it down with the wine. I didn’t know what I’d expected to happen, but it was just good. There were other snacks, too. Not just loaded ones. Like, there were brownies, sans the THC, and there were hot wings under one of the trays on a heated plate, even.
I giggled at the feast of it all, and dinner still awaited us. Leaning back against the tub, I stared up at the sky. “I really love this,” I admitted.
“Me too,” Coop agreed. “Skiing was a lot of fun.”
I grinned at him. “It was. And we’re going again, right?” I glanced at Archie.
“We can go as many times as you want,” he promised. “We rented skis for this, but if you end up loving it, babe, I can totally buy you your own pair and we’ll make ski trips a regular thing.”
“There’s skiing on the East Coast,” Jake told me, before pressing a kiss behind my ear. “Good places in Pennsylvania and Maryland that I know of.”
“And we can always come back here,” Ian suggested. “I have a feeling Archie’s grandfather wouldn’t mind it.”
“Nope,” Archie said. “Grandpa will let us visit whenever we want. Open invitation.”
I smiled. I’d already grown super fond of this place. “I can’t believe you set all this up,” I murmured. “Just made all the arrangements so we could all steal away together. It’s such a you thing though.” I glanced at Archie, and he grinned at me.
“Did you think I’d be more likely to steal you away by myself?”
“Maybe,” I mused, but not so much anymore. “You guys were also so specific about parceling my time. Making sure I didn’t ignore you and keeping me so busy, I barely had time for anything else.”
“You make time for what’s important,” Coop reminded me. “And to be fair, you didn’t notice it as much until this year.”
“That’s not totally true,” I pointed out, still mellow. The absolute lack of tension was just kind of profound. Was I always so wound up? “I noticed before, just…figured it was what friends did. You were kind of greedy when we were kids, too.”
He snorted, even as Archie let out a soft laugh. “I’m still greedy,” Coop informed me. “I pretty much want everything with you. But I told you that earlier when you asked me.”
Oops. That got some interested looks. “Asked him what?” Ian nudged me.
“Um…”
Jake had taken out one of the chocolate pieces and snapped it in half, then he offered me the other half, and I studied it and him a beat. It was a good excuse to not embarrass myself. Then again, I took it and held the piece of chocolate before I glanced around at them. Coop gave me a soft, if encouraging look, and I sighed.
“I asked Coop what happens if I can’t choose.” I really didn’t want to ruin our trip or this evening or anything. We were all here and we were all having fun and I was going to ruin the mellow.
“You’re not ruining anything,” Jake told me and nudged my hand to my mouth. Oh, good idea. Better to eat the chocolate and shut up. I was almost done with my second glass of wine, and maybe I should go for a third.
Maybe that would let me hold onto the mellow floaty sensation.
“What happens with all of us if you can’t choose?” Archie clarified, shifting in the water to get fresh beers for the guys. He drank wine, too. He’d had wine with me. But when they were together, they enjoyed their beers. I wasn’t going to complain. I could drink beer, but I preferred the wine.
At my nod, Ian curled one loose tendril of my hair around his finger. There was still peanut butter on my teeth, so I was licking at it and keeping my mouth shut for the most part. “Then you don’t choose, Angel.”
Just like that, and my eyes rounded.
“Am I for real?” Oh, look, he could translate my expression. I nodded dumbly.
“Yep,” he said slowly, and then tugged the curl, and I leaned toward him automatically. “I had a lot of time to think about this. What it’s like to be without you, I got a taste of that too. Not a fan. And I’ve had a taste of being with you and even watching you with all of them.” He gave me a considering look. “And I’m a little selfish, I’m going to want you to myself more than I want to share, but that doesn’t mean