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When we got backstage, Atkins gave me the biggest hug of all. “I knew you had it in you,” he whispered while holding me close. “You have so much potential, Nadia. You’re going to go far.”
I didn’t have any words, so I just held him and struggled not to cry.
When he released me, I found myself surrounded by four men. My favorite four men who I’d lived with and grown close to.
Dorian took my hands in his first. After all the praise from Atkins and the cast, I was expecting the same from him. So when he did speak, I was shocked.
“I love you,” Dorian said. “I’m in love with you, Nadia. I know it wasn’t the relationship I said I wanted, but I have to say it because I know it’s true.”
Ryan made an angry noise and grabbed his flowers from the crate where he’d left them earlier in the show. “I was going to tell her that I loved her! Tonight!”
“You snooze, you lose.”
Ryan whirled to me with a shimmer in his eyes. He shoved the flowers at me as if they were a bomb. “I’m head over fucking heels in love with you. Fuck having a physical relationship. I want more. I need more.”
I smiled and hugged him. “There’s something here,” I agreed. “Something more than just two fuck-buddies.”
The smile he gave me split his handsome face in two.
Andy cleared his throat. “I do not think I can top either of those proclamations. I have no flowers to give you tonight. But… Nadia, I…”
As he struggled for the words, I stood on my tip-toes to kiss him on the lips. “I know exactly how you feel. And I feel the same way, Andy.”
“So… three of us love her?” Ryan asked. “That’s one hell of a fucking problem.”
The fact that he’d said three made Braden’s exclusion all the more awkward. He was standing there with his arms crossed, very obviously not proclaiming his love for me. I shrugged and tried to find the words to say, but he beat me to it.
“I like you a lot, Nadia. Maybe it’ll be more than that. But I forgive you for what happened.” He shook his head and smiled wryly. “It’s my own damn fault for putting so much pressure on you.”
“That’s good enough for me,” I said. “For now. I’m glad you forgive me.”
And then we all had one of those weird, awkward group hugs. Except as they surrounded me with their bodies, holding me tight between them, any awkwardness melted away. I felt safe when I was with them, and for different reasons.
“Back to the problem,” Ryan said. “Are we gonna King Solomon her here in the theater? Cut her into four pieces to share?”
“I’ve had enough threats on my life for one night,” I said, elbowing him in the ribs. “And honestly? Why don’t we keep the situation that we already had going?”
“What, like sharing you?” Andy asked inquisitively.
“Why not? I’ve enjoyed it so far. And I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Atkins ruined the moment by approaching. “Nadia? There’s someone who wants to speak to you.”
“The detective, right?” I said with a sigh. “I guess I should be happy he waited until after the show to take my statement.”
But the man who walked up behind Atkins wasn’t the detective. He wore an expensive white suit, and his black dress shoes were polished to a glorious shine. “Vandercant,” Braden whispered.
“Oh shit,” Ryan said.
But my jaw was dropping for another reason.
I knew him already.
“Jack?”
62
Nadia
