Layla shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to. This is hard for me. You’re all so…intense.”
“We don’t want you to feel like you can’t tell us something, sweetheart,” Nile said. “Ask us anything. Talk to us about anything. Always.”
Another deep breath. “Julie said she has access to birth control.” She wrung her hands and plowed forward. “I wasn’t sure how you all felt about that kind of thing, and I told her I wanted to talk to you all first. And—”
She stopped rambling as all four men stumbled seemingly collectively backward.
Jay ran a hand over the top of his head and grabbed onto the arm of the couch as he collapsed onto the cushion. “Birth control?” He nearly groaned and then laughed.
Heat rose up Layla’s face as panic swelled inside her. Maybe Julie had been right. Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned it. Just done it behind their backs. After all, it was her damn body. Her choice.
Feeling a bit miffed by their reaction and deciding to put her foot down, she set her hands on her hips and pulled her shoulders back. “It’s not your choice at all, you know. I was just trying to be courteous. I thought we were a team of sorts. Your reaction is making me doubt that and question the need for birth control at all.”
All brows rose high as she spoke, but it was Jay who lurched off the couch and came to her, grabbing her face and meeting her gaze. “Baby, you misunderstand. None of us would ever for one single moment presume to tell you what to do with your body. Never. Not ever.”
“Then why are you all acting like I just told you I stabbed a dozen kittens?”
Jay shook his head, while the rest of them closed in around her, all of them talking at once.
She stepped back, freeing herself, leaning against the wall, a hand out. “Stop. I can’t understand a single word with you all talking at the same time.” She turned to Jay. “Explain.”
“Baby, you scared us out of our minds when you called this meeting. We thought you were going to announce that you’d decided not to stay with us. We’re so relieved right now that we just need a moment to breathe.”
She frowned. “Why on earth would I leave you?”
Jay shrugged. “I don’t know. We just panicked.”
She glanced from one man to the next. “You spent the last four hours whispering among yourselves, deciding I was about to announce that I didn’t want to be with you?”
“Yes, princess. That’s where our minds went,” Ledger admitted. He reached out and stroked a finger down her cheek. “If you want to use some form of birth control, you go right ahead. We will selfishly keep you to ourselves for as long as you’d like.” He smiled.
“Okay.” She licked her lips. “Good. That’s what I want.” This was awkward. Of course, she’d expected it to be awkward all day.
Nile came to her, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her gently, just like she’d come to expect from him. He smoothed her hair back and looked into her eyes. “It was very thoughtful of you to come to us. I’m sorry we reacted so strangely. It won’t happen again. We want you to be able to call a meeting like this anytime you want.”
She slid her hands up his back. “So, none of you care? It’s okay?”
“It’s perfectly fine. And when and if you decide you want to stop taking it, we will also support that decision. We will never make those choices for you, sweetheart.”
She glanced at the others. “Okay, but if we’re going to be a family unit, then I wouldn’t do something like that without consulting you.”
Gatlin slid a hand down her biceps. “And we appreciate your thoughtfulness.”
Not to be left out, Ledger snagged her hand, drew her away from the others, plopped himself in one of the armchairs, and tugged her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his chest, burying his face in her hair.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, sensing that he needed the comfort.
When his breathing evened out, he met her gaze. “I know times are crazy, and you’re going through a lot, and you’re probably confused and scared half the time, but I want you to know that we’re fully committed to you in every way. All four of us. We don’t have any doubts. We want you to be ours forever. When you’re ready. No one is going to pressure you to make that decision. And no one is going to pressure you to have sex either.”
It was so nice hearing him say all that. Though she spent time with each of them every day, they hadn’t had a serious discussion about their collective intentions since their initial declaration that they wanted her.
“When, exactly, does this birth control go into effect?” Gatlin asked as he leaned over the back of the armchair.
She chuckled. “Tomorrow. I’m not sure it’s immediately effective, mind you, but Julie told me she would give me a shot tomorrow.”
Gatlin leaned over and kissed her from around Ledger. “I like this plan.”
She chuckled again. “Of course you do. Why am I not surprised?”