Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174632 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 873(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“Jameson hated you?” She gaped at Ian.
“Might have had something to do with the jello you put in his shoes? Or the frog in his bed?” Jack suggested.
“I was so juvenile back then.” Ian shook his head.
“That’s why you needed me. To teach that little shit a lesson. My pranks were far more fun.” Jack smiled.
“So you all hated each other?”
“It was basically Jack and I against the rest of the school. My younger brothers were at a different school,” Ian explained. “But, yeah. We hated each other until the holiday break, when we all ended up at school. That’s when we met Jameson’s family.”
Jack scowled. “Pieces of fucking work.”
“We shouldn’t say anymore. Not without Jameson here,” Ian said quickly. “But after that break, we became friends.”
“Wow,” she said.
“After school, we joined the military and he went into medicine. But we tried to see each other whenever we could,” Ian said. “And that’s it. Our story.”
Except for how they all ended up here.
The door opened after a knock and she looked over as an orderly brought in a bed on wheels. She rubbed at her forehead. She didn’t know how much sleep she was going to get.
But she guessed she had to try.
Ian got into his truck and sat there for a moment, looking up at the hospital. When Jameson had returned to the room, they’d left. But it felt wrong to leave her behind.
It felt wrong not having her with him all the time.
“Are you worried about leaving her? Jameson will take care of her. We can trust him.”
Ian shot his gaze to Jack, his eyebrows rising. “I know that. I trust Jameson. It’s just . . . he doesn’t trust his own judgment anymore. He thinks he might get hurt again, so he’s protecting himself.”
“Idiot,” Jack replied.
“She told me that she’s a Little,” Ian blurted out.
Jack just nodded.
“You knew?” Ian asked.
“I guessed.”
“I kissed her,” Ian said.
Okay. He hadn’t actually meant to blurt that out.
Jack pierced him with his gaze. Ian braced himself, wondering what the other man would say.
“So you’re finally admitting that you want her?” Jack asked.
Ian let out a deep breath. “You’re not angry?”
“Why would I be?”
“I just wouldn’t want anything to come between us.”
“Like it could, idiot. Jesus. Since when did we have conversations like this?”
“I don’t know. But it’s giving me indigestion.” Ian rubbed his stomach.
Jack grinned. “Good. You deserve it.”
Asshole.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be angry at me for kissing her when you asked her out.”
“She’s ours, isn’t she?”
Ian let out a relieved breath. “She’s ours. You think she’ll be open to us sharing her?”
“Why wouldn’t she be?” Jack asked, looking bewildered. “Why settle for one when you can have two?”
It wasn’t that simple and Jack knew it. But for the first time in a long time, Ian felt hopeful.
“Just two.” It wasn’t a question so much as a statement.
“You know she’s not Jameson’s type,” Jack said. “Even though he looks like he wants to eat her . . . we both know he’ll starve himself first. Stubborn fucker.”
“He’d be an idiot not to want her,” Ian said. “She’s everything. Beautiful, smart, submissive.”
“And ours,” Jack added.
And theirs.
With or without Jameson.
Damn, this was awkward.
Just one unconscious man, a nervous Little, and a sexy doctor. That could be the start of a really bad joke.
She snorted.
“Something funny?” Jameson asked, setting down his phone.
“Oh no, just, um . . . this is a bit, um . . .”
“Weird? Awkward?” he asked dryly.
“No,” she said quickly. The lie died on her lips as he raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, kinda.”
“Do you want me to call Ian and Jack back?”
“No! Like you said, they need their sleep.”
“So do you, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I’m worried about you.”
Those words melted her insides.
“You are?” she asked.
He tilted his head to the side. “That surprises you?”
“I guess I’m not used to people worrying about me.”
He gave her a surprised look.
“Before I came here, I mean. I have Uncle Willy and my best friend, Indie. They’re really the only people who would worry if I was tired or hungry or anything.”
“Not your family?” he asked gently.
“Not really. Mum never really fussed over us. She was more about hardening us up than coddling us. And Dad, well, I don’t know. Half the time he seems to clock out. My brother and sister . . . well, sometimes I don’t think they like me too much.”
“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to be at odds with your family.”
There was such sadness in his voice that she felt it deep inside her. She wondered what pain he held inside him? On the outside, he seemed to have it all-together. He was gorgeous, intelligent, charismatic.
But she knew better than anyone how easy it was to hide your pain behind a smile.
“Do you have siblings?” she asked.
“No. I don’t.”