The Arrangement - A Reverse Harem Romance, page 2
“Kayleen listen,” he went on. “I—I’m so sorry about last week.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not.”
He blushed again, his face turning that same adorable red. “Well I’m not either if we’re being honest,” he mumbled, “but it was something I felt I had to say. You know. In light of what happened.”
“What happened is you didn’t call me,” I insinuated. “You didn’t text. Nothing like ‘hey Kayleen, sorry my roommate has disastrously bad timing. Why don’t we meet up during the week for coffee, or drinks, or—’”
“I’m sorry,” he said again. By the way his eyes turned up at the corners I could tell he actually meant it. “I— I really wanted to do that.” He was wringing his hands now. “Believe me I wanted to. But I… I couldn’t…"
“Make a phone call?”
“No. I mean…”
“I get it,” I said. “You were writing. You were in the zone.” I grabbed for the doorknob. “No need to apologize, you’re obviously—”
“I mean I can’t.”
I turned back to him for a moment. A new realization dawned on me.
“Ohh…” I sighed. “Girlfriend.” I nodded, feeling just slightly better. “Got it.”
“No, no,” said Chase. “No girlfriend.”
My brows came together for a moment. “Boyfriend?” I asked hesitantly.
“No,” he said with a little chuckle. “Definitely not.”
“The way you kissed me I didn’t think so,” I chuckled back. “But okay. Whatever it is, no hard feelings. I’ll just get back to the kitchen and—”
“Kayleen…”
I stopped talking for once and just stood there, staring back at him expectantly. Chase’s emerald eyes had a pained look to them.
What’s his deal?
Whatever it was, he was struggling with it on some deep, internal level. Like he had something he definitely wanted to say… but for some reason, he just couldn’t.
“I’m sorry,” he said again, slowly lowering his gaze.
I nodded politely. “You said that one already.”
Half a minute later I was back in the hall, trying to put the whole weird thing out of my head. There was plenty of work to be done in the kitchen. And the sooner I got started, the bett--
“Hey…”
The voice came from a room on the other side of the hall. Nathan stood in his doorway, his long arms stretched overhead. He was wearing cargo shorts, and a threadbare white T-shirt that had seen at least a decade’s worth of service.
“Talk to you for a second?”
I froze in my tracks. His shirt rode up high on his lithe, muscular body, revealing a set of ridiculously sculpted abs. Washboard abs. No, really — the type of abs you could actually do your wash on.
My heart skipped two beats, maybe three.
“Sure,” I said.
Four
NATHAN
She was beautiful more than drop-dead gorgeous. Sexy and sensual, especially around her pouty little mouth.
It was that mouth that attracted me the most. Slightly downturned, with full, luscious lips. The kind of lips you really don’t need to paint, but when you do paint them they look absolutely stunning.
“What’s up?” she asked again.
God, that mouth. It made me a little frightened of her, really. Even so, I found my mind wandering. It would be insane to kiss her…
“Walk with me,” I said, leading our cute little chef down the hallway.
Kayleen followed, and I could tell she was confused. The way Chase had spoken to her, it was easy to understand why. I’d been listening in the whole time, trying to guess how he’d explain things to her. Just as I expected, he hadn’t.
Should you, though?
It was a dilemma, really. I could leave her in the dark, but eventually she’d find out. Especially if we happened to be successful. At that point she’d be more pissed than anything, and I didn’t want to lose Kayleen. She was a good person as well as a great chef.
Yet if I told her, that could scare her away as well. The whole thing was a catch-22. A big, unorthodox, clusterfuck of a problem — all because Chase had kissed her.
“Look, the kitchen’s that way,” she said, a little exasperated. “I have a shit-ton of prep-work, so maybe we could talk in there?”
I stopped at the end of the hall. Our shared computer was set up there in a little alcove, networked to the other three in our bedrooms.
“So he kissed you.”
Kayleen’s pouty mouth got a little more pouty. It was cute.
“How do you know I didn’t kiss him?”
“Well you did,” I smiled. “But that’s beside the point. The issue here is what happened afterward. Chase acted like a complete idiot, and left you in the dark about something. I’m about to enlighten you.”
She stopped right in the middle of folding her arms. I saw her expression soften. “Go on.”
“So yeah,” I said. “He likes you. Don’t get that part wrong. He’d snatch you up in a heartbeat if he could snatch you up, only it would be a distraction, and we’re trying to work on eliminating all distractions from our lives.”
One corner of the chef’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Ah yes,” she said. “Your little trilogy.”
“Our big trilogy,” I corrected her. “But yeah. We’re all working hard on it. Trying to meet specific deadlines. Trying to get three giant novels out in the next few months, all written in tandem.” I scratched at my chin. “Or rather, we’re tag-teaming the books chapter by chapter.”
“So like a boxer in training,” Kayleen smirked. “No sex before a big fight.”
“Not at all,” I corrected her. “Actually, just the opposite.”
I paused here, for the sheer joy of watching her wheels turn. Kayleen’s eyes grew even more narrow as she tried figuring out what I meant.
“Sex is an amazing outlet,” I said, “especially for creativity. So while we’re trying to eliminate all distractions, we’re also not crazy. We know we’ll need female companionship. The intimacy of…”
“Sex,” she said, matter-of-factly.
I shrugged. “Three guys, all in our mid-twenties? What do you think?”
“I think you need a couple of hookers,” she laughed.
I frowned and shook my head. “I said companionship. Intimacy. The kind of stuff that a girlfriend brings to the table. And yes, of course sex too.”
“So then what’s Chase’s problem?” she jumped in. “Not that I’m putting the cart before the horse or anything, but I happen to make a kickass girlfriend.” Now she did fold her arms. “And hey — newsflash — sex was definitely on the menu.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, he told us.”
“So I still don’t get—”
I turned away mid-sentence, cutting her short. A few short clicks of the mouse later, I pulled up the ad and expanded it to fit the screen.
“Read this,” I said, stepping back.
Kayleen leaned in, her sparkling blue irises shifting back and forth as she scanned line after line. Her lips moved silently as she read, as if mouthing the words to herself.
Shit, maybe I was wrong. Maybe she was drop-dead gorgeous.
Maybe?
I watched her mouth slowly open. Saw her eyes go wide and wider.
For a long, silent moment, it was like time had stopped.
“You can’t be serious,” she finally said.
Five
KAYLEEN
I read the whole thing twice, then one more time, just in case I’d misinterpreted it. But there was no really mistaking the ad on the computer screen:
WANTED:
SHARED GIRLFRIEND FOR
EXCLUSIVE 3-on-1 RELATIONSHIP
(Yes, you read that right)
Three budding young authors seek one
extremely open-minded female for
an exclusive, borderline sinful,
very unorthodox arrangement.
YOU are the sexy, intelligent, down to
earth woman every guy always dreams of
finding. You’re fun, funny, and the
life of every party. You also have
a near-insatiable sex drive, and
absolutely love to be pampered.
WE are three (3) handsome, chiseled,
dedicated professionals — as well as
lifelong friends — looking to share,
love, protect, and spoil the hell out
of the same gorgeous woman.
LIVE-IN ARRANGEMENT ONLY
You must be prepared to reside here,
at our exclusive and beautiful Spanish
villa, where your every last need will
be well-taken care of.
GIRLFRIEND MATERIAL
ONLY NEED APPLY
Keep in mind the three of of us want a
girlfriend, as well as all the closeness,
companionship, and intimacy that comes
with having one. On our end there will be
NO jealousy, NO drama, NO bullshit.
Just three times the fun, excitement, romance,
(and yes, sex), of your horribly traditional
terribly boring 1-on-1 relationship.
WARNING:
YOU JUST MIGHT BE
SPOILED FOR LIFE
Beneath the ad was an email address, as well as more specific instructions on what to send when making contact.
“You can’t be serious,” I finally breathed.
It was incredible. Beyond incredible, really. Almost as if they were playing some stupid joke at my expense. And yet…
“Dead serious.”
And yet somehow I knew it was one hundred-percent not a joke.
I looked at up Nathan with all new eyes now. He still looked like the tan, blond, quintessential surfer-boy turned strapping beach-god by the paddle of puberty. Only now I saw him in all different ways. Ways that made my stomach do a sexy backflip.
“You don’t expect anyone to actually reply to this,” I laughed nervously. “Do you?”
“Of course we did.”
“Did?”
“It’s been running three days and we already have four different candidates lined up to meet us.”
His statement made my breath catch in my throat. I didn’t know if it was the shock of what they were doing, or the idea that someone would actually go for it. Much less four someones.
“This is why Chase blew you off,” said Nathan. “It wasn’t that he didn’t like you. It was more that he didn’t want to hurt you, because he can’t get involved right now. Not while the three of us are pursing this.”
He pointed casually back at the screen. I looked at it again, still in complete disbelief.
“Who came up with this?” I asked.
“We all did.”
“How come?”
“Because we’re trying to pump out a full trilogy in just a few months,” said Nathan, “and that requires dedicated, heads-down writing time. Having a girlfriend interferes with all that. We’ve each had girlfriends while trying to do this before, and it didn’t work out. The girls were always jealous of our time away, or needed a lot more contact than we could give them. They weren’t happy. Blowing up our phones. In turn, we weren’t happy.” He shrugged. “Deadlines were missed. Even worse, the writing suffered.”
“So why not just take time off?” I found myself asking. “Why have girlfriends at all?”
Nathan mouth twisted into a smirk. “You know why.”
“For sex?” I laughed. “Just look at you guys.” I took the free opportunity to give Nathan’s body another once-over. It was every bit as amazing as every other time I’d ogled him. “None of you should be hurting in the casual sex department,” I chided him. “So why not just do that?”
“Because it’s not what we want,” he said honestly. “The sex part is huge of course, and nothing clears your mind better than a hot girl and an earth-shattering orgasm.” He looked down at me as if maybe he’d said too much. “But each of us agreed we’d need more. We need companionship, too. We write in shifts; three days of writing, one day off. We alternate those days too, so each of us can relax.”
I thought about Nathan’s perfect, bubble-shaped ass, glued to a chair for three straight days. Just based on his tan, I couldn’t picture it.
“On our off day, each of us wants to get out. Do stuff with someone. Get away from each other for a while, and have fun blowing off some steam. This is where a girlfriend would come in handy. Someone to laugh with, have fun with, connect with.” He smirked at the double-entendre. “Emotionally as well as physically.”
“I see.”
“We’re guys, but we’re not barbarians,” Nathan laughed. “We do more than just procreate. Believe it or not we have other, more emotional needs as well.”
“Didn’t say you didn’t,” I pointed out. “But what about…”
“The big green monster?”
He’s sharp, I’ll give him that.
“Yeah,” I chuckled. “That.”
“Well we’ve talked about it at length,” said Nathan, “and we’ve all agreed not to let jealousy play a factor. If the woman is exclusive to us, and only us, we’re sharing her within our same little group. It’s kind of like one relationship anyway, only she gets to rotate through all three of us. But it doesn’t change our one-on-one time with her. It doesn’t change the way we interact with her individually, or grow close, or get romantic, or—”
“Or love?”
“Love’s always possibility,” he shrugged. “After all, we’re looking for a girlfriend, not an escort. If feelings lead to attachment, love’s certainly not off the table.”
“So then what happens?”
Nathan laughed again, showing off two brilliant rows of flawlessly white teeth. “You’re sure asking a lot of questions.”
“Well it’s pretty fucking intriguing,” I countered. “It’s not every day someone’s advertising for—”
My voice dropped as Burke stepped into the hallway. He was wearing a fuzzy pink bathrobe with coffee cups all over it — I wanted to say I’d seen it in a movie once — and carrying a large mug of coffee himself.
“So you showed her,” he grunted, raising his mug at the computer screen as he walked by. “Good.”
Out of the three of them, Burke was the one I saw least. He came into the kitchen for coffee mostly, and our conversations were always short and to the point. He was no less handsome than the others, though. Big and broad in his chest and shoulders. Tall as all hell.
The door to his room swung closed behind him, without another word.
“Good, huh?” I asked Nathan. “Why good?”
“Because we’d agreed to tell you sooner rather than later,” he said. “It might be awkward for you to see each of us hanging out with the same woman, always on our days off. Maybe you’d think she was a cheating girlfriend or something.”
The idea made me chuckle. “I guess that’s true. I wouldn’t know what the hell to think.”
“Or say,” said Nathan. “Or do. If anything.”
“Yeah.”
“We didn’t want to put you in that position. Plus, you’ll be cooking and prepping for four, instead of three. That okay?”
I nodded mechanically. My head was still spinning.
“We’ll have to bump up the food budget. And of course pay you extra.”
“Extra’s nice,” I agreed.
“Good,” Nathan smiled. “Glad that’s out of the way. And again, sorry about Chase. He probably shouldn’t have kissed you.”
“No, no…” I said absently. “It—It’s okay.”
Nathan bent his six-foot-five frame at the waist, bringing his head next to mine. His voice was low and husky as his lips brushed the hair near my ear.
“I’m the one who should’ve kissed you,” he said, before closing the computer’s window and walking off.
Six
KAYLEEN
I prepped their food like a robot all morning, and well into the afternoon. Not one of them emerged again, or came out into the kitchen. I figured they were in ‘the zone’, or at the very least giving me my space.
It wasn’t until I got home that I finally broke out of the fog.
A three-on-one relationship agreement.
It was the craziest thing in the world! Totally unlike anything I’d ever heard of. It wasn’t exactly polygamy, or whatever the term for the reverse of it was. And yet…
Yet for some reason, it seemed logical, too. Like it might be something that could actually work for them.
Oh please! The little voice in the back of my head was bitingly sarcastic. How the hell do you know that? You barely even know them.
That was true, I supposed. I knew Chase pretty well, and I knew Nathan a little bit too. They were both great guys, but the main details of their lives were for the most part unknown to me.
And Burke… well, he was little more than a dark, brooding mystery.
I glanced down, to where Beast was practically humping my leg. His food bowl was empty again. I’d forgotten to pick something up for him.
“Sorry little man,” I apologized. “You’ll have to eat with me.”
It turned out Beast had no interest in my arugula and strawberry salad, but I split half of my honey-basil chicken strips with him. He rolled over contently as I flipped on the television, happy to just put my feet up and veg out for a while. Now if only he’d bring me my furry Ugg slippers…
BWOOP!
My phone was clear on the other side of the room when it sounded off. Doesn’t it always work like that?
Grrrrr...
I wanted to ignore it, but the text-message could be important. I guess I was getting those slippers after all.
Half a minute and one pair of slippers later I was back in comfy-land. I pulled the couch blanket over me and punched a few buttons to see what was up.
