36
E rin walked out of the class, bag swung over her shoulder. It was after eight o’clock, and she wanted to grab food, take a bubble bath, and watch a movie. Her boyfriends were both busy that evening. There was an event at one of Paetyn’s restaurants, and Cruz was meeting with a client out of town and wouldn’t be back until the morning. She would be left to her own devices for the first time on a Friday evening.
As she was getting into her car, her phone rang. She pulled it out and answered the video call.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey,” Chayse responded.
“How was the class?” Alijah asked.
“It was good. I’m excited for the day.” Erin placed her phone on the holder in her car and started it.
“I bet you are,” Lawrence replied, and she didn’t need to look at him to know he was smirking.
“What are the three of you up to?” Erin asked, pulling out of the parking lot.
“Nothing. We were talking about hanging out,” Chayse responded. “Someone called in sick, so Nik is bartending tonight.”
“Kieran went to tour a start-up and won’t return until tomorrow morning.”
“Remy went with him since Alijah didn’t want to,” Lawrence stated.
Erin thought for a moment. It seemed they were all without their men tonight. “I was going to pick up some food and watch a movie. You can come over, and we can have a sleepover.”
“I’m in,” Chayse responded. “I’ll pick up the food.”
“I’ll bring wine,” Alijah volunteered.
“I’m bringing snacks,” Lawrence replied.
“Okay. See you in an hour?” Erin asked.
The three agreed, and they ended the call. An hour would give her enough time to take her bubble bath. Since Chayse was bringing food, she didn’t need to stop and pick something up.
“A lijah, where did you get this wine?” Chayse asked two hours later.
“I have no idea. It was a wedding gift from Gemma and Layla. I’ll have to ask them before I run out. They bought us a whole case, but it’s sweet, so Kieran isn’t a fan.”
“When you find out, let me know because it’s delicious,” Chayse responded.
“Same,” Lawrence seconded.
Erin placed her glass on the table and picked up one of the throw pillows. “While we’re here, what are everyone’s plans for Thanksgiving?”
“I’ll be in town this year,” Lawrence stated.
“I haven’t thought about it,” Alijah responded.
“Did you have something in mind?” Chayse asked.
“My dad and grandma are coming to town for Thanksgiving. I thought we could all get together and celebrate the holiday. Since Chayse and Nik hosted last year, I’ll ask Paetyn and Cruz how they feel about having it at their place since there isn’t enough room here for us all to be comfortable.”
“I’m down for that. We can do it potluck style,” Alijah stated.
Erin nodded. “I’ll ask them, and then we can decide what everyone wants to bring.”
“Works for me,” Chayse responded.
“Now, what movie are we watching? I swear if you choose a musical, Chayse, I’m putting you out,” Lawrence stated.
Erin pressed her lips together to keep from laughing while Chayse glared at Lawrence before responding, “Rude. It isn’t my fault you don’t appreciate a good musical.”
“Call it what you want to, but I will pick you up and put you outside the door,” Lawrence threatened.
“Why don’t we watch a comedy?” Alijah suggested.
“Comedy it is,” Erin responded, picking up the remote.
She scrolled through for a few minutes before deciding on a random one that she was sure was a B-rated movie none of them had seen. She picked up her wine glass as it started and got comfortable.
E rin didn’t remember falling asleep, but that was what happened. She felt a weight on her chest and looked down to find Alijah asleep. She glanced at the other couch to see Lawrence and Chayse in a similar position. The streaming app’s home screen casted a dull light throughout the living room.
After they finished the comedy, they turned on what was supposed to be a psychological thriller, but Erin found it a bit boring. She wasn’t surprised she’d fallen asleep. She shimmied from under Alijah, trying not to wake her, grabbing her phone when she succeeded. It was after four in the morning.
Erin went to her hall closet and pulled out some blankets. She covered her friends with them before turning the television off. She didn’t want to wake them.
Going into her bedroom, she was about to put her phone on the charger when she noticed a text in her group chat with her boyfriends. It was from Cruz, asking her to come to dinner at their house tomorrow at eight because he and Paetyn wanted to talk to her.
She wondered mildly what they wanted to talk about but scheduled a response to his message for a few hours from then. She’d learned that if they were asleep and she messaged, they’d wake up to respond to her, so she scheduled it for when she thought they’d be awake. She also made a mental note to see if they wanted to get matching costumes for the themed Halloween night at Mirage in a couple of weeks.
There were also two calls from an unknown number that she blocked, assuming it was whoever had been playing on her phone because at this point that seemed to be all they were doing, and she’d started giving the shop’s number out to potential clients.
She had her class again the following afternoon after the last appointment on the books, but she could leave early to meet her boyfriends for dinner. Erin placed her phone on the charger and got into bed. If the usual trend held, Alijah would wake them all up for breakfast in a few hours.
C ruz opened the front door, furrowing his brow as he stepped aside to let Erin in. Her biometrics were loaded into the scanner on the doors, yet she insisted on knocking sometimes when she came over. They’d both already told her that was unnecessary. The only time she wouldn’t was if they weren’t at home, naturally, or her hands were full.
“Hey, baby,” she greeted, rising onto her toes. He leaned down and kissed her. “Something smells good,” she stated before heading down the hall.
He closed the door and followed her into the kitchen. He’d just finished cooking a few minutes ago and placed everything on the table, so she was right on time.
“It looks good, too,” she complimented when she saw it.
“Thank you, Ma?y.”
She shrugged. “You don’t have to thank me. It’s true.”
Cruz was a bit shocked she hadn’t questioned whether or not he’d made the meal since he’d thanked her. Usually, that was how it went in previous relationships because Paetyn did most of the cooking. Mainly because he liked to do so, but Cruz genuinely thought he frequently forgot that he knew how. It was also the first time he could recall cooking for Erin. The fact that she didn’t ask was par for the course, and he was sure she wouldn’t stop surprising either of them with responses opposite to what they were used to.
“Hey, Angel,” Paetyn greeted, coming down the hall.
“Hey, babe,” Erin replied, kissing him before he pulled out her chair. “If this tastes as good as it looks and smells, you’re going to have serious competition,” she told Paetyn. She then turned her attention to Cruz as he sat. “And I’m going to ask you to cook more.”
He hadn’t made anything too fancy: lamb Bolognese with a salad, roasted asparagus, rolls, and mini shortcakes. He didn’t mind cooking more often if that was what she wanted.
When each had food on their plates, he debated whether they should start the conversation they wanted to have or wait until dessert. He decided to wait when Erin spoke.
“I wanted to talk to you about Thanksgiving.”
“What about it, baby?” Cruz asked.
“Would the two of you be opposed to having it here? I would host at my apartment, but I know there’s no way it’ll comfortably fit the nine of us, plus our families.”
“We don’t mind,” Paetyn responded, and Cruz nodded in agreement. If their conversation went well, and they had their way, her apartment would be non-existent by the time the holiday came around in a few weeks.
Erin smiled at them. “Great. My dad and my grandma are coming for the holiday, and I can’t wait for you to meet her. She’s a riot.”
“We’re looking forward to it,” Cruz responded.
“She’s your dad’s mom?” Paetyn asked.
“My maternal grandmother,” Erin responded. “How was the party last night?” she asked.
“It didn’t go as intended.”
“What happened?”
“The young man throwing the party proposed to his girlfriend, and she told him no. Something was said about them only being together for six months, and it was too soon. He accepted the answer, but it was obvious that he was sad about it. The party continued, and he and his friend had several drinks afterward. In a misguided way to make him feel better, the friend tells him he dodged a bullet because he’d been sleeping with the girlfriend for a couple of months.”
Erin paused her fork as her eyes widened. “Oh, I would have beat them both up,” she stated, and both men chuckled. “That’s so trifling.”
“The two of you think alike because he threw a punch, and they fought for about a minute.”
“You didn’t try to break them up?” Cruz asked with a raised brow.
Paetyn shrugged. “He had it coming. Who am I to disrupt karma?”
Erin laughed as she shook her head. “If she was sleeping with someone else, her turning down his proposal makes sense. I understand that his doing so may seem out of place, but sometimes people know what they want and when they want to spend the rest of their lives with someone. He wanted that with her, but she wanted to be in the streets.”
“To add insult to injury, for both of them, I guess. She didn’t leave with either one of them. She left with the best friend’s sister. While the men were trying to figure out who would pay for any damages caused. The two women were making out just outside the private room,” Paetyn concluded.
“Yeah, she’s deep in the streets,” Erin stated. She turned her attention to him. “Was your meeting that exciting, babe?”
Cruz chuckled. “It was beyond boring compared to that. How was your sleepover?”
“It was good. Alijah made breakfast this morning before everyone left, and I got ready for work.”
They continued their conversation throughout dinner, and when they had dessert in front of them, he turned to Paetyn, figuring now was an excellent time to discuss what they wanted to.
“We want to talk to you about something, Angel.”
“Okay. Is there something wrong?” Erin asked.
“No, Ma?y. Your lease is up next week, and we would like you to move in with us.”
She looked between them. “I signed my lease renewal before we went on vacation.”
“We’ll buy you out of it,” Paetyn stated, and Erin looked between them again. This time, biting her bottom lip. “Unless you don’t want us to,” Paetyn added when she was silent.
“You don’t think it’s too soon for that? For us to move in together?”
“No,” Cruz started. “Because we know what we want,” he continued, paraphrasing what she’d said earlier in dinner. “But we’re not going to pressure you if you don’t want to.”
“We’re patient, Angel. We can wait until you’re ready.”
“I’m going to be honest with you. It’s not that I don’t think I’m ready. It’s that if I do, and I get used to coming home to you, seeing you every day, and things go downhill…if we separate. It’s another thing I have to get used to not having. I want to, but I love you, and I’m not sure I’m willing to risk us moving to that step too quickly and losing—”
Erin cut off as he and Paetyn stood abruptly, their chairs sounding off across the tile floor. Paetyn pulled her to stand, and they boxed her in. Her back against Paetyn’s chest, his arm wrapped around her waist as Cruz gripped her chin, tilting her head.
“Say it again,” he requested as he leaned down, lips brushing hers.
“Say…” she trailed off.
“Say. It. Again,” Paetyn echoed, a kiss to the shell of her ear between each word.
“...I love you.”
“Kocham ci?.” He kissed her. “I love you,” he translated.
Cruz stepped back as she turned to face Paetyn. “Te amo.”
“Te amo, Angel.” He kissed her, and when they pulled apart, she stepped out of his embrace and looked at them.
“What if we did a trial period?”
“What did you have in mind?” Paetyn asked.
“I could do alternating weeks. That way, you can figure out if you want me in your space that much or if you change your mind.”
“We aren’t changing our minds, Ma?y. You’ve also already stayed with us for a week before I left. Two weeks here, one week at your apartment. We can rotate like that for a few months.”
“But we aren’t going to have to,” Paetyn stated. “The first week you leave, we’ll all hate it. We don’t like it when you leave now,” he finished, gesturing between them.
“Okay, two weeks at a time here.”
“We’ll go with you tomorrow to get whatever you need,” Cruz offered.
“No. I’m staying at my apartment next week. That way, I’m here the week of Thanksgiving, but I’ll stay with you tonight.”
“Angel, if you thought you were leaving tonight after telling us you loved us, there was no way in hell we were letting that happen.”
“Finish your dessert,” Cruz instructed. “Unless you want to take it to the bedroom and finish it while I have mine.”
Erin grabbed her plate from the table and headed towards the stairs. “Come on then,” she threw over her shoulder, and Cruz smirked as he and Paetyn followed her.