“Well… it’s not life or death. Makes it sound quite trivial, actually. Why? Is yours?”
Liam cleared his throat as he presented Benson with some photos on his phone. “Check this out. One of my old buddies is selling his East Coast condo because he’s permanently moving to Europe next year. He let me know about the pre-sale. We couldhave a chance to put in an offer before it officially goes on sale in January.”
Benson snatched the phone and realized he was thumbing through pictures of a large high-rise condo, not too different from the one he already had. Except this one was recently remodeled and had quite a large living and dining space, in addition to… four bedrooms?
He repeated that back to Liam.
“Ooh, I wanna see!” Eden snatched the phone and scrolled through the same photos. “Wow, that’s a great view. It’s not too far from our place, Ben.”
Ours.He liked that word coming out of Eden’s mouth.That’s right. It’s ours now.But Benson was well aware that it wasn’t entirely fair to Liam, who spent most of his nights over with them. No wonder he was looking at properties about to hit the market.
“Four bedrooms, though?” he repeated.
“Well, yeah. One bedroom for each of us, plus one to use as a home office.” He hesitated, then, “Maybe invest in a really high-quality convertible couch. I know how important it is for you to have a place for Drew to crash and have privacy if she needs it.”
Benson swallowed the lump in his throat. “You want us to go in on a place together?”
“We should at least talk about it. This place goes on sale right whenmylease is up. I can go month-to-month until it’s time to move in.”
“I dunno…” Benson rubbed his chin before taking the phone back from Eden. “My place hasn’t appreciated much because of the condo market. It’s actually financially sounder for me to stay there, especially since I haven’t updated it lately and the property taxes are still—”
“Maybe you could give it to Drew, man.”
“I…”
“Rent it out in the meantime, until you know what you want to do with it. Use the rent to cover your property tax and HOA.”
“I think this is a conversation more suited for dinner or something.”
Liam shrugged. “Yeah, well… what did you want to talk about?”
But now all Benson could think about was the possibility of the three of them buying a place and moving in together as one unit. Already, he saw Eden’s eyes lighting up at the idea of having her own space again, never mind having Liam with them.We’re a single romantic unit, after all.Their little collective was closed off to other boyfriends and girlfriends, but theyhadgotten into trouble with some fun people over the months. Nothing that scandalized even the likes of Benson, but…
We could actually be a family again.
He thought that while looking at Liam. Liam was the one bringing this up. Liam was the one doing the footwork to find them a place that suited their needs. Four-bedroom places were not easy to come by in their city. Most of the luxury condos on the market were two-bedrooms like Benson’s, with the occasional three-bedroom to accommodate a child and a home office.We could work with a three-bedroom…But four was even better.
The can of worms was opened, and Benson decided he needed an even longer walk to think about it, so he would have his thoughts formulated by the time they talked it over at dinner that night. He offered to go get those shaved ices, but since the cabana rental time was coming to an end and Liam and Eden would be heading back to the cabin, they told him not to worry about it and began packing up their books and bags while Benson wandered off. He forgot to reclaim his confiscated phone from Eden, but still had his cabin keys and wallet. It was enough.
Both of his lovers were dots on the horizon by the time Benson turned around to look. By then, he was close to the touristy attractions that claimed a man’s money and time. He ignored both but enjoyed the distraction from the thoughts percolating in his head.
We could have a place of our own.He pretended to peruse the local wares of a saleswoman, but wasn’t seriously thinking about buying anything.No more Liam feeling left out. No more Eden feeling like she doesn't have her own space.And even Benson found it rather difficult to adjust to living with a woman again.
But it required a lot of change, something he was not accustomed to or sought out. He would have to decide what to do about his current place. Drew would probably “crash out” again, as Eden had called the last fight between the three of them. There was no guarantee that the place Liam had his eyes on would actually be available.
The more I think about it, the more into it I’ll probably be.
He also needed to think about his own conundrum. The one on his mind before Liam brought up getting a four-bedroom together.
Benson stood before another collection of local vendors selling prints, pottery, jewelry, and clothes. Among everything here, there had to besomethinghe could buy Drew. He always got his daughter a souvenir when he traveled abroad, and this trip should be no different. But as his daughter got older, the more expensive and exclusive her tastes became. Gone were the days of a novel toy, a pretty dress, some colorful jewelry, or a deck of hand-drawn playing cards.I know she keeps most of that stuff around, but I should think critically about this.He wanted to get Drew something that she would genuinely enjoy. Maybe a hair clip made of shells. Some beautiful ombre skirts with beaded fringe were aligned with Drew’s summery tastes, but hecouldn’t remember her size for the life of him and didn’t want to offend a girl about to turn twenty-one.
Aw, fuck it.He’d probably buy her a small bottle of local rum. She was about to turn twenty-one, after all.
But Benson wanted Eden and Liam to be a part of the decision, because then Benson could say it came from all of them.If I’m a family with them, then Drew is also part of that family.Dads got their daughters presents all the time, but did they get presents from a throuple?
Why am I thinking of it like that…
All right. He knew how to ask his questions – both about the souvenir and the future living situations. He also knew that Eden had some job leads that she wanted to talk to them about. Something about one of the local clubs reaching out to hire her as a marketing model.I only know because I’ve seen some literature lying around our bedroom.It was lingerie and pool modeling. Explicitly sexy without beingexplicit.Something that Eden would be profoundly good at. And must have been interested in, if she hadn’t thrown the information out yet.
