My stomach lurched. “Are you… Wait, is this about when I called to—”
“Yes, it is.”
Red cleared his throat. “Dyl, enough.”
“You’re mad at me,” I realized with a frown.
Dylan took a step forward, his gaze dragging over me from head to toe. I felt my face heat up beneath his attention.
It had been a couple of weeks since Las Vegas, but just being in his presence was enough to get me hot and bothered. I held my breath, my eyes flitting down to his lips. There was barely an inch between us; my back was against the trunk of the oak tree.
“You left without a word,” he said, low and clearly upset. “One phone call to Cash and that was it. You were gone.”
“I was… Patrick flew me out.”
“You didn’t have to go.”
“I was scared.”
“We wereallscared, Julia.” His breaths were labored but measured. “We were all scared, but that didn’t mean you had to leave. None of us knew what the fuck was going on or what was going to happen next, but we would have taken care of you. Taken care ofeach other.”
“I didn’t want to cause you guys any more trouble.”
“So your solution was to break up with us?” Dylan’s eyes landed on my mouth and stayed there. Our faces were so close that I could feel his breath ricochet off my cheeks. I pressed my hands to his chest as he gripped me firmly by the hips. “I thought you cared about us, Julia.”
“I… Idocare.”
“If that were true, you wouldn’t have run away. The problem isn’t us, it’s the rest of the fucking world. We could have talked things through. We would have worked something out.” His jaw was tense ; his expression, pained. “And instead, you left. That’s not what you do when you supposedly care about someone. If you truly care, you stay. No matter how messy life gets. No matter what shit life tries to throw at you. We’re strongertogether.”
I trembled beneath his touch. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, you’re right, I—”
“Why did you come here if not to tease us?” he asked. “You have to know by now how badly we want you in our lives. It’s taking all my strength not to kiss you right here.”
“Then why don’t you?” I whispered, sliding my hands up his chest to caress his cheek.
“Because you hurt me,” he said against my lips. “You hurt me and my fucking pride. The day you walked away, you broke my heart.Ourhearts. Not a word, not even a message. You shut us out. Do you have any idea how much we worried about you? What if something had happened? I know things were a mess, and I don’t blame you for being afraid, but cutting us out wasnotthe answer.”
“Dylan, I’m—”
“I love you, Julia. And the fact that the woman I love doesn’t trust me enough to let me help her really fucking hurts.”
“Idotrust you,” I said around a soft sob. “I do, Dylan.”
“Actions speak louder than words, sweetheart. You’ll have to forgive me for not believing you.”
He took a step back, turned, and walked away. I was left in a lurch, part of my brain wanting to stand my ground with the other half wanting to give chase.
My feet remained planted on the grass as I watched Dylan walk off, fuming.
“I never meant to hurt any of you,” I mumbled. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Red gently took my hands in his. “Can you answer one question for me?”
“What is it?”
“Do you want to be with us or not?”
I didn’t know how to answer. Yes, I wanted to be with them. I never felt more loved, more cherished, more adored than when I was with the three of them. All I wanted to do was love and cherish and adore them back. The answer should have been simple. A one-syllable word with infinite meanings.