Page 133 of Three Bossy Boyfriends
“But they are together without you?”
I nod. “Yes. They’re in love. They spend time together and sleep together without me. They will definitely stay together, even if the four of us break up.”
“So they’re one of your branches. Together.”
“Okay.” I take another long drink of water.
“And you don’t want that?” Ford asks.
“I just…” I sigh. “It’s complicated.” I slump, leaning onto the counter. “Why do I always do things the hard way? I fall in love, but it’s withtwomen. Three really. I decide to start a relationship that is actually real and deep for the first time, but I do it as a V instead of just a straight line. And then instead of easy like you all, we need a fucking contract to explain ours.”
Ford laughs.
I frown at him. “This is funny to you?”
“No. It’s just…Well first, ours isn’t easy.”
“But you’re all obviously very happy. You’re living here together. Making decisions together.”
“Seriously?” His brows arch. “I live with three other adults who are all very different people and who all get a say in everything that happens in my life, from what we’re having for dinner to how I structure my will.”
I study him. “So it’s not great?”
He shakes his head and straightens, bracing his hands on the counter. “It is. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I have three people to love, who love me, and two guys who make my wife incredibly happy.”
“And you’re not jealous of that?”
“Oh, maybe sometimes when Liam and Ivy have a private joke that makes no fucking sense to the rest of us, or when Harrison gets her the perfect gift just because and she gives him thatyou’re amazingsmile that I love to get, but it’s never serious because they help make her happy and make her—and my—world even fuller, and better and that’s worth the fact I almost never get a minute alone, and Liam never rinses his cereal bowls, and Harrison will just never, ever remember to call a repairman on anything as long as we all shall live.”
By the time he’s done, I’m grinning. Seeing my big brother obviously so happy is amazing. “Okay, but what aboutus? Tucker doesn’t want any of that. And none of us have even left dirty cereal bowls in the sink yet.”
“Well, neither of those guys have been Tucker‘s best friend forever. He’s not close with them. How well does he even know them? I get where he’s coming from.”
“You do? Would you have just dated Ivy and let Liam date her separately if you didn’t already know Harrison?”
“Yeah. Maybe. If it was that or not have her at all. But can I just say, you wanting to live with three men surprises me. You are independent and love your own space too. You’ve done yourown thing for a long time. You want to have three guys in your business and personal space all the time?”
Without meaning to, I wrinkle my nose.
He points at me and laughs. “Exactly.” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that you would be attracted to and pick men who are also independent. Who maybe don’t want to have other guys in their lives like that. Tucker is willing to compromise. I think that says a lot about how much he loves you.”
“So, we’re going to be in love and serious and committed, but not live together and see each other all the time?”
“You don’t have to live with someone to date them or to love them, Finley,” Ford says. “You can keep your own place, and they keep theirs. Or you can live with Tucker and Christopher and Evan can live together. Or you can go back and forth. A day here and a day there. Or a week here and a week there. Whatever works. There are no rules here other than being happy.”
I frown again and cross my arms. “The guys drew up a contract.”
He chuckles. “They’re lawyers. And it does ensure everyone’s on the same page.”
“A contract though? And I just sign on the bottom line like a good girl?”
“Listen, if I could get a contract that said Liam had to open and discard his junk mail every day rather than it piling up on the counter for weeks at a time, or that Harrison could only be naked in certain rooms at certain times instead of making me look at his dick randomly throughout the day, I absolutely would.”
I roll my eyes, but grin.
Then Ford frowns. “Wait, do you mean that the guys drew it up without you?”
“Yeah.”
