by Amy Sumida
“Us?” I couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly.
“Yeah, all of us,” Stetson said defensively. “We’re all interested in you, and we don’t want to cause problems with each other or try to stab each other in the back just to date you. So, we talked about it, and we think the solution is for you to date all of us.”
“You talked about it?” I cocked my head to the side, angry about the fact they discussed this without me.
“Yeah.” Stetson crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin, obviously preparing for a fight.
“And you decided, among yourselves, without input from me, that the solution was for me to date all of you? What, are you going to switch out days? Will we keep a calendar?” My opinion of having them decide things for me was obvious in my voice.
“Okay, you’re not keeping an open mind,” Alex jumped in.
“How do I keep an open mind about this? This is...this is... It’s insane.”
“Why?” Matt said quietly. “Why is it insane?”
I gaped at him. I had no idea where to begin.
“Are you attracted to all of us?” Matt pushed.
“Well, yeah, I’m not blind, but that doesn’t mean I can date all of you.” Confusion rang clearly in my voice.
“Can you honestly say you’re drawn to just one of us? That you can pick? That you want to?” Jaidon’s softly spoken question fell across my ear. It gave me pause.
“I didn’t think it was an option until a few seconds ago.” Maybe I need to think about this some more.
“Don’t lie to us or yourself.” Stetson sounded angry. “You wouldn’t be sitting in Jaidon’s lap or letting us kiss you if you never thought, at least on some level, you could be with us.”
Alex grabbed my hand. “You said you could understand dating more than one person.”
I remembered the conversation in the car. “There’s a big difference between being okay with it in the abstract and jumping into a relationship with five guys.”
“You wouldn’t be jumping. We would figure it out as we go.” Bishop smiled at me. “We don’t want to pressure you, but we are, at least on this. You fit each of us in different ways, in ways we each need. We don’t want to lose that.”
Matt spoke quietly, “Do you think we want to share you? We’ve never even thought about it before, but with you, well, I love my brothers enough not to try to take you away from them. But, I’m selfish enough to want you, too.”
Stetson added, “Will you at least try to date us? Get a sense of how the whole dynamic would work?”
They all peered at me with varying degrees of puppy dog eyes. “Oh, I get to talk now?”
They had the grace to look a little abashed.
I sighed. “I don’t see how this can work. If any of you asked me to share you with four other girls, I’d scratch your eyes out.”
Most of them chuckled. Matt tried to calm my fears. “We’re not saying date everyone you’re attracted to. You would be dating each of us exclusively, and we would only be dating you.”
I thought about it. “That doesn’t seem fair to you.”
Jaidon hugged me. “You let us worry about that.”
“What would we tell people? Your dads?”
The guys shared a knowing glance with each other, then turned to Bishop, who cleared his throat. “We’d tell them the truth. You’re not something to be ashamed of. The way we feel for you isn’t something to be ashamed of, either. We don’t have to advertise it at school if you don’t want to, but we’ll be open and honest with the dads.”
Would I be ashamed for people to know I was interested in all the guys? Should we try to hide it? But, if we do, other girls may still hit on them. Dilemma.
I guess the question came down to whether or not I was ashamed of the way I felt for the guys. “No. I don’t want to hide it. We don’t have to rub it in people’s faces, but if we do this— and that’s a big if—we do it the same as any other relationship. We keep our heads high and don’t let the judgment of others affect us.”
Matt leaned into me and gave me a kiss. “I’ll fight the ghosts, babe. Don’t worry.”
I peered around at the others. “Seeing that really doesn’t bother you?”
Alex and Bishop shrugged. Jaidon hugged me. Stetson smirked. “I’ll admit, I’m a little jealous until I remember I can do it, too.” He leaned in and kissed me.
“Okay, I didn’t agree to anything, yet,” I whispered when Stetson pulled back.
“Yet being the operative word.” Jaidon chuckled.
“How about you take the night to think about it?” Bishop asked. At my nod, he clapped his hands. “Okay, boys and girl, how about a movie night?”
After much discussion, in which Alex took my side, we went with a comedy instead of a horror movie. The guys didn’t play when it came to movies. Before they clicked play on the Netflix cue, we needed provisions. The trunk made sense now, a normal coffee table couldn’t hold up under the weight of all the food. Popcorn, chips, sodas, chocolate covered pretzels, assorted boxes of candy, bottles of water, and a new addition for me, grapes. They hoped the grapes would clear the look of horror off my face. It didn’t. I wasn’t astonished by the types of food, merely the quantity of it so soon after dinner.
Once the food was situated, we organized ourselves. Matt and Stetson claimed me for the spot between them. Jaidon sat to the right of Matt, and Bishop sat to the left of Stetson. Alex plopped himself down in the floor in front of me and leaned his head back in my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair. My head rested against Matt’s shoulder, and Stetson put his arm behind my back.
It surprised me I wasn’t weirded out by this. I mean, we did stuff like this before, but not while we were dating. The label changed it in my head somehow. I was a little stiff until I realized they really were treating me the same way as before. What was up with that?
“You guys?”
All five of them shushed me simultaneously. I blinked.
“Seriously?”
Bishop paused the movie, while Alex turned around to gaze at me. “Yes, Joey?”
“Well, before I get to my question, did you all seriously just shush me?”
“Yeah, you were talking during the movie.” Bishop’s tone made it seem like the group shushing was normal.
“I can’t talk during the movie?”
“Not if you don’t want a wedgie.” Bishop’s matter-of-fact tone spoke volumes for the group.
My head jerked. “You’d give me a wedgie?”
Stetson pursed his lips. “No, but we’d come up with a suitable punishment.”
“I seriously can’t talk? At all? What if I have a question?”
Alex threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “Why do people always ask questions during movies? We’re watching it, too. We don’t know any more than you do.”
“But maybe you’ve heard something, or you have a guess.”
Alex shook his head. “Joey, you’re gorgeous, and smart, and funny, but I’m going to tell you this once. You talk during the movie, and we will find a punishment unpleasant enough to keep you from doing it again.”
“But that’s not fair.”
“So, you do want us to give you a wedgie?” Jaidon asked. “Because, that’s what we get for talking during a movie.”
I gaped at all the guys and realized this was not a fight I could win, so I conceded. “Fine.”
“Now, what did you need?” Stetson asked, pulling me into him.
“Why aren’t you guys acting any different? You’re treating me the same as you always did.”
“Well, yeah,” Matt answered.
“Do you treat all girls like this?” I was starting to get upset.
“No, but we told you,” Stetson answered, “we talked about this. We decided to start as we meant to go on.”
“You decided?” I’d resorted to repeating what they said like a parrot. My mind still hadn’t caught up with the whole idea of dating all of them. My
emotions, on the other hand were all for it.
“Yeah, no point in talking to you about it if it couldn’t be done in the first place,” Bishop answered with a chuckle.
“No point?” Apparently, my tone said more than my words did. They all eased back a little.
Matt turned my face toward him. “Are you unhappy with the result?”
“Not really, but I’m a little upset with you guys deciding something that effects a major part of my life without allowing me to be a part of the decision.”
Matt nodded. “Fair enough. We promise not to make any decisions about your life without your input. Don’t we guys?”
The guys nodded.
“Okay,” I mumbled.
“Good. Now, babe”—Matt leaned down and gave me a long kiss—“stop talking.”
I huffed and sat straight in between Matt and Stetson. Bishop hit play, and I sat there fuming for a few minutes. Alex reached up behind him and grabbed my hand, putting it in his hair. Without consciously doing so, I found myself running my fingers through it. The motion relaxed me while allowing me to let go of some of my nerves. Stetson pulled me into him, and I rested my head against his arm. Matt reached over and grabbed my free hand. He spent the entire movie rubbing his thumb across my palm. After my nerves calmed, the hours spent with the guys was pleasant.
I woke up slowly the next morning, which was unusual for me. I rolled over and stretched, a good burn slowly working through my muscles. I ran my eyes around the soft gray walls and paused to take in the silence of my room. I missed the sound of Bishop snoring. I wanted the guys to be here when I woke up. I kind of liked it.
Rolling out of bed, I walked to my dresser. Opening the top drawer, I pulled out a matching pair of bra and panties, then opened another drawer to pull out a pair of jeans and a blue sweatshirt with a white crown screen-printed on it. I shuffled to the bathroom squishing the soft carpet between my toes.
Flipping on the bathroom light, my eyes squinted against the glaring blaze coming from the mirror. The bathroom, like the bedroom, was done in shades of light gray and blue. A beautiful claw-foot tub held pride of place along one wall, and a separate shower stall stood in the corner of the room. The sink was a light gray pedestal style with a deep bowl. A pretty light blue vanity set stood next to the sink with counter space on the top and drawers for towels and washcloths underneath.
Eying the tub, I debated with myself. I wanted a soak, but I didn’t want to seem like I was too lazy in the morning. Hopping in the shower, I promised myself a good soak tonight. Turning the water as hot as I could stand it, I stood there for a minute, leaning my head against the wall and allowing the hot water to pound into my back. It hurt some of the bruises, but it relaxed the muscles underneath them.
Shaking myself out of my lazy state, I quickly washed my hair and body. After I put conditioner in, I figured to heck with it and shaved, too. Someone rapped at the bedroom door while I toweled off. “Be right there.” I threw on my clothes as quickly as I could, my shirt stuck to my back in the places I hadn’t dried off well enough. I opened my door to see Joshua waiting.
“Breakfast is almost ready.”
“Thanks, I’ll be right there.” Water dripped from my hair to the floor, some of the cool drops hitting me on my bare feet, making me aware of how much of a drowned rat I must look.
“Take your time.” Joshua smiled and nodded at me as he backed away.
I shut the door and sprinted for the bathroom. Grabbing a towel, I squeezed as much of the water from my hair as I could. I ran a brush through it and applied a little product to at least attempt to manage the curl. Without the needed time for makeup, I swiped on some mascara and lip gloss and called it done. The bruises on my face were fading quickly, so I hoped I’d be able to cover them up well enough to get through school tomorrow. I didn’t hold much hope of keeping what happened a secret. In a town this small, people noticed a bunch of cop cars parked outside of a house with their lights blazing. But I could—I hoped—diminish the talk by appearing as close to normal as possible. I took a deep breath and headed down to breakfast.
On Sunday, breakfast was an affair in the house. Daniel stood in front of the stove, ordering the guys around like a drill sergeant. Alex and Jaidon laughed, sliced fruit, and pitched the pieces into a glass bowl. Stetson did a shuffling two-step while he set the table. Matt’s arm whipped back and forth as he scrambled eggs in a bowl. Bishop, apparently not sufficiently caffeinated yet, slouched in front of the toaster, waiting for it to pop, as he chugged a cup of coffee.
“Good, Joey, you’re here,” Daniel called over his shoulder as he flipped bacon in a pan. “I’m almost done. Can you please grab the orange juice from the fridge and put it on the table?”
“Sure thing.” I headed over to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of what appeared to be fresh squeezed orange juice. I turned to set it on the table and noticed Joshua sitting quietly with his hands placed very precisely, palms down on the table.
“Is everything okay?” I asked him.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. But, if I move from this spot, I’ll be banned from the kitchen until they’re done.”
“Why?” I asked, shocked.
“Well, you see, I could burn water, so they take care of the cooking, and I usually handle the cleanup.” He took a sip of coffee.
“Sounds fair. I’ll help because I got down here late.”
“You’re not late, and you don’t have to help.”
“Of course, she does, babe,” Daniel called. “She’s not company. She’s family now, and family get chores.”
Joshua pursed his lips. “I guess we’ll need to change the chore schedule. Everything’s already divvied up among the boys.”
“I’m not doing laundry!” Jaidon and Bishop shouted simultaneously.
“She can take over the dusting and vacuuming. I hate it,” Matt grumbled as he took a seat at the table. The others filtered over to join us, and Daniel seemed to be considering things. “Maybe she could rotate each week and help out each of the guys. That way we don’t have to reassign all the chores.
“I could do that.” The idea of spending a little extra time with one of the guys each week gave me the warm fuzzies in my belly. I smiled at Stetson across the table.
Alex cleared his throat. “Want to help me with laundry this week?”
My eyes met his down the table. How could I say no to those puppy dog eyes? “Sure, I’ll help.”
“Thank God!” Matt hollered. “Maybe now, I can buy white underwear again.”
Alex turned to Matt with mock outrage. “I turned one pair pink. One pair! Get over it.”
I giggled as we all found our seats at the table.
Joshua showed me to the laundry room after breakfast, while Alex ran upstairs to grab the needed supplies. Three sets of washers and dryers lined the wall. “Don’t worry about ironing or folding, the guys can do that themselves. Some of them like to hang everything, and others prefer to use their dressers, just put the baskets of clean laundry in their rooms.”
“Alex will be able to tell me whose room is whose, I’m assuming?” I asked.
“No, you have to figure it out on your own.”
I snapped my eyes up to his, and if it weren’t for the twinkle in his eye, I would’ve taken him seriously.
“Of course, he’ll tell you where to put the clothes.” Joshua gestured toward a wall of laundry baskets. “After many years of training, the guys keep their dirty clothes in separate hampers, so people can do a load or two out of each basket without needing to sort out the owners after the clothes are dry.”
Sounds easy enough. “What’s the catch?”
“There’s a lot of laundry.” He nodded toward the half full baskets. “Alex did laundry two days ago. Between workout gear, school clothes, and the more casual stuff they change into, the guys can go through three or four changes of clothes a day.”
“But, I don’t need to fold? Or hang? Or iron?”
�
��Only your own clothes,” Joshua confirmed.
I shook my head. “So, I basically just have to load the washer and dryer? That’s not so hard.”
Alex clomped into the room shaking his booty to music blaring from his phone. He settled it into the iPhone doc on the counter and turned toward me. “Most of us never understood the whole, whites-colors thing. I can’t tell you the number of clothes which were ruined because someone didn’t separate the clothes. Or, for that matter, check the pockets before they washed something. I have a habit of leaving pens in my pockets, and then whatever’s in the washer comes out looking like a Rorschach test. Matt works on cars a lot, so we need to pre-treat a lot of grease stains, and Bishop constantly has food on his shirts.”
“Sounds like you two have a lot of work ahead of you. Have fun.” Joshua waved as he left us to our work.
I was beginning to see how hard of a task Alex had to deal with. I headed toward the baskets. “Better get started then.”
“Yup.” Alex grabbed my hand and spun me into his chest. “Right after this dance.” He pulled me closer and danced me around the room to the old Sinatra song coming from the iPhone dock.
Six hours later, I finished the last of my homework while we waited for the dryer with the last of Alex’s clothes in it to stop. The laundry hadn’t been as bad as I feared it would be. Alex had a system, and he swore as long as we did a load or two a night, we’d stay on top of it. Plus, he made it fun, using clothes to make trick shots into the washer and dancing with me to the crazy play list he made which included everything from Rat Pack music to Nirvana. We played cards while we waited for the first loads to run, then raced each other to put the baskets of laundry away. He cheated, giving me directions to the wrong guy’s room. Finally, I decided I needed to get some homework done, and as it was Calculus, I quickly convinced Jaidon to work on it with me.
Jaidon and I took over the big kitchen table. Our books, binders, and papers were strewn all over the thing. Jaidon chugged right along, but I hit a brick wall on one problem. I couldn’t get the stupid equation to balance. After my fourth attempt, I huffed and erased a hole through my paper. “Aaagh! I give up!”