Three Rings and a Rose (6 page)

The only women who had looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed were the women who’d just left—Belle Kennington and Lainey Schilling. They didn’t appear to be tired in the least. But that could be because they hadn’t joined the party until later in the morning, and they’d left early. Although, they hadn’t been the only ones to ditch out on the party. Brooklyn Sokolov and Josie Martin had left hours ago to meet with some mysterious friends that they couldn’t and wouldn’t bail on.

Sighing sadly, Ella remembered the one person that hadn’t made it at all.
Sarah.
Since she’d gone to stay at The Edge in Kinky with Shane’s foster brother, Deke Andrews, and his long-time partner, Adam Stanton, Ella hadn’t seen her. Not even once. The two Doms were insanely protective of the woman who’d been abused and assaulted by a depraved ex-boyfriend who was still on the loose. So other than a measly call on occasion, Ella rarely spoke to Sarah anymore.

Katie-Anne sighed unexpectedly, and all of the women’s eyes darted to her as though she might be going into labor at any minute.

Considering she was a full month behind her sister-in-law, Jaycee,
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their anxiety was borderline absurd. But not out of the realm of possibility. Pre-term births did happen.

“Hey, you guys need to calm down,” Katie-Anne said. “I swear you’re as bad as Shane and Landon. I can’t even breathe without them crowding me.” She frowned. “I was just thinking that I wished Sarah was here.”

“Me, too,” Jaycee said. “I miss her.”

“Me three,” Shannon added. “How is she doing anyway, Katie-Anne?”

Tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear, Katie-Anne sighed.

“She says she’s all better. I say she’s full of shit. And both Deke and Adam agree with me.”

No one seemed to know what to say in response to Katie-Anne’s assessment. Luckily, a delicious man appeared in the doorway and distracted them all.

“Micah,” Ella breathed, unable to keep the throaty quality from her voice. Whenever her best friend came within five feet of her, she couldn’t control herself in any way, shape, or form. And that included her lusty-sounding voice.

The man she’d lived with for nearly four years had the power to push her into a mind-numbing world where the only thing that existed was him and her. And Caedon—if he’d actually stuck around.

God, why did I have to go there?
When she was looking at the muscular man in front of her, she shouldn’t think about Caedon or his heart-stopping smile. She shouldn’t think of his rock-hard body and his disheveled blond hair. But most importantly, she should
not
think about the cocky attitude he exuded that made her pussy pulse wildly.

Shit, who the hell was she kidding? She shouldn’t think about Micah that way, either. No, she shouldn’t think about his dreamy blue eyes and his beautiful soul. Nor should she think of playing with his thick, gorgeous brown hair or caressing his strong jaw as the sexy scruff tickled her palm. And she definitely shouldn’t think of all the delicious ways she could get rid of the serious expression he kept on
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his face most of the time.
No, no, no
. She shouldn’t allow her dirty mind to go there at all—with either man.

But Ella’s double-crossing body refused to listen to her thoughts.

Instead, her pussy moistened as she ogled her best friend, her loving eyes admiring his body as they scanned over the naughty bits and the not-so-naughty bits of him.

Recalling where she was and what she was doing, she realized she probably looked foolish, openly gawking and drooling over her best friend.
My very gay best friend. You know, the one who isn’t in love
with you. The same one who is in love with your ex-lover, Caedon.

Remember? Yeah, that’s him.
Clearing her throat, Ella asked the most obvious question, “What are you doing here, Micah?”

“Crashing the party,” Reagan grumbled.

At the same time, Molly-Grace mumbled something unintelligible while Hadley crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Micah.

“Coming to see you,” Hadley announced. “He can’t seem to stay away from his
best friend.
” The sneer in her sister’s voice couldn’t be missed by anyone, especially not Micah. But he didn’t respond in any way.

Keeping his expression perfectly straight, Micah ignored them and replied, “Because I was the only man waiting outside without a partner or a sibling.”

Ella’s heart ached for her best friend. The hollow words he uttered held a deeper meaning, the pain so very evident in his tone.
Or I could
be imagining it. Maybe, I’m just projecting my unhappiness onto him.

Who knows?

Jaycee frowned. “What do you mean ‘waiting outside’?” she asked in obvious annoyance. But she seemed to know the answer, and she didn’t appear to be surprise in the least by her men. “I told those two to go to bed and not wait up for me.”

“I told Shane and Landon the same thing,” Katie-Anne said with the same exasperated yet unsurprised expression on her face as
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Jaycee. “They are supposed to be having hot monkey sex so they can tell me every lurid detail when I get home.” Shannon snorted. “Are you kidding me? Gray and Cade haven’t let you out of their sight in two weeks, Jaycee. I’m proud that they left us alone for this long. I figured they would have their happy asses in here, all up in our business, hours ago.” She peeked over at Katie-Anne. “As far as your husbands, I expected the same from them. They probably had their hot monkey sex in the damn car outside the front door, just in case you needed them.”

Ella had to agree. The four expectant fathers had gone quite a bit over the edge when it came to their wives and respective babies. But all men did. So they had a damn good excuse.

“I guess that means it’s time for us to blow this popsicle stand,” Shannon told her best friends. “Come on girls, let me help you.” Surging to her feet, she turned and offered her hand to Jaycee. After helping her up, she assisted Katie-Anne to her feet as well.

Yawning, Katie-Anne waddled toward the door. “I guess I’ll forgive them. I’m fucking tired.”

“Me too,” Jaycee agreed with a yawn of her own. “Do you mind if we leave our presents here, Ella? We’ll get them later.” Scanning the room, Ella cringed. It looked like a tornado had hit it. Presents lay scattered around amidst wrapping paper, gift bags, and boxes. Every surface had been covered with something.
Hell. I’m
going to have fun cleaning this up. And fuck. Where am I going to
stick this stuff until they can get it? Shit.

Ella took a deep breath. “Sure,” she agreed, despite the agitation of being stuck with dozens of presents for who knows how long. “It’s no problem.”

“Come on, come on, come on.” Shannon shooed the two pregnant ladies toward the door. “Let’s get you to your men before they explode, and you end up widows.”

“A word of warning,” Micah murmured as Shannon passed him.

“Your husbands are out there, too.”

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“Why am I not surprised?” Shannon asked rhetorically. “They don’t even have a good excuse for tailing me. I’m not pregnant.”

“Yet,”
Jaycee and Katie-Anne both said at the same time then called out their thanks for the baby shower.

Ella’s three friends made their hasty escape and vanished.

However, Ella didn’t notice. She was too lost in the sudden sea of turbulence surrounding her.

Blinking rapidly, Ella glanced around the room in confusion, checking out the four excruciatingly tense people she’d been left alone with. Only her three tightly-wound sisters appeared to be paying her no mind. They were too busy glowering at Micah.

Micah seemed to be just as stressed but hiding it better. Honestly, if it weren’t for the tightness around Micah’s gorgeous eyes, Ella would believe he truly didn’t give a damn that there were three obviously pissed-off women gunning for him. Hell, he gave the distinct impression that he was completely oblivious to their presence in the room. But she knew him, and she knew that was a falsehood.

Well, isn’t this going to be a barrel of fucking laughs? Thank God
Tate isn’t here. He would just add to the goddamn festivities.

She didn’t know what had happened between her siblings and Micah over the past few weeks, but she was damn well going to find out—right now. “What the fuck is wrong with the four of you? We’re having a party. Not some goddamn sacrifice ritual. Chill the fuck out or tell me what the hell is going on. Take your pick.”
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Ella’s demanding voice reverberated off the walls in her tiny office. Surprisingly, nothing happened. The floor didn’t shake, the furniture didn’t rattle, and no papers went flying at the loud, booming noise coming from her throat. But still no one in the room responded to her. So she went on, badgering them with her always persistent nature. “Okay, I have been a good, little girl. I haven’t pestered you. I haven’t hounded you. Hell, I haven’t even fucking badgered you either.”

Shooting to her feet, Ella scurried around the room, picking up random presents strewn all over the floor. “Now Miss Nice Ella is gone, and you four need to give it up. That means someone is going to tell me what is going on, or I will have to do something drastic.” Keeping her ramrod-straight back to them, she mumbled a never-ending string of profanity as she stacked as many presents in her arms as possible. She carried the mountain of gifts over to the closet then stuffed them inside.

Whirling back around to face them, she situated her hands on the curve her hips and tapped her toe in overly dramatic impatience.

“Don’t make me go all evil bitch on your asses.” Reagan snorted without glancing her way, keeping her eyes trained on Micah. “Since when are you good, Ella? And since when have you not pestered, hounded, or badgered us?” She reached around her neck and released her long tresses from the ponytail holding them captive. Then she proceeded to put her hair right back up with agitated hands. “You cornered me just yesterday about what was going on between us”—she paused to point at Micah—”and him.”
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Reagan had her there. Ella had cornered her sister—yesterday and the day before that and the one prior to that. Hell, she’d put the screws to Reagan every day for the past two weeks. But she hadn’t harassed her. Had she? Then again, she probably had. She wasn’t exactly known for her subtle nature and sometimes, she didn’t even realize when she was being brash or overly bold.

“Fine,” Ella snapped. “I might have done that, but you’re the one who’s most likely to blab to me, Reagan.” She frowned. “God knows that Hadley, Molly-Grace, and Micah are more tight-lipped than Caedon Asher in the middle of my big scandal.” The words slipped out before she thought about it.
Damn, I have got to learn how to
censor my smart mouth.

Every eye in the room shot to Ella—except Micah’s. And Ella’s eyes darted to his.

Grimacing noticeably, Micah dropped his attention to the floor.

However, he said nothing. When the silence stretched on, Ella felt the sudden urge to apologize to her best friend because she wasn’t the only one who was hurting.

Micah had been in love with Caedon, too. He’d been as hurt by the loss of Caedon from their lives as she had. Only she’d never been able to confess to him that it was her fault that he’d left.
Well, if you
want to get technical, it was my fault and Caedon’s.

Ella should have shared the truth with Micah before now, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She didn’t want him to blame
her
for losing one of his best friends, for losing the man he loved.

Of course, Micah was typical Micah. From the beginning, he’d claimed that it was for the best. Although, that statement didn’t amount to much in her opinion. He still tried to say that he had no feelings whatsoever for Caedon other than friendship.
He’s so fucking
full of shit.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. The words poured from her mouth with the ease of her earlier smart-ass comment. It felt right to
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apologize to Micah. He hadn’t done anything to her. He didn’t deserve her wrath.

Micah shook his head then brought his mesmerizing blue eyes to her. “It’s all right. We were just friends anyway.” Coughing in overt nervousness, he ran an agitated hand through his thick hair and muttered, “You’re the one he hurt, not me.” Hadley got to her feet. She bustled around the room, just as Ella had done. Scooping up one piece of wrapping paper after another, she deposited them in a trash bag that was large enough to hold two full-size bodies. “He isn’t the only one hurting her,” she murmured in a low voice that she probably assumed no one could hear. But Ella did.

“What are you talking about?” Ella demanded to know, trying again to find out what was going on. “No one else is hurting me, and Caedon isn’t hurting me anymore.”

Hadley glared at Micah pointedly. “You would be surprised. I know I was.”

Reagan muttered, “No fucking shit. Lots of people around here like to keep things to themselves.”

Ever the silent sister, Molly-Grace stood. But rather than speaking, she took action. She walked around Micah, brushing past him and practically knocking him over, on her way out the door. Like the gentleman he was, Micah stepped aside as soon as he regained his balance and said politely, “Excuse me.”