Page 88 of Pucking the Team
“Er, yeah, she is, was.”
“Yours or Ben’s?” We carried on walking; the café was in view now.
“Carrie, she was just Ben’s. I was going through chemo, not really in the mood for dating.”
“Oh, it was quite a while ago then.”
“I guess it was.” He kind of shrugged.
“She cheated on him?”
Again he glanced at me.
“I’m sorry, I overheard.”
He kicked a stone from the path. “She did, she was young, too. It was an error of judgement, but Ben couldn’t forgive her, the relationship was over for him. She was distraught, said she loved him and would never do it again. She couldn’t accept that it was finished and kept contacting him for months either sad and sorry or just plain furious.”
“Once trust is broken it’s very hard to repair.”
“Yep, sure is.” He reached for my hand and linked his fingers with mine. “That’s why you have to be honest with us, honey, and for sure, damn sure, we will be with you. If you’re spending the night with Eduardo or Dylan, we gotta know.”
“I’ve always been honest with you. I haven’t hidden the fact that I am attracted to Eduardo and Dylan, too, that there is something between us that is more than friends. And your brother is pretty hot, too.”
“Of course he is, he looks like me.” He smiled. “I know you’ve been straight up from the beginning, and we really appreciate your honesty, but…”
“But what?”
“But it’s just us four, no one else, right?”
“Wow, you really think I could handle more men in my life.” I giggled. “I’m only just keeping up as it is. I’d have physical exhaustion if I tried to juggle any more balls.”
He laughed, a lovely burst of sound. “You seem to be juggling balls pretty well so far.”
I also laughed. “Honestly, I’m not usually like this, I’m a one-man woman. I guess it’s the shock of what happened at the church or something like that. That’s what a psychiatrist would say if they unpicked my psyche.”
“We’re not complaining.” He set a kiss on my temple. “You’re a breath of fresh air in our lives, we all adore you.”
“And I do you.” A sense of belonging settled over me. I could see now that I’d left a disaster and truly landed in a soft, safe place.
“So for clarity, exclusive, with us, right. No other guys, just us four. Even if some of those assholes at the rink hit on you.”
“And does it work both ways?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “You won’t be seeing anyone else?”
“Of course, certainly for Ben and me. We’re not interested in other women, only you. Damn it girl, you’re living with us. You know where we are and what we’re doing every minute of the day, and we don’t want to be anywhere else or have it any other way.”
“But you’re used to sharing, you’ve done it before with a woman, women, but what about Eduardo and Dylan? They might not stay so cool with it.”
“They seem to be handling it…so far.”
I nodded. “Okay, I can go with that.”
“And we’ll just see where it goes, yeah?”
“I can’t see I have any other option.”
“No one can predict the future, honey, but we can have a hand in how some of it turns out. And Eduardo and Dylan won’t do anything to lose you, I’m pretty sure of that.”
We came to a halt at the café. There were a handful of customers seated in the shade with coffee, cakes, and ice cream.
