Page 10 of Three Bossy Boyfriends (Honeysuckle Harbor #3)

Finley

Adding one more person to the circus that is my family’s monthly dinner seems like a bad idea. But Evan is excited for it, and I have to admit that I’m looking forward to seeing the buttoned-up, introverted lawyer in the midst of my family’s chaos.

Of course, my family holds a monthly dinner. I’m not surprised, but I’ve been missing this for a few years of being away in New York City. I’ve been home for holidays and that’s been more than enough.

But now that my brother is part of a poly relationship and brings three significant others with him and my sister is now in a relationship with a big growly FBI agent, the noise and chaos are multiplied.

In fairness, now that I think about it, Hunter doesn’t say much, but he does take up a lot of space. And one of my brother’s plus ones, Harrison, has always been a part of this. And holidays and birthday parties and every other celebration. As have Harrison’s mom and dad, my parents’ best friends.

But Harrison’s husband, Liam, and Ford’s wife, Ivy, are also in love. So the four of them live as one big happy quadruple. It’s unexpected and yet, watching them all together, it somehow makes sense.

I can’t wait to see what Evan thinks of that.

I can’t wait for Evan to get here. I need an ally.

And I can admit I’m a little off-kilter after seeing Tucker Hastings and watching him fire an employee with zero hesitation for being a misogynist. Maybe my sisters are right, and Tucker is a nice guy these days. He’s also…huge. And likes to violate my personal space.

It’s very unnerving to be around him.

With Evan, it’s easy and fun to be around him.

I’m anticipating spending some social time with Evan away from the office because of the surprise revelation Christopher gave me the other night.

Finding out that they both like women, and Christopher has pictured Evan and I together… Yeah, I haven’t stopped thinking about that since.

I may have even thought about that when I was alone in bed with my vibrator. Three times since.

And Evan was right there when Christopher said that he wants me to make Evan happy. I really want to know how Evan feels about that.

I’ve been looking at Evan differently in the office since then. I found him very attractive even before, but now there’s a little extra heat that sizzles in my veins, and Mary Grace might have needed to say my name twice during a meeting because I was daydreaming. Day fantasizing .

“That is not what I said, and you know it,” Liam, Harrison’s husband, shouts from the living room.

Harrison smirks and pops an olive into his mouth. “That’s how I heard it,” he calls back.

“You are such a pain in my ass!” Liam yells.

I have no idea what they’re talking about.

I’m sitting at the little table in the breakfast nook by the window, out of the way.

Everyone is hustling about Harrison’s enormous kitchen, getting the meal put together, and I am definitely safest out of the various traffic patterns between the kitchen, the dining area, and the back patio, where some kind of grilling is going on.

My sisters got all of the culinary talent. And interest in anything that happens in the kitchen.

I keep myself alive, and that’s about it when it comes to food.

“You should probably use more lube then,” Harrison’s dad, Bill, jokes from where he’s pulling a platter of fruit from the fridge.

Everyone in the kitchen freezes for a second. Then they all burst into laughter.

“Dad, for fuck’s sake,” Harrison says. “You can’t just say out loud every thought that pops into your head.”

“I’ve earned the right,” Bill insists. “And it was funny.”

“Maybe stick to standard dad jokes,” his wife, Daphne, tells him.

I shake my head and lift my glass of wine.

Our families are unfiltered at the best of times, pretty inappropriate at the worst of times.

It sounds so incredibly stupid to say, but my parents are actually disappointed they don’t have a gay child because they claim they would be the best ally parents ever.

I have to admit they are pretty cool about all of the various relationships and the living situation that my brother has found himself in.

But I guess when they first revealed that Harrison and Ford were both in love with Ivy and were going to live as a quadruple with her and Liam, our dads were hopeful that meant Ford had decided he and Harrison were in love as well.

“You’re going to run Hunter off,” Harrison’s grandfather, Sam, says as he comes into the kitchen to grab another beer from the cooler by the back door.

“This is how we decide if Hunter gets to stay around,” my dad says. “If he can’t take the way we talk and joke, then he’s not going to fit in here at all.”

He’s got a point. And Hunter does seem a little uptight, so I’m interested to see how he handles the family dinner.

He and Frannie have only been officially dating for a few months, but I guess he’s been hanging around for a while and become a regular at the restaurant.

If he’s hung out at Raw, he’s gotten used to Harrison, Ford, Liam, and Ivy.

He’s probably talked to our fathers and Grandpa Sam as well, but they do behave at least a little bit when they’re in public compared to how they are at home.

“Fiona gonna bring a guy home soon?” Bill asks my dad.

“Hope so. Gotta get them all hooked up.”

I lift a brow, waiting for Bill to ask me about my love life.

“I love having all the extras around,” Bill says. “Love that the table gets more and more crowded.”

But he doesn’t even glance in my direction.

“And then they’ll start on kids,” my dad says.

“Yes!” Bill agrees enthusiastically. “Harrison and Ford will be amazing dads.”

Wow, they’ve got my brother reproducing and they haven’t even asked if I’m dating anyone?

I’ve been gone for a few years, but I’m not gone . Have they written me off or just forgotten me? Or maybe they just assume I’ll never fall in love. Which is fair. Love seems like a lot of work.

But I could handle dating for real. After Evan and I are done with this…thing.

I mean, look at me. I’m lusting after three different men as we speak.

Clearly I’m not ready to settle down, but I’m definitely ready to bring a guy—or two—to dinner.

If my dad wants to joke about sex, I would love to have Christopher sitting here trying to be all buttoned up and professional while thinking about the dirty things he and Evan and I got up to the night before…

Fiona walks in, carrying flowers and macarons.

“Fiona, when are you going to fall in love?” Bill asks her without even saying hello.

“Maybe I should tell the person I’ve got a crush on that I like them first,” she says.

Bill yells to the house, “Fiona’s in love!”

She just laughs.

I chug the rest of my wine. And continue sitting—literally in the corner, forgotten.

Until the doorbell rings.

Everyone stops and looks around.

First of all, no one who comes to family dinner rings the doorbell. Second, everyone’s here.

At least everyone they’re expecting.

I push up from the table and head for the door. “That’s for me,” I say as I pass my dad and Bill.

“Who is it?” Dad asks.

“My boyfriend.”

As I leave the kitchen, it’s dead silent behind me. But before I reach the door, noise explodes as they all start talking at once.

I pull the door open and give Evan a huge, relieved, genuine smile. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His smile is big and sweet in return.

“I’m going to need you to act really crazy about me,” I tell him.

He steps forward and hands me the bouquet of flowers he’s holding. “Can do.”

Impulsively, I grab the front of his shirt, pull him in, and kiss him.

He doesn’t even hesitate. He cups my cheek and kisses me back.

It’s sweet, but I feel it all the way to my toes.

When I step back, he says, “I’m having a really good time.”

I laugh and link our hands. “Brace yourself.” I pull him into the house.

Thank God this is fake, and he has to be here.