Is having that fromthreemen overwhelming?
No. I love it.
“Morning.” Christopher is the first one to speak and rise. He crosses to me and presses a kiss to my cheek. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you went to get clothes, and I’ve decided to stay.”
He glances back at the other men. “We were just discussing this. Sounds like we all have a lot to talk about.”
“Y’all better have not started talking about rules without me,” I tell him.
“Actually, we did, and then Tucker reminded us that we need to include you.”
I shoot Tucker a little smile. “Good boy.”
His brows rise, but he simply says, “Let’s go to breakfast.”
I giggle, and that giddiness doesn’t dissipate one bit as we head down the sidewalk, Tucker and I in front of Christopher and Evan.
Tucker holds my hand, and he shoots a glance over his shoulder. “Is this okay?” His tone is definitely sarcastic.
Evan looks at Christopher and then nods. “We’ll allow it.”
“Jesus Christ,” Tucker mutters.
I don’t know how their conversation started, and I actually don’t know how the rules discussion is going to go. All of these men have strong personalities. I expect Evan to be the most easygoing, of course. Christopher is mature and open-minded and, I assume, as a master negotiator, will be very good atmanaging the conversation. Tucker is a little bit of a wildcard. I don’t know how he’s going to feel about all of this. He was a lot more easy-going last night about sharing than I expected him to be. But I’m sure he never pictured himself in a situation like this ongoing.
As we’re drawing close to the café, I notice who’s sitting out front and my steps falter.
Tucker looks down at me with concern. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I just didn’t expect to see my dad this morning.”
Tucker follows my gaze to where my dad is sitting in front of the café playing checkers with Harrison’s grandpa Sam and a couple of his friends. I know Grandpa and his buddies are here almost every day. Not so much for the checkers as for the people watching and eavesdropping on the gossip. But now that my dad is retired, I guess he can’t play golf and frisbee golf every minute of the day.
“Do you want to go back home?” Tucker asks. “I can run to the store. Or we can go into Charleston.”
I take a deep breath. “No, of course not. He’s my dad.”
I love my dad so much. I just want him to be proud of me. But I’m showing up for breakfast with three men. So, we’ll see how that goes.
Yes, my brother is in a polycule, and my family is very cool about it. They love Ivy, Harrison, and Liam. My dad won’t be upset that I’m with three men. Probably. It’s more that I won’t be able to define it or say what the plan is. My brother always knows what he’s doing. He’s always got a plan, and it always works out.
He’s the opposite of me.
Dad looks up and sees us. His smile is quick and bright, and he gets to his feet.
“Good morning!”
“Hi,” I say, matching his smile and letting him pull me into a big hug.
I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment as I hug him back.
When he lets me go, he extends a hand to Tucker. “Tucker, good to see you.”
“Greg,” Tucker says with an ease in using my dad’s first name that means they are friendly and see each other often.
“Hi, Greg.” Christopher greets him next, extending his hand as well.
