Page 85 of Double Dare

“Get those fucking forms filled out, Laken. You’re ours now.” I grin at her.

Kade watches her smile at me, unable to take his eyes off her. When he blinks and tries to banish the wetness in his eyes, Laken notices. She reads him as well as I do, and she knows he needs a minute. Emotions aren’t always easy, even happy ones. Sometimes, we just need a minute alone to feel them.

Chapter 33

Laken loves me. She’s in love with me.

My heart is beating out of my chest and my throat is clogging up with…relief? Why the fuck am I reacting this way? I’ve wanted this for so long and now I’m trembling under the weight of her confession and finally being able to tell her how I feel.

I think a part of me always assumed I’d remain on the outside, and to be honest, I thought I was okay with that. But no. To hear her say those words and know she means them, I know for sure I never would have been okay to remain on the outskirts of her love. She’s mine. Ours. We’re hers. I’m an equal in this, just the same as Jed and Laken are.

I want to cry or laugh or breakdown or something stupid like that. What the actual fuck is happening to me? Why am I heavy with emotions and what are these emotions? Why does being happy make me want to cry?

I’ve watched her love my brother since she got here, and I’ve watched him love her. On top of that, I’ve watched my family fall in love with her and welcome her into our house like she was always meant to be there. She meshes in our world, fits right in, and has become such a big part of us I can finally let all my guilt and reservations go, and love her the way I’ve always wanted to.

I love you, Kade. I’m in love with you.

Those words and this moment will never leave my heart. I will forever remember this as the happiest moment of my fucking life, and as lame as that sounds, it’s true. All the pining, the bitching, the deal with Maeve, and the broken heart were worth it because Laken loves me the same way I love her. I’m the luckiest asshole in the world. I might share her with my brother, which was never a part of my visions, but shit, now that feels right, too.

I sit on the couch like a twat, paralyzed with feelings. Laken walked down the hall, probably to give me a minute, and now I’m just…stuck here, feeling all my feelings and not knowing what to do about them.

“Kade?” Jed asks after a few minutes, snapping me out of whatever I’m stuck in.

“I…do you have a smoke?”

Jed laughs. “Yeah. Come on.”

Do I want him to come with me or do I need a minute to myself? I’m just about to tell him to fuck off and let me be, but then I switch tactics and get up, following him out to the deck.

The night is snowy, windy, and cold as balls, but it feels good against my hot body. Even my face feels hot, and I’m not someone who blushes, so I don’t understand what is happening to me.

I take the lit cigarette from Jed, staring at the covered hot tub, remembering the night we all sat in there and talked about this relationship. We were hung up on the semantics of things, but when Laken suggested we just go for it, we figured out pretty damn fast that we worked well together. Now she loves me, and we have the rest of our lives to learn how to work together in more than just the bedroom.

“You good?” Jed asks, zipping his coat. “I know it can be…heavy.”

Heavy? Is that what this feeling is? Is the weight of Laken’s love heavy? I feel light but brimming with something that I can’t contain. Whole and at peace. Full and…heavy with love. Yeah, that’s what this is. For all my blunt dominance, I’m a fucking sucker for that girl’s love.

My eyes get wet and the wind basically freezes the tears. I do not cry! I don’t even know why I’m crying. What the hell?

“Fuck, I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I tell Jed, because I feel like an idiot.

“You’re happy,” Jed says, shrugging. “Really fucking happy.”

I pace because I can’t stay still. I wipe my eyes before they can freeze entirely, trying to get control of myself. Overwhelmed is an understatement, but I’ve never been more relieved to feel so overwhelmed. I pace and smoke and pace some more, grappling for my sanity.

She loves me.

Jed laughs again, grabbing my coat. “Fuck, man. Come here.”

He pulls me in and I fight it for a second, but when he gives me a one-armed hug, I let him hug me. I’m not a hugging type of person, and I can’t even remember the last time I did this, but he gets it. He knows what it feels like to receive Laken’s love. He knows the emotions and the weight of them, and that’s a bond only the two of us share. We may fuck the same girl and cross all sorts of boundaries, but we definitely don’t hug.

“It’s relief, man. You love her and finally know she loves you back.”

I clear my throat and pull away, looking at my brother. “Fuck, are you sure you’re cool with this?” I don’t know why I’m asking because I know he is, but now that love is on the table, it feels like we should reevaluate. “She was yours first, and I just barged my way in.”

“Stop,” Jed snaps at me. “Fuck, stop.” He smacks my cheeks and then holds his palms there. “It doesn’t matter how it happened. We’re going to live a life full of shit because of this relationship, so let’s not start shit with each other. I don’t know how the fuck it happened, but we’re all…one. You love her, she loves you, and I love her.”

“And she loves you.”