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The intensity of her admission caught us all off guard. Bodhi reached out, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Liam and I exchanged glances, sharing a silent understanding that we were in uncharted territory.
Eric’s face crumpled, the rage momentarily subsiding. “Zo, you’re my sister. I’ve always looked out for you, always wanted what’s best for you. I love my friends, but I’ve seen them all discard a lot of women.”
“I know, Eric, I know,” Zoey whispered.
Eric’s hurt was palpable, and his following words dripped with a bitterness that seemed to stretch far beyond the confines of the living room. “Do you even know what you’re getting into? You think you can handle three relationships at once, with three men who’ve never been tied down for long? With my friends, no less?”
Zoey looked at him, her eyes wide and earnest. “Eric, I love them. I really do. And it’s not about ‘handling’ relationships. It’s about building something new, something different with them.”
Eric’s incredulous laugh echoed through the room. “You love them? All of them? Zoey, that’s not how love works.”
She shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, mustering her courage. “Maybe not how you understand it. But it’s how I feel it. Love isn’t bound by numbers or conventions.”
“Did you know that Liam has never had a girlfriend for longer than a month? And Mason is fucking a new girl each week, sometimes multiple women. And Bodhi’s not any better. And I never fucking gave a shit, because those girls were not my little sister!” At this point, his voice boomed around the room.
I had never seen my friend this angry. And at that moment, I just thanked any deity who would listen that Eric hadn’t walked in thirty minutes earlier. Who knows how he would have reacted if he had seen us together on the living room floor.
Liam’s stance shifted, a more dominant aura emanating from him as he met Eric’s gaze head-on. “Listen, Eric,” he began, his voice deeper and laced with authority. “We get it. We’re not just random guys; we’re your friends. But don’t mistake our relationship with Zoey as some fleeting game. We value and respect her. This might be hard for you to understand, but we’re not here to play games or hurt her.”
Bodhi’s voice took on a commanding edge. “None of us saw this coming. But make no mistake; we love her, too.”
Zoey looked directly into Eric’s eyes, her voice unwavering. “I know you’re protective, and that’s part of the reason I love you so much. But these feelings... they’re real. And I’m willing to fight for them. For us.”
Eric’s face turned a shade darker, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “So, you think they love you?”
Zoey’s heart visibly sank at Eric’s doubt, but she squared her shoulders. “I believe they do.”
I took a step forward, finally finding my voice. “Eric, I can’t speak for Bodhi or Liam, but I can say this for myself. I care for Zoey deeply. More than I thought possible in such a short time.”
Liam chimed in. “Eric, she’s not just another girl to us. I can’t explain it fully, but with Zoey, it’s different. I love her.”
Bodhi simply nodded, his eyes echoing the same sentiment. “Same here.”
Eric looked between us, searching for any hint of deceit. His tough exterior seemed to crack for a moment, and a hint of vulnerability shone through. “This is a lot to take in. I just... I don’t want her to get hurt.”
Zoey walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. “I know you don’t. But I have to live my life, make my own choices. Can you at least try to understand?”
A tense silence ensued, only broken by the faint hum of the heater. Eric finally sighed, wrapping one arm around his sister. “I’ll need some time, Zo. This is... crazy, to say the least.”
She nodded against his chest. “I know. Just promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”
He paused, then nodded. “I promise.” Then he looked at Liam, Bodhi, and me. “If you guys hurt her, I’ll never forgive any of you.”
“We wouldn’t forgive ourselves,” Bodhi said.
Eric exhaled deeply. “Can you just try to explain this to me? Are you all dating each other?”
Seeing both of my friends and Zoey with blank expressions, I took the lead. “Bodhi, Liam, and I have always been close, so that hasn’t changed. We care about each other, but not in a romantic way. We are all in love with Zoey, and so the four of us are in a committed relationship, but we are only romantic with Zoey.”
Eric stared at us—his face unreadable. “Weird.” That was all he said for a few seconds, and he wasn’t wrong. “This will take some getting used to, but I love all four of you, so I am just going to go with it.”
“Thanks, man.” I brought him in for a hug, then Bodhi and Liam joined us. Finally, Zoey tried to wrap her slender arms around all of us.
Zoey’s enthusiasm was contagious as she clapped her hands together. “Well, now that you’re here early, Eric, we can have a big family dinner! We had planned on making an early Christmas dinner before you and our parents arrived.” Her enthusiasm made a timely appearance to break the tension.
A look of confusion took hold of Eric’s expression. “Mom told me you texted her yesterday and asked if the guys could stay. I thought they were spending Christmas with us.”
Zoey linked her arms with both Liam and Bodhi for comfort. “We wanted to have our own little Christmas celebration,” she started softly, her eyes searching his for understanding. “We weren’t sure how sharing the news about our relationship with the family would go. We thought, worst-case scenario, if things went really badly, at least the guys and I would’ve had a chance to celebrate together before they... well, before they might’ve felt the need to leave before Christmas.”
