by SM Olivier
We were exiting the back door, hoping to avoid the rest of the people, when Trevor appeared. We all paused momentarily on the screened-in porch.
I felt Trevor’s gaze on me before he turned to look at Wyatt and Corbin. “Why are you insisting that Avery stay in a cabin with you guys?” he growled out.
Corbin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You aren’t her keeper anymore, Trev.”
“She’s still my best friend and−” Trevor insisted.
“And nothing Trev,” Wyatt cut him off. “Best friends don’t do what you did to Avery. You knocked her up and then cheated on her with her sister? Where were you when she lost her baby? Sylvia told me she was with her, that she had to take her to the hospital.”
Trevor's jaw dropped. He looked at me with sad, soulful brown eyes. “You told them that you−”
“Trevor!” I called out in warning before he could continue his tirade. Only Sylvia knew, and I would’ve never told Corbin and Wyatt about that day—I never wanted to turn the brothers on each other.
But Trevor didn’t heed my warning as a bright sheen of tears entered his eyes. “You’ll never know how much I hated myself for not charging my phone and checking it. If I had known you were losing Bella, I would have never started partying that night.”
“Please stop, Trevor!” I pleaded. “I didn’t tell them!” I insisted.
“Oh, hell no,” Corbin cursed quietly, understanding finally entering his eyes as I looked at him. “You’re telling me you screwed Emery the same night Avery was losing the baby?” The cold fury on his face was chilling.
Corbin yelling was formidable. Corbin cold and quiet like this? Dangerous.
Trevor blanched. “I never planned any of that,” he whispered. “I loved Avery. I still do. I was stupid. I shouldn’t have drank that much. I haven’t touched alcohol since that night for that very reason. I lost everything that night.” His eyes were pleading with me to believe him, and… I did. But it didn’t explain why he was still with Emery. People didn’t repeat mistakes.
“Avery and Bella were my future,” Trev said. “I went to our bench on her due date,” he whispered to me as tears fell down his face. “You never came.”
We had a bench in our parents’ town. It was where all our highs and lows had been shared. It was where he’d told me he’d made varsity wrestling. It was where I’d told him I’d made the Junior Olympics. It was where he had told me he’d gotten his scholarship, and where I’d told him about mine. He told me he would marry me on that bench, with a promise ring. I gave him my first sonogram there, with a simple note that said, It’s time to ask… with the watch he now wore, engraved on the back with the words Will You be my Baby Daddy?
I felt my tears coursing down my face and barely noticed Wyatt stroking my arm. “It wasn’t our bench anymore. You don’t repeat mistakes, Trevor. If you really cared about me or Bella’s memories, you wouldn’t have continued a relationship with Emery.” I felt Corbin embrace me gently.
“Emery was there for me, Ave,” Trevor said, his voice trembling with emotion. “She let me cry on her shoulder, made me go to classes, made sure I ate, made sure I took a shower. I was a total wreck after you left me, after we lost Bella. I always loved Emery, just was never in love with her. Then I realized if I couldn’t have you, then she was the closest I would ever get. You weren’t answering my phone calls or texts!” His voice shook more. “Is this your way of getting over me, because I’m still not over you? Is this what this is, payback? I start dating your sister, and you start dating my brother, or is it Wyatt now?”
I brushed my tears away, feeling his hurt and truth. “No, Trevor. You wrecked me. The three months I spent sleeping around and nearly getting molested− when I made the mistake of drinking too much− was my getting over you phase,” I said in a whisper. I saw the devastation on his face and felt Wyatt and Corbin both stiffen beside me. “Me with Corbin or Wyatt or anyone else at this time, is the I’m over you phase. I’ll always love you, and I hope you and Emery find real ove, but the day I realized it wasn’t just her but at least four other girls, I fell out of love with you. Love like yours hurts, Trev. Love shouldn’t hurt like that.”
And that was why high emotions and me didn’t mix. I blurted out things that should stay in the shadows.
With a shaky sigh, I wiped my eyes and turned away. “Can you take me to our cabin?” I muttered to the guys.
“We were on a break, Avery!” Trevor cried plaintively. “I didn’t look for those other girls. They came to me. I didn’t think I had to remain faithful to you if we weren’t technically together.”
“Then why did you continue texting me?” I bit out. “Why did you ask me if I was seeing anybody? You got jealous when you found out I had a study date with Neil. Meanwhile, you’re hooking up with girls left and right. You were pulling away from me, so I let you go. I know now that we got together too young. You were in college, surrounded by beautiful girls. You were curious and maybe even frightened by the thought of me being your first and last. Unlike you, I was perfectly content with that.”
My voice softened. “I genuinely believe you were too drunk to realize you were sleeping with Emery that night. Even I think she made you believe it was me. However, the damage has been done. You chose to walk out on our relationship several times. Now I’m choosing to walk away from you, permanently. I’m hoping with time, we can become friends. Maybe. But I’ll never give you my heart again.”
“Please, Ave,” he pleaded.
“Let’s go,” Wyatt said gruffly to me before turning on Trevor. “Just quit, Trev. You know you fucked up. Do you really believe you deserve her, let alone her forgiveness?”
“Yes. I do, actually,” Trevor said mutinously. “You’re worse than I am, Wyatt. You have a constant stream of women in and out of your bed. You’re a bigger manwhore than I could ever be. Corbin and his friends are no better.” He then looked at me again. “You don’t realize they're going to hurt you worse than I ever could, Avery.”
I made a buzzing noise. “Wrong,” I stated with conviction. “In the short period I’ve known them, and in all the time I’ve known Corbin and Wyatt, they were many things, but being a liar wasn’t one of them. If they ever felt the need to move on, they wouldn’t continue to string me along. They wouldn’t lie to me about their feelings. Can you say the same?”
“So, you really are staying with all five of them…” Trevor stated incredulously. “You know what they do with women, don’t you?”
Corbin turned on him, furious. “First, she knows. Second, we won’t ever damage her like you have. And third, she’s running again. Wanna tell her what happened the last time she ran?”
I turned my shocked gaze on him. What had happened?
“You always took on the mantle of her knight in shining armor, Trev,” Corbin continued. “You may have loved her, but you always took her love for granted, letting her put you on some damn pedestal that you didn’t deserve to be on.”
Trevor blanched. “You promised,” he whispered earnestly.
“What did you promise, Corbin?” I asked in a cold tone. I so was done with the secrets, so done with the lies.
Trevor had hidden so many things from me, knowing they’d hurt me but had always justified his actions. We were broken up. He forgot. He was drunk.
I refused to start another relationship on the same footing.
“Tell her,” Corbin insisted.
Trevor shook his head. “No. You promised!”
“What happened the last time?” I demanded, nearly hysterical.
“Fine, dammit. It wasn’t me!” Trevor cried, his jaw set in anger at his brother. “Avery… It wasn’t me who carried you back to the house or tucked you back in bed when you ran. One night, I lost you. You were sleeping beside me, and in the early morning, you weren’t. I had to tell someone. Corbin went out looking for you. He found you. The second time it happened was when you were living with us. I may have fallen asleep with you, but Corbin
always slept on the floor after we fell asleep. You never left the house again.”
I turned startled eyes on Corbin. Had he done that for me? He’d never told me!
“Are you happy?” Trevor muttered bitterly. “Now I’m a complete monster in her eyes.”
I sighed as I went to Corbin and leaned against him, trying to convey with my touch how much he meant to me. I felt hollow and drained of all emotion as I turned in Corbin’s arms and faced Trevor.
“I don’t think you’re a monster, Trev. I know you’ll always be the man who brakes when an animal crosses the road. Who will still run up ahead to open the door for older women, or give a helping hand to the frazzled mom in the grocery market. Your heart was always good. It was the influences around you that began to poison your brain.
“I meant what I said. I still love you. The good times I had with you outweigh the bad, and someday I hope that we can be friends again. Just don’t push me or try to turn me against the guys. Right now, I’m… happy, and if you ever loved me, you would want me to be content. I’m tired of… despising you. We’re going to see a lot of each other in the upcoming months, maybe even years, and I don’t want our families to suffer anymore. I want us to be able to coexist in peace, and maybe, one day, we can talk and laugh like we used to.”
Chapter 17
“Can we not talk about the time I was getting over Trev?” I muttered as I took a seat on the leather couch.
Uncle Mitch had given us one of the cabins used for bigger families and for hunters. There was a sizable kitchen, with a living room and dining room as soon as you walked into the house. The master bedroom was tucked over to the left with its own bathroom. To the right, another room, complete with a queen bed. Straight ahead were the other two bedrooms, a bathroom, and stairs that up to the loft. The loft could be used as a recreation area or bedroom, and it too had its own bathroom.
“Have you talked to anyone about it?” Wyatt asked.
Wyatt had put Isa in a crib that had already been set up in the corner of the room next to the master.
I nodded mutinously, knowing that was a no to my request. Wyatt and Corbin weren’t going to let it go. “I went through a phase where I wanted to see… if something was wrong with me. I got drunk a lot and hooked up with a few guys. One night, Sylvia and I were on a road trip. We were with these guys who were in a couple of our classes. They brought along a guy that volunteered to drive for us. When we got tired of driving, we stopped at a hotel that had one of those large suites. My hookup and I were in one bedroom, and Sylvia and her partner were in the other room.
“I had an aversion to cuddling. Especially with the guys I hooked up with, no matter how drunk I got. So, later I left the room to get some space. I forgot our DD was crashing on the couch bed, so I curled up on the love seat. I woke up to him offering me water. I don’t remember anything after that. I was so sick the next morning, felt like I had the flu, even for days afterward. I thought my drinking had caught up with me. My misdiagnosis, combined with my plummeting grades, made me decide I was done seeking out meaningless sex and alcohol.
“A few weeks later, our DD was busted for slipping women date rape drugs.” I heard them both growl, but I continued. “I started having these flashbacks. I don’t remember much. Eventually, I sought out a crisis counselor on campus. By then, the guy had admitted to all his crimes. I wasn’t on the list, but when I was able to confront him in prison, he admitted to slipping it into my water. He says he had drunk too much by that point, though, and wasn’t able to get it up. I don’t know if I believe him or not. I remember things. I just don’t remember the whole act…”
I shrugged and stared down at my hands.
“Do you have…” Corbin began tentatively. “Are you afraid of men?”
I twisted my lips bitterly. “I haven’t let a man touch me in months. Well, except you guys. I haven’t had sex, consensual or otherwise, in over four months. If you’re asking if I’m afraid of you…” I paused and dug deep. My actions of late would negate that theory. “No, no, I’m not. Actually, since Axel came into my life, I felt an… awakening.”
I’d had my breakdown after I found out about the DD. That’s why I’d gone to a counselor. He had been helpful in showing me how to process my feelings. The counselor helped me realize that the more I feared intimacy, the more power I was giving that scumbag.
Memories of what the girls had said about me in the mall replayed in my head, and I decided to give them the full disclosure.
“Trevor was my first. We were sixteen when we had sex for the first time. It was awkward. He didn’t know how to hold out. He usually came before I could find my own release. We experimented, learned what each other liked, but to this day, I still have a…problem. I can’t come all the time. I knew it frustrated Trevor. I don’t think he had those issues with the other girls. But I like sex. It feels great to me. I tried to see if I was…broken, and I really think I am. Only one of those guys I hooked up with after Trevor could give me an orgasm, and I was drunk out of my mind, which, I think now, was the only reason. I finally got out of my head.”
I looked up, and Corbin and Wyatt were both watching me with indecipherable looks. It was Wyatt who suddenly spoke.
“Sweetheart, I don’t think it was you. With the right partner, you can come over and over and over again. Sometimes it just takes a little patience and skill, but it can be done. We can show you. When you’re ready,” he hastily added.
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. He seemed confident that it wasn’t me, and I wanted to see if he was right. I stood up and slowly began to unbutton the oversized flannel I was wearing, revealing the Superman bra underneath. Next, I moved my hands to the clasp of my jean shorts.
“There’s no rush Ave,” Corbin said huskily, but his eyes were lit with an inner fire. I could see his appreciative gaze roaming the swell of my breasts that were pushed up over my bra, then onto my narrow waist, my four-pack abs, and the flare of my hips where my jean shorts sat low.
I said nothing as I unbuttoned my shorts and unzipped them, allowing them to pool at my feet. My underwear matched my bra, the S perfectly hovering over my mons.
I heard Wyatt moan before he stepped up behind me. “Tell us how far you want us to go, Ave,” he whispered huskily before his lips found the side of my neck. His tongue darted out, licking my flesh before he nibbled on it.
I groaned the moment he found that sensitive spot behind my ears.
Corbin stepped forward, sandwiching me between his and Wyatt’s bodies. “This is all about you,” Corbin huskily murmured before he began nibbling on my throat.
Their words and their lips turned me on. I could feel the tension settle in my lower belly. A delicious ache spread down to my very core.
“We can be perfectly content just feasting on you, hearing you scream as you come apart on our tongues,” Wyatt said as his hands roamed down my back, down to the swell of my hips and finally to the front of my waistband. His fingers teased, just above my pubic bone.
I found my back arching towards his fingers. My skin felt like it was on fire. Corbin's lips were leaving a trail of heat wherever he touched. Wyatt's fingers made my skin jump in anticipation.
“I want to take these sweet tits out and suck on them, bite them, lick them. Would you like that, baby?” Corbin asked as he began to trace my already erect nipples in lazy circles.
No one had ever bitten my nipples before. I was intrigued.
I moaned. “Please.”
Wyatt released my bra before his lips continued to trail kisses down the nape of my neck and down my spine. I felt the cool air brush against my nipples and heard Corbin growl out in satisfaction.
“They're perfect,” Cor muttered before he laved one of my nipples with his tongue. He did the same to the other side, and I began to rock my hips restlessly against Wyatt’s fingers.
I cried out when Corbin finally latched onto one of my peaks. He scraped his teeth against my sensitive nipple before tug
ging. The sharp pain wasn’t…unpleasant. In fact, it felt like a string was tied to them and my core. I felt my ache grow to insurmountable proportions.
“Please,” I cried out when Corbin switched to my other breast.
“What do you want, sweetheart?” Wyatt inquired as his fingers traced the outside of my panties.
I found myself separating my thighs, giving him better access to where I really wanted him to be.
“I can feel her heat through her panties, Cor,” Wyatt moaned out. “Avery,’ he said then, in a slightly commanding voice. “Do you want me to feel how wet you are?”
I nodded eagerly.
Corbin chuckled deeply. “So responsive,” he murmured, tugging my nipple with his teeth. “Do you want just his fingers, or his mouth too?”
They paused, and I nodded.
“Use your words,” Wyatt commanded once more. This dominant side of Wyatt turned me on. He was the laid back one. He never demanded anything from anyone.
“Both,” I moaned out when I realized they weren’t going to continue unless I told them what I wanted.
Corbin growled while Wyatt hummed his approval. “Take her to her room,” Wyatt ordered Corbin before he strode past us.
Corbin lifted me and followed Wyatt. His long strides ate up the distance in no time. My eyes widened in appreciation when I saw Wyatt, now shirtless, standing by the bed. He emptied his pockets next and put some things on the nightstand. I had no time to appreciate the room before Corbin was placing me in the middle of the bed.
I turned my head to look at the muscles in Wyatt’s chest flex in movement as he unbuttoned his cargo pants. He made no move to remove them as he looked over and smirked at me. He knew I liked what I saw. He wasn’t nearly as broad or big as Axel or Corbin, but he still had excellent muscle tone, six-pack abs, and defined arms.
“Do you like what you see?” he asked with a small smile.
“I haven’t seen it all,” I said boldly. I think I surprised us both.
“How much more do you want to see?” Corbin asked as the bed dipped beneath his body weight on the opposite side of the bed.