Cold as Ice (22 page)

“Agreed,” Luc said.

“Sounds good to me.”

Eva returned and Carter settled her on his lap again, winding his arms around her waist. Jake took one of her hands and Luc took the other.

She looked around. “What’s going on?” Her gaze settled on him and Luc gave her an encouraging smile.

Jake spoke first. “Carter and I need to go get our blood work done. They’re taking us six at a time for the EKGs so that might be a while, but before we do that we wanted to say something.”

“Okay. You guys are scaring me.”

“Shhh, don’t be scared,” Luc heard Carter whisper in her ear. Carter pulled her even closer. “Listen to what Jake has to say.”

Jake shifted his weight again. Luc had never seen his teammate and friend so nervous. “We love you, Eva. All of us. And we want a life together.
All of us
.” He kissed her knuckles briefly before saying, “What do you think of that?”

Tears gathered again and Jake reached up to swipe his thumbs over her cheeks to clear them. “I love you guys, too. I’m sure Luc told you about what happened with us earlier. I didn’t mean to exclude either of you when I told him I loved him. If you’d both been there my answer would’ve been the same. I love you all.” Jake closed the distance between them and claimed her lips. Eva pulled away, saying, “I can’t let you guys get carried away until I know you’re all safe and healthy. No making out, no sex, no nothing until you’re given the all clear.”

“We can live with that,” Carter replied. “But I do want a kiss.”

She laughed and turned to him, planting a soft kiss on his lips. “You guys have made me so happy. I feel like I’m finally home.”

“Us, too, baby, us, too,” Luc replied, and he meant it.

Jake and Carter left Luc’s room to have their EKGs while Eva kept Luc company. She wanted him to sleep but he adamantly refused until he knew all “his guys” were okay. When Jake and Carter returned a few hours later with clean bills of health and portable IVs with saline drips, his eyes closed briefly in sheer, overwhelming relief. He still wanted to hear about the rest of the team, but at least his best friends weren’t in danger.

“So now that we know what’s been going on and we’re dealing with it, how about we talk about something more fun, like where we’re all going to live and how big a bed we’ll need,” Carter teased, leaning down to give Eva a kiss.

“All I know is, I’m not sleeping next to either of you,” Luc replied with a shudder.

“I know,” Eva piped up. “Whoever plays best gets to sleep with me and the other two can sleep alone in their own rooms.” She grinned and Luc poked her.

“How would we determine who played best?” Carter asked.

“I would decide. Or maybe I’ll just choose based on who’s not giving me grief that day.”

Jake groaned. “We’ve created a monster.”

“Sexiest monster I’ve ever seen,” Luc told him and then couldn’t stifle the yawn that escaped.

“Come on, guys. Luc needs to rest, and you guys need to sit down while your IVs finish,” Eva said. “Everybody in for a hug.”

They gathered around Luc’s bed, and as he looked into the happy faces of his lover and his best friends, he had a bone-deep belief everything would work out.

THE END

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