his own weariness settling in. “Yes and no. She knew a different version of me back then—one who wanted a big family and a house in the country. You know, all those dreams that change and shift as you figure out who you are.”
Her lips lifted at the corner. “Farmer Andre?”
He laughed. “Oh, hell, no. My sister got my dad’s veterinarian genes. Taking care of animals and crops and shit—way too much work. I just wanted the open space.”
“And the family?” she asked, her tone a little too nonchalant.
He smiled and bent to kiss her. He knew kids were a touchy topic for Evan. She’d had to place a baby for adoption when she was a teen, and it still haunted her a bit even though it had been the right decision for her at the time. “I have a family, bella. You and Jace are my family. My heart and my house are full. I don’t need anything else.”
She sighed and laid her cheek to his chest, but he couldn’t tell if it was a happy sigh or not. “Can we go home now?”
“Yeah, sure. You okay?” he asked, running a hand over her head.
“Not sure. That food really messed with my stomach. Remind me to never eat sushi in a landlocked state.”
“Words to live by.” He let her go and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Let’s get you home and into bed.”
She gave him a wan smile. “Always trying to get me into bed.”
“You know it.” But the humor in his voice didn’t match the concern that filled him when she turned and one of the ballroom lights illuminated her face. Evan always had a fair complexion, but she looked particularly pale tonight, the spots beneath her eyes taking on a bruised tone. Bad sushi or not, one thing was clear: she was worn the fuck out. He and Jace were supposed to take care of her, and they obviously hadn’t been doing their job.
Even though they were both dominant and liked to control things, they tried not to interfere with Evan’s schedule. Her work was her passion. But she also could go overboard and work herself to death, which was completely unnecessary. She’d grown up in a situation where every penny made was precious, but that wasn’t her life anymore. They didn’t need the money. She didn’t need to run herself down.
Andre tucked all of the lenses back into the right bags and helped Evan collect her tripod and the rest of her equipment, then led her out to the car. By the time they got home, she was sound asleep in the passenger seat. He took a moment to watch her—dark lashes over pale cheeks, the rise and fall of her breath, the way her lips curved into an almost smile when she rested. His bella, quietly beautiful in a way that Martine could never hold a candle to. This girl filled him up.
He lifted her out of the car and carried her upstairs, passing Jace, who’d apparently fallen asleep on the couch waiting up for them. Andre smiled.
No, he didn’t have what he’d thought he wanted.
But he definitely had what he needed. And if he sometimes got pangs for things he used to want, that was okay, too. He’d make those sacrifices a thousand times over to be with these two people. No one could have it all. And he had more than he deserved.
After he tucked Evan into bed, he pulled Martine’s card from his pocket and tossed it in the trash. That past had no place in his life anymore.
Jace blinked and rubbed his eyes, disoriented for a second until he realized he’d fallen asleep on the couch. The living room was dark except for the flashing light of the TV, and the arm he’d laid his head on had gone numb beneath him. He groaned, shaking out his arm, and sat up. He glanced toward the hallway that led to their bedroom. Had Evan and Andre come home and left him on the couch? That wasn’t like them. But before he could pull his thoughts together, noise from the kitchen drew his attention.
He pushed himself up from the couch and padded barefoot into the kitchen, where he found Andre fixing a bowl of cereal. Jace leaned against the doorway, watching the quiet, efficient moves of his lover, still amazed at how differently he saw Andre now. They’d lived together as best friends and roommates for years, and Jace had put such a friend wall up that he’d blocked out the attraction growing between them. But now that the truth had come out, he found it impossible not to see the guy for what he was—gorgeous and his. “We still have some lasagna left over in the fridge if you want something more substantial.”
Andre looked back over his shoulder. “Oh, hey. No, this is fine. And sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Jace scratched his chest and yawned. “No worries. You know the rule. If you wake someone up, be prepared to get them off.”
Andre laughed. “Oh, is that right? Is this a newly minted edict?
“Yep.”
“Uh-huh. So every time you wake me up with your snoring, I should nudge you awake and demand a blow job?”
Jace grinned. “I can work with that.”
Andre’s gaze traveled over Jace’s bare chest, interest sparking there, but then he seemed to dismiss the thought, a distracted look crossing his features. He pushed himself up to sit on the counter and grabbed his bowl of cereal. “You didn’t have to wait up for us. She told you we’d be late.”
Jace shrugged and stepped into the kitchen. “The bed feels too empty when y’all are gone. Plus, I had to catch up on some work stuff anyway.”
“Work stuff,” Andre said, frowning. “Feels like that’s all we’re doing lately.”
Jace went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. “Yeah, it’s been a crazy few months for all of us.”
“You’re not kidding. I thought we were all holding it together pretty well with our schedules. But tonight I got a chance to see Evan at work. She’s wearing herself down, man,” Andre said between bites of cereal. “She fell asleep in the car on the way home and said she wasn’t feeling well.”
Jace straightened, that tidbit raising his concern. “Is she sick?”
“Not sure. Maybe. Even if she isn’t, she’s running herself down.” His gaze darted toward the doorway as if to make sure Evan hadn’t appeared. “I want to talk to her about it and suggest she take a break, but I also don’t want to come across like a controlling asshole.”
Jace turned, the worry in Andre’s voice becoming his own. Telling Evan to slow down would be a risky conversation. She liked to stay busy. She’d suffered from depression in her past, and Jace got the feeling that always being on the move and staying occupied were her ways of making sure it never returned. He wasn’t convinced she trusted happiness yet. Every time she’d had a glimmer of it before, it had been yanked away. So he understood that it would take some time for her to fully believe that what she, Jace, and Andre had was real and lasting.
But he also didn’t want her driving herself into the ground in the meantime. Because unlike in the past, she had him and Andre for support now. If any bad feelings tried to claim her again, they would be there for her and help her through it.
But
