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"Uh, Damien," I muttered. "I thought you were a bit of a player. I had assumed that meant you dated a lot of, um,girls."
I scowled at Dash, remembering he used to be more than just a bit of a man-whore himself before I came along. I had no business judging him but, this one time, I'd overheard a conversation between most of them where very unkind things had been said about me and they'd talked about the so called girlfriends they'd once had. I knew there had been others before me, I just didn't want to ever have to hear about them.
"Yeah," Damien immediately shot back. "I am into girls. I thought girls were all there would ever be for me, but then this thing with Jules just sort of happened and now here we are. He's the only male I've ever been attracted to and I know in my heart that there will never be another one for me. But, he's needy, so damn needy. I know, I know, one would think it would be me who was the needy one out of the two of us, but Julian craves that connection between two people who love each other. He needs someone to love him almost as much as he needs air to breathe, and he absolutelyhatessleeping alone. He's terrified of all the things that could potentially come out at night and eat him."
Lord.
This was all way too much for a girl to handle after just waking up out of a protective, healing sleep. Or coma, or whatever.
"I... had no idea," I mumbled. "Just how long have you two been awake and faking being asleep for?"
They both laughed at me.
Brilliant.
That seemed to be the theme for the night.
Chapter Fourteen
The bed shifted and I opened my eyes. Over Dash's shoulder I watched as Damien turned onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow in the mattress.
He wasn't laughing anymore. He looked worried, almost scared even. Scared of... me?
"Does that bother you?" he asked me in a quiet voice. Gone was the haughty brat I'd fallen for. In his place was a very different man. One who'd only opened himself up to me this way a handful of times. I was surprised to see him do so now in front of Dash.
My heart hurt at the thought of Damien thinking I would ever judge him or try to deny him his relationship with Julian. Honestly—also something I wasn't entirely comfortable with him or anyone else knowing—I didn't think there was much I would be able to deny Damien or anyone of them, even if I was against it.
But this? Him having a relationship with someone else that I, too, had a relationship with? How could I ever have a problem with that? I was actually happy for the two of them that they had that between them. Love was love and, so long as it was consensual and both parties were good with it, I was all for it. I also had a really big heart and was capable of being intimate with more than one person, I would never be anything but happy for the both of them. Yeah, I freely admitted to being a hypocrite earlier, but never with something as important as this.
I mimicked Damien's movements and rolled over on my side to face him. I put my elbow in the mattress and propped my head up on my fist.
The fact that Dash was on the bed between the two of us, and now laying on his back with his hands behind his head, didn't seem awkward to me in the slightest. Six months ago I would have found this the most awkward and absurd situation I had ever found myself in, and I would have been blushing like the mostly inexperienced virgin I was. Now, awkward and absurd were my new normal and I just needed to roll with it.
Dash didn't seem to care, so why should I on his behalf?
"No," I answered honestly. "It absolutely doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I just wish one of you would have been open with me about it from the start and told me sooner. I feel like I'm always the outsider here with our group, always the one trying to play catch up and, at the same time, working my butt off not to hurt anyone's feelings..."
I trail off when I realize it's my feelings that are hurt this time, because they kept something so vitally important from me. Something I knew every single one of my guys was aware of. They didn't ever keep those kinds of secrets from each other. They only ever kept secrets from me.
The sheets rustled as Dash moved. He slid his hands from out from under his head and turned onto his side, facing me.
"Come here, sweetheart," he said, before reaching for me.
I went to him willingly, and laid my head down on his shoulder after he pulled me into him and wrapped his arms around me. His arms held me tightly as he turned onto his back, dragging me along with him.
I ended up on top of him, naked, and sprawled shamelessly over him with my legs on each side of his. He was just as naked as I was. I sucked in a sharp breath as his erection pressed up against my thigh.
He ran his hands up and down my back soothingly. Ignoring his hardness pressed up against me and the fact my bare breasts were firmly pressed to his chest, I relaxed into him. This was Dash and I could never not feel anything but safe with him.
Dash's hands stilled when Damien used my hair to turn my face toward his. The fear in his eyes had me tensing up again, and Dash's hands picked back up on their soothing movements, up and down my back. He really didn’t seem to like the thought of me being uncomfortable with him.
"You hid it from me, the both of you went out of your way to hide it," I whispered to Damien in a voice full of hurt. I closed my eyes tightly. "Allof you hid it from me."
"Quinton was right," Dash muttered. "Not anybody else's story to tell and not our business. Wasn't my place to tell you, so I kept my mouth shut knowing eventually those two boneheads would get around to sharing with you. Unlike the prick beside us, I knew you'd hold no judgment and wouldn't have a problem with their relationship. Your heart is so big you would never be anything but happy for them. They were stupid for ever even questioning you."
My body completely melted against his. Out of all of them, Dash always understood me the most.
Damien's face took on a pained expression before he scrunched his eyes closed. He opened them and the pleading expression there took my breath away.
