by Saffron Blu
Dom shrugged. “Gary would love a scandal getting out and having Running Hearts trending on all the socials.”
I shook my head reverently. “And Gary can fuck off. I’m ready to come out to you and the guys. I’m not exactly ready to deal with the world’s reaction just yet. Gary isn’t milking a scandal from my life.”
I’d probably never be able to fix things with Sam, but Will was another story. Even if he’d never forgive me for what I did to Sam and didn’t want to try things with just the two of us, we both deserved the truth, and I needed my truth out there.
Chapter Forty-Five
WILL
I waited by the stage like a freaking idiot for god knows how long. The only saving grace was that at least I had a front-row seat to an amazing show by Darius. I could see why Big D had gotten such a big following. He was fucking brilliant. His lyrics were so relatable, even to me. And I’d never been a fan of rap music. I was more of a country guy. Hence, why when we originally got the band together, that was the lane we were heading in. Thankfully, that was also the way the band had gone since I joined up again. As much as I didn’t mind their previous sound, what we sang now had so much more heart, even if most of it was currently about heartbreak and pain.
A hand fell on my shoulder, making me jump, and I turned to find Matt, his eyes sparkling with determination. He stepped close to me, so close I felt the need to move backward, but I fought the urge. The look on his face had me intrigued. Although we’d gotten our friendship back on track over the last few months, there was a huge wall between us, but this felt so different, I wanted to know what he was thinking.
“I had an epiphany earlier,” he started. I nodded in acknowledgment, not wanting to ruin his train of thought. “I’ve been an idiot. Because I love you. “
My heart leaped in my chest as he carried on speaking. I’d never thought I’d hear those three words from him.
“I’ve loved you since we were kids fooling around. I just wasn’t brave enough to prove it.”
His last sentence made me quirk a brow. “And you’re brave enough now?”
His eyes dropped to my lips, and that’s all the warning I got before he crushed his mouth against mine in a kiss full of passion and love. I heard the whispers around us backstage, and I broke the kiss in a panic. “Matt, people are watching.”
“I don’t care. Let them,” he said before once again taking my lips with his. I gasped in shock, and he took advantage by pushing his tongue inside my mouth. I groaned as it stroked mine and grasped his hips with my hands, pulling his groin against mine. I felt his cock harden against mine and ground against him.
A throat cleared behind us.
Matt didn’t jump back as I’d expected, so I pulled back, breaking the kiss and weighed him up.
“What?” he asked, a smile playing on his lips.
“Have you two finished sucking face yet? Because I’m pretty sure the band is long overdue a celebration,” Dom stated from behind Matt.
Matt laughed and slapped me on the chest as he stepped back. “Stop looking so worried. I told you I was brave enough to prove I love you.”
Dom nodded. “Come on, love birds, let’s go find Kat and Al. Kat’s gonna love this,” he offered, pointing between the two of us.
Us. It had been months since I thought we had a chance at being a thing, and now here we were, Matt being open and out with me. Just like I’d dreamed. The thought of Sam flitted through my mind, but when Matt pressed a quick peck against my lips before tugging me, his hand wrapped in mine to follow Dom.
I’d been lost for years, just floating along with the wind, but now that Matt was holding my hand and kissing me in public, I was finally tethered.
Chapter Forty-Six
SAM
As I sat on the plane and watched Aimee try to settle Thea as the flight took off and her little ears popped, I wondered if we were doing the right thing. Dom deserved to know he had a daughter, and Aimee had searched for so long to find a way to contact him that giving this a go was the best and only way.
Once Aimee found out she was pregnant and realized how she’d only be repeating history having a child with a guy who would have no choice but to be a distant father, she felt her only option was an abortion. When Dom came to the conclusion that Aimee wasn’t going to change her mind, he left the clinic, unable to watch the life being erased.
Aimee couldn’t go through with it, though. And by the time she left the clinic, Dom was long gone.
She’d tried everything to get in touch with him but having been in each other’s company twenty-four-seven since the accident, they hadn’t exchanged numbers, just as I hadn’t with Matt or Will. Even calling their manager, Gary, was of no use. All he wanted was for Aimee to disappear with a nice chunk of money he offered because Dom was writing the best songs of his life—full of pain and angst.
Obviously, Aimee didn’t take the money, but it left her with no way to find Dom, so she settled down until she could figure something out.
When we got tickets for the red carpet event at the music awards show we were now heading to, she hoped it would be a way to talk to Dom.
I just prayed they’d hang around long enough for Aimee to catch Dom’s attention, or else we’d be going back to the drawing board.
I knew deep down we were doing the right thing, but Aimee connecting with Dom meant I’d be seeing Matt and Will again.
Having followed them over the months via the media and whatever interviews I could find, I knew the tension between them had never gone. The fact that Matt had never tried to contact me again after walking out in the middle of the night, not even to give me an explanation as to why, had me harboring some anger toward him. I wasn’t certain that I’d be able to spend two minutes in the same room as him without snapping. You never know, maybe he’d still want to avoid me and stay well away.
I couldn’t decide if that was an option I preferred or not.
The guy beside me huffed. “I hope we won’t have to put up with this for the whole flight,” he grumbled to his wife beside him, not bothering to lower his voice as he glared past me toward Aimee and Thea.
We were in a four-seat row since it was a long flight, and Aimee needed a bassinet for Thea. Aimee bristled beside me, but she didn’t stop murmuring soothingly to the upset baby in her arms to acknowledge the rude guy next to me.
My anger boiled, and I turned on him. “Look, she’s doing all she can. Are your ears popping?”
He frowned. “Yeah?”
“Well, imagine you’re a little baby who doesn’t understand what it is or why, just that it’s uncomfortable and maybe even hurting.” His face fell a little, and I hoped that meant he realized what a douche he was being. “Yeah, give them a goddamn break.”
I shifted in my seat so my back was to the douchebag and offered Aimee a wicked grin when she met my eyes.
“Thank you,” she mouthed while keeping up the gentle, rhythmic patting on Thea’s bottom. Thea’s cries had changed from ear-piercing whaling to an intermittent whine. Whether it was the comfort Aimee was offering or just that Thea was tiring herself out, I didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter. If it wouldn’t stress both Aimee and Thea out, I’d like the crying to go on longer just to piss off the douchebag next to me.
An hour into the flight, Thea was well and truly out for the count, and Aimee was able to lay her in the bassinet that the flight attendant had set up once the seat belt sign went out.
We both took in turns to use the bathroom, and when I came back, the guy from the seat beside me was nowhere to be seen, and his wife was in his seat.
She gave me a small smile as I sat down. “I’m sorry about earlier.” Her eyes flicked from mine to Aimee’s over my shoulder, making it clear she was addressing us both.
I shook my head, but it was Aimee who spoke. “I don’t need an apology from you, you did nothing wrong. It’s your husband who should be apologizing.”
She glanced nervously over the back of
the chairs toward the bathrooms. “I know, but you deserve an apology, and I know my husband well enough to be aware that he won’t give you one.”
“That’s on him, not you.” The husband came back before anyone could say more. I was quite sure Aimee was done with the conversation, anyway, since she was already tucking her neck pillow into place and settling back in her seat to sleep.
My mind wasn’t quite ready to shut off yet, so I slipped on the headphones and skimmed through the movies trying to find something that would entertain me for a while. Nothing jumped out at me, so accepting defeat, I turned off the screen and slid the headphones into the pocket on the wall in front of me.
“Is your mind running wild, too?” Aimee’s voice made me jump. I’d thought she’d fallen asleep already.
“Shit.” I placed a hand over my rapidly beating heart as I tried to calm my breaths down. “Yeah. My mind is more than a little busy. I’m guessing yours is probably worse, though. How are you feeling?”
Aimee shook her head as she stared at her daughter’s sleeping form in the bassinet. “Nervous. Terrified. I know it’s the right thing for Thea. Even if he doesn’t want anything to do with me, he has the right to be in his daughter’s life.”
Typical Aims, always thinking of everyone else and what was good for them. She never put herself first. That was why I was here. I wanted to make sure she got what she needed. Even if she didn’t get what she wanted, she’d get the support she’d need, no matter what.
Matt could ignore me. He could parade a squadron of girls in front of me, and I’d still stick around to support my best friend. That was one of the reasons I never told her about what happened between Matt, Will, and me, even though she had no idea Will was ever involved. She was going through so much with Dom and the pregnancy, I wasn’t giving her more to worry about. By the time Thea arrived, it felt like so much time had passed that I didn’t have a right to be bothered by it anymore. I should’ve moved on, ‘should’ being the operative word. I’d concluded that was something I’d never get over or even come to terms with. But it wasn’t worth worrying my best friend over. If she ever found out, she’d feel betrayed I’d kept so much from her. To be honest, I was worried about how things would go down once we all ended up in the same room.
Would I be able to keep a lid on everything, or would it be a fruitless battle? I didn’t know, but I was willing to risk it all to be there for my friend when she needed me most.
Even if it meant I’d be all alone when I needed someone to be there for me.
Chapter Forty-Seven
MATT
Dom paced the front room of his parents’ house as we waited for Aimee and baby Thea to arrive. It was such a shock hearing she’d turned up at the awards night with a baby in tow, making it more than obvious she hadn’t gone through with the abortion.
Just the thought of all that wasted time made me feel nauseous. I couldn’t imagine what Dom was going through, thinking of all the things he’d missed throughout Aimee’s pregnancy. Not that it was any fault of Aimee’s, she’d apparently tried everything to get in touch with Dom. She’d even called Gary, who had offered to pay her off to stop trying to contact Dom. Obviously, she didn’t take the money, but at that point, she knew she had no chance of getting to Dom via Gary.
“For fuck’s sake, Dom, stop pacing. You’re making me dizzy,” Kat complained as she tugged on his arm and pulled him down to sit beside her on the sofa.
Dom ran a hand through his hair and tugged on the ends. “It’s been a couple of days since I saw her. What if she changed her mind and went back to Australia?”
“Son, you said she spent the whole of her pregnancy trying to get in touch with you, so she isn’t going to walk away now that she has found you,” Rosa said as she took a seat on his other side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
There was a gentle knock on the door, and Dom jumped up from the chair and all but ran out the room in a rush to open the front door. Laughter filled the room, and Will squeezed my hand in his.
Ever since we’d kissed at Big D’s concert a few weeks ago, we’d been openly dating. I hated myself for treating him like I did over the years, but it seemed like Will had forgiven me. He reminded me almost daily to look forward and remember past mistakes are in the past for a reason—learn and do better.
We’d spoken in length about Sam and tried to contact her via her social media pages speaking in code just in case someone else found them, but she never replied, so we assumed they’d gotten lost in her message request folder since they were never accepted or shown as read.
Now that Dom and Aimee were back in touch, I hoped we’d be able to contact Sam in other ways, but as much as I wanted to march up to her and demand Sam’s cell number from her now, I’d promised Will I would at least give Dom and Aimee today before I did that.
“One more day, babe,” Will reminded me, clearly knowing me well enough to know where my mind was. He pressed a chaste kiss to my mouth and pulled back as the sound of a baby’s cry came closer.
Dom was our best friend and brother in every way but blood, and we were more than a little excited to meet our niece. Aimee had barely made it into the room when everyone surrounded her to get a look at the dark-haired bundle in her arms.
Dom turned on us all, blocking our access. “Guys… give them some space. You’ll all get a cuddle.”
“You can have one of Thea, too,” Aimee joked, setting off a round of laughter that seemed to break the little tension that could be felt.
Aimee handed the crying bundle over to Dom, who was staring down at the baby with a mixed look of amazement and terror. “She’s crying,” he stated as if nobody had noticed.
“She’s just hungry. I should’ve fed her before we left, but I thought her daddy might like that job.”
The front door clicked shut, and we heard footsteps heading toward us. “Have no fear, Thea, Aunt Sam is here with your beverage of choice.”
My heart rate picked up at the sound of her voice, her unique German-American accent. Will’s hand tightened around mine, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the doorway as I waited for Sam to come into sight.
A hand with a bottle appeared first, and my eyes traveled over her, taking in every inch as the rest of her came into view. She was thinner than she’d been when I last saw her, and I had the sudden urge to feed her. Had she not been eating?
“Here, it’s still warm,” she said as she offered the bottle to Dom, who just stared at it. Sam shook her head. “Just hold it like this, and she’ll do the rest,” she told him, placing the teat in the baby’s mouth. Dom took hold of the bottle, not tearing his eyes away from the baby’s face for even a second.
Sam’s gaze traveled around the room, stopping on mine and Will’s joined hands. I’d expected her to be upset or mad, but a smile played across her lips, and her eyes lifted with it too. She walked over to us, stopping a few feet away, which was too far in my eyes. “Hey!”
Will let go of my hand and closed the distance by pulling her into his arms. “It’s good to see you, Samantha.” After a second’s hesitation, Sam’s arms tightened around his back as she returned the hug. They broke apart, and both turned back to me. Sam stepped forward as though she wanted to hug me, but I stood frozen to the spot.
Will waved her toward me. “Don’t mind him, it seems he’s lost a few brain cells since you walked in the door. Just hug him, and he’ll hug you back when he gets control over his body again.”
She giggled and took his advice, wrapping her arms around me tentatively. Her caution pulled me out of my stupor, and I was quick to squeeze her back.
“I’m so sorry, Sammy,” I whispered against her hair.
She started shaking in my embrace, and I could only assume she was crying since she was holding me so tight with her face pressed against my chest, but I had no way of seeing if I were right. I flicked my worried gaze to Will before checking out the rest of the room. Everyone was occupied with Aimee and the baby, so
when I returned my gaze to Will, and he gestured for us to slip out of the room, I lowered my head to whisper in Sam’s ear, “Come on, Sammy, we’ll find somewhere more private so we can talk.”
She discreetly wiped at her eyes as she let me go, and I guided her out of the room behind Will. We had a lot to talk about. Although her actions suggested she wasn’t harboring any anger toward me, I needed her to hear my apology. Finally, having her in my arms felt right, and I was well aware she deserved an explanation about how I left Australia before we could even think of moving forward.
I knew for certain both Will and I were on the same page when it came to the future. We wanted Sam in our lives for the long term, and we wanted her to be part of this. Us.
The question was, did she want to move forward with us?
Epilogue
SAM - TWO YEARS LATER
I rolled over in the giant bed I shared with the men in my life and immediately found Matt, who was being the big spoon to my little one. I grinned when I felt another set of hands come to rest against my hip. Matt always slept in the middle, but Will made an effort to ensure he was touching me in some way. It made me feel wanted by both of them because I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that when we first started out as a threesome, I was worried since they had all that history, Will was only interested in Matt. Then, I’d fall into the third wheel of the relationship, but he’d made it obvious on more than one occasion in the last two years that he was just as attracted to me as Matt is.
Matt’s eyes flickered open, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead. I snuggled in against his chest, inhaling the musk that was pure Matt. I wish I could bottle that scent.
“Morning,” Will said, and I could imagine him pressing a kiss to the side of Matt’s neck. Will had a thing for necks. He’d run his finger up and down the lengths of either of our necks, the tender action making me weak in the knees pretty much every time.