holy shit, you’re a male version of me. Only way hotter and way more fun and confident than I could ever be.”
A log snapped somewhere in the fire, sending a spark through the center of the cabin. It disappeared even before it hit the floor.
“There’s so much I admire in all three of you,” I smiled gently. “Plus you all rock in bed. From my perspective, anyway. It’s not like I have anything to compare it to.”
“Love,” Senan said flatly. “That’s a pretty big word.”
“It sure is.”
“You think you love us,” he repeated.
“Yes.”
He scratched at his beard, studying me intently. I felt like I was being quizzed. Or tested.
“I thought I’d been in love a couple of times,” I went on. “But I was wrong. Whatever it was, it was nothing like this. Nothing like the emotions you bring out in me. The way you make my heart feel.”
“So if you had the chance to date one of us, who would it be?”
“That’s easy,” I said. “It’d be all of you.”
Senan let out a short laugh. Brett and Ander however, were staring back at me with the same strange look. Translated wordlessly, the expression said: good answer.
“So you wouldn’t choose?”
“No,” I said flatly. “It’d be all or nothing.”
“Why?”
“For one, I met you all at the same time. I even fell into bed with you together.” I stared into the flames and shrugged. “I could never parse out my feelings like that. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
Ares chose that moment to leap into my lap. He circled clockwise three times — that was apparently his thing — before settling down into a tight little ball.
“I probably sound stupid, right?” I laughed nervously. “Like a lovesick little girl. After all, who in their right mind—”
“What would you say if we wanted you also?”
The words came from Ander. I turned to face him, absently stroking the kitten. “Wanted what?”
“Wanted you,” Senan iterated. “All three of us. As a trio.”
My mouth was suddenly dry. I looked down into my glass, wishing it were full again.
“I’d say you had me already,” I joked, “as a trio. Or don’t you remember?”
“What would you say to being our girlfriend?”
The fire crackled. The flames danced.
Deep in my chest, my heart was soaring.
“Are you serious?”
They nodded together, quietly, in unison. Their faces were mirthless.
“You want me to date all three of you?”
“You’re dating all three of us now,” Brett pointed out. “What would be different?”
I glanced down at the floor for answers. There weren’t any.
“I— I guess not, no, but—”
“We talked about this,” said Senan, “and we all decided we want the same thing. We want you, Chastity. We want to cement what we’ve been doing together, and make it concrete. Exclusive. Real.”
“It’s real already now,” Ander jumped in. “I guess what he’s saying is we call it something. We declare it. Say yes, and you’ll be our girlfriend.”
Girlfriend…
The word dropped with all the impact of a thunderclap in the back of my mind. At the same time, it made me shiver.
“The bad news for you is you’ll have three asshole boyfriends,” Brett joked. “Three individual dumbasses to make happy. Three different guys to take care of.”
“Speak for yourself,” Ander spat.
“But also,” added Senan, ignoring the jabs. “Three guys to take care of you.”
Forty-Six
SENAN
“So how would we do it?” she asked, her face all flushed from the fire. On the couch she looked feminine and beautiful, her smooth legs peeking out delectably from her sleep-shorts. Her lips were full, stained red from the wine. I wanted to taste them in the worst way.
“The same way we’ve been doing it, pretty much,” I told her. “You’d be our girl. We’d do with you the same things we’d do with any girlfriend of ours. Only with four people involved, we’d also have the option of doing them together.”
“And doing me together, too,” she added carefully. “Am I right?”
She looked frightened, but only a little. The rest of her expression was excitement and exhilaration. Maybe arousal.
“You’re right,” said Ander. “Actually you’re very right.”
“So I’ll be busy,” Chastity grinned wryly.
“Three times as busy as any other girlfriend,” I nodded. “Yes.”
“Consider it one of the benefits of having to put up with three of us,” Brett smiled. “I mean if you’re going through all that trouble, there have to be some perks too, right?”
“Perks,” she giggled. “Got it.”
I squinted at her through the shadows. “What, you don’t believe us?”
Chastity shrugged a sexy shoulder. “Sounds too good to be true.”
“Why?”
“Because look at you,” she