They both squeeze. And at the same time, Banks presses his forehead to mine.

My insides just…erode. Air escapes my lungs, words tumbling along with it.

“Fine. We moved around a lot when I was growing up. I’m a military brat. And, um…” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “I had so many best friends. I would find someone special and give them all my trust. Take all of theirs in return. Sleepovers whispering in the dark and building forts. When I got a little older, it was confiding crushes and going through puberty together. Then it was time to go. It was always time to go. It was like having my heart ripped out every time. I’d try to keep in touch, but they would find someone else, or the bond wouldn’t be the same as being face to face. The good just faded. So I stopped trying. It’s so much easier this way. Please just let me make this easy.”

There’s a long silence.

Then Tobias, “We’re in a fake prison cell in day-old tuxedos. I think the easy ship has sailed, love.”

Banks and Gabe whack him in the shoulders.

He sighs, looking regretful. “I’m sorry you had to lose people so often, Elise.”

“So am I,” Banks says, his voice sincere.

Gabe squeezes my hand hard and we simply remain like that for a few minutes.

“What if we agree to a certain length of time, like a trial period?” Gabe surprises everyone by suggesting. “At the end of it, you can decide if you want to continue.”

“That’s not going to work. I’m going to get too…”

“Attached,” Banks finishes for me.

I press my trembling lips into a straight line.

“That was my ulterior motive,” Gabe says quietly. “Getting you as attached as we are.”

“Gabe, you’re secretly kind of diabolical.”

“Thank you.” He nods for a moment. “What’s diabolical?”

Tobias sighs. “I understand your fears, Elise. I lost my best friend, albeit for different reasons. You make an emotional investment and then suddenly, it means nothing. Maybe it meant nothing all along. Investing that energy again seems pointless.” He shakes his head a moment, mouth poised to speak. “But this isn’t. It’s not pointless.”

“Give us time to convince you of that,” Banks says, kissing my forehead. “We are three men who have nothing in common. We didn’t even like each other. In some ways, we still don’t.”

“Amen to that,” Gabe sighs, looking at Tobias.

Tobias rolls his eyes.

“But we feel very strongly about you, Elise. So much that we’ve learned an entirely new nature. How to be unselfish. How to give instead of take.” Those words carry reminders of last night and my thighs flex in response. “This isn’t temporary.”

That sentiment is echoed in the eyes of the other two men, their intensity snaking around my limbs and pulling me under. Back to the place of willing surrender I was in last night.

Fight it, whispers my last iota of self-preservation.