she'd made the choice the day she realized how
much her father had aged. She just had to tell Caleb and Pax.
Bidding Roman goodbye, she patted his neck
gently and walked over to the main house. She took a deep breath
before opening the door, not surprised to see both men at the
kitchen table, focused solely on her arrival.
She closed the door and shot them a wan
smile, but she didn't walk over to them. She needed to have some
space while she conveyed her plans. Their touch could change those
plans, and she refused to let that happen.
"I don't know exactly how to say this." She
started, watching Pax's eyes narrow. "I'm leaving."
Chapter 13
Sydney glanced around the empty room that
used to be her apartment. Everything she owned had been moved into
the back of the moving truck, waiting for her to take it to her new
home. Her real home.
Both men flipped out when she'd told them she
had no option but to leave, though they calmed as soon as she
elaborated. They'd wanted to come to Sacramento with her, to help
pack her apartment up. Declining them, she made them to understand
it had to be something she did alone.
Not because she had many people to say
goodbye to, or that shame stopped her showing off of her men.
Sydney wanted to close this chapter of her life by herself. Having
been the one that started it—the one that moved away, she thought
it important to make the fresh start the way she left.
Carla, her editor, thought she'd been joking
when she called to explain exactly what had happened and why she'd
been off the radar for weeks. To Sydney's surprise, Carla had been
green with jealously, a totally unexpected reaction. However, she
found it encouraging. The whole world didn't need to know she lived
with two men, but as long as the people closest to her accepted it,
she would be happy.
Her hurdle would always be her father, though
he had promised to try. Sydney couldn't hope for more.
Nevertheless, he'd been overjoyed she planned
to return home.
For good.
The last two months had been a whirlwind,
from that early morning call from Pax to the mortifying moment her
father had caught her and Pax in the field. She still fought to
believe all of it had happened.
The sound of her cell chirping snapped her
out of the daydream, and she grinned when she saw who called.
"Hey," she answered.
"Hey, baby. Pax and I wanted to know how
long."
"Until what?" she teased, knowing exactly
what he meant.
Caleb growled, causing her to shiver with
desire. "Until your ass is in this house, naked, and ready for
us."
"Oh." Her skin flamed.
"Yeah, oh! When Ne-Ne?" He sounded desperate,
and instead of feeling suffocated, she reveled in it. "It's all in
the truck. I'm about to lock the place up and start the drive
home."
"Home," he crooned. "I love the sound of
that."
"I love you."
"Ditto, baby." She heard Pax in the
background.
"Pax said you need to drive fast… but
safely."
"I'll see you later today."
Sydney ended the call, picking up the last
box of belongings, and walked out of her apartment. She stepped
down the stairs and tried to recall the name of one other person
that lived in the building. She came up blank, and yet she could
name the residents of every farm surrounding the 4D. It only
underlined she'd made the right decision.
After dropping the keys off with the super,
she climbed into the truck and began the long ride home.
Happiness swelled within her, only increasing
with every mile closer she got. Pax and Caleb continued to text her
as she drove through the night, and she'd even managed a chat with
Jack. She'd been cautious, expecting him to be somewhat
standoffish, but true to his word, he was working to accept her
relationship. He even joked about how the men were pining after
her. The teasing gave her hope.
About an hour from home, Sydney stopped to
stretch her legs. She'd given herself the location as the last
chance to turn around. But she no longer held any reservations. The
time for running away had come
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