Jaden (Jaded #3)(21)

My mouth went dry. “What do you mean?”

“The two of us are going to remain friends, but once you pick, the person you don’t choose steps away from you.”

“Me?”

Bryce nodded.

They were serious, dead serious. I didn’t know how I felt about this.

Bryce’s tone sounded harsh. “We’ve discussed it. Whoever you don’t choose steps back from you, but not each other. We’ll still be friends.”

“But—” My mind was racing. I was going to lose one of them. “You told me this wouldn’t happen. I would still have both of you.” I needed them. They were my family.

“You’ll still have us.”

“But.” I pressed my fingers to my temples. A headache was coming on. “You’re not making sense.”

“We’ll both care about you. That won’t go away, and yes, we’ll both still be here for you, but not in the way you want. Not in the daily way. If you need us, like really truly need us, we’ll be here for you,” Corrigan said.

Bryce finished for him softly, “But it’s not going to be how you want it. We’re still family. We’ll be here for you if you need us, but not every day. It’s like we’re a family member that moved away. Every now and then maybe we can see you, but not every day. It can’t be like that, Sheldon.”

Corrigan added, “It’s the fairest way to do it.”

I was going to lose one of them. No matter how they were saying it, I would lose one of my family members.

Bryce was studying me, and he pressed his lips together. “Stop whatever you’re thinking. Stop it. This is the right way to do it, and you can’t deny this. You fell in love with both of us, and that’s not fair.”

“But—”

“Stop, Sheldon.” Corrigan was scowling now. “We don’t lose both of you this way. It would happen anyway. Once you picked, that other person would have to go away anyway.”

“But—”

“Just stop, Sheldon.” Bryce and Corrigan were right next to each other. They were looking at me with the same determined expressions, and they had decided. I had no decision in the matter. The lump got a shot of testosterone and grew to a goliath size in my throat.

They were right. No matter what, I would lose one of them.

I jerked my head in a nod. “Okay.” I took a shuddering breath in. “Okay.” Then I let it out.

“All right.” Denton’s cheerful voice was like a knife breaking the tension in the room. It was jarring and almost brought me to tears. Feeling them coming, I pressed a hand to my eye and turned away.

Denton didn’t notice. He was heading back for us. He clapped his hands together. “Papa Neil and Step-Girlfriend-Mama are all settled. I don’t need to worry about their staff. I guess they have their own protocols or whatever, but I put a bunch of wine and champagne on ice. Everything’s set up downstairs and waiting for us to party the night away.” He was grinning from ear to ear. “What do you guys say? Are we good to get our booze on?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My throat was burning.

“Yes.” Corrigan stepped forward. “We’re ready.”

There was a moment of silence.

Denton asked, “Sheldon?”

Bryce said over him, “Sheldon, you ready?”

No.

My throat wouldn’t stop burning.

He stepped closer and put an arm around my shoulders. Turning me forward, he nodded at Denton. “She’s good to go. Let’s forget about the shitstorm going on for the night and have fun.”

“Oh . . . sure . . .” I felt Denton’s gaze on me.

The decision was made. It was final. They made it without me, and they were letting me know I had to accept it. It was how it was going to be, but f*ck— it hurt to swallow that. Then I jerked my head in another nod. “Yeah.” It was the right thing to do. “I’m good to go. Let’s get shitfaced tonight.”

I had to say goodbye to one of them.

“All right then.” The cheerful tone had waned from Denton. His grin faded as well, and he started back down the hallway. “I suppose follow me then?”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The police were notified of everything that happened; that my dad’s security team found evidence of fireworks-gone-wrong. When Neil got the news, he was sitting across from me at the breakfast table and immediately looked at me, then Corrigan, and Bryce. His eyes went flat. His lips pressed together in a firm line, and he let out a loud disapproving sigh before murmuring into the phone, “Fine. Yes, canvass any neighbors to see if they could’ve gotten onto the property.” His gaze came back to me and stayed. “But I have a feeling you won’t find much.”

Bryce was at the coffee machine. Corrigan had just sat down with toast on his plate, and I had lifted my own coffee cup to my lips for a sip. Everyone stopped what they were doing. Denton came into the room then and halted abruptly, looking around at everyone. A quick frown appeared, and then he shrugged, sliding into one of the empty chairs. He swung his head around the room with an easy grin. “How’s everyone doing this morning?”

No one answered.

My dad ended his call. The disapproval seemed to have doubled, and he looked among all three of us again, Denton excluded because, hello—puppy dog smile and innocent eyes. No. My dad knew who had been behind the explosions now.