Page 115 of Filthy Fae

“What are you suggesting, then?” he asked. “I can’t have in on it, I can’t stay out of it. What do you want from me, Amber?”

The guys were all looking at me now, like I was the only one who could make this decision. Like it was my relationship, not our relationship.

“I want you all to get along,” I said. Then I turned to Waylon. “I want you to work things out. I’m not making this decision. It’s not about me. When it comes time for a physical relationship, then it’s my turn to make the rules. But I won’t come between you. I’d rather bring you together than tear you apart.”

“I already made a decision,” Waylon said, his voice hard.

“Yeah, well, you made the wrong one,” I said. “So work it out. I want to have an amazing Christmas with my new family, and I don’t want two of you refusing to speak to each other for the next week or however long we’re snowed in. I know he hurt you, Waylon. I do. Trust me, I know it hurts.” I stepped over and took his hands in mine, silently begging him to understand.

“I thought you weren’t making this decision,” Waylon said gruffly. His fingers tightened around mine, and even though his eyes were hard, I could feel the desperation in his grip.

“You can’t hate him forever,” I said, squeezing his hands so he’d know I was there for the long haul. He didn’t have to hang on that hard. He didn’t have to hold on at all. But if he needed to, well, I was damn sure going to be there.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Cody muttered.

I kept my eyes on Waylon’s. “Somewhere in that big crabby heart of yours, under the claws and the prickly shell, you really love him. If you didn’t, you couldn’t hate him so hard.”

After a long, long moment, Waylon gave an almost imperceptible nod. “I’ll work on it.”

“Welcome to the ranch,” Sawyer said with a grin, clapping Cody’s back. “We’ve got a shit-ton of work to do to keep it from going under.”

“I’m up for the challenge,” Cody said, looking slightly more relaxed now. He held out a hand to Waylon. After the longest five seconds of my life, Waylon gave his hand a quick pump. He barely looked at Cody, but at least he didn’t punch him, so I figured we were coming along at a great pace.

“Let’s start with a probationary period,” Holden said. “To make sure we can trust you again.”

“One year,” Waylon said, pulling me under his arm and squeezing me to him.

Cody’s lips tightened, and his eyes flickered to me, but then he gave a quick nod. “One year.”

“You work your ass off like the rest of us, pull your weight, and don’t even think about touching Amber.”

Cody nodded again.

“Not even if she begs,” Sawyer said. “And trust me, she can be pretty persuasive when she begs.”

“Shut up,” I said, punching him in the arm.

“And I gotta watch,” Cody said, his face stony. “Is that a punishment or a privilege?”

“That’s up to you,” I said lightly.

The look he gave me had me clenching my thighs together, heat pooling between them.

“Ready to get back downstairs before someone else comes knocking?” Sawyer asked. He was still wearing nothing but boxer briefs, but he sure as hell wasn’t modest. Not that I wanted him to be. I could barely keep from leaning forward and licking all that bare skin. But he was right. It could have been worse than Cody. It could have been their mom who’d walked in on us, and I really didn’t want to deal with a dead body on Christmas Eve, especially if her death was caused by seeing her sweet little stepdaughter’s every orifice stuffed with a foot of cock at once.

I straightened up my clothes a bit, Sawyer pulled on his pants and threw on a T-shirt, and we headed downstairs to greet Lidia. The living room was lit by the golden glow of the Christmas lights twinkling merrily on the tree and the blazing fireplace. The logs shifted and crackled, and Bing Crosby music floated from the kitchen. The smell of Cedar from the tree mingled with the scent of Sawyer’s distinctly un-burnt cookies.

“This is so beautiful,” I said, wrapping an arm around Holden’s waist and one around Waylon. “Thank you all for having me in your lives.”

“Thank you,” Holden said huskily, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.

I heard a titter from the kitchen that had to be Lidia. Since the five of us were here, she had to be talking to herself. Maybe she’d finally lost it. I glanced around at the guys, a funny feeling rising inside me. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“Go on,” Sawyer said, a grin stretching from ear to ear. Suddenly, my heart started hammering. What if one of them proposed? I mean, it had been over a year, and we were blissfully happy. But I couldn’t marry just one of them. It would mess up everything. Even if we said we all belonged to each other equally, somehow the two of us would know.

“Go,” Waylon growled, giving me a little push. I stumbled forward, sure this was going to be one of those times I tripped and ate it at the most inopportune moment. But before I could go sprawling, a strong arm wrapped around me like iron, righting me on my feet.

“Thanks,” I croaked, my knees still wobbling.