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Hollis whistles in appreciation. “Look at you. Showing us up.”
Rhys slow claps. “Someone can read.”
I lift a glass of champagne. “To Gavin’s cooking. Rhys’s planning, and Hollis’s…” I take a beat, since I’ve got a secret with Hollis and I don’t want to make it too obvious to the others as I pick his toast. “Hollis’s ears. He’s a very good listener.” That earns me a flirty and dirty grin from the guy across from me. “Let’s toast to a good week,” I add.
All at once, the four of us clink glasses and say, “To a good week.”
I take a sip of the bubbly. It’s fresh and tingly on my tongue and it’s chased by a memory of the last class of mine that Rhys came to in the city. We talked after and I happened to mention that champagne was my favorite. I look at the glass, then steal a glance at the handsome Brit. His gaze lands on my flute, then rises…to my mouth.
My skin tingles everywhere. He bought this champagne…for me. Gavin made bowls…for me. Hollis left a gift…for me.
All throughout the rest of the meal, my thoughts return to the contest. To the prize money Steven is offering. To the three men I’m sharing a house with. My mind is a pinball game, the silver ball slamming into flippers, bumpers, ramps. Then, it lights up.
Maybe it’s the champagne. Possibly it’s the gifts. It could be the sweet lure of revenge. Or perhaps it’s the way they treat me like a very special guest. Whatever it is, it’s unlocked me. And I know exactly how I can win that prize money.
I lift my fork and tap it gently against the flute. Three pairs of eyes turn to me and I waste no time. “So my ex’s site is offering a contest for a female columnist on what makes for a great boyfriend, and I want to enter. Anonymously. An independent firm picks the winners, so he won’t know it’s me, even though the idea for the contest was one I gave him. The prize is ten thousand dollars and it would be enough to help me launch my yoga and flexibility app.” I pause, then dive off the cliff. “The only thing is—I really need someone to run my ideas past. Like to discuss them, vet them, make sure they seem like things a guy might actually do if he truly wanted to impress a girl.”
Rhys’s hand shoots up. “We’ll help you,” he says, just like he did with the cat rescue.
I wasn’t expecting that kind of speed, but I love it. “You will? Can we do it this week? It just seems practical since we’re all here.”
“Let me check my schedule. Ah yes, seems I can make myself available this week,” Rhys says with a grin—one that makes me smile right back. “I’m a great fucking boyfriend. In fact, I can walk you to your yoga workshop tomorrow. That’s something a great boyfriend would do, don’t you think?”
I can picture it clearly, the two of us, heading into town together in the morning. “Yes, I do,” I say, my cheeks going warm.
“Good. We can grab a cuppa if you want afterward too. Talk about your day,” he adds, and his confidence is like a zap of electricity down my body. He’s a man who knows what he wants. Who’s unafraid to say it. Who puts himself out there.
In front of me and in front of his friends.
I feel a little shivery all over, almost like we’re the only ones here. Rhys certainly looks at me that way. I flash back to the text messages the four of us exchanged last week, when they teased him about how often he goes to my classes. Is this something he’s been wanting for a while?
That thought is as heady as it is risky. We still work for rival teams. I don’t want to cause problems or draw attention to myself by dating a rival. Nova has given me a great opportunity with the Sea Dogs. It’s a plum post, one I’ll benefit from as I launch my app.
But just like Hollis offered to help me in the bedroom, Rhys is only offering to help me with a contest. And really, who better to help than a man who truly wants to show me what a great boyfriend is? I smile at Rhys, and it feels like a private grin until worry settles into my gut. Will Hollis be jealous of Rhys’s role? I look across the table to the laid-back guy who got me closer to climax than anyone ever has. His expression is easygoing, a smile tipping his lips as he says, “I think you’ll find we’re both pretty happy to help you any way that you want.”
Both.
Just this morning, Hollis said we’re good at sharing. I didn’t think he meant sharing a woman. But only because I didn’t want to let myself believe that that was what he meant.
The evidence is adding up that I was wrong. And as my breath hitches, the clues are saying I like being wrong too.
What about the third guy? Is Gavin good at sharing? Is he part of the both? But Gavin is quiet. I try not to read anything into his silence.
I want to say yes to both of them but Donut is jumping at the door. Whining too. I scoot back in the chair. “I need to take her for a quick walk.”
“I’ll join you,” Hollis says without missing a beat.
“Perfect.”
Once we’re outside, I’m alone with Hollis for the first time since the other guys showed up this morning.
But unlike this morning, orgasms are exactly what I want to talk about with him.
24
THE TOY COLLECTOR
Briar
