The Spell of Five

by Casey Morgan

  “You’re not even going to last a minute,” predicted Tavish. “Take a seat, Connor.”

  “Fuck off,” said Connor. “Give us a countdown, Ronan.”

  Ronan shuffled on his feet and bit and looked at me. “Should I?” he asked.

  “No,” the three said in unison.

  “Fine.” He sat down next to me on the couch and put his arm around my shoulders. I snuggled into his warmth. “Three-two-one, then,” counted Ronan, then he waved a hand.

  The boys started doing a push up contest. I have to say, it was fun to watch. I loved to see their muscular backs and arms work. The three of them were all in great shape. I mean, Tavish was ripped, but watching the others going up and down, their taught muscles and buttocks clenching; I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it.

  “That wasn’t a full push up!” insisted Tavish, looking at Seth.

  “Piss off,” said Seth. “Count your own.”

  “He’s right,” panted Connor. “You’re not going all the way down.”

  “You’re making me lose count!” snapped Seth. “Shut up, both of you.”

  “Get Ronan to count,” insisted Tavish.

  “How’s he supposed to accurately count three people doing pushups and judge the individual pushups at the same time?!” snapped Seth. His ears were bright red at this point. “Good God, man! Have ya no honor at all?!”

  “Well, I know what a pushup is and if ya don’t go all the way don’t, you’re not doing it right!” insisted Tavish.

  “Then start over!” snapped Seth.

  “I’m not starting over!” said Connor. “Then it becomes a test of endurance.”

  “It is a test of endurance!” insisted Seth. “What other test could it possibly be?!”

  Connor sat up and stopped.

  “Keira should be the judge,” he insisted.

  “You’re out,” Seth and Tavish both said simultaneously.

  “No, I’m not!” insisted Connor.

  “Ya stopped. You’re out,” said Seth.

  “That’s the rule,” agreed Tavish.

  “That’s not a rule!” snapped Connor. Sitting back and crossing his legs. “This entire contest is rigged.”

  “Aye, because there’s no way either of ya can beat me,” said Tavish, still doing a steady set of pushups.

  “Tavish, you are looking very good,” I had to admit.

  “What?!” said Seth, stopping and turning to look at me.

  “You’re out,” said Connor and Tavish.

  “What? You agree with him now?” objected Seth.

  “Well if I’m out, you’re out!” insisted Connor.

  Tavish did a few more pushups. Then he started lifting off the floor and doing a clap with each pushup. Ronan and I were impressed.

  “That’s a definite win, isn’t it?” said Ronan.

  “I have to agree,” I said reluctantly, then turned to the other elves. “But you both did very well.”

  Tavish finally stopped. He stood up with a big smile on his face and dusted off his trousers. Seth and Connor stood up as well.

  “That victory is void because of my allergies,” insisted Seth. He rubbed his noise.

  “What?!” Tavish laughed. “Come off it, Seth.”

  “Seriously, it was,” said Seth, looking around the room for support. “Allergies impact the respiratory system. That’s key to any physical activity.”

  “Give it up, Seth,” said Connor. “Be a gracious winner.”

  “All right, fine,” Seth relented. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I can take solace in the fact that I will be making quadruple what any of you will earn in the years to come.”

  “That’s the greedy spirit,” laughed Connor. He patted his older brother on the back.

  “Are they always like this?” I asked Ronan.

  “Just when you’re around,” he replied and kissed me on the head.

  “Did you see that I won?” pointed out Tavish. He bounced on his toes a little bit.

  “I did, but you were all great competitors,” I said diplomatically. “See? I don’t like to take sides.”

  “You’re gonna have to take someone’s side eventually,” said Connor.

  “Hmm, do I?” I said thoughtfully.

  Leaving that thought hanging in the air, I retreated into the bathroom for a shower. What was I doing here with four elves I barely knew? I’m flirting with them all. Isn’t that dangerous? I didn’t want this to end in hurt feelings or a fistfight or both. These guys were brothers and here I was, coming between them. But I was attracted to all four of them and as long as they didn’t mind it, why shouldn’t we all have fun together? I wonder if this how Shawna and Mila felt when dating their guys.

  As we were headed off to bed, I got a little overwhelmed. If this all worked out the way I wanted it to, soon I’d be having sex with four men at once. Could I even do that? I mean, would I enjoy it? It sounded exciting, but I could end up wussing out. Then I did this all for nothing and wasted everyone’s time.

  Plus, I couldn’t just pick one of them once I had committed myself to acquiring all four in the relationship. That would be incredibly unfair. But then again, so would just picking one of them at this point.

  No, I had to go through with it and be brave. Even if I didn’t like it or was a little scared, this would be something I could try. And if I tried it and didn’t like it, I could just break up with all of them and go back to America. It would be rough, but as long as I was open and honest, I don’t think anyone would get hurt. I guess that’s what Shawna and Mila meant when they told me to keep communicating.

  I got in the bedroom and in the bed under the covers. Ronan, gentleman that he was, slept on top of the covers to keep us separated. He was clearly a man of his word. Connor popped in, pretending to have the wrong room. He backed out, leaving the door open. I could tell he was peeking in. So, I shifted positions and cuddled up to Ronan. I could hear Connor muttering outside the door.

  “Thanks for driving today, Ronan.” I put my head on his chest. “You’re comfortable.”

  “So are you,” he said, pulling my body closer until he was spooning me, but with the blankets in between us.

  We snuggled closer and I was soon fast asleep.

  Chapter 11

  Tavish

  My plan was simple. I got up early, slipped out of my bunk without waking anyone up and snuck into the kitchen. Food was my best weapon in this competition. There was no way any of the other lads could compete with me in this realm.

  My brother Ronan had the equivalent of a black thumb when it came to the kitchen. He once managed to burn a TV dinner. Connor was still a college student and thought heating up Ramen noodles was cooking. And Seth, well, if he couldn’t buy his way into it, he couldn’t do it. Simple as that. So, he ordered most of his meals out.

  I would make Keira breakfast, put it on a tray and serve it to her in bed. My only problem was Ronan. Maybe I could linger outside the bedroom, wait for him to get up and go to the bathroom and then slip in while he was gone. I could even “accidentally” lock the bedroom door, so he couldn’t get back in. By that time, Keira would be kissing me.

  And victory would be mine!

  Sadly, that wasn’t to be. Hoisted by my own petard, the smell of eggs and bacon started waking up the lads. Seth was on the couch and there was no way I could avoid having the smell get to him. However, I had a plan. I had made Seth a small plate. Maybe he’d be hungry enough to be distracted while I slipped into Keira’s bedroom.

  “What’s going on?” said Seth waking up and rubbing his eyes.

  “Oh, just getting breakfast ready,” I said cheerfully. “There’s a plate over there for ya.”

  “Aw, thanks mate,” he said. He rolled off the couch and wandered, sleepily over to the suite’s dinning table.

  I took a few steps across the kitchen with Keira’s tray of food.

  “Where ye goin’ with that?” asked Seth, glaring at me.

  “Never ya mind,�
�� I said. “Just enjoy yer bacon.”

  I tried to rush out of the room, but Connor had woken up from the noise. He stood in front of me in the living room and then slowly inched me back into the kitchen.

  “Where ya goin’ with that?” he asked a bit intently.

  “I was just… There’s food on the table,” I offered, pointing behind me.

  “Then why are ya carrying food out of the kitchen?” Connor asked one eyebrow raised. Me little brother looked over the tray I was holding and sighed. “Ya didn’t even get her a proper orange juice. She likes that.”

  Seth immediately rushed over and took the orange juice out of the suite’s mini fridge.

  “Hey! That was my idea!” objected Connor.

  “Ya got a patent on juice, do ye?” sneered Seth. “I paid for this.”

  “Excuse me,” I said to Connor, trying to get past him with the tray.

  Connor put his arms out wide and made sure my path was blocked. “Don’t move, Tavish,” he said threateningly. “You’re not going in that bedroom to serve her breakfast without me and I’m not going in empty handed.”

  “Well, I guess ye are,” taunted Seth, now standing behind me with a glass of orange juice. “Because ye don’t have any orange juice and ye don’t have any food.”

  Connor picked up the plate of bacon off my tray. He glared at me, daring me to say something.

  “Put it back,” I growled. I felt my ears turn red in annoyance.

  Connor could see that I meant business. I would literally pummel him senseless if he tried to pass off my food as his own. I hissed at him and started pulling the magic in the air into my body.

  Connor’s eyes went wide. “Fine then!” he said, setting the plate back down. He rushed over to the fridge and pulled out the strawberries and then the butter.

  “What are ye gonna make with that?” laughed Seth. “Strawberry crepes.”

  “Ye need it for toast, ye pansy,” snapped Connor.

  “I didn’t make toast,” I said, turning away from Connor and rushing down the hall.

  I could hear mi brothers argue a bit more and then come rushing after me. I hesitated at the door, hoping I had timed it right and Ronan was in the bathroom. But when I opened the bedroom door, he wasn’t. He was fast asleep next to Keira on the side of the bed.

  Seth and then Connor were catching up to me, so I had no choice but to barge in and try to get the best position. As we charged in the room, Ronan yawned and woke up.

  “Oy, what’s going on, lads?” he asked.

  Seth grabbed him by the wrist, pulled him out of bed and let him fall to the floor. He then took the best position on the bed. Keira started to stir, so I made sure I was the first thing she saw as she woke up. That and the plate of breakfast. Connor nearly ruined it trying to jam butter and strawberries onto the tray.

  “Oh, hey guys,” yawned Keira. “What’s going on?”

  “Breakfast in bed,” I announced.

  Unfortunately, Seth and Connor tried to chime in at the same time. Ronan also chose, at that moment, to stand up and demand what was going on. It all sounded like noise at that point, but Keira understood by the context what was happening.

  “We all wanted ya to have breakfast in bed,” said Connor. “Me especially.”

  I almost blew my top, but then realized that taking credit for other people’s work was the only move Connor had. Keira would see right through that.

  “Aw, thanks guys,” she smiled and sat up. Clad only in a t-shirt, she was breathtaking. I could see little hints of her thighs as the covers fell away.

  “I actually cooked it all,” I clarified. “I hope you like crispy bacon. How about you Seth? Did you enjoy the crispy bacon I made? Did you enjoy my meat?”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked. “I bought the bacon.”

  “No, I put that prepackaged crap back into the frozen food aisle where it belonged,” I said. “I went to the butchers and got fresh cut bacon. This is farm fresh.”

  “He’s right,” agreed Ronan, shoveling a piece of bacon into his gob. “You want some lass?”

  “Or a strawberry,” interrupted Connor.

  “Or a bite of eggs?” I offered up with the fork.

  “Oh, I can’t choose,” said Keira blushing and flirting. “I want it all. I guess you’ll have to take turns with me.”

  There was something weirdly sensual going on with Keira and us feeding her. Even Ronan got into the act. She was carefully taking bites from each one of us, sometimes licking a finger. It was oddly arousing. I could feel an erection growing in my pants, so I excused myself to go back to the kitchen.

  As I cleaned up the dishes, I started to seriously think about what I was doing here. Was I competing for the affection of a girl or was I participating in something else. It was no secret around Luck’s Hollow that Shawna married Brody and Ryan. Or that Mila was dating three men, whom she intended to marry. Is that what was happening here?

  How would that even work? I mean, the four of us dating one woman? When my fiancé moved to London, all I could think about was how lonely I had become. But when she was here, I never had time for myself. I was constantly attending to her needs instead of that of the bakery.

  But with the other lads, I mean, if we were actually all dating her, I wouldn’t have to do all that would I? I mean, I could actually work at the bakery all I wanted knowing that Ronan or one of the lads was looking after Keira. True, they’d all be having sex with her too, and it wasn’t like we had dated the same girls when we were younger, so that would be something I would have to get used to.

  When you get right down to it, what was a relationship? It was a lot of work. But with four lads in the mix, that was a quarter of the work, wasn’t it? With my ex and the wedding plans, I felt overwhelmed. It was like everything was on me in the relationship. I had to make the money, decide where to take her, plan the dates, be romantic, ask her to marry me; and all that was nothing compared to the wedding plans.

  Yes, this could be good. Maybe we could work it in shifts. A four day rotation. Then I would I get to see her about once every third day. Is that right? Then every few weeks I’d end up with a weekend day and we could do something like the seaweed workshop or take a hike. Just the two of us.

  Sure, once in a while, we could all get together and do a group thing. Maybe we’d go out to dinner or see a play or something. Even just to go out drinking would be nice. It would be like drinking with the lads and my girlfriend, only we’d be sharing her, so no one would have to fight over her.

  Then if another guy tried to hit on her, we could easily intimidate him. What’s a fifth guy going to do against four? Nothing. No way anyone could steal Keira from us. At least that part of the relationship would be very secure, so who knows? Maybe something like that could work. I wonder if there’s any historical precedence for it? I’m sure Connor would know.

  Then again, the village wasn’t very accepting of Shawna, Brody and Ryan at first. In fact, there was a tremendous amount of resistance. Would they continue to embrace this trend or were we pushing our luck? I guess with time, anything’s possible, but it was also possible that the lads might bail out on it. Maybe I could outlast them and be the last man standing? Hmm, that’s an interesting strategy.

  I could let the village do the work of driving the other lads away. For Seth and Ronan the reasons would be obvious; the resistance of the town would hurt their businesses. I’m not hoping for that, you understand. That would make me a bad person, but if it happened, they would have to make a choice. For Seth, I don’t think it would be much of a choice. He loves his business.

  Ronan, on the other hand, might be a problem. The business was hanging by a thread as it is. This could be the sign. The final straw, and then he moves on. But to where exactly? Or maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d stick with it and just give up the relationship.

  Connor is another story. He’s still fresh out of college. Still in college technically. People in college embrace all
sorts of different lifestyles. He may not only become entrenched by the village resistance, he could end up doubling down. Or, more realistically, he could graduate and then have to move for his studies. He was studying history. No telling where they might need him. They certainly didn’t need him in a village as small as ours.

  I could see it now. Seth and Ronan had left and moved on. Only myself and Connor were in the relationship. But Keira comes to me, she feels the relationship is strained because Connor is always so busy. By this time, I have enough help at the bakery that it pretty much runs by itself. Better yet, Keira is getting involved in the shop! Yes! I imagine most women love to bake. Don’t they?

  She gives Connor several chances, but he blows them. And even Connor, by this time, realizes that he has to move on. He’s sad, but breaks it off, leaving just me and Keira. The group thing was fun for a while, but realistically?

  “It’s always been you, Tavish,” Keira would say. “Sure, I cared for the others deeply, but you’ve always been my favorite.”

  Yes! I can see it in my mind. And if you can imagine it, it can be real. It’s simple as that. These guys were playing a short game of one-upmanship, but me? I was playing the long game. In the end, I would be with Keira and the other lads? Well, I’m sure they’d find someone else.

  The lads and Keira came out of the bedroom with the tray and the dishes.

  “Give ‘em here,” I told them. “While I have the hot soapy water.”

  “You’re good to do the cleanup and the cooking,” said Keira. She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  “Ah, I don’t mind,” I said. “This is a nice place. You have to leave it as clean as when you found it.”

  “That’s a very responsible attitude, Tavish,” smiled Keira. “Whenever you’re ready, I think we’re going to pop off to the hills.”

  “Yes, lass,” I said. I gave her a warm smile. “Can’t wait.”

  That’s it Tavish. Bide your time. Bide your time. Slow and steady wins this race.

  Chapter 12

  Seth

  The next morning riding along in the van, I got to thinking. It was all I could do because I was stuck upfront again. I was the last one out of the inn and Connor and Tavish had already claimed the backseat with Keira. Now they were cuddling and touching her thighs, while Ronan and I had to just watch. It was frustrating.