In unison, Ben says no, Andy says yes, and Max says maybe which makes me laugh. “Great, glad we could sort that out. What’s with the huge breakfast this morning anyways? Seems like a lot of work for a Monday morning.”
“We’re just really happy you’re here.” Andy places a gentle kiss on my forehead. He starts piling pancakes on my plate and just like Max guessed, I stop him at three. This causes Max to smirk and Andy to growl which makes me and Ben both laugh.
I add some of the strawberries Ben cut up before pouring maple syrup over my pancakes while everyone else gets situated at the table. I literally did not have to do anything. Ben places a fresh cup of coffee in front of me has he sits down, and Max has a glass of water and my vitamins already beside my plate. Being taken care of like this makes my heart so full. “You guys are too good to me.”
“Anything for you, firefly.” Ben reaches over and gives my wrist a small, reassuring squeeze.
There is a brief silence while we eat, and I take a moment to observe my boys. Max is very meticulous about how he cuts his pancakes. Ben forgoes the knife all together, content to use the side of his fork to create haphazard chunks that he takes care to not mush in his beard. Sweet, wonderful Andy has a very odd technique where he doesn’t cut his pancakes at all. Instead, he uses his fork to fold the pancakes into quarters and then shoves the whole thing in his mouth. All three of them are so unique but complement each other so well. I would consider myself super lucky to have the attention of even just one of them, but being adored by all three of them is something that I don’t think I even would have allowed myself to dream about.
Do I really want to go back to Van in the spring? Am I really willing to give this all up to chase some dream that I am not even sure I want anymore? Because really, wasn’t the dream just getting away from the terror I experienced in high school? These three have shown me, more than once, that they can and will shelter me from my past. Plus, I would get to be closer to my parents. My mom and I have always been close, but things got alittle weird between my dad and I after I moved away. It would be nice to be able to get back to how we were before.
“So there actually is something we wanted to ask you about. How would you feel about going on a getaway this weekend?” Max asks, breaking me away from my thoughts.
“As long as we can all go. What sort of getaway did you have in mind?”
Max grins. “I have this cabin out in the wilderness. I thought we could go out there, just the four of us and get away from civilization for a bit.”
I snort, which causes Max to raise his eyebrow at me in question. “You do realize this house is, like, completely out of civilization, right? You guys have no neighbours and it’s like a 20-minute drive into town.”
“Yes, but the cabin is beside a lake,” Andy chimes in happily.
“And it’s December. What are we going to do at a lake in December?” I ask
“Ice fishing and maybe some skating,” Ben responds. “But given your proclivity for indoor activities we figured we couldalljust spend some time together, if you know what I mean.”
I blush slightly. It’s still weird to hear the innuendos coming from Ben’s mouth. “Okay let’s do it. But I won’t be ice skating. I’m terrible at it.”
“Are you kidding me Charlie? I hired you to work at my skating rink and you can’t even skate?” Max asks me mock incredulously.
“I seem to remember you spending most of thatinterviewchecking me out, Maximus. If you had thought to ask, I would have told you,” I tease. “But if you wanted to give me some lessons sometime, I wouldn’t say no,” I add with a smile.
“It’s a date, gorgeous.” Max winks at me.
“So, it’s a plan then? We’ll go this weekend?” Andy asks. He seems so excited.
We all nod our agreement and Andy leans in to whisper in my ear. “You are so screwed, sweetheart. In the fun way, I promise.” Which makes me giggle.
We finish up our food and I help the guys clean-up before we get ready to head out for the day. We’re all hovering by the door, waiting for the trucks to heat up before we head into the cold.
“Oh yeah,” Ben says, “Max is going to bring you by the gym after work tonight.”
I immediately tense. Brad used to try and drag me to the gym. He never succeeded because he went to one of those snobby gyms where everyone is already super fit and there is no way I would be comfortable working out there. I would always just tell him to come to my place for cardio after. It took a bit, but eventually he stopped asking. He claimed it was because he wanted to help me be healthier but, well, I guess I know the truth now.
Ben notices my unease and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “I just want to show you some self-defence moves. Max is gonna help. Nothing crazy, I promise.”
I relax a little and look over at Andy. “Are you going to be there?”
He shakes his head. “I’ll be working, but I’m going to try and swing by at the end if I can finish up early.”
I try to hide my disappointment. We haven’t really had a chance to do anything fun together since Ben and I got closer.
Andy pushes past Ben to murmur in my ear, “Don’t worry sweetheart. We’re totally open to a four-way but I'll be damned if it happens in a sweaty, gross gym.” He plants a quick kiss on my lips and shouts behind him as he leaves the house, “See y’all later!”
Ben gives me a quick kiss too before dropping his arm from my shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight firefly,” and he’s out the door too leaving just Max and I in the foyer.
“Shall we head out, gorgeous?” Max asks, holding his arm out to me.
I take it and we rush out to the warm truck together. Thank God for heated seats. Max puts some of his music on and we start driving. I stare out the window, watching all the frosted trees fly past us. It’s so peaceful up here. I happen to glance in the mirrorand see a green car driving behind us that looks oddly familiar. It’s not totally unheard of to see other people on the road out here, but especially at this time of day it’s a little weird. Usually, we’re alone.
