“We’ve all been searching for a more serious relationship, but in the meantime, we figured there’s no harm in having fun,” Wes tried to explain. “We haven’t had an abundance of time the past few years, but when we do, we never introduce any of the girls to each other.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Don’t get offended,” said Arch. “But, girls are catty sometimes. We don’t want to get any girls around each other to cause drama.”
Gray continued where Arch left off. “We always planned on introducing any serious relationships to each other, but we haven’t had many.”
Another knock interrupted my musing about what it would take to be considered a serious relationship with any of these guys. They were picky.
I swiveled in my chair to see Todd and Rick on the monitor. Arch paused, waiting on my permission. “Do you want me to let them in?” he asked in a hushed tone.
“Yes, please. I’m surprised Todd didn’t use his key.” Time to face the music.
He opened the door, and Todd and Rick stopped inside the door. Todd’s face morphed from worry to delight—I presumed because of the plethora of masculine sex appeal gathered in my apartment, all still wearing pajamas.
“Hello, pumpkin,” Rick said. “We came to see what we could get you. We’re making a grocery run.”
Wes introduced himself to Rick first. “Hi, I’m Wes, a friend of Ellie’s. I went to the grocery store last night, but I’d be happy to make any runs if she needs it. You don’t have to go to any trouble.”
I cocked my head at Wes, confused by the show. While his words were kind, I couldn’t quite shake the comparison to a puffed-up rooster as I watched. Todd walked around him with an eye roll and hugged me tentatively. His arms barely touched me.
“It’s okay, you can hug me. Don’t bump my head is all.” He squeezed tighter, and I awkwardly stood up to return the hug properly. “I’m still so sorry I worried you.” I fought tears, guilt overwhelming me.
Rick put his arms around both of us and chastised me. “I thought he was going to come unglued. Never again, El. Never again.”
I disentangled myself from their arms to look directly in their eyes when I apologized. “I really am sorry, guys. You’re my family. I…” I trailed off. “I don’t know what to say.”
“We forgive you because we’re best friends, and that’s what we do. But, never again.” Todd clapped his hands. “Now, what do you want from the store?” I gazed deep into Todd’s eyes, blinked twice then widened my eyes. There was no rhyme or reason to my eye movements except as a signal to him. I needed him to get something specific for me, something I didn’t want the guys to know about.
He nodded once and tapped his nose to show he got the drift. Hopefully, he got the same drift I tried to send.
The rest of the list I verbalized. “Some gummy bears. And some cherry tomatoes. And that new book came out today.” Todd, Rick, and I shared a love for cheesy vampire romance novels and the latest steamy one just came out. “I’d love to read it while I’m resting this weekend.”
“You got it, pumpkin.” Todd kissed my cheek before pulling Rick toward the hall. “See you shortly.”
Three men swung their gazes to me as the door closed. “Why wouldn’t you ask me for those things at the store?” Wes asked.
“I would’ve, but they were going anyway. And if you must know, I didn’t want to tell you which book we’re reading.”
Arch burst out laughing. “Why in the world not?”
“People like you tend to make fun of books like it.”
They began to shift in their seats, offended. Oops. I’d stuck my foot in my mouth. “People like us? What does that mean?” asked Arch.
I grew more embarrassed. “I don’t know! Hip, cool… You know what I mean.”
Gray gawked at me like I was a life-sized Rubik’s cube. “You think we’re hip and cool and that you aren’t?”Didn’t I say that already?
“Uh… Yeah. I’m a bookworm. A nerd.” I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t mind being different from them. I’d never had a problem with being dorky. “It doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy your company, and I assume you enjoy mine. I’m guessing you like being my friends or you wouldn’t be here.”
Significant glances passed among the three of them. Arch spoke first. “You’re right about that. If we didn’t like being around you, we wouldn’t be here. But we don’t look at ourselves any differently.” He snorted. “You think we can’t be nerdy? Gray has an enormous comic book collection; Wes had acne until he was twenty, and me? I write Star Wars fan fiction.”
The room went silent. If my expression matched Gray’s and Wes’s, I had wide eyes, eyebrows nearly to my hairline, and a gaping mouth. Gray recovered first.
“Dude.You write Star Wars fan fiction? I don’t even know how to feel about that.”
“Like, what kind of fan fiction?” I asked.
