Andrew made a quick round of the room, saying hello to the brothers and the boyfriends like it was his first time in the group. That made me feel a little better, knowing I wasn’t the only one mowed over being surrounded by all of them. Sophie handled social situations like a champ and laughed at something someone said, and everyone laughed with her. She was fine.
She was perfect.
When Andrew reached us, Finn was the first—and only—brother to hug him instead of giving him a handshake. After they broke apart, Andrew’s stare drifted down in time to watch Finn grasp my hand again.
“Smith said Sophie was your girlfriend,” Andrew said to Finn.
“And his fiancé,” Finn said, giving my hand a squeeze.
The gears turned, and Andrew forced a smile that gave me the impression he wasn’t quite okay with the setup, but he wasn’t going to say anything about it either.
“Good, then?”
“Better than.”
Andrew nodded. “I’m seeing someone too. It’s new, but…”
Finn’s smile grew wide at the confession. Even Hunter looked interested.
“Are you now?”
“It’s new.”
From behind us, Marshall cleared his throat and ushered everyone to their seats. Sophie ended up to Finn’s left and me to his right, and Andrew ended up beside me in the tenth chair. Once everyone was seated, the conversation was quick to resume, and I settled my hand on Finn’s thigh before turning to his brother.
“Do you like San Diego?” I asked, hoping I could small talk him into thinking better of our situation, though I also wasn’t sure why I cared what he thought about our relationship. Andrew might be the first person to publicly question the three of us, but he would be far from the last. Another elephant we needed to discuss at some point, but not then. It was Friday night, dinner with his brothers, and then a trip to Rapture that had the hair on my arms permanently raised.
“You can’t beat the weather,” he said.
“It’s pretty great most of the year,” I agreed. “But I haven’t been down since Sophie moved.”
Andrew nodded slowly, taking a drink of his beer. “How long have you been together for?”
“Me and Sophie? Or the three of us?”
“Either.”
“Sophie and I have been together eight years,” I said. “We’ve been with Finn a couple of months now.”
“And you’re engaged?”
I smiled at him, not feeling it. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a lot like Marshall?”
That seemed to shock him, and Andrew reeled back, holding up his hands in surrender. “Point taken.”
“We’re good to him,” I said.
As if on cue, Finn turned, brushed a kiss against my temple, then angled himself back into whatever conversation he and Sophie were having with Smith and Lincoln.
“Point taken,” Andrew said again. “I’m sorry, I’m just…I’m new to them and to all of this.”
He finished his drink and set the empty beer bottle on the table. Both of us looked at the rest of the table, all the brothers and their boyfriends, Sophie there, and me. The stories Finn had told me about how they all came to be together were horrible, but there was an undeniable amount of love between them and it was obvious even to a stranger. It felt selfish to say things had maybe worked out for the best, but I didn’t need to ask to know none of them could imagine their lives any differently.
“Sometimes, I…” Andrew’s voice was quiet. “I wonder what it would have been like if I’d grown up with them.”
“I was just imagining what their lives would be like if that hadn’t happened,” I admitted.
“I had a good life, a good…my mom was a good woman. She passed recently. That’s how I found out about my father and the rest of them.”
