Page 100 of Mayhem
“Likewise,” Cruz responded.
Before Paetyn could do the same, Erin pulled his attention, rose slightly on her toes, and pressed her lips softly to his. Shethen stepped over to Cruz, doing the same. Cruz pulled out the chair at the head of the table for her, and the four sat. He and Cruz on either side of the table, and Morris at the other end.
June, one of the servers, entered a moment later, wheeling a cart with a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red.
“Hello,” she greeted. “I’ll leave this here for you and return in a few minutes once you’ve reviewed the menu.”
“Thank you, June,” Paetyn stated, and the young lady smiled at them before leaving, closing the door behind her.
While the other three looked over their menus, Paetyn opened both bottles of wine. He poured white wine for Erin and red for himself and Cruz.
“Do you have a preference, Mr. Daniels?”
“Morris, please. Unlike my daughter, I enjoy a dry red.”
Erin made a faux gagging noise, and the three men chuckled as Paetyn filled Morris’ glass. She was not a fan of red wine unless it was sweet. They’d gotten her to try a semi-sweet, and she’d been able to tolerate it but stated she wouldn’t order it for herself.
“The three of you have bad taste.”
“I disagree,” Cruz responded.
Erin looked up from her menu to look at him, and Paetyn shook his head at the smirk on the other man’s face.
“I meant in wine. I’m the best decision you both have ever made.”
“My humble little girl,” Morris stated sarcastically, and the three chuckled again while Erin shrugged.
After a brief silence of the two deciding what to order, Morris placed his menu down, and his eyes volleyed between Paetyn and Cruz.
“How did the three of you meet?”
“Through Kieran and Alijah,” Paetyn supplied.
“That explains it. I knew I’d seen you somewhere but couldn’t place it until now. It was at the wedding.” He took a drink of his wine. “Go on.”
“The three were doing a photo shoot for a magazine cover and used Nik’s club as a backdrop. We happened to be there helping him with a few things,” Cruz supplied.
“I asked them to celebrate Alijah’s birthday with us.”
Morris blinked, looking between the three. “This has been going on for over two years?”
Erin shook her head. “No. That’s when we met. We’ve only been dating a few months.”
Her father hummed, and Paetyn was sure he would say something, but June returned to take their orders. Once they were placed and left alone again, the conversation picked up where it left off.
“How did this…dynamic come about?”
“We sat down with Erin and were honest with her about what we wanted and our intentions,” Paetyn started. “We’d both been attracted to her for some time, but we were waiting on the right moment, which was presented to us when we found out she was moving here.”
“We’d decided that we were going to ask her out regardless. Traveling back and forth wouldn’t be an issue, but then she was here, and we decided not to wait any longer,” Cruz added.
Morris nodded. “So, you decided to share.”
“We did,” Paetyn responded, not seeing a reason to give Morris the entire story on how relationships like this one worked best for them.
“What about you, Bug? Are you happy?” Morris asked, and three sets of eyes turned to Erin.
“Yes,” Erin responded, not missing a beat. “I can’t say I knew what to expect going into this, and I still don’t. Every day is different, and I’m sure we get on each other’s nerves some days,but I am happy. They do a good job keeping me that way, even if they’re overbearing sometimes.”
