Looking at the three of them, I took a deep breath and then just went for it. “Yes. I know this is going to sound insane, but I need a date for my sister’s wedding. In a moment of panic, that Jayden unfortunately witnessed, I made up a fake boyfriend to make my family leave me alone and now I need to produce said boyfriend. The alternative is my family has their suspicions confirmed that I’m a loser who can’t get a man to save her life. I know it’s a lot, but I tried to meet someone new to do it, and it went horribly. Something else that Jayden got to witness.
“None of you owe me a single thing, and you have every right to tell me to kick rocks. I’d understand. I just… There’s no one else I think more highly of than you three. If I have to do this, pretend to be happily together with someone, I’d prefer it be with someone I trust to keep my secret.”
What I didn’t expect was all three of them to nod and practically agree to do it in unison. They all laughed, like they hadn’t just left me confused.
Ian gently grasped my elbow and ran his finger along the back of my upper arm. “Looks like you get to choose, Vi.”
I shook my head immediately. “No. I can’t.”
Adam’s eyes were full of warmth as he watched me. “Why not?”
I ran my hands through my hair and then wrapped my arms around my waist. Being honest had gotten me pretty far with them, so I decided to keep it up. “Each of you mean a lot to me. It may not make sense, with the way things ended and how much time has passed, but I can’t choose. I won’t. You’re each special to me.”
No one said anything for a few seconds, and I worried I’d made it weird, but then Ian sighed and looked at the other two guys. “We already decided that none of us are willing to back down and walk away. Since you can’t choose, that leaves us…”
“All in?” Jayden grinned and then smelled his candle again. “So, what? We all go to the wedding together? That’d show your asshole aunts.”
“Maybe we don’t make any decisions now.” Adam rested his arms on the counter and held my gaze. “Maybe we just see what happens. And when it’s time for the wedding, we can sort it out.”
I frowned and looked at each of them, confused as to what they were suggesting. “I don’t think I understand.”
“We’ll all be in the running for your wedding date for now. You can decide later on which of us will be a better fit for the event. To make that decision, though, you’re going to have to put in time with us.” Ian rubbed his beard. “That’s my condition on agreeing to this. You spend time with us before the wedding. Which is when?”
“Christmas night.” I blinked a few too many times while trying to make sense of things. “You want to hang out?”
Adam laughed. “Yeah. Seems like we all want to hang out.”
“Starting tonight.” Ian looked around my booth and then down at his watch. “It’s time for dinner. I have one other condition.”
I already knew what it was going to be. A smile stretched my lips as I stared up at him, drinking in the dark chocolate of his eyes. “Dinner?”
Adam groaned. “Hell, yeah. I need fried chicken, Violet. I’ll beg if you want me to.”
“With mashed potatoes and gravy.” Jayden rubbed his stomach and sighed. “Damn, I haven’t had your cooking in nearly a decade.”
“Brownies.” Ian’s deep voice was even lower as he said what had once been his favorite word. “Please.”
The pride I felt at seeing how much they liked my cooking was almost embarrassing. I tried to tamp down my smile and nodded at each of them. “Okay. Sure.”
“So, this is what? One large date?” Jayden saw our expressions turn to horror and made a face. “What? A label is what makes it weird?”
I studied my nails and cleared my throat. “It’s not like you’re trying to date me. Your label is just off.”
Their silence left me confused and wondering if I knew what was going on.
13.
***Violet***
Itwasn’thardtoconclude that my house was too small for three large men. My kitchen was more of a one-person kitchen. That meant the guys were forced to sit together in my living room and talk while I cooked. I could hear them listening to a football game and chatting like old friends, not like we were all engaged in something I still didn’t understand.
I didn’t feel like I could ask too many questions. They were volunteering to help me with the wedding, even though I’d been terrible to them. I wasn’t going to question them when they were showing up for me. So, I cooked and plated their meals the way I remember they liked and brought them dinner with a glass of tea and a beer.
My kitchen table had been moved to the garage months earlier for work, leaving the couch and lumpy chair I’d saved from a neighbor’s trash as dinner seating. They each dug in, showering me with praise while they ate. I was too nervous to do much more than pick at my own food. I retreated to the kitchen more than once to check on the brownies and then stayed there to finish them once the timer went off.
I was standing with my hands braced on the counter when Ian walked in and spotted me. I stood up and smiled, trying to look normal. I saw he was carrying the others’ plates and moved to grab them. “Here. I’ll get those.”
He put them on the counter behind me and stood close enough that I had to tilt my head back to keep my eyes on his face. “Overwhelmed?”