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Dereck
It’s almost ten when I come to the conclusion that I’ve finally had enough Criminal Justice and Terrorism information I can take for the night, and I slam my book shut with a groan, leaning back in my chair to stretch the kinks and soreness out of my back. Downstairs, the front door opens. It must be Matt. I close my laptop and head downstairs to greet him, ready for a few beers. Bryce is still sitting on the couch with a sketch pad in his lap and the TV going in the background when I get downstairs. I go to the kitchen for three beers and bring them back out to my friends, taking a seat in one of the empty recliners. Matt kicks off his work boots and joins us.
“You look weird,” Bryce says to Matt, temporarily abandoning his sketch to look our friend up and down. “You look … happy.”
“Fuck you,” says Matt, taking a swig of his beer. But I can see what Bryce means. The dude is practically glowing. It looks weird on him.
“It’s Rowan, isn’t it?” I ask, already knowing the answer. I pop the cap off my own beer and take a long drink. “Did you see her today?”
“Yeah,” Matt says. “I did.”
Bryce and I exchange a glance, but no one knows what to say. We knew this was coming, all three of us, and we’re no closer to a solution than we had been the entire semester.
“I think we need to talk,” says Matt. He sets his beer down on the coffee table and sighs, rubbing the back of his neck in exhaustion. He looks less cocky now, more like a human being with actual emotions, and it’s unnerving. “All three of us.”
“What is there to say?” Bryce doesn’t look up from the wrapper he’s peeling from the bottle. I can’t blame him. This is a conversation none of us want to be having.
“We have to figure this out,” Matt insists. “This Rowan situation.”
Silence settles over us. No one says anything for a long time. Finally, I can’t stand the silence anymore.
“Who gets Rowan, then?”
“Don’t be a douche,” Bryce says, rolling his eyes at me. “No one gets Rowan. She’s not an expensive toy.”
I look at Matt for back up, but he shrugs. “Bryce is right,” he tells me. “I think we all deserve a chance. And she’s made it pretty clear that she can’t choose between the three of us.”
“So where does that leave us?” I finish off the rest of my beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table. “Do we just wait around until she makes up her mind?”
“No,” Matt says. He hesitates, as if unsure he wants to say whatever is next. “Maybe … maybe we should be with her. All of us, I mean.”
“All of us, like …?” I trail off, frowning. “Like, all of us date her? At the same time?”
Matt shrugs, and I know that’s my answer. I look at Bryce who is looking at Matt. He, too, is frowning, but he doesn’t seem as rattled as I feel right now.
“Like a harem,” he says, nodding his head. “Or, more accurately, a reverse harem.”
“Okay.” I stand up, putting my hands in the air in defeat. “I don’t know what kind of mumbo jumbo you two are talking about, but I want no part of it.” I start to walk back upstairs, but Matt stops me.
“Fine,” he says with a shrug. “Bryce and I can be with her.”
I stop where I am, one foot on the bottom of the stairwell suspended in midair. I close my eyes and turn around to meet Matt’s eyes. He’s not fucking around. They’re serious.
With a sigh, I walk back to the couch and sit down, looking between Bryce and Matt for some sort of validation or new information.
“A harem,” I repeat. “Multiple guys and one girl?”
“Or multiple girls and one guy,” Bryce says with a shrug. “It can go both ways.”
“That one sounds better,” I say. “Can we do that instead?” It’s a stupid joke, sure, but no one laughs. Matt even rolls his eyes before looking at me. He takes a big breath.
“I love Rowan Bates,” he says firmly, and Bryce and I stare at him. “I love her more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person.” He pauses, swallows, and speaks again. “How about for you two?”
I look at Bryce. A muscle in his jaw is twitching. He nods.
“I love her, too. I’m in love with her. And the thought of losing her breaks me.”
Matt nods, as if he understands that, and then both of them look at me. There’s no denying it, not now, even when I want to.
“If being with her means sharing her, I’ll do it,” I tell them. “Because I love her, too. I love Rowan Bates and I don’t want to let her go.”
“Then it’s settled.” Matt sits back on the couch, nodding his head. “That’s what we’ll do.”
“Hold up,” says Bryce. “Has anyone asked Rowan what she thinks about all this? She could turn us down flat and then we’d all lose her.”
“We have to talk to her then.” I reach for the cell phone in my pocket and bring up Rowan’s text thread. “This has to be face-to-face. Should we go over there?”
“Yeah,” Matt says. “See if she’s home. I need to get changed.”
