Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
There were a few beats where they all just breathed. Was this it? The beginning of the end of them?
Then Judd nodded.
Owen stepped back and Judd just stared at him thoughtfully.
“You really like her?” Beck asked, sounding incredulous. “This isn’t a game or something?”
Hux got it. He wasn’t sure Owen had ever actually liked Ester. But none of them had realized that until after she left . . . and he hadn’t been even slightly upset.
This was a strange display of emotion from the other man. Oh, he could fake it with the best of them. He had the outside world fooled. But the real Owen wasn’t given to displays like this.
“You should know I don’t play games,” Owen said.
“Shit. I do know that. Fuck, man. Sorry. I thought . . .” Beck shook his head. “I still don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to guard her if you have feelings for her.”
“I would do whatever it took to keep her safe.”
Hux looked from Judd to Beck. He cleared his throat. “You remember she doesn’t live here? Right? She’ll leave in a week’s time. We won’t see her again.”
Owen just hummed. That was his thinking hum.
And that could mean they were all in fucking trouble.
“We stick together as a team,” Judd said stiffly.
“A family,” Beck corrected. “We’re a family and we do things together. We don’t go off without talking to the others.”
“We were going to find another woman to share, right?” Hux asked. Panic filled him. They couldn’t split up. This was the only family he had. The only one he would acknowledge anyway.
His bastard father didn’t count.
He didn’t want anything to do with that asshole.
These three men were it for him. And he didn’t want anything to tear them apart. For the first time he felt a flash of resentment toward Chloe.
But it wasn’t her fault.
And maybe . . . rather than being the catalyst to tear them apart she could bring them all together. The relationship between the four of them hadn’t really been the same since Ester.
That wasn’t Chloe’s fault either.
Owen obviously wanted her . . . with a need that seemed a bit intense considering he’d only known her a few days.
Hux was attracted to her.
Beck was more difficult to read. He was polite to her as always, but he hadn’t seen a spark between them.
And Judd . . . well, who the fuck knew? She seemed to annoy him. But Judd might like that. He was a weirdo.
“I don’t want the four of us to tear apart,” Hux said.
Judd crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not happening.”
“Really?” Hux asked. “Because Beck has a black eye and Owen nearly choked you out.”
“He wasn’t choking me,” Judd replied. “And they were sparring.”
Hux took a few steps back to sit on the sofa. “You can deny it all you like, Judd. But things haven’t been right for a while. And maybe . . . maybe that’s because we don’t have someone to pull us together. That we all want to keep safe, to cherish, to dominate.”
“And you think it’s this girl? After knowing her a few days?” Judd asked. “We don’t even know if she’s got an ulterior motive for being here. We know nothing about her! It would be madness to think that she could be part of our relationship.”
“No one is saying we have to propose,” Hux countered. “But we could try getting to know her, right? Here’s the thing . . . we haven’t tried to find anyone since Ester. We go out and I’m the only one who is even friendly to the women we meet. Owen acts like they don’t exist. Beck is so detached and polite that he comes off as a robot. And Judd snaps at them until they want to murder him or run. Why can’t we see where things could go with this girl?”
“Because I don’t trust her,” Judd replied.
“Judd, you don’t trust anyone!” Hux threw his hands up as he stood and paced.
“I’m trying to protect us.”
“That’s the whole thing. You’re so busy protecting us that you can’t see that you’re pushing everyone else away. You’re so defensive and you’re always waiting for people to betray us. Beck is so guarded no one ever knows what he’s thinking. And Owen . . . well, that’s self-explanatory.”
“You mean because I’m part psychopath with the ability to pretend to be normal.” Owen gave him a wide, normal-looking smile.
Hux shuddered. “Don’t do that shit with me, man. You know it scares me when you hide your freaky side.”
Owen returned to the same cool look from before. “I’m with Hux.”
“Huh?” Hux asked. “With me?”
“On the vote whether to try and get to know my baby girl, I vote with you.”
“We’re voting?” Truth was, he hadn’t really expected them to listen.