Faking the Play (Hot Mess Harems #2)

24. Amelia

Chapter twenty-four

Amelia

I didn’t know what, exactly, I had expected when I told Ryan yesterday that I wanted to try this poly thing with him, Ethan, and Logan, but it hadn’t been to go back to my dorm after working with him so he could talk to the guys. And I hadn’t expected a text a little while later asking me to come over tonight for dinner and a movie. Our first date for the four of us.

I thought maybe we’d have to sit down and talk over things, come up with schedules and plans, decide what we were going to tell people. This all seemed too casual, especially since we were just going to be hanging out at their apartment together.

But then Logan opened the door before I could even knock, and I saw the fire in his eyes and knew that nothing about this was going to be casual. None of us needed to have the awkward getting-to-know-you stage, and we’d already been progressing past friendship into the physical part of things. We just needed to move from one-on-one dates to a date with all four of us at once.

I needed a drink.

“We got wine,” Ethan called from the kitchen as I came into the apartment. “We didn’t know if you preferred red or white, so we got both. And if you don’t like wine, that’s fine too. We have beer, water, soda, juice…”

“We might have gone a little overboard,” Logan confessed, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.

“I’m just glad to know I’m not the only one a little nervous about tonight,” I confessed as I shrugged out of my jacket.

“You look amazing,” Ryan said as he came over to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“You do,” Logan agreed, following Ryan’s example and kissing my cheek.

“My turn.” Ethan grinned at me, but didn’t kiss my cheek. Instead, he kissed the tip of my nose. “Now, what do you want to drink? I think all of us could use a little alcohol in our systems.”

“A glass of white wine sounds great,” I said, setting down my purse. “My grandma used to give me some on holidays even though I wasn’t old enough to drink.”

“That’s right,” Ethan said suddenly. “You’re only twenty. Should we worry that we’re corrupting you with alcohol?”

I rolled my eyes. “And I’m sure you guys all waited until you turned twenty-one to drink.”

“Of course.” Logan crossed his heart and held up his fingers in the Boy Scout salute.

“Which grandma was that?” Ryan asked as he handed me wine in a Disney glass. “Sorry, we don’t have wine glasses.”

I laughed. “It’s fine. It’ll taste the same.” I took a sip and smiled. “That’s good. And it was my Grandma Houston. My mom’s mom.”

“The one who lived in Indiana?” Ethan asked.

I nodded. “She passed away last year.”

“Shit. I’m sorry,” Logan said.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I miss her, of course, but she was ninety-two and died at a casino with her eighty-year-old boyfriend. It’s exactly how she would’ve wanted to go.”

Ethan cleared his throat. “If I could change the subject, our dinner is ready.”

It was only now that I realized their dining room table was set with decent plates and silverware, even if it didn’t all match. The candles and bouquet of wildflowers brought tears to my eyes. I’d thought this would be like our usual times hanging out and eating pizza, but this was nothing like that.

I was wearing one of my favorite dresses because it worked in pretty much any sort of situation, but now I was extra glad I hadn’t gone with sweats or even jeans. The guys were wearing jeans, but now I saw that they wore nice jeans and fitted shirts. Ryan and Ethan had short sleeves, but Logan’s sleeves were long and he’d pushed them up in that sexy way that showed off his forearms and…

Shit. I’d barely been here ten minutes and my panties were already wet.

“Here.” Logan pulled out a chair and broke my thoughts away from bedroom things. “Sit. We’re taking care of everything.”

And they did.

Serving the food. Keeping the conversation light and flowing, with just the right amount of flirting. We talked about school and our families, but none of the hard stuff, making it almost like normal first date talk even though we knew each other well. I appreciated it because it gave me the chance to relax into the idea of this being something romantic rather than just friendly.

And then we moved to the living room to watch a movie and the atmosphere completely shifted.

I stood next to the couch, completely unsure about where I was supposed to sit or if I was supposed to decide who sat next to me.

“There’s no right or wrong thing here,” Logan said quietly as he came up behind me. When he rested his hand on the small of my back, I leaned into his touch automatically. “Do you want me to decide?”

Maybe it made me a weak person, but I nodded. I knew what I wanted, and they said they wanted the same, but a part of me was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, for me to make one wrong move, to somehow show favoritism and hurt the other two.

“Take the middle seat,” Logan said. “Ryan, you sit on one side. Ethan, you take the other. I’ll take the floor and lean back on your legs, if that’s okay.”

He made it sound so simple, and as the four of us settled in, I wondered if it really could work this way. No bickering, no hurt feelings, just communication and a willingness to be flexible.

My worries about the logistics of things disappeared into the back of my mind as the movie progressed. We’d gone with a new superhero movie so there wasn’t really any romance in it, but that didn’t stop me from being overly aware of how close the guys were sitting. The pressure and warmth where we touched managed to be comforting and arousing at the same time, making me wish there weren’t so many layers between us.

And then Logan’s fingers started to trace patterns on my calf. My dress was fairly long, but the slit in the side bared my leg and, apparently, the temptation had become too much for him to handle. I caught my breath as flickers of electric heat danced across my skin. Moments later, I felt Ethan’s hand in my hair, loosening it from the braid I’d put it in, his fingers raking through the waves as they fell over my shoulders. When Ryan’s fingers curved around my neck, his thumb rubbing back and forth under my ear, I closed my eyes, blocking out the movie in favor of absorbing the sensations their caresses brought.

If I felt this good with these touches, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have their hands and mouths on my more intimate parts. Or rather, I could imagine it, and a part of me longed to know if my fantasy was close to the truth.

“Would you like to move somewhere a little more comfortable?” Ethan asked, his voice low in my ear. “We can stay here and keep doing what we’re doing, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more.”

“We’ll only go as far as you want,” Ryan promised.

“If you’re ready”—Logan pressed a kiss to the side of my knee—“let us take care of you.”

The promise in those words gave me the courage I needed to answer.

“I’m ready.”