“What? No!” I angrily finished buttering the bread. “I’m not hiding you from my family. Anyone that has a problem with our relationship doesn’t need to be in my life. We can weed out the jerkfaces. And anyway, I just meant that they’ll be really surprised, but they’ll be fine after a while. My mom won’t let anyone that isn’t supportive in her house.”
Raph leaned over and rested his chin on my shoulder, saying, “I’m so glad you grew up in such an accepting household.”
“Me too.” Finishing with the bread, I leaned my head against his for a few seconds, then picked up Izzy’s hand and pressed a kiss to his wrist, making him smile. “You know who we haven’t told yet?”
“Who?” Iz asked as I laced our fingers together.
“Grades and Alaric.” Surprisingly, I hadn’t spoken to Grades today. He texted earlier to check on me, but I wanted to tell him about our new relationship in person.
Raph hummed. “My baby brother isn’t going to know what to do with himself.”
Izzy said, “That’ll be an interesting conversation.”
I leaned into Raph. “We should see if they can come over tomorrow night so we can tell them.”
A tiny hopeful smile graced Izzy’s lips. “That would be wonderful.”
Raph kissed my jaw and straightened up, pulling away from me. “I’ll text my brother now to make sure they can make it.”
While he did that, I quietly asked Iz, “You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but I did warn you that I’m no good at this.”
I lifted our combined hands and kissed his knuckles before wrapping my arm around him and pulling him close. “You’re perfect.” I kissed his temple, and I had to bite my tongue to stop the L-word from passing over my lips. Jesus, I hadn’t even said it to Raph yet, and here I was almost spilling my guts on our first date with Iz.
Izzy snorted and leaned into me. “No, I’m not, but thank you.”
A flash of light caught my attention, and Raph grinned at us with his phone aimed in our direction, saying, “You two look amazing together. I had to take a picture.”
I kissed Izzy’s head again, barely containing my small smile, then said to Raph, “Why don’t you take one of all three of us?”
Izzy groaned. “I cannot believe you just suggested a selfie to Raph of all people.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Raph said as he slid his chair even closer to mine and moved so we were cheek to cheek.
“That now you’re going to be snapping them left and right all night.”
“No, I won’t. I promise I’ll stop once we get a good one right now.” Raph held up his phone. “Smile.”
I smiled, amused by their bickering and so happy to be right in there with them. It only took Raph three tries to get a pic he liked, and he did put his phone away, but only after saying, “Grades and the little runt are on for tomorrow.”
I snorted at the nickname Raph had for Alaric, and the three of us separated enough to eat the appetizer the waiter brought out.
I’d been really nervous about going out with them, but now that we were here, I realized I’d had nothing to be nervous about. Being with them was easy, natural, and basically the same as it had been before we’d asked Izzy to be a part of us. The only difference now was that I could act on all the little impulses to touch Izzy or kiss his hair or cheek or pull him into my arms.
It was really wonderful, and I was hopeful that we could make this work.
As long as they didn’t mind if my doubts crept in every once in a while, as I was sure they would.
But right now, with them laughing and eating beside me, life was good. Better than good.
When we got home from our date, I felt a little awkward, unsure of what either one of them expected. We’d been sleeping in the same bed together already, and I hadn’t even been home, except to grab clothes, in weeks. But now that we were dating, what did they expect? What did they want? Should I go home? Should I stay here? Did they want to jump right into bed? Or take it slow?
After I hung my coat up and took off my shoes, I turned to find Izzy and Raph staring at each other.
My heart began pounding in my chest at the sight. They both so clearly wanted to kiss one another, but something was holding them back. After everything they’d told me, I could understand their caution, but I was hoping they’d finally come together. I thought they both needed it.
Since I wasn’t sure where to go, I quietly walked into the living room and sat on the couch. I tried to look away from them, really, I did, but my gaze kept sweeping back to watch them.
They really were beautiful together.
A little swirl of nerves circled my heart, even though I tried to push it away. A part of me still worried that once they figured themselves out that the little human they were entertaining would be ditched. Not that I thought they’d ever truly ditch me, they weren’t heartless at all, but… I was the odd one out, and they had so much history together.
I wanted to be a part of this thing we were trying, but if they could be happier without me… I… I didn’t know what I would do. I’d like to say I’d let them go, but the thought of doing so made my heart ache. Perhaps I’d find the strength to fight for them. For both of them, for all three of us.
God, I really hoped they wanted me as much as I wanted them. No, needed. I needed them in my life.
But they needed each other, too, so I could be strong and give them tonight together to reconnect. I’d give them tonight, then beg them to keep me tomorrow.
Chapter 28
Isiah
After I removed my shoes and hung up my coat, I caught Raph staring at me, and he snared me in his gaze. Those brown eyes were soft and full of promises.
I was aware of Laz moving into the living room, and I wanted to reach for him, to make him stay nearby instead of settling so far away, but Raph had me in his sights, and I couldn’t look away, not yet.
Slowly, our bodies moved closer, as if we were pulled by an invisible string, until we were almost chest to chest.
“Izzy?” he whispered, his breath ghosting across my cheek.
“Yeah, babe?”
Raph smiled, a small quirk of his lips, and he brushed the hair off my forehead before he quietly said, “You know I’ve loved you since the time you told me you’d shove me off the roof of the pub if I told the Conclave where you were.”
I snorted at the memory from so long ago and rolled my eyes. “I highly doubt that is when you realized you love me.”
“It is. I couldn’t believe this skinny dude had the audacity to yell at me, put me in my place, and threaten me. It was really hot.”
I snorted again.
He swallowed audibly and met my eyes, his brown orbs swirling with emotion. “Your bravery blew me away, Iz. That’s the moment I fell in love with you.”
All the air seemed to get sucked from my lungs.
Raph nodded. “I’ve been in love with you for nearly a century and a half, honey.”
“Raph—”
“No, listen. I’ve loved you for so long, but I didn’t know how to love you. I didn’t… you know I’ve always wanted—needed—more than one person. It’s like… there’s something inside of me that craves it, okay? But you never seemed like you were happy with that for us, and I didn’t want you to be unhappy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Izzy. I’ve wanted you to be happy. When you pushed me away, I built a wall between us as much as I could. I know I’ve made mistakes, and I know I’ve kissed you and complicated things so many damn times in the past, but you just… you’re so you, and you’re hard to stay away from. I’m sorry I’ve hurt you in the past, honey. So fucking sorry.”