Stay With Me(12)

She glanced down at her wedding ring and idly twisted the band in circles around her finger. It wasn’t a traditional ring. No simple band with a flashy engagement ring on top. They’d chosen a design with three twisting ropes intertwined. One continuous circle, no beginning or ending.

Two years ago, Logan and Rhys had tried to talk her into one of those ostentatious rocks. They felt she deserved something big and expensive now that their financial situation had improved so drastically, but she’d said no. She liked her ring. She didn’t want or need bigger and better, not when her first ring held such a wealth of meaning.

So much had changed since their days of barebones existence living hand-to-mouth. But they’d been happy. God, those were the best days of her life. No, they didn’t have much money, but it hadn’t mattered to her. It never had. What she did have was their love and complete devotion.

The three of them had been together since their early days in college. Logan had come from a dirt-poor family and was only able to attend university via a scholarship. He’d always been the most determined to make something of himself.

Rhys’ mother had worked two jobs to make sure he could go to college. When she died during his sophomore year, he’d vowed to see her dream of him graduating and becoming successful come true. Catherine and Logan had gone with him to her funeral, and Rhys had stood there at her grave, head bowed. Catherine had held his hand as he whispered his goodbye to his mother—and his vow to make her proud.

Catherine took another sip of her juice and stared over the water, lost in her memories. Looking back, she couldn’t really pinpoint when things had changed from friendship between the three of them to something more. She’d been deeply conflicted about her feelings for both men and desperate not to lose either of them, even if it meant suppressing anything beyond friendship.

Logan, being Logan, had simply brought things to a head one night in their tiny apartment. He’d asked Rhys very bluntly if he loved Catherine. Rhys looked stunned—and guilty—as though he knew Logan loved her as well and that his admission would be a betrayal. But neither could he tell her to her face that he didn’t love her.

Logan very matter-of-factly informed Rhys and Catherine that he also loved her. Then he calmly asked her how she felt about them. It had taken several moments for her to gather her courage and lay it on the line. She loved them both.

They hadn’t immediately had all the answers. They already lived together, so embarking on a much deeper relationship had been easy. Logan and Rhys were extremely protective of her, not wanting the true nature of their relationship to become public. So outside the privacy of their apartment, they remained three best friends.

As they grew more secure in their relationship, they shed caution. Logan began to talk about a permanent arrangement. Marriage. More and more, he and Rhys didn’t care that others knew they loved the same woman. And Catherine? As long as she had their love, nothing else mattered to her.

Wanting to show a visible connection to both men, she legally changed her last name to Cullen, and then she married Logan, taking his last name as well.

A shadow fell over her, obscuring the sun from her face. Dragged from her thoughts, she glanced up to see Rhys looking much as he had the night before. Haggard and tired. Worried.

“Can I sit?” he asked hesitantly.

She shrugged and gestured to the empty chair across from her. The waiter appeared, and Rhys ordered coffee and breakfast.

“You’re not eating,” he said as he stared at her simple glass of juice.

“I wasn’t hungry.”

He looked down then lifted his gaze to the distant waves. The breeze ruffled his dark hair, and she studied the lines around his eyes and firm mouth. Those lines weren’t there five years ago. Back then he’d always had a ready smile, teasing and fun.

The light had gone out of his green eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen joy reflected in their depths.

She blinked when he caught her studying him.

“I was worried, Cat,” he said quietly.

She shrugged again, unsure of how else to react.

Anger fired in his eyes, surprising her. Emotion. Apparently he was still capable of it, even if it was only anger.

“You didn’t used to be so flip,” he accused. “God, Cat, I thought you’d walked out on us.”

She eyed him calmly, though beneath the surface she seethed like a cauldron. “What makes you think I haven’t walked out?”

His eyes narrowed, and his lips tightened.

“Why should I stay, Rhy?” she asked quietly. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t leave.”

“I love you,” he growled. “That should damn well be reason enough.”

She smiled sadly then sat back, bringing the glass of juice to her lips. She took a small sip then pulled it away from her mouth, letting it dangle in front of her vision, something to focus on.

She glanced up at him. “Do you remember what it was like before we got married?”

His brows drew together in confusion. She ignored him and went on.

“Us three sharing a one-bedroom apartment, eating beans and franks, stocking up on ramen noodles because it was all we could afford. The foot rubs you used to give me when I came home from a double shift at the diner.”

She stared dreamily off into the distance as those memories wrapped her in their warm embrace.