realized that I still didn’t feel jealous or upset. Hell, I even tried to make myself jealous over the fact that my wife had feelings for them, but… I wasn’t.
All I could think about was how I trusted these guys with my life and the life of the most precious person in the world to me. If something happened to me, I could trust them to take care of her and to not let anything bad happen to her. Ever.
I couldn’t be angry at that. At the thought of my wife always being happy and loved for who she was. She deserved so much for being the best wife and person I had ever met, and I wanted my brothers to be happy. They didn’t have the best luck when it came to love, especially because of our work.
Brianna understood, though. So, I understood her and her feelings. The same ones that deepened for the other guys.
The bottom line was that I loved her, and I wanted her to be happy. Together, we were all happier, and if I could figure out a way to make it work, I would because I didn’t want to lose any of these people in my life.