If it wasn’t for my dad, I would’ve already started making plans with Cooper and Nolan. They might have had to be future plans for now, but at least they would’ve included all three of us, the way we’d always dreamed.
“That’s it, baby,” Cooper murmured, kissing the top of my head. “We’ll stay like this for as long as you want. I ain’t ever going to get tired of having you in my arms.”
“Or mine,” Nolan added, his deep voice making me warm inside. “We’ll stay like this all damn night if that’s what you want to do.”
It wasn’t a bad idea, honestly. I felt better in their arms than I had for most of the day. They always managed to find just the right words or say nothing at all when it mattered, regardless of what else was going on around us.
How lucky was I to have two men who understood me? Who loved me and wanted to be with me? There were too many people who never found one perfect partner to settle down with, and I had two.
Even better, their friendship was strong enough that there hadn’t ever been even a hint of jealousy between them.
I’d been dumb to walk away from them once. Dumb and immature and selfish as I wallowed in my hurt feelings. And if my dad had his way, I’d have made that mistake all over again.
All my life, I’d done everything to live up to his expectations. Ever since I’d been a little girl, he’d told me to make good grades, to plan for the future, to follow his advice, and stay on the straight and narrow path he’d laid out for me.
Which was... fine. For all his flaws and all of mine, I’d never doubted that he loved me and wanted the best for me. But it wasn’t fine that he’d started distancing himself from me when I needed him most. When the exam paper scandal hit, he treated me worse than most of the other people in town had. He’d called me a disappointment. He’d accused me of jeopardizing all of my dreams when I’d really threatened all of his.
As I stood there in the arms of the men I loved, I realized that I wasn’t ever going to have my dad’s approval without giving them up. He’d keep treating me like a stranger and making his mean comments as long as I kept Cooper and Nolan in my life.
And it would be his loss.
I smiled as I finally looked up at my guys.
“Feeling better?” Cooper asked.
Nolan leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Glad to see that beautiful smile again, at least.”
“I am starting to feel better,” I nodded. “I’ve had a realization.”
Cooper quirked a brow. “Just now?”
“Yeah, just now. I love you.” I looked over to Nolan. “And I love you, too.”
Their shocked expressions were identical and made me wish I’d had my phone on me to take a picture. As it was, I’d remember that moment for the rest of my life.
“I love you, too,” Cooper replied first with an incredulous laugh. “But damn, it took you long enough.”
Nolan snickered. “Just remember that he said it, not me. But I love you, Poppy. I’ve loved you forever, and I’ll never stop.”
“I’m glad,” I said, my smile growing wider by the second. “I don’t deserve the two of you, but I’m really glad that we have each other.”
“You’ll always have us,” Cooper said, his expression turning serious. “We’ve always been on your side, and we always will be.”
“No matter what,” Nolan added. “But what made you realize you loved us all of a sudden?”
“It didn’t happen all of a sudden,” I confessed. “I’ve always known. I’ve just been too afraid to admit it—even to myself—until right now. But I’m not afraid anymore.”
Even saying the words out loud made me feel better. I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t afraid of what my dad or anyone else thought. I wasn’t going to live my life according to what Ezra Evans dictated for me.
“Should we leave?” Cooper asked. “The three of us? So we can talk and figure things out between us?”
“Yes,” I answered immediately, standing on my toes to give him and Nolan each a kiss. “But not yet.”
I pulled back away from them and tried to school my features into something a little more serious, but that only lasted about point-five seconds before I was smiling again. “Stay here,” I said, holding my hands up as if that would keep the guys in place. “I’ll only be a couple of minutes.”
“We’ll be right here,” Cooper nodded. “And we’ll wait as long as you need us to.”
The dreams I’d had about confronting my dad about how he’d treated me over the years had been too numerous to count, and they had each followed a similar pattern. I’d try to reason with him, and he would blow up, shouting and swearing and making me regret saying anything at all.