Lia seethed over the ridiculousness of what she’d just seen. They were so damn adolescent. Boys fighting over her like she was some kind of prize. Lia stomped back to the corrugated metal wall and pushed open the heavy porthole-style door. Footsteps crunched behind her. Good. At least they followed directions.
She went straight to her cabin and stood by the door. Erica was still outside the wall, and knowing what she knew, she’d keep her distance from their cabin.
Cam and Travis walked side-by-side, heading in her direction. She studied both men—Cam with his dark brown hair, curling over his ears. In another life, she’d been a hair stylist, but those days were long gone. Now, she looked forward to the times when Cam and Travis let her cut their hair. Allison handled all the others. Travis’s coppery brown hair was now short¸ so Lia buzzed it almost every other week to keep it the length he liked it. He could’ve gone three, but Lia was pretty sure that his more frequent-than-necessary haircuts were because he liked how she massaged his head and neck. It was one small service she could offer in exchange for the roof over her head and the food in her belly.
They closed in on the cabin, and Lia stepped back, holding the door open.
“You sure you want to do this here?” Cam asked, looking uncomfortable as he stepped inside the obviously feminine space.
“My turf seems about right since you two decided I was worth starting a fight over.”
“Lia—” he started, but broke off.
“What? No explanation?” She looked from one to the other. “One of you is going to tell me what the hell you were thinking.”
Travis stepped closer and cupped her cheek. His possessive gesture—in front of the man he’d just been willing to go toe-to-toe with over her—sent shivers coasting down her spine.
Her eyes darted to Cam, and his frown made it abundantly clear that he didn’t like the move at all.
“What makes you think you’re not worth fighting for? Because I’m here to tell you that you’re worth more than a fight. You’re worth everything.”
His words slid through her and settled somewhere in the melted puddle that used to be her heart. He lowered his hand, but the heat of his palm on her cheek remained.
“What was the point of all that?” she asked quietly.
“Lia, we need to talk,” Cam said.
She raised her hand to stop him. “I … I think it’s my turn to talk.” Grabbing all the courage she possessed with both metaphorical hands, she plowed forward. “I’m not broken. I mean, maybe I am, but I don’t want you to think of me that way anymore.”
Both men straightened.
“You may not be broken, but you’re still fragile.” This came from Cam, and Lia didn’t like it. She might have been beaten and used by the men who’d taken her, but she refused to let it define her. That would be letting the darkness win.
“I’m not fragile. I’m … goddamn resilient.”
“We know you are, baby. You don’t have anything to prove,” Travis said.
“But I do. Because I’m never going to get what I want without proving that I can handle it.” Embarrassment rushed over her at what they’d think if she kept going, and her cheeks burned. Dropping onto the bed, she covered her face with both hands as the sudden burst of courage deserted her completely. “Never mind. Just … never mind. You should both go.” So much for proving she could handle a damn thing.
The mattress sank on her right, and a hand touched her knee. Lia lifted her eyes to find Travis beside her and Cam crouched in front of her. Every nerve ending in her body surged with awareness of having them both so close at the same time.
Screw it. No one ever got anywhere by being a scared little girl.
Her thoughts were enough to give her whiplash, but Lia gathered strength from their proximity.
“I want you,” she blurted.
Both men froze. For a few moments, no one in the room seemed to evenbreathe.
Cam commandeered one of her hands and squeezed.
“Which one of us?” he asked quietly.
Travis laced his fingers through hers and pulled their twined hands onto his lap.
Lia wished she could havebothhands back so she could hide behind them again, but that would just be adopting the scared little girl mentality again. She forced herself to meet Cam’s eyes, terrified of what she’d see in them when she admitted what she wanted.
Two deep breaths steeled her courage, and then she replied, “Both of you.”