“Extra innings?” I repeated.
“Sports metaphor,” Leo said. “I’m workshopping it.”
“Don’t,” Ares and Orion said simultaneously.
I had tried to interject. “Look, I appreciate the concern, but I actually need some alone?—”
“NO.”
All three of them said it at once, with such unified horror you’d think I’d suggested burning down the hotel.
“You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” Leo said, crossing his arms.
“We know what ‘alone time’ means,” Ares added darkly. “It means packing. It means disappearing. It means we wake up tomorrow and you’ve Houdini’d yourself back to New York.”
“I’m not going to?—”
“You tried it twice already,” Orion pointed out. “Once with me, once with Leo. The pattern is clear.”
“That’s not a pattern, that’s two data points?—”
“Two data points make a trend line,” Orion said. “I’ve seen your spreadsheets. You know I’m right.”
I stared at them. “What’s your solution? All three of you sleep outside my door like guard dogs?”
They looked at each other.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Leo said thoughtfully.
“We’re not sleeping in the hallway,” Ares said. “The carpet’s terrible for your back.”
“Then where do you suggest?” Orion asked.
Another shared look. Then all three sets of eyes landed on me.
“Oh no,” I said. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s a California King,” Leo said, as if that settled everything. “Plenty of room.”
“For four people?”
“We’ll make it work,” Ares said. “We’re very adaptable.”
“You’re insane. All of you.”
“Probably,” Orion agreed. “But we’re not letting you run.”
“I have a perfectly valid need for personal space?—”
“Denied,” all three said together.
I looked between them—Orion with his stubborn CEO jaw set, Ares with his arms crossed like he was ready to physically prevent my escape, and Leo with that playful smile that meant he was absolutely serious under the humor.
“This is what my life is now,” I said to the ceiling. “Three billionaires having a territorial pissing contest at my door at midnight.”
“We prefer to call it ‘expressing romantic interest,’” Leo said.
“Through aggressive bed-sharing,” I added.
