Page 86 of Isla

"Of course I have faith in you! Have you tasted your food? I don't know that I've ever had food like that before. The flavor!" My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

"Hey, I hope there are some compliments coming for us, too," Henry teases from the backseat, sticking his lip out and pretending to pout.

"All three of you have some serious skill," I amend. "I don't understand why you aren't cooking at the pub. You’d make a fortune."

"Because then we couldn't be with you," Dylan says softly.

"Promise me that once I have the brewery up and running, the three of you will follow your dreams," I say, suddenly worried that they'll be so focused on me that they'll forget what they wanted in the first place.

"We didn't have a dream when we came here, Sunflower. This was a hail Mary. Our last chance at keeping our family together."

"Then promise me you'll put your heads together and create a new dream."

"Pretty sure we've already done that, Freckles," Henry says, chuckling.

"Do you care to inform me?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Theo asks, shaking his head. "You're our dream, Isla. You're the reason we moved halfway across the world. None of us could stop thinking about you, and it's going to stay that way until the day we die."

"Our dream is for you to be happy," Dylan says, reaching forward and squeezing my shoulder.

I blink quickly, tears threatening to overflow. What did I ever do to deserve them? "Promise me the three of you will come together to discuss a new dream,” I push.

"We can promise you that thefourof us will come together. It's not a dream if it doesn't involve you."

"God, you guys are stubborn," I sigh. "Fine. Just promise me."

"We promise," they say in unison, their voices melding together in perfect harmony. My heart content, I pull my hair into a bun and open the window, taking a deep breath of fresh air.. The sun is still high in the sky, warming the air and making the colors on the hills around us pop. I'll never get sick of living here. I don't care that I've hardly been anywhere else. This is home. This is where I belong.

Panic hitches a ride on the coattails of that thought, reminding me that the guys may not get a visa to be able to stay. If that happens, I'll be faced with an impossible decision. I push the thought away, breathing deeply, letting the earthiness of the peat cleanse away the bad thoughts. I'll deal with that when the time comes. No point in worrying about something I can't change.

Grocery shopping with the guys is an experience in and of itself. I can't help falling even deeper in love with them as I watch them bicker over what size shrimp to buy, where the American section of the store is, whether or not they have grits, and how that should have been the first thing we checked.

Dylan and I leave Theo and Henry to duke it out while we gather the ingredients he needs to make the strawberry shortcake. I also grab a bag of marshmallows and some hot cocoa in case everyone hangs around and we decide to have a bonfire later. Eventually, the four of us meet back up at checkout, all three of them refusing to let me lift a finger to put an item on the belt.

Is this what it's going to be like for the rest of my life? Three guys that are absolutely crazy about me? Doting on me? Worshipping me? Not that long ago, I had given up on finding even one.

39

This is hands down one of the most entertaining evenings of my life. It started out awkward since there were so many personalities in one space, but everyone relaxed when we added fantastic food and beer to the mix. Bellies full, we're all sitting around the fire pit, nursing beers—all except Charlie, of course. Jack made her a pitcher of mocktails to enjoy. Her guys weren't going to drink, but she had insisted, saying that this may very well be the last get-together before the baby is born and she wants to see them enjoying themselves and letting loose. I'm sitting across from Pen and her crew–the perfect vantage point to observe them. Over the course of the evening, all five guys introduced themselves to me, and I have to say, I'm more than a little impressed, and I can't fucking wait to watch them figure it all out.

The first to introduce themselves were Spencer and Archer—two best friends who came over together from the US. Benson has a mop of curly brown hair and gray-blue eyes. He's the jokester of the bunch. Archer has a buzz cut, looks like he works out twice a day, and is covered with tattoos, judging by the ink peeking out of his shirtsleeves. Next up is Sammy, a giant of a man from England. Smooth dark skin wrapped over bulging muscles, complimented by locks tohis shoulders, dimples, and an accent to die for. Jamie introduced himself by bringing me a beer when he noticed mine was empty. Bright green eyes seemed to take in every detail as we talked, my eyes constantly drawn to the fullness of his lips, and his cute Irish accent. Liam was the last to introduce himself. He did me the honor of sitting next to me at dinner, regaling me with stories of the ranch he grew up on in Australia, his leather cowboy hat hanging on the back of his chair, ruddy skin blushing every time Pen caught him staring.

Now that we'reall sitting around the fire, I finally have a chance to observe the six of them together, and I'm almost positive Pen straight-up lied to me earlier. The way they look at each other and hold back from touching each other. There is something there; she's just not ready to share it with the world. And that's completely fine. Pen has always held things close to her chest, and if this relationship is precious to her, it will be a long while before she's ready to share. Before she's ready for strangers to pick it apart. It makes me feel guilty that I'm surrounded by people that understandandsupport me. I'm so grateful for Charlie paving the path for me, but that means we need to somehow create the same thing for Pen. My guys and I are due for a trip to Pen's pub and an extended stay in town. We'll get people used to poly relationships so she's not the first they've seen. I can handle people judging me, but hell if I let them judge my sweet Penelope. One of the guys gets up, leaving a seat next to Pen, and I jump at the chance to talk with her.

"I've missed you." I grab her hand and squeeze it as I sit in the empty chair beside her.

"I've missed you guys, too. The last year has been an absolute whirlwind."

"Right? We need to make the time to see each other–especially now that there will be a baby in the family again." I take a sip of my beer, eyeing her, trying to decide how much to say. "You guys look pretty cozy," I hedge, trying not to grin but failing miserably.

"I don't want to say something to jinx it, but I really like them, Isla. A lot."

"I can see that."

"I'm insane, aren't I?"

"No more insane than Charlie or I."

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