22. Abby
ABBY
“Mom, this isn’t something to cry about,” Benjamin says, with a smile.
His mom smiles from the phone screen he’s holding up and wipes a finger under one eye.
“Oh hush,” Angie Meyer says. “It is if the tears are happy. Which these are. This means you and Kane will always be together. And I love that you’re both obviously so happy.
I can’t even tell you how thrilled I am that all three of you boys are in love and get to be together like this. ”
I am sitting on the couch with Benjamin as he video-calls his mom. My feet are in his lap, my back against one of the armrests, Linda lying sprawled across both of us.
If contentment had a photo next to it in the dictionary, this would be it.
Or one of the photos anyway.
Me cuddled up with my guys on the couch in front of the fire, watching TV would also work.
Or me napping with Linda stretched out next to me.
Or me sitting in Dash’s lap at the breakfast table.
Or me flirting with Benjamin in his office at the hockey arena.
Or me being spun around in Kane’s arms in the middle of the living room.
Or us all sitting around the fire pit laughing.
I sigh with happiness. Okay, maybe just a photo of me right now would work for the epitome of the word contentment.
I’ve never felt this happy and at peace in my life. The last three weeks with these men have been better than anything I ever could have imagined.
And we’re just getting started.
“Abby, it’s just so nice to meet you. I wish I could hug you right now,” Angie says.
I’m not surprised that Benjamin and Kane's mom is warm, sweet, and friendly.
Their dad, Tom, was also very nice when we spoke for a few minutes when Benjamin introduced me.
“You too,” I tell her. “I look forward to meeting you in person.”
Like everything else in our relationship, meeting their parents kind of seems like it’s happening fast, but Angie had called, and Benjamin just included me, introducing me as their girlfriend and quickly explaining that all three guys were dating me.
Angie and Tom hadn’t even blinked.
Angie truly does seem thrilled that the guys are sharing this aspect of their lives and was so happy to hear that Kane and Dash have pretty much moved into Benjamin’s house.
“Finally,” was her reaction to that news.
“What about Thanksgiving?” Angie says. “You can all come here.”
“Abby’s parents live nearby. And the guys won’t have many days off,” Benjamin says.
“I also have friends that I often celebrate with,” I say, wincing slightly.
Is it okay to turn down an invitation from your boyfriends’ parents for the first holiday?
My stomach flips at the thought of us all spending Thanksgiving together. The warm fuzzy feeling that follows is very welcome. It will be our first holiday, but hopefully the first of many.
“You should come here,” I say quickly. “We could have everyone all together.”
Benjamin shoots me a look that is mildly surprised but quickly morphs into pleased and full of love.
I smile back.
Pleasing these men is addictive. It makes everything feel right. And I love reassuring him that I want all of this too.
“Oh, that would be so lovely,” Angie says. “Yes. Count us in. We can’t wait to see you all together and meet Abby’s family too.”
I feel a little ache, knowing that my entire family won’t be there. My sister hasn’t spent a holiday with us in years. But I am excited for my parents to get to know my guys. And making a plan with all of the parents makes this feel so official.
“Come on you two, we’re gonna be late,” Kane says, bounding into the room. He leans over the back of the couch. “They have to go Mom. We love you. Now stop talking.”
Angie laughs. She already spoke to him a few minutes ago. “I love you too. Yes, I know you have to go to the event. I don’t want to keep you. We’ll talk again soon.”
“You guys aren’t ready yet?” Dash asks, coming into the room next.
I love how excited Dash and Kane both are to get to the arena for the Stick It to Cancer event today.
If you had asked me who would be urging who to get ready and into the car, I would’ve told you I would be the one worried about being late. But here I am lounging on the couch with the dog, while the two hockey players are gathering up gear and supplies and loading the car.
“Sorry Dash, it’s my fault,” Angie says from the phone with a laugh.
“You talking and talking?” he asks with a grin. “I’m shocked.”
“Well, I didn’t get enough time to talk to you, so you have to call me back soon,” Angie says.
“I will,” he assures her. Then he makes my heart squeeze by blowing her a kiss.
It just further reinforces how close these three men are and how long they’ve been in each other’s lives.
“Abby, again, so nice to meet you. I look forward to future phone calls,” Angie says.
For a second, my throat tightens with emotion, and I have to clear it before I can say, “Me too. Bye.”
“Bye Mom, love you,” Benjamin says.
“Love you all,” Angie says.
They disconnect, and I wiggle my legs out from underneath Linda.
I lean over and kiss her head. “Good girl. We’ll be back later.”
She lifts her head for just a moment before settling back into the cushion without humans underneath her.
“Here you go,” Dash says, coming around the end of the couch with a huge lint roller. He starts rolling it over my clothes, removing Linda fur.
I giggle. “Wow, this place really is full service.”
He pauses on one of my breasts, gives my nipple a tweak through my sweater, leans in and kisses my mouth, then says, “Anything you need, anytime you need it.”
That alone is enough to make me want to strip down and climb him like a tree.
He seems to notice something in my expression because he grins and says, “Later, Abby girl. Right now, you need to go be amazing at a charity event.”
I sigh. “Fine. We’ll all go do good charity stuff, but when we get home, I want you to do very bad, dirty things to me.”
His eyes flicker with heat, and his voice is low and gruff when he says, “Plan on it.”
“Abby, the guys are adorable. They’re doing a really great job,” Karina, my boss, says an hour later.
I somehow tear my gaze away from the hockey players on the ice—okay, the two hockey players on the ice that I am paying attention to—and give her a smile. “Thank you so much. I’m really happy with how everything has turned out.”
The players are dressed as Malamut puppies to play the hockey game against the Stick It to Cancer kids who have come in for the event.
The guys are wearing little black noses—unfortunately, full snouts wouldn’t fit with their visors—and have ears fastened to the tops of their helmets.
They also have big fluffy tails pinned to the back of their hockey pants.
Best of all, they are all playing with oversized fluffy dog paw gloves, which are not only adorable but also make it more difficult for them to handle their hockey sticks, which evens the playing field—or the ice rink—when competing against the kids.
So does the fact that only three adults are playing against six kids.
To make things even more fun and fair for the kids, the kids’ goals are worth two points, and every five minutes we take a Mutts Moment where the kids go to the bench for a “dog biscuit”—a cookie, of course—while the adult players have to continue to skate laps.
Even with all of those measures in place, the adult players are definitely taking it easy on the kids, and everyone is having a great time.
“I heard that the lottery has already doubled in value as well,” Benjamin says from beside me.
His hand is resting on my lower back, and his body heat is keeping me just as warm as my Mutts jersey.
They surprised me with it this morning, and it’s got Dash’s number on the front and Kane’s on the back.
The only people who have commented on it, at least to me, are Rosie and Thomas, and they are thrilled for me.
I look up at Benjamin with wide eyes. “It’s doubled?”
The major portion of the fundraising is in the form of a fifty-fifty raffle. People buy tickets for a chance at winning half the pot and the other half of whatever we raise goes to Stick It to Cancer.
The lottery was seeded by a ten-thousand-dollar donation from Nathan Armstrong, the owner of the Chicago Racketeers. That means we have sold ten thousand dollars' worth of tickets to the event attendees.
That’s incredible.
Benjamin nods. “That’s what Patsy told me.”
“The silent auction items are all doing very well too,” Thomas says. “The all-expenses-paid weekend to Chicago to see the Racketeers play is in first place, but the dinner with Crew McNeill is a close second.”
“The signed jersey from Blake Wilder is also hugely popular,” Rosie says with a grin.
Thomas nods. “He’s retired. That jersey is worth some good money.”
I shake my head. “That’s all amazing. You did a great job getting those auction items together, Rosie.”
She shrugs. “Everyone in Chicago is so generous. They really love Stick It To Cancer and this event. It wasn’t hard.”
“You’ve done a great job getting the players excited,” Thomas says to me, giving me a wink.
I can feel my blush, but I can’t deny how pleased I am watching Dash and Kane out on the ice. They’re adorable with the kids, and I’d be lying if I said that didn’t make me both fall a little more in love and also eager to get them home and naked.
Benjamin squeezes my hip as if he’s reading my mind. “I know I can speak for two of them when I say they were very pleased to be a part of this.”
I look up at him, warmth flooding my chest the way it always does when my men speak of one another with such affection.
I never would have imagined being in a relationship like this. How can three such individual, strong, unique men all agree to share a relationship like this and make it work so well? But there is absolutely no denying that without any one of them something would be missing.
“Well, you did a fantastic job with the outreach to the kids,” I tell Thomas. “They all seem so excited to be here and they’re clearly having a great time.”