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“That’s good,” said Mr. Blackbourne. “You probably shouldn’t tell her. Not now.”
“Why?” Victor asked. Part of him was relieved. Mr. Blackbourne hadn’t told him he couldn’t love her. That alone was what he’d feared. “I should tell her, right? I should be honest. We’re supposed to be.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Only now, I don’t think so. We’ve got a bit of a problem with Miss Sorenson.”
“What’s that?” Victor sat up sharply, almost ready to stand and run and fetch her himself. “What’s wrong with her?”
Mr. Blackbourne waved a hand through the air. “Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you are not the only one to feel so deeply about her.”
“What?”
“Miss Sorenson’s qualities haven’t gone unnoticed by your brothers.”
Victor blinked at him for a moment, piecing together what he was saying. Slowly, his eyes moved to North again. When their eyes met, horror struck through his body in a wave of thundering timpani drums.
“You,” Victor stumbled as he spoke. “You ... you love her?”
North’s lips tightened like he was holding something back, but he nodded.
“When? How?”
“Does it matter?” North’s voice was a notch deeper than usual. “Would it matter when or how? Or who was first? Honestly, I don’t think we’re the only ones, although no one else has confessed it yet.”
Victor’s heart felt like it was being squeezed. It felt impossible. He’d known the others were taking her to the football games, sleeping next to her. It all felt necessary, because of circumstances. When Silas had held her the other night after her bad dream, he’d appreciated it, because he couldn’t play music and hold her at the same time. But the way Victor held her hand, the way she looked at him in those moments they were alone, she’d made him feel exclusive. He felt that, like him, she was dying to figure out the puzzle that would fit them together.
But what happened when someone like North, or Nathan, or Kota confessed they might love her, too? What could he possibly offer her compared to the others? Music? Could he use his music to make her love him? Money wouldn’t work, of course, nor would he expect it to. Music was about the only advantage he felt he had.
“No,” Victor whispered. This was the worst tragedy. If she had to choose between himself and North, he was sure she’d pick North. Was he so ignorant to not have seen this coming? Had he imagined her returning his feelings? He’d felt her kiss on his cheek, one of the few times she did return the attention he was dying to get from her. But if North wanted her for himself...
North frowned. “It’s shit, isn’t it?”
Mr. Blackbourne shook his head. “It doesn’t have to be like that, Mr. Morgan.”
“Like what? Isn’t this what you warned us about?” Victor asked. “If more than one of us loves her ... We have to ask her. She has to decide. And then, I don’t know. We have to become one of those couple teams, right? North and Sang would have to leave.”
“Unless,” Mr. Blackbourne said.
“Unless what? Unless she says no? Unless she runs off and doesn’t want any of this anymore?” Victor stood up, pacing back and forth in the small space of the dressing room. He fumed. Wild thoughts of running to find Sang, to tell her right now, to get his confession in before North swept in over him. He’d beat him to her. He’d win her over. He’d give up all of this, the money, everything he owned. He’d play until his fingers were nothing but bones.
Mr. Blackbourne eased himself out of the seat. He held himself up, with his shoulders back. “Unless she loved you both. Unless she loved us all.”
Victor stopped pacing, staring at him. “You can’t be serious.”
Mr. Blackbourne gestured to North. “Look at him and tell him what you’re thinking now. How you’d run off and steal her away so you two could be together. Could you live with yourself knowing you left North behind, miserable because he loved her, too? Could you live with her knowing she may have had feelings for him, and you denied her that happiness?”
“But...”
“Think about it, Mr. Morgan. What if Miss Sorenson came to you and told you she loved you, but she loved North as well? She’s upset. She’s worried she’d made a mistake. She couldn’t possibly love more than one person, but she does. She begs for your understanding.” Mr. Blackbourne took a step forward. “Would you crush her heart and tell her she had to choose? If she really loved you, too, would you stop her?”
Victor’s whole body seemed to stiffen as much as his heart did in that moment. “It’s impossible.”
“It’s already happening,” he said. “What we need to know is are you determined to run away with her, or can you possibly be willing to stick this out?”
Victor pressed his palm to his face, rubbing. “How could it possibly work?”
“We haven’t told anyone yet,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “But North and I recently visited the other dog team. The one with a single bird.”
Victor’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding. You did? When? How?”
North coughed once. “They live in this state,” he said. “We saw them. They live together in a big house.”
Victor’s eyes widened. “Together?”
North nodded. “She married them,” he said. “All of them. She fell in love with all of them and the guys loved her.”
“It was the circumstances,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “They were trapped in an assignment with a girl and they couldn’t back down. She had to stick it out with their group and it was inevitable. Only they managed t
o prove to the Academy that their feelings were genuine and that they were happy with the relationship they had developed.”
Victor felt his brain contorting to try to put this together. “She stayed with them?”
Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “It doesn’t have to be one she chooses. The question is, are you willing to let the others love her, too? Instead of leaving us, or one of us leaving with her, could you live with North and yourself being in love with her? She wouldn’t have to leave, neither would either of you. Or anyone else that might love her.”
“Who else does?” Victor asked.
“Would it matter?” North asked. His eyes were intense on a spot on the floor. “I know what you’re thinking. I’ve been going through the same questions. When it comes down to it, though, if we forced her to choose one, there’s nine of us. Who is to say she’d choose either of us? Or any of us? She may decide not to, to spare our feelings because of who we are. But if we stay together. If we agree that we can all love her, she may just choose to stay.”
“She wouldn’t...”
“Love her or lose her,” North said. His head picked up slowly and he locked his gaze on Victor. “I’d rather split my time with her than lose her now. I can’t. I couldn’t live with this group if she left with any of you. I’d end up chasing her.”
North may as well have squeezed Victor’s heart with his bare hand. “You’d follow us?”
“I’d come for her.” He frowned. “Don’t make me try.”
“This is our problem, Mr. Morgan,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Would you not pursue her if one of the others ran off with her? Sang is rather unique, herself. She’s got a big heart and I fear she’s going to have a worse time with dealing with this than any of us will. She’ll feel the guilt of splitting up our group, our family. The Academy would probably look at expulsion for all of us if we start this sort of dog fight over her.”
