Tease Me (Private Listing #4)

Blake grunts in acknowledgment. “Want a drink?”

“Yeah.” I can’t do anything else until she’s ready to talk.

Madison

After managing to keep my lunch down and texting Noah to say I’m fine just not feeling well, I climb onto my huge bed that smells like each of their colognes and close my eyes. Usually their scents help soothe me, but not this time.

I don’t know what I did wrong. What gave them the idea they couldn’t trust me? Have they ever trusted me? Or was it all a ruse?

After hearing Seth call out to me, I leave the door between my bedroom and my private living room open. I can’t face him yet. Not after the conference room.

What did they think they’d find out? I take a while to sort it out in my head, but all I can come up with is they didn’t think I would tell them the truth. That I had something to hide. Do they think so little of me that they thought I set this up?

I received and read all Seth’s texts, but I can’t answer him. Not yet. Not until I figure out where my head is. And what I want to do.

Open and honest communication. That was supposed to be our mantra. So what the fuck was that with the conference room? I’ve been outside that door while a meeting was going on. Blake couldn’t hear through the door.

Isn’t it bad enough that I have someone else recording my life and finding my faults without my own guys doing the same? Did they really believe something might be going on between me and Robert or that I wouldn’t tell them exactly what he said?

The ache grows within me, spreading like a virus.

My phone has been silent for a while. Hope texted to see if I needed anything. I wrote her back that I’m fine. And I am. My heart’s a little tattered right now, but if Seth is to be believed, they feel bad about what they did.

The problem I have now is whether I can trust them not to do this again.

The door to the apartment slams, jolting me upright.

“What the fuck did you two do now?” Coop’s voice rings through the apartment. My door only muffles it slightly.

Jumping to my feet, I rush through my living room without thinking. I stop before opening the door, choosing to listen instead. I don’t know that I can trust them. Not if they don’t trust me.

Blake grumbles something I can’t hear.

“This isn’t just about you.” Noah’s voice is firm. “We’re all a part of this relationship.”

“You didn’t hear?—‍”

“What, Blake?” Coop demands. “What did you hear that made you forget what you know to be true?”

Blake doesn’t answer.

“We fucked up.” Seth sounds miserable.

I put my hand and head against the door. His pain and the brokenness of his voice makes me want to cry for him.

I still love them. I still want them. But if they can’t trust me, what do we really have?

Chapter 138

Foot the Bill

Coop

Blake and Seth look miserable with a bottle between them they’ve barely touched. Fuck. The door to Madison’s suite remains closed, which is a bad fucking sign.

Noah’s dark eyes meet mine and he nods. We don’t know what these two did, but it must have blown up in their faces.

We need all of us for this discussion. Noah and I both know it.