Isn’t three men enough, do you have to be greedy?
We grab our food and when we get back to our lane, I look at the monitor to find Chase rolled a spare and Nathan rolled another strike. The two seem to be bickering amongst themselves but they stop when the food is placed on the table.
They both turn their noses up, but for entirely different reasons.
“No pepperoni,” Chase shakes his head in disappointment.
“Pretty sure this had more preservatives than a funeral home,” Nathan says with a shudder as he eyes the pizza.
“Shush and eat,” Emmet says, sanitizing his hand, using the dispenser on the table and shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth. The grease runs down his chin and he wipes at it with his hand before continuing to munch on it. Nathan shakes his head but follows his lead.
Chase stubbornly folds his arms over his chest before his eyes stop on my burger and cheesy fries and he smiles, sliding in the seat next to me. He sanitizes his hands and without asking, he starts delving into my fries.
“Hey,” I protest, my mouth still full of the greasy burger. “That’s my food.”
Somehow he understands me around the food. “Didn’t we talk about sharing once before, Ivy?” He eyes Emmet and Nathan pointedly and I know exactly what he’s getting at.
I shove his shoulder. “Asshole.”
“Hey, that’s Emmet’s nickname for me,” he jokes before giving me a kiss on the cheek. “I promise to make it up to you.” And with that, he steals my burger and takes a huge bite.
My mouth falls open. “Chase,” I bark, snatching the burger back. Many girls may not like greasy calories but I need my daily intake and he’s interrupting.
“I told you I’d make it up to you,” he says with a laugh. “I’ll even share my pizza with you.”
I give him the evil eye but he seems unfazed.
We continue to eat until Chase’s buzzer goes off for him to get his own pizza and he leaves the table.
“He’s always had a habit of stealing food,” Nathan says, shaking his head. “It used to always be his and Christie’s biggest fight, because he would always steal her snacks at school.”
“You could always kick him out of the harem,” Emmet says from around a mouthful of food.
My head snaps up. “Oh god, did you get that word from my grandma?” I ask, thinking of the article she’d pulled up about reverse harems.
“She may have mentioned it after dinner,” Emmet says with a boyish smile.
“Of course she did.”
“What are we talking about?” Chase asks, sitting down with his pizza and smiling as he reveals the pepperoni pizza that looks like it was made with extra cheese. Orange grease forms a film on top of it.
“Kicking you out of the harem,” Emmet says as he wipes his hands on a napkin.
“What?” Chase asks, looking up. “We’re kicking me out of the harem?” he turns his head to look at me.
“Stop calling it that,” I say, looking at Nathan for help. He only offers me a wince.
“What should we call this then?” Chase asks, diving into the pizza. He asks the question casually but from the set of his shoulders I can tell he genuinely wants to know.
I look at each of them and shrug, trying to ignore the sudden uptake of my pulse. “I don’t know, I just call it a relationship… I guess I may be okay with the idea of calling you all my boyfriends, if that’s okay with you guys. Tanner asked what you were to me and that’s what I told him.” The guys were all okay originally with no labels, so will the sudden change be a problem?
It seems like for a moment everything pauses as all of their eyes turn to me and I feel my cheeks heat slightly.
“Um, is it okay or not?” I ask, rubbing at my arm, suddenly feeling nervous.
“It’s fine with me,” Nathan says, offering me an encouraging smile.
“Ditto,” Chase says, returning to his pizza.
I turn my eyes to Emmet and he inclines his head slightly before giving me a smile. “Yeah, boyfriends is fine with me.”
And with that, it’s official, I now have three boyfriends.
Maybe three will go way better than my instances with one.
I can only hope so, for my sanity.