Zoe chuckles. She and Carson join me at the rail.
“Looks like Natalie found some friends.” Zoe laughs.
Not funny. “One of them is her boss.”
“Oh, a workplace romance!”
“He might be taking advantage of her,” I defend.
“Is it your call to make?” Zoe nudges an elbow into my side.
Fuck, she’s right. Not just because I want to protect Natalie. Not just because I respect that she gets to make her own choices. This could be a relevant talking point.
Time to be a big brother and set a good example.
Natalie turns. I think everything will be okay, then he swats her ass. If her grin wasn’t huge, if she didn’t turn and wave her finger at him playfully, I might not be losing my mind.
But all of that happened, and I am.
“Christ man, you don’t look so good.” Carson guides me to a chair.
I sit, my elbows on my knees, and fist my hair on both sides of my head. I can do this.
They keep me calm for the few minutes Natalie and her boss and his twin are doing god knows what. The click of the downstairs door, a pause, then the sound of them coming up the steps has me taking deep breaths.
“Holy crap, bro, are you sick?” Natalie’s quick to get to the point but I’m relieved that she’s alone.
I’ve failed to come up with a casual way to bring up our ménage. Pulling my shit together, I motion for her to have a seat. Carson and Zoe follow suit.
“I’ll be a lot better once we talk.”
She holds a finger up to me. “If you’re going to lecture me about what you just saw, stop right now.”
“That’s part of what I wanted to talk about. But I won’t lecture you, even though he’s a…never mind, no lecture…what did I see?”
“Not sure yet. I’ve had a thing for Lincoln since my first day on the job. Then I met his twin and we all clicked.
“Fuck, Natalie, he’s old enough—”
“Nathan!” Natalie scolds.
Carson and Zoe crack up. I’m not handling this well.
“What Nathan’s trying to say is that he respects your decisions, and hopes you’ll respect ours too.” Zoe’s statement is bold. I hope not too much so. This isn’t exactly easing Natalie into the idea.
I can see Nat’s wheels turning as she shifts her gaze to each of us. “Ours? As in you three?”
“All three of us. It just kind of happened. We were worried it would upset you, but Natalie, we’d love to have your blessing.”
The pause is long enough, I wonder if my sister’s gone catatonic. She’s upright and looks normal but remains emotionless.
I give it a go. “Natalie, we tried to deny it. We didn’t want to put you in a weird spot, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
She recovers from her stupor. “Wow.” Nat shifts her attention to Zoe. “Have you always been attracted to Nathan?”
Zoe purses her lips and nods. “I’m sorry. I should have turned the cleaning job down when I realized it was your brother’s house.”
Natalie rubs her hands over her eyes. “Cleaning isn’t exactly the problem. You have to work. But geez, Zoe… All those years you sat silently while I bitched about girls falling all over themselves for my brother.”