Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“No, Ava,” Ollie says gently. “This morning, I saw a shadow across the street. Someone might be trying to harass you.”
“Yeah. And after what happened at school this afternoon . . .” Noah takes a deep breath and gives me a worried stare. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone either.”
“Okay. You guys can sleep outside,” I say, hurt reverberating in every syllable. I know I’m being mean, but I can’t help it.
They’re only trying to protect me. It’s not their fault they changed their mind about sleeping with me. Maybe I have a weird “O” face, or maybe I have too much cellulite.
Point is, something turned them off. I’m pretty sure the only reason they're still here at all is because at this point, they’d look like assholes if they left me to deal with Joseph on my own.
I don’t blame them. They’re well within their rights to change their minds. And it’s awfully nice of them to continue helping me with my case even though they've lost interest in me.
But I need my room to myself. I need my bed to myself. With six adults in the same bed, even a king size feels claustrophobic.
I know, logically, that I should treat them nice so they’ll continue to stay and help me with the lawsuit, sex or no sex.
But my heart hurts, and my eyes are starting to sting. I don’t want anyone to see me cry myself to sleep. What if they notice? And oh god, what if they offer me pity sex?
“Ava, you need to know that we like you a lot—all of us,” Mason says. His words are met with nods from his brothers. “That’s why we want to take this slow.”
“Yeah,” Nathan agrees. “We know we’re a lot to handle. Even our parents couldn’t stand having all of us in the house all the time. We drove them to divorce because we were too much.”
Nervous laughter fills the room, and I attempt a smile. I don’t know how convincing my acting is, though, because I’m on the verge of tears already.
“We just don’t want to scare you, Ava. Most women get overwhelmed by one man,” Nathan says.
“Not saying you’re going to get overwhelmed by us,” Noah adds.
“Not at all,” Nathan confirms.
“You have a lot of strength and patience, Ava, and we think you might be able to handle us, but let’s take things slow, okay?” Liam asks.
“Yeah. Okay,” I say in a small voice. I hope if I speak softly enough, they won’t notice I’m upset. I turn to my side, sinking down on the mattress and burying myself with the covers.
It’s ridiculous to cry over this, but it would be more ridiculous if I were to do it in front of them.
“Good night, Ava,” Liam says as he kisses my temple.
It feels like torture as the other Hunter brothers give me a kiss one by one. They feel so warm. They smell so enticing. They treat me so nicely. They . . . don't want me.
I was so stupid. I let myself believe something that was impossible.
Why would five gorgeous men want an average-looking teacher like me? What's so special about me?
I should be glad they’re here at all.
Ugh. Why do I feel so lonely as soon as they close the door, even though I asked them to leave myself?
They’re right outside, for god’s sake. There’s no reason for me to miss them.
And yet, I do . . .
Ollie
“Did we do the right thing?” I ask my brothers at the dining table.
Sun rays flood in through the big windows in our mom’s kitchen, filling the dining area where we’re sitting with natural light, making the space appear even more vibrant than it usually does.
Bold bursts of colors and lots of floral patterns dominate this house. If I’m being honest, it all looks a little over the top. It wasn't always like this, but Mom went a little crazy personalizing the house after Dad moved out.
Despite the happy surroundings, there may as well be a little raincloud hanging over the table right now. There’s no hint of a smile, much less laughter.
My brothers just shrug at my question. Nobody seems to know anything this morning.
Poor Sally’s going to freak out again about us taking yet another day off. Hell, at this rate, it looks like we won’t be “working remotely” at all. We may as well be taking a vacation.
Important business decisions are being put on hold, and it's all because there's a woman who's upset with us. This is unprecedented.
This morning, Ava slipped out of the house without even saying anything. Nobody even saw her.
We only realized she was gone when Nathan, who’d also prepared breakfast from the stuff he’d bought last night, went looking for her because her food was getting cold.
In the end, we let all the bacon strips, sausages, and eggs grow cold. We didn’t have much appetite after finding out Ava was gone.