Page 36 of Three Bossy Boyfriends (Honeysuckle Harbor #3)

Finley

“I don’t know that this is what I had in mind when I suggested a girls’ night out,” Caroline Bell Ross says ruefully as we all stand around taking in the scene before us. “I left two babies at home with their grandmother, and I wore heels.”

“Why would you wear heels on purpose?” I ask her. “I’d love to never wear heels again.”

“It makes my legs look amazing,” she says, popping a hand on her hip and striking a pose.

“They really do,” Frannie tells her. “But come on, this will be fun. This isn’t just mini-golf—this is an adults-only lounge with mini-golf.”

It certainly doesn’t look like the mini-golf of my childhood—the one I still drive past on the Honeysuckle Harbor boardwalk frequently.

It’s an explosion of primary colors, gaudy blinking lights, and carnival music.

This place looks like a sexy speakeasy lounge that happens to have putting holes strategically placed in the center.

Dark booths surround them, and the holes themselves are a deep forest green, not the usual emerald green, with classy little neutral striped flags.

“It looks nice,” I say, because I’m all up for anything that will distract me from three very distracting men who have taken up so much space in my head I should charge them rent. “They serve craft cocktails, and I’m going to order one immediately.”

“Same,” my sister-in-law Ivy says, looping her arm through mine.

I like Ivy a lot. She’s very California cool, breezy, and creative.

She’s started a thriving business here, an event space, and together with my brother, Harrison, and Liam, has become entrenched in the community.

Since I’ve been home, I haven’t seen as much of her as I’d like since we’re both so busy.

So when Caroline put us all in a group text suggesting this night out, I was excited to spend more time with all of them.

I’ve known Caroline since we were kids, but it’s been years and years since I’ve really seen her.

She went off to travel the world after college, and I stayed in New York.

She seems to have settled into her new role as a wife and mother readily and is a first grade teacher at a progressive private grade school in a suburb of Charleston.

Honeysuckle Harbor has been generally accepting of all people and a variety of non-traditional relationships, but I’m not sure the public schools are quite ready to hire a grade school teacher very publicly living in a polyamorous foursome.

“What are you drinking?” I ask Ivy. “First round is on me.”

“Oooh, are we celebrating something?” She releases my arm and follows me to the bar.

The other girls, including Kyle, are trailing behind us.

“I’m celebrating not getting fired yet,” I joke.

“Why on earth would you get fired?”

I bite my lip as I lean on the bartop. The bar is hopping busy, and it’s going to be a minute before we can get a drink.

I’m debating if I should be honest.

It’s not something I have discussed with Evan and Christopher.

I haven’t even seen Evan in person since our amazing night together with Christopher.

Sure, we’ve texted, but I miss him.

Being with Evan is easy, comfortable, and fun.

Being with Evan together with Christopher was really fucking hot.

I like Christopher too, in a different way.

He’s more…bossy.

He makes me want to both work harder and then at the end of the day be told what to do by him.

It’s something I never expected being attracted to, but I am.

Unfortunately, it’s not a night we can repeat.

Not until I leave the law firm.

It would push our luck way too hard.

Not that we would mess around at the office, but—hell, we might mess around at the office. It would be hard to resist if we were having threesomes regularly.

I decided to blow it off. “Because I wear slippers when I’m at my desk,” I say lightly.

Ivy isn’t buying it. “Is there tension between you and Christopher? He is responsible for you and Evan breaking up after all.”

That’s an untruth that I just can’t stomach anymore.

“I’m not upset with Christopher. I knew about him and Evan before. Part of me and Evan saying we were dating as long as we did was to deflect people at the firm away from anything between them. They were hoping Evan would be made partner and then they could start publicly dating.”

Ivy’s eyebrows raise. “Oh. Well, shit. That changes things. So the three of you were all in agreement?”

I nod. “Very much so. But yes, now it’s complicated.”

“What’s complicated?” Fiona asks as she suddenly appears by my side.

I explain the situation again.

Fiona frowns. “Why didn’t you tell us that?”

“Because I didn’t want to cause issues for Christopher. You’ve been flirting with Kyle…I didn’t want to complicate it even more.”

My sister is visibly upset. “You can trust me and Frannie. We’re your sisters. We’re triplets, for God’s sake.”

I sigh and glance down the bar. Where is the damn bartender?

“I’m sorry, okay? I was trying to do the right thing!”

“You never let us in,” Fiona accuses. “Then you’re upset that you think me and Frannie are closer to each other than to you.”

“You are!”

“Because you won’t let us get close to you!”

This is not how I expected tonight to go.

Caroline, Frannie, and Kyle are right up on us now too. They are talking and laughing, but when they hear Fiona, their expressions are immediately concerned.

“What’s going on?” Frannie asks.

“Finley knew that Evan and Christopher were an item,” Fiona says flatly. “And didn’t tell us.”

“Wait, what?” Kyle’s mouth falls open.

Now I just feel like shit.

These women are my sisters, my friends.

“I didn’t set out to lie to anyone,” I say. “It wasn’t like that. I was just trying to help Evan make partner, and then Christopher kissed him in the office and our plans blew up and then I…had sex with them. Both. Together.”

I’m wearing a sweater with my jeans, and I suddenly feel way too hot. I fan myself with my palm as all the women around me react with wide eyes, shrieks, and hands on faces.

“What the fuck, Finley?” That’s Kyle.

Given that Kyle never really swears, I’m a little shocked.

“Why didn’t you just tell us?” Frannie demands.

I hate conversations like this. I hate being vulnerable and feeling emotional, especially because part of me knows they’re right. I jumped into an arrangement with Evan that was impulsive and then, quite frankly, didn’t know what to do, so I just kept going with the original story.

My usual strategy in situations like this is to get defensive and deflect.

But I can’t do that here. These women matter too much to me.

“I didn’t know what to do,” I say. “I care about both Evan and Christopher. I care about my job, but a whole lot less than I care about them. But I care about Dad and how all of this might blow back onto him, so I didn’t tell anyone the truth.”

I’m on the verge of tears, and Ivy reaches out and hugs me.

“It’s okay. Sometimes we get in over our heads.

Trust me, I know all about that. I went to my own wedding ninety-nine percent sure I was doing the wrong thing.

Thank God Brad didn’t show up because I would have gone through with it. It’s like being swept up in a tide.”

I hug her back and then pull back, taking a deep breath to get myself under control.

“That’s exactly what it was like. It was all just happening, and I was letting it. I’m sorry for not being honest.”

Frannie squeezes my hand. “It’s okay.”

“And just so it’s all out there, when I hooked up with Evan and Christopher, it was…incredible.”

More jaw drops.

Then Caroline grins. “You go, girl. Way to make the juice worth the squeeze.”

“It was definitely worth it. But that’s why it’s complicated.”

“I won’t say anything,” Kyle assures me. “And I understand why you didn’t tell me. We haven’t known each other that long.”

“Thank you. I really do want to be friends, Kyle.”

“So wait…if all this is going on, explain to me then the rumors around town that Tucker Hastings declared his love for you at karaoke last night,” Ivy says.

“What?” Frannie and Fiona exclaim in unison.

I never blush, but for some reason I feel my cheeks heat. “That was a joke. I told Tucker that if he gave a speech, I would release him from the curse.”

That makes Fiona snort. “Jesus. The curse. Okay, well, that makes sense.”

“But then I did have sex with him last night after karaoke.”

More shock. More giggles.

I’m waving my arm frantically now for the bartender. It’s been up in the air so long that it feels like all the blood has gone out of my fingers and forearm.

“And…” Ivy asks, grinning.

“It was hot. It was kind of a hate fuck. Against a wall. He has very big…hands.”

Now, everyone is grinning.

“So what now?” Caroline asks.

“Nothing. That’s what’s now. I can’t be with Evan and Christopher while I’m still at the firm. Tucker was a onetime thing. To get it out of my system."

Kyle rolls her eyes. “Oh, because that always works.”

She was right. It wasn’t working. But it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours. Surely I would stop thinking about Tucker and that strong…grip at some point?

Fortunately, the bartender finally appeared. “What can I get you?” he asks, looking bored and not at all apologetic for the extensive wait.

We rattle off drink orders to him. I could use about three shots of tequila, but I decide it’s wiser to just order a hard seltzer.

“I feel like that justification is how I wound up married to Ford,” Ivy says, smirking, when the bartender disappears.

I assume we’ll have a solid fifteen-minute wait before we get a drink.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” I grumble. “I just needed a job.”

“What do you actually want?” Kyle asks. “If you could have anything at all, in any combination?”

There are a lot of eyes on me.

But I have to be honest. To them and to myself.

“I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to it…” That’s partly me stalling. Partly the truth.

I haven’t allowed myself to go there. I’ve just been living in the moment.

Which is how all of this got so complicated.

But…

I know what I want.

They’re all just patiently waiting for me to figure it out.

“I want all of them,” I say simply. “I like all of them. I don’t want just one night.”

My phone buzzes in my back pocket. I pull it out absently, prepared for the onslaught of opinions.

It’s a text from Tucker.

You. Me. Ax throwing. You in?

“Is it one of the guys?” Frannie asks, sounding excited.

I nod. “Tucker. He wants to go out with me again.”

“Say yes,” Fiona urges.

Another text buzzes.

I need to see you, Finley. I can’t stop thinking about you.

“You can date them all, you know,” Caroline points out. “Look at me and Ivy. Different guys meet different needs. It’s something I never expected, but I love that aspect of our relationships.”

I’m listening to her, but I’m also super distracted by my phone.

I need to respond to Tucker.

It feels fucking necessary to say yes to him.

I’m in.

Then I take a deep breath and look at the faces waiting expectantly for me to speak.

“I want all of them,” I admit. “And I think I want all of them…at the same time.”

Ivy is nodding slowly. Caroline offers me a whoop and a fist bump. Kyle looks a little worried, but I suspect that has more to do with the law firm and my job than any sort of judgment.

Frannie and Fiona exchange a look.

“What?” I ask them defensively.

But then they turn and both grin at me.

“I feel like this fits you,” Frannie says simply.

“And we’re happy for you,” Fiona adds.

“Now what?” I don’t know how any of this could work.

Or what it means beyond a few super sexy nights in bed.

“Now we have fun,” Ivy says. “Our drinks are here.”

“We’re going to play mini golf and look good doing it,” Caroline says.

I take my seltzer and raise it up and take a sip. “I can do that.”

I have no idea where these guys are in their thought process but now that I’ve allowed myself to consider it, I can’t get the image out of my head of them with me, all working together to pleasure me, fucking me so hard and good…

Thank God I’m wearing a tank top under my sweater because I yank it off and take another bracing sip of my seltzer.

“Let’s hit some balls, girls.”