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  “Emily,” I supplied, caught with whom I should direct my questions to. “Where’s Chase? What are you two doing here?” I relaxed a little on the plush couch; it was comfortable. No wonder I had slept so hard.

  “We live here,” Tyler said from the door. “It’s a four-bedroom house.”

  “Chase is at work,” Patton offered from in front of me. “He’ll be home around six, assuming he doesn’t go to the bar after.” He shrugged and leaned forward. “All that being said, would you mind if we clean you up and check on you to make sure it isn’t worse than it looks?” His brows drew together and I could see just how concerned he was, there was no denying that he was a nurse. It was obvious with his need to help.

  “How?” The pull of the muscles of my face seemed to reawaken the aches in it. I winced again.

  “I’ll be careful,” he murmured before he leaned in. His hands cupped my face, and I tensed because I wasn’t expecting it. His thumbs gently brushed along the length of my nose. There was a slight amount of pressure that had my eyes watering. “Sorry,” he hissed out as his thumb tested my cheekbones. He didn’t press hard, but it still hurt.

  Tyler came closer, an ice pack in his hands along with what looked like a dish towel. “Anything broke?” His voice lost its playful tone.

  “No,” Patton said, sounding distracted. His fingers brushed along the length of my jaw on both sides. “Not in her face at least. I can’t tell about teeth.” His fingers probed a little harder until I whimpered. “You’re probably going to need to see a dentist to make sure,” he said to me.

  “I’ll consider it,” I said when he released my face. I reached for the ice pack that Tyler had. He took the time to wrap the towel around it before he handed it over. Something pulled in me and my chest ached; I couldn’t help the expression I made. I tried to cover my obvious pain with the ice pack.

  Patton didn’t hesitate to continue his examination of me. His hands went to my middle. I started to pull back, but then his hands put a little pressure on my lower ribs. I couldn’t help the pained noise I made. It hurt so much, and all I wanted to do was curl up and wait for the pain to go away.

  “Did he fuckin’ kick you while you were down, too?” Tyler snapped. “Gettin’ Chase on the phone, and we’ll stomp a hole in his ass.”

  “Nope,” I gritted my teeth, “not going to do that. Gonna just leave that alone.”

  “Oh, so that means you’re not gonna go to the cops either?” Tyler looked irritated at that. “So, he gets away with it?”

  “I’m not there,” I hissed at the probing fingers, “it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Bruised,” Patton said from in front of me. His fingers traced and tested my reactions. His hands stalled just under my breasts before he pulled away. “I don’t think they’re broken, cracked at the worse. Won’t know for sure unless you have an x-ray.” He looked at Tyler then back to me. “We can wrap you up and it’ll help with any sort of pain you might feel.”

  “I’ll probably need a shower first.” I released a breath.

  “That mean you’re staying?” Patton asked, and he stood, offering me a hand up.

  “Nice.” Tyler turned and left the room, my bags in his hands. “Em, hope you like it, that’s who you are now.” He sounded all too happy about it, too. It was a complete one-eighty from the angry expression he had given at my decision to be inactive when it came to Jeff.

  “I…” I started, watching the other man leave the room. But I didn’t have a choice, I had nowhere else to go. “If you guys are okay with me moving in?” I leaned forward so I could get up, but my breath caught and the pain in my chest was like fire. “Fuck,” it came out from between my teeth.

  A hand slipped into mine and I clenched it hard. “Maybe you should stay on the couch for now. You can shower later,” Patton whispered as he carefully eased me backward. “If you need anything, me and Ty can take care of you.”

  I managed a short inhale then spoke, “I have things I need to do. I have to get a bed.” I struggled to get up again, but the pain was just a little too much. “I can’t stay on the couch all day.” I met his concerned look before I had to close my eyes.

  “What would you like? A firm mattress? Soft? Memory foam?” Tyler had sauntered back into the room. “We can fit a queen in that room, but it’ll be tight. That cool with you?”

  “No,” I shook my head. I wanted to get this done today, it was one of the many things I needed to get done. First, I needed a phone; I had to get into contact with Mom before Jeff did.

  “Look…” he leaned against the door frame again. While everything about him before exuded nonchalance, this was a picture of all seriousness. “We can do a ‘you owe me one’ on this. I’ll go pick up what you need, you pay me back. It's that simple. Now, do you want a queen-sized bed?”

  I shook my head, repressing any sort of dizziness the best I could. “Full size. Don’t go all out and blow a bunch of money. I expect receipts,” I snapped at him. I could feel a little bit of my former self coming back through the short conversation with Tyler. I’d been repressed by Jeff for so long, that I couldn’t help but smile a little, “A set of sheets, too, please. And towels.”

  “Since he’s taking care of that,” Patton went on to pull out what looked like an ace bandage, “let’s get you settled and comfortable. And wrap up those ribs.”

  4

  I didn’t see much of Chase in those first days, even while I was camped out on the couch in the living room. I did see a lot of Tyler and Patton, and both seemed eager to take care of me. It was a vast difference from the way I have lived for the last two years, and I was thrown off with how to deal with it.

  Do they have ulterior motives? That was the first thought when the two men led me into what was to be my room.

  With Tyler having the deciding factor on the sheets and towels that would be mine, I expected masculine colors in the tiny room. Instead, I was confronted with the brightest pink. He grinned at the surprised look I’d given him.

  “I figured I couldn’t go wrong with it. You’d either love it or hate it, but you wouldn’t have to worry about any of us stealing it.”

  “It’s not my ideal color,” I grimaced. I’d have to live with it until I had a job and was in a position to buy something more… me.

  “I should’ve warned you,” Patton said from beside me. He was hovering in a way that wasn’t stifling, it just made it all the more obvious that his claim at being a nurse was true. He wanted me to stand on my own, but he didn’t want me to fall. It was endearing. “Ty has no shame, so he’s not bothered in the least buying this shit.”

  “Well, now she knows. Why don’t we let her settle in?” The look Tyler was giving the other man was hard to decipher, but there was definitely something unspoken going on here. I didn’t get it, but it was obvious he did.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Patton grunted from beside me. He ushered me into my room and gave me a slight, almost shy look. “If you need anything, I’m upstairs. First door.”

  “If you’re ever feeling frisky,” Tyler called from the door, “third door. The second one is the bathroom.” I watched as he lingered just long enough for Patton to help me to my bed and fidget before he decided it was time for him to leave.

  “I make no promises that that’ll ever happen,” I retorted as I settled onto the mattress. It was soft but firm. I eased back into the pillows that seemed to be just perfect. I was okay here. I would be okay here.

  I felt no fear, none of the men I had met so far looked or felt like they were the type to lash out in anger. Granted, the only one I had seen angry so far had been Chase. I guess the only thing was to watch him and hope that this worked out.

  I winced as I shifted and decided a nap on my new bed was the best thing to do. I was healing, after all, so there was no reason not to sleep it off. The issues I still had at hand could wait another day.

  I didn’t even bother covering up. I just let the knowledge that my troubles were done and over with cradle me back to sleep.

  5

  Food. I didn’t consider it. The day before, Patton had been all too kind to feed me soup, but I couldn’t rely on that. The model roommate would not mooch, and I had promised Chase that was what I would be. And I went as far to make it clear that I was staying by giving him the first two month’s rent. That left me less than two months to get a job.

  It’d been awkward, I’d come schlepping out of my room in a daze after sleeping so much. I hadn’t expected to see Chase in the kitchen by the coffee maker. I didn’t have any idea what the time was, but I could tell he wasn’t exactly awake either.

  He had a pair of jeans on and a white button down that was rolled up to his elbows. His forearms were clear, save for something tribal that I couldn’t see the details to. He looked clean and, despite my own battered appearance, I couldn’t help but appreciate his.

  “There’s a rental agreement,” he didn’t look at me, “plus your key. Sign it for me, and I’ll get you a copy.” The coffee maker burbled as it continued to create its liquid gold.

  I was still a little sleepy, so I gave him a nod and went to the paper on the counter of the island. As far as I could tell, it was pretty standard. No pets wasn’t an issue, I didn't have any. I had wanted a dog, but Jeff had said no. It looked like Chase said no, too. Food was community, though if there was something I didn’t want to share I needed to keep it in my room. If I was going to eat from the fridge, I needed to help pay for it. An extra fifty bucks would need to be contributed, and I could list any allergies or aversions to food.

  “Who’s the cook?” I asked. I had cooked regularly for Jeff, but I didn't have a problem reprising that role here.

  “We take turns for the most part.” he looked at me then. “Adam--” he
cut himself off and his full lips thinned as he seemed to reconsider his words. “Patton is pretty decent. Tyler just orders Chinese when it's his turn.”

  “You got a pen?” I asked, going back to eyeing the contract. I would have to file away that slip up for when Tyler or Patton was up. I didn’t have the courage to ask Chase now. I hadn’t gotten a feel for him.

  “Sure.” He didn’t sound affected by my question in the least. He tugged a pen from his shirt and offered it to me. “It’s six months, unless you’d rather go for a shorter amount of time. I’ll agree to at least three.”

  It sounded like he was giving me an easy out, like he expected this situation to not work out. I took the pen from him and signed the contract as it was.

  “Six should be fine.” I gave him my best smile. Since the swelling had gone down some, there was only a slight pull. “And I’m a pretty good cook, so I can take what was Adam’s day to cook.”

  His expression didn’t show me anything, he didn’t look affected at all by my offer. “Makes you cooking dinner today. Tyler is allergic to shellfish.”

  He picked up the document and didn’t bother to get his pen back; he looked all business. I didn’t know how to decipher it. Did he already decide he didn’t like me?

  “O-okay,” I stuttered. He got a little closer to me. I didn’t expect the reaction, but for some reason, I felt charged just by his closeness. “A-anything else I need to know? Preferences and all that?”

  “Check the fridge.” He nodded toward the french door stainless steel appliance behind him. “I don’t care as long as its food. You might want to ask Ty and Patton what they want if you’re taking requests. Though I’m pretty sure Patty has already started his shift at the hospital.”

  “That leaves me with Tyler?” I didn’t know whether or not I should feel uneasy about it. He seemed like a flirt. The entirety of the day before, when he wasn’t busy putting my room together, he seemed like he was keeping an eye on Patton more than he was me.

  “You’re gonna be living with three men for six months.” His voice lowered a little, and he shifted an even closer. “You worried about being alone with Ty, but you don’t care about living with all three of us?” He tilted his head a little bit as he eyed me, it felt like his green eyes were piercing me. What did he see? “How’s that going to work?”

  I raised a hand between us, trying to put his line of questions on pause. “I’m not uncomfortable with this situation. This is so much better than where I was at.” My breath caught a little as I thought back to it. “I’m not afraid of being here with you.” I looked him in the eye when I said it. I didn’t want there to be any sort of doubts about me.

  I could see his cheek twitch. This wasn’t the same dark look he’d given me the night before. It was as if he were trying to not be affected. Like he was projecting an aloof front for some reason I couldn’t figure out.

  “Fine.” He gave me a nod like he was accepting everything. “I’ll see you,” he tapped on the countertop with his knuckles, “at dinner.” He gave me a look, almost like he was checking me out as he ambled back over to the coffee maker. “If you need a cup, go for it.” He took his time filling a thermos. “I usually leave it for Ty, but he can make his own coffee.”

  “Thanks.” I waited until he walked out of the kitchen to fix myself a cup.

  I forgot to ask him what he did for a living… Next time, I promised myself. Or I could just get info out of Tyler when he decided to roll out of bed.

  I didn’t bother with breakfast after Chase left, even with as hungry as I had been. I just let the coffee warm me enough to ease the aches in my chest. As I sipped the warm beverage, I took the time to explore the empty house. The living room I knew well enough, as well as the kitchen. I found a tiny laundry room with a stacked washer and dryer, and I worried about needing a step stool to reach the dryer. That was the dryer on top, right? Everything seemed nice and new, and in working order. Did they all pitch in on this together?

  I found the door to Chase’s room and peeked into it, the bed has a tangle of rumpled sheets on it. It wasn’t really decorated, no pictures on the walls or anything like that. Just a bed and dresser. I further glanced in, and I could see what I assumed to be a closet and what could only be a bathroom. I guess he gets the master bedroom. Maybe he is paying the most in rent then?

  I went on to find a half bath, and I was relieved I wouldn’t have to venture up the stairs in the middle of the night when I had to pee.

  Across from the living room was what was supposed to be a dining room. Instead, they had a pool table in it. There were stools around the room and four sticks. I didn’t know a damn thing about pool, and it didn’t surprise me that it was there.

  The first floor was a simple layout, two rooms off the foyer that were the dining room and the living room. Then the hallway led straight back to the kitchen. Off the kitchen was the staircase. I hadn’t gone up there, yet, but I knew I needed a shower. I hadn’t had one since before Jeff came at me in a rage.

  I went back to my bedroom and dug out something fresh to wear. I found my towels, the jarring bright pink ones that Tyler had picked up for me. I shouldn’t complain, they were something different from the life I had been living before now. I’d been in neutral colors for so long. Even the clothes that I intended to change into were a pair of jeans and a muted yellow v neck. Pink was never a favorite color of mine, but now I didn’t have to worry about whether or not someone else was bothered by it.

  I took my bundle of clothes, towels, and toiletries with me upstairs. The second-floor landing was simple, there was a dark wood banister that gave a view of the kitchen below. Which door is which? I knew Patton had told me the day before.

  Curiosity, though, had me opening the first door. I peered in and saw a room with the same basic set up as mine, though his was bigger. There was a large bed situated in the center with a side table wedged into the corner. He hadn’t bothered to make his bed either; his gray sheets were shoved to one side, and the comforter was in a pile on the floor with clothes haphazardly tossed on the bed.

  I started to close the door when I heard a rumbled voice from behind me, “If you’re gonna clean his room, you’re gonna have to hit mine, too.”

  “Not something I’m planning on doing.” I turned to see Tyler standing in the doorway of his bedroom in nothing but a pair of plaid boxers. It was hard not to look at him, it was plain that he took care of himself with the clear line of muscles of his stomach bare for me to see. Unlike Chase, Tyler didn’t appear to have any tattoos. It didn’t make it any less difficult to not look at the expanse of skin and muscle he had exposed.

  Either he didn’t seem to notice my blatant stare, or he didn’t care. “You goin’ to get into the shower?” He yawned broadly then scratched himself with disregard to me standing there. “Lemme piss first.” He wandered into the bathroom, leaving the door open. “I don’t wanna trip down the stairs when all I’m gonna do is pee.”

  I loitered outside of Patton’s door. Was this him showing me what it was going to be like living with a bunch of men? Was he trying to run me off as Chase had been?