Cherished

12

Eva wanted to talk to Graham. She was standing at the bottom of the steps trying to convince herself that this was a good idea. It was most definitely not a good idea.

She walked up the stairs and through a set of double doors, surprised by the space she found herself in. It was like she was in an entirely separate house, having just stepped into a foyer of some sort.

There was a huge kitchen and a huge living room completely open to each other.

Miles was leaning on the kitchen island, typing away at his phone.

"Hey, Evie girl. What are you doing up here?" he asked, smiling brightly down at her.

She shuffled her feet a bit.

"I was looking for Graham," she told him, peeking up at him.

"He's in the bedroom, sunshine. It's the first door down that hallway," he said, pointing to the only hallway in the space.

Eva felt herself flush a bit, and she moved quickly out of Miles' gaze.

Eva knocked on the door before she entered, poking her head through when she heard Graham tell her to come in.

He was shirtless, like he had just gotten out of the shower. He immediately shrugged on a t-shirt, though. This time Eva really did blush.

"Were you looking for me, Eva?" Graham asked.

"I'm sorry," Eva said as strongly as she could manage. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know," he said. "I shouldn't have been so upset with you, either."

It was quiet for a moment. Eva wasn't sure if she should leave or what to do.

"Come closer," he said, dropping his voice to something softer. It was a tone he had never used with her before, and something within her fluttered.

What was that about?

She took light, hesitant steps closer to him, as she was told to do, but also because she wanted to.

When she reached him, he put his arms out, letting his hands stroke lightly over her arms.

"Let me see your shoulder," he said, running his hand up a little higher, his fingers dipping into the collar of her t-shirt. She felt goosebumps form on her skin, but she wasn't cold.

She reached up to stretch her shirt, revealing the forming bruise from earlier.

Graham brushed his fingers over it, before fixing her t-shirt so it was even across her neck.

"I've had worse," she whispered.

"I know," he whispered back. "but you were supposed to never be hurt again."

His fingers trailed up to her cheek, skimming his thumb along her skin. His touch was warm and gentle.

"Pierce was pretty worried about you. I think he might appreciate an apology. Do you think you can do that for me?"

Eva nodded eagerly.

Speaking of Pierce, he entered the bedroom abruptly with Miles on his tail.

"Miles, quit pestering me," Pierce grumbled, looking up, surprised to see them.

"As I was saying, grumpy, Eva is in here," Miles huffed. "Sorry we barged in, Graham. I tried to tell him."

"It's okay. Eva was wanting to talk to Pierce anyway," he said, stepping back a bit.

Eva felt frozen. She realized she had put herself in a situation that could be really bad. She was in Graham's bedroom, surrounded by three large men. What had she done?

She struggled to catch her breath.

Pierce moved to sit on the bed, and Miles sat next to him. For some reason, it felt less threatening when they were sitting down.

"What is it?" Pierce asked.

"I'm sorry," she said, not as strong as she had said to Graham.

"We were worried. We had thought something had happened to you," Pierce said. "I searched along the woods nearly all night, thinking you had taken a fall or got lost."

Eva sucked in another trembling breath. "Can I ask something?"

"Of course," Graham answered.

"Why do you all care? What is going on? Do you think I haven't noticed the way the three of you are scoping me out?"

Graham's arms crossed across his chest, and Eva took a faltering step back. She had crossed a line. She should have kept her mouth shut.

"Is that why you left?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said meekly.

She did know. That was almost the exact reason. She knew something was going on that involved her, and it overwhelmed her to the point where getting away seemed like the best option.

Except now, she no longer had the desire to make them feel guilty for their actions.

"We just wanted to get to know you,'' Pierce said. She was surprised that it was him speaking up.

"My feelings concerning you are different than with the others, and I'm not sure why," Graham admitted. "but everything involving me also involves Pierce and Miles. We weren't trying to be sneaky about it, we were just trying to get to know you without overwhelming or threatening you in any way."

Eva processed his words. That made sense, and after Graham stood up for her today, she was inclined to give him a little trust. She certainly didn't know about having feelings for him, any of them, or all three of them. She was still trying to figure things out for herself first.

"Okay," she whispered, quietly admitting, "It does make it easier to get to know one of you versus all of you right now, but you don't need to make up reasons to see me, not anymore."

They all agreed.

Pierce yawned, making Eva yawn too.

"Come here," Graham said, going around to the other side of the bed. He pulled back the blankets, encouraging her to lie down.

At first she wasn't so sure, but then she realized just how good his sheets smelled, embarrassingly enough.

"Take a nap. Do you want one of us to stay?" Graham asked, bringing the blankets up around her shoulders.

"Miles does a good job," she admitted, thinking back to when he helped her fall back asleep after her nightmare.

There was some shuffling, but her eyes were already mostly closed.

The bed dipped with Miles' weight next to her. He stroked her hair and her arm, putting her right to sleep.

---

"Graham," Kenzie gasped a few minutes later as Graham stepped into the foyer of the main house. He was going to work in his office for a little bit. "I went to check on Eva, but her room is empty. Nobody has seen her. Do you think she ran away again? I thought we had a good talk, but-"

Graham stopped her. "Eva is fine, Kenzie. She is taking a nap in my wing."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. He felt a little smug about it all. Eva had surprised him today.