Eden's Playground: Graystone Academy Book One, BE Kelly [good short books .TXT] 📗

change?” Anson asked. “Because I’m pretty sure that I didn’t say what I was thinking out loud and that you read my mind.”

“The rule is still in place. Your father believes it promotes more family time,” Glory said.

“I’m guessing you don’t give a flying fuck about the rules still then?” Duff asked. Glory slapped him upside the head again and he turned to face her, rubbing the spot she just struck. “Hey—what the hell was that one for?” he questioned.

“For your mouth, Duff. You’re lucky that I don’t keep bar soap in the house anymore. Otherwise, you’d be sitting here with it in your mouth for cursing,” Glory said. Anson laughed and his brother shot him a look. If he said the things that he was thinking, Duff would definitely warrant a few more slaps to the head.

“So, are you two going to fix what you’ve done and go after that girl?” she asked.

“Yes, Ma’am,” they said in unison. Duff stood and Anson followed while Glory busied herself cleaning the already spotless kitchen.

“You have any idea what we’re supposed to say to Eden?” Duff whispered.

“You should start by telling her how you feel,” Glory called after them. “And work your way forward from there.”

Anson shrugged, “She’s not wrong,” he agreed. “I’m betting we will need to do a fair share of groveling and even some begging before we get her to agree to marry us, but Eden’s worth it.” She was too. Eden was everything that they ever wanted in a woman and mate and so much more. He knew that this all might feel rushed to her, but he could see his forever in her eyes and he was certain that Duff felt the same.

“You grovel, I’ll beg and we’ll get the job done,” Duff said. “We’re a good team and I’m betting if we work together, she won’t be able to refuse us.”

“And if she does?” Anson asked.

“Then, we’ll get her naked and remind her how good the three of us are together. It’s a no-fail plan, man,” Duff said. Anson wasn’t sure his brother was right, but they had nothing to lose by trying. Well, except for the girl of their dreams.

They found her sitting in the dark pool house on the sofa, crying. “Hey,” he whispered. She didn’t make a move to answer him, only her sniffles and sobs filled the room.

“Don’t cry, Baby,” Duff crooned. “I hate it when you cry.” He sat down next to her in the darkness and pulled her shadowy figure against his chest.

“Why does everything have to change?” she asked.

“What’s changing?” Anson asked, sitting on the other side of her. He grabbed her hand and held onto it as if it was his lifeline.

“Everything—we have to get married now and my father is forcing me onto you both. I won’t be a burden. As soon as I’m up to it, I’m going to call him and give him a piece of my mind. This is the twenty-first century and he can’t go around telling me who I have to marry just because we’ve slept together. That’s not his decision to make,” she said.

“No, it’s not,” Anson agreed. “Our fathers had no right to decide that for us. We’re the only ones who can decide if and when we’re getting married—not them.”

“Exactly,” Eden agreed. Anson smiled, knowing that she probably couldn’t see his face in the dark. If he could just get her to keep on agreeing with him, they’d have her just where they wanted her—agreeing to walk down the aisle to marry them.

“We messed up,” Duff whispered. “Anson asked you how you felt about us, but you left so quickly, we didn’t get to tell you how we feel.”

“How you feel?” she squeaked.

“Yes,” Anson agreed. “If you had stuck around, you would have heard me admit to Glory that I’m in love with you.”

“You are?” she breathed.

“Yes,” he whispered.

Duff cleared his throat and she turned back to face him. “I’m in love with you too, Honey,” he admitted. “I have been for a bit now, just too chicken to say the words out loud.”

Anson pulled her from between the two of them and onto his lap. “Neither of us can explain any of this, Eden, but the three of us have some sort of pull on each other. You’re our sun and we can’t help but gravitate to you. Tell us you feel that too,” he ordered. He felt as though he was holding his breath, waiting for her to answer.

“I do,” she agreed. “I’ve felt that weird pull with both of you since we met.”

“Thank fuck,” Duff growled. “Marry us, Eden.”

“We don’t care when you want to get married, all we care about is you saying that you’ll be our wife. We love you, Baby. We want to spend the rest of our lives with you,” Anson said.

“Say yes,” Duff begged. He slid closer to them both, framing Eden’s back with his body. She was perfectly cocooned between them, just where she belonged.

Anson could feel her nodding against his chest, “Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll marry both of you. But I don’t want to get married in the spring.”

“When we get married doesn’t matter to us,” Duff agreed.

“Good, because I’d much prefer the fall,” she said.

“The fall it is,” Anson said. “Wait—it’s fall now. You mean next autumn, right?”

“No,” she said. “I mean now—I want to marry you both. I don’t care where we live or that I’m a student and you’re both about to become teachers. I don’t care how any of it looks—I want to marry you both now,” she insisted.

“Well, then,” Anson breathed. “It looks like we’ll need to get busy planning this wedding. Where would you like to get married, Baby?” he asked.

“In front of Graystone Hall,” she said. “Where our stories began and intertwined. Where our families built a future together that would join the three of us. How about it?” she asked.

“Graystone Hall it is,” Duff agreed. The lights came on