The moment the elevator doors open to the 44th floor, I'm met with two out of three of my guys. Ryat's face twists when he sees I'm not alone.

"Fuck. I knew we should have met her downstairs." Ryat throws his hands out. "Randy's livin' my dream right now."

I roll my eyes but snuggle further into the maroon and gold-colored suit Randy has on. "Sorry. I think I missed him the most."

Ryat's brows draw in when our eyes meet. "Now you're just twisting the knife, baby cakes. Come here before I come get you."

After one final squeeze, I move away from Randy and into Ryat's arms, burying my face in his barrel-sized chest. The man is like a Viking. He's six-foot-six with long sandy-blonde hair and almost always styled in some form of a man bun. He has hazel eyes and tattoos that start at his forearms and wrap most of his upper body. He's a brute most days with more charm than he knows what to do with.

But he's, my brute.

The second my face hits his shirt, he sweeps me up and spins me around, kissing the top of my head.

"Ryat, put me down!" I hit his shoulder, giggling when he twirls me faster.

"Sorry, darlin'. That's not going to happen any time soon."

I smirk into his shoulder, mumbling the words asshole and greedy heathen at him which only makes him double down in his efforts. I feel his laugh like a rumble against my chest where he has me pinned against him.

"Hey, asshole! She's my girl too. Put her down."

I smile at the easy way Olly says, "My girl," like no time has passed. Like I'm not the one who's responsible for this distance that's slowly been building between us. I jam my finger into Ryat's side, so he knows I'm ready for him to set me down. Asshole chuckles as he does. My feet barely touch the floor before Olly is there. I don't hesitate to wrap my arms around him and relax as the calming smell of his sea salt and pine laundry detergent washes over me.

"Missed you, wife," he mumbles into my hair.

I look up into his whiskey-colored eyes when he sets me down, my chin barely reaching the middle of his six-foot-three chest, and notice he's let his hair grow out. His auburn waves, usually kept short in a crew cut, now hang slightly over his eyes.

I smile. "Missed you too, husband."

He leans down to kiss the tip of my nose when Randy clears his throat behind me.

"I assume you've got everything you need, Miss Bryer?"

Olly loosens his hold on me slightly so I can spin around in his arms. I nod, letting myself lean against his chest, secure in knowing he's there, and would never let me fall. Randy will never know how true his words are. The sense of right I feel by just being here is like a thick balm, slowly filling the space in my chest where I've been feeling the loss of them.

Or maybe he does. Perceptive old man.

"I don't know. I'd never say no to tacos," I say, my smile widening when he arches his brow. "Yes, I'm good. Thank you, old man."

"Hm." He hums like he thinks I might be full of shit. "Let's go, kid."

The guy still holding my bags looks utterly confused as he drags his gaze over Ryat, and Olly, then pauses when he gets to me. It's almost funny watching him try to figure out what the three of us are to each other. Like he's waiting for us to do something to convince him one way or another. Though, knowing the number of women the guys have coming and going, I don't blame him for looking a little lost. I'm not sure how new he is, but I imagine this is the first time there's ever been bags for him to carry.

And Olly would never call anyone wife but me.

He's still staring when Randy turns around, the old man not in the mood to stand here all day. He raises his hand to swat the back of the guy's head.

"Eyes to yourself, kid," he scolds. He waits inside the elevator, scowling. "Insurance doesn't cover getting your teeth kicked in for looking at a pretty girl too long." 

**

After Randy left with a very confused-looking bag boy, the guys brought my things into the guest room and hung out on the bed while I got busy unpacking. Well, Olly grabbed my bags. The second we were alone Ryat threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the room. I drew the line when he tried to follow me into the bathroom no matter how much he pouted.

Half an hour later we moved into the larger living room out of the two, the one that's closest to the kitchen where we could relax before I had to get ready for whatever they had up their sleeves for us to do tonight.

"Where's Nero?" I ask when I notice the sun is starting to go down. The red and caramel-colored shades cast a warm glow through the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrap the majority of the loft, so the guys have a 360-degree view of Dallas's skyline.

"Last minute work emergency," Olly says as he slides his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to his side.

Without missing a beat, Ryat grabs my legs and drapes them over his lap, his fingers rubbing small circles where his hand rests on my knee.

"He did mention something about grabbing Diablo's, though." He tilts his head down and waits for me to meet his eyes. "Guess you'll be getting tacos after all. Why? You okay? Do you need anything?"

He looks so serious all of a sudden like he really can't see how content I am.

"Feed me. Love me. Tell me I'm pretty."

Ryat scoffs, "Like you need the ego boost."

I bat his arm away, so his hand is no longer resting on me. "You're one to talk! I was surprised. I thought there'd be at least six girls hanging off of you when I got here."

He moves the hand he had on my knee to his chest. "Where's the trust, Pookie? The second I knew you were coming, I immediately moved you to the top of my to-do list."

I'm sure he did. I roll my eyes.

"You and that dirty mind. . ." I let my sentence trail off, knowing anything else I say will only egg him on more. I shake my head and snuggle into the moment. What do I need? This. "This is all I need." The easiness we have. The familiarity.

Well, this, plus one broody workaholic who's missing.

Olly nudges me. "Hey, how's work been? I saw Tori Rae posted the big news. Guess that's one more thing to celebrate tonight."

"It's good. I still have two sessions I need to record on my inner thigh series before the sponsorship meeting next week."

Hearing the word leg, Ryat gently squeezes my thigh. "These legs are perfect, sugar plum. Nothin' you need to change about them."

I lean forward to swat his chest when he does it again, only to have Olly immediately pull me back down. It seems I'm not the only one who's been missing our time together.

We sit up when the elevator sounds. The guys don't let me go willingly, but I manage to break free. I catch Nero in the kitchen when I round the corner, he's hardly set the food down when I throw myself into his arm. He doesn't wait, he crushes me against his chest and nuzzles the space just above my temple.

"Never. Again," he says.

I nod and bury my face in his shoulder when I feel tears starting to build behind my eyes. "Never again," I repeat.

He pulls back so he can look at me. His brown eyes are so dark they're almost black, as I watch them move over my face like he's cataloging any changes since the last time since we saw each other.

"Promise me, baby girl."

"I promise."

"Fuck. You made her cry, asshole."

Ryat appears in the kitchen and starts arranging the bags of food, opening them, and quickly starts adding small portions of each of my favorites onto a plate. His southern mama would be proud. She dated enough assholes she swore her son would grow up to have proper manners in how to treat a woman. One of those is that women and children eat first. Then the men. Doesn't matter who cooks the meal.

Nero doesn't wait for Ryat to finish making my plate; he carries me through the kitchen to the table where he sits and pulls me down in his lap. I flip him off for treating me like his own personal doll he can move and position however he likes. He responds by snapping like he's going to bite my finger.

"You're as bad as Ryat."

"You like it." He arches his brow playfully, daring me to argue with him.

I'm saved from having to admit how much I do like how happy they seem to be that I'm here. When Ryat comes over with my plate. He kisses the top of my head then turns to head back for his own.

I thank him and dig in if only so I have something to focus on other than Nero and the fact that he's still insisting on me staying right where I am. Like I'm something precious he wants to keep and not because he's missed me as much as I've missed them. But it doesn't change the fact that if the guys knew the real reason James went out of town, they probably wouldn't be so happy to see me. Even thinking about what happened last week makes me feel like the worst person alive.

Four tacos and one margarita deep I start to feel full when Olly nudges me to keep eating, like the mother hen, he can be. I groan but make a point to eat every last thing Ryat put on my plate. I help Olly clean up after dinner as the guys tell me about the plans for the night. We set a time for everyone to be ready, then head our separate ways so we can shower. I'm busy applying mascara when Ryat knocks on my door and lets himself inside my room. Lucky for him, I'm already dressed, otherwise I'd strangle him, in my favorite black bodycon dress. My version of the perfect little black dress because it highlights all the hard work I put into keeping my body tight and toned. And the best part about it? It's backless.

Ryat's eyes do a quick scan then immediately drop to my ass. He whistles under his breath. "Fuck." He takes his phone out and snaps a quick picture. "Be lookin' at that later."

I point the tiny green tube at his head. "Delete that. Don't make me hurt you."

"Please do." I debate throwing the mascara at him when he smirks.

"Dude, unless you want a boner before the party, you should chill out on eye-fucking—" Olly starts to say as he steps around where Ryat is hovering in the doorway and freezes. His eyes snap up when he notices I'm watching him.

"What? Too much?"

He moves to stand behind me and I watch every step he takes in the mirror. He lifts one hand and rests it on my hip as he uses the other to push my hair over my one shoulder and kisses my cheek.

"Damnit, wife. Now I'm hard."

My eyes slide to the tall figure, leaning against the wall beside Ryat. I didn't notice him come in, too distracted by Olly and the way he was holding me.

Nero lets loose a breath and shakes his head. "You look beautiful, love."

"Thank you. So do you." I bite my lip to keep from smiling. "All three of you look handsome." And they do.

Ryat's wearing a black leather racing jacket over a black tee and holey black jeans that make him look even more of the bad-boy, charmer he is. Then there's Olly standing behind me looking like every girl's fantasy in his gray henley and dark jeans. He's got a light scruff covering his cheeks and a strong jaw. And then there's Nero. His style varies between casual biker and billionaire playboy, so I'm always pleasantly surprised to see what he chooses. And tonight, he looks like a dream in the dark-colored button-down shirt he's wearing, the sleeves rolled up to show off his arms and light-colored pants.

I can see from the reflection in the mirror when Ryat glances at Olly, the two of them exchange a knowing look that tells me I've been staring. But if the look that follows is any indication of how they feel about it, I get the feeling they're not at all upset to have caught their best friend ogling them. More than that, they seem to preen at my open appreciation of them. Goddamnit.

I clear my throat, then quickly spin around.

"We should go. Sav's gonna meet us there."

All three nod in agreement and one by one we make our way to the elevator. Ryat throws his arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek as it arrives. He pulls me into his arms as we start our descent and I relax back feeling happier than I have in a long time.