The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,48

more on you guys' end than mine."

It was Adam who responded next. "I think we're all pretty faithful. I've never cheated on a girl that I was serious about."

"Me, either," they all agreed.

"Dad was a very good example in that area," Ryan allowed. "He worshipped the ground Mom walked on."

"That's good to know." It did give her a big sense of relief to hear that from them. "I feel as if I'm the one making all of the demands here, and somehow that feels wrong."

Ryan chuckled. "Don't be afraid to say what you need to say, Laurie. Our demands of you are—necessarily—of a very different kind than what you expect from us."

"And you should expect a lot from us," Adam chimed in.

"Okay. Well, if I call off a night with any of you, I don't want you to try to talk me into it anyway."

Jace's face was dark as a thundercloud at that unsettling revelation. "What kind of assholes have you been dating, darlin'?"

"Well, I just want it out there."

Jace nodded, reeling his concern back in. "I didn't mean that as an attack on you in the least. And I'm sorry you've had to deal with idiots. But I hope you realize that—although this is certainly an unusual situation—we're all gentlemen here. I hope you feel that we've treated you that way in the past, and I don't expect that that's going to change in the future. It might even become a bit more amplified, because you're ours. We're committed now; we've always been committed to each other as brothers, but now we're equally as committed to you."

Her entire body flushed hot and red at that, especially as his brothers heartily agreed with what he'd said.

They discussed several other things then ended the meeting.

Nick would draw up the agreement and give a copy to each of them to sign—supposedly in front of a witness, but none of them could see them doing that, so they'd do it their own way, and then everyone would keep their copy.

"I'll get these to you as soon as possible. Look it over and note any changes you'd like me to make, although, keep in mind, there are others who will have to agree with them."

"Thank you, Nick," Laurie said, standing and lifting herself onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"You're very welcome, Laurie." He blushed and turned to his brothers. "Gentlemen, I'll send you my bill."

They all sputtered in pretend outrage at that.

"Yeah, and we'll know just where to put it, too, little brother. The circular file," Jace said, holding up the trash can.

That coming Monday was to be the first day that "the" schedule was in effect. She'd put it together herself, with input from them, of course, but she didn't reveal it to them until the Sunday night before, when they all took her out to dinner and a movie to sign the paperwork and then celebrate their new arrangement.

The three of them were on edge—there was no doubt. They hadn't made love to her—or anyone else—in a while, and it showed. They were all highly sexed men who weren't used to denying themselves, but they'd done it for her, and she'd never heard any complaint from them, nor had any of them ever made her feel pressured to give them something she wasn't giving his brothers.

They were nothing if not courteous and respectful of her, through and through.

They did the movie first, which she preferred. They didn't care one way or the other. They went to see First Man, and they all loved it, spending lots of the dinner—which was at an excellent authentic Italian place—talking about it.

Toward the end of the meal, just before they were going to order dessert—or rather, the boys were, anyway—Jace caught the waiter's eye and asked him to bring them a bottle of their best champagne and four glasses.

While they were waiting for him to return, they all produced their copies of the agreement, and they sent them around the round table until everyone had signed all of them.

When the bubbly had been poured, and they had given their dessert orders to the waiter, he raised his glass to her. "To a new beginning—as well as the continuation—of a lot of already wonderful relationships."

Adam contributed, "It's going to be fun but challenging, at times, but I think it'll also always be very interesting."

Then Ryan finished up with, "We're embarking on a new adventure, and we must always remember that we not only love each other,