Now it was her turn to be surprised. She looked back at me in the silence and blinked.
“Madison was driving the car by herself,” I told her. “When the accident happened, she was all alone.”
Forty-Two
KARISSA
It was a crazy few weeks. Not just because of work, although that was definitely a part of it. There were plumbers, electricians, HVAC companies. I had three different crews working the marble and stone restoration in the garden, and another four painting and staining outfits doing finish work, inside and out. There was barely time to check the cameras each morning, although they didn’t register much. Grazing deer set off the motion sensors at least two hundred times, and I quickly learned a raccoon family had moved in under the foundation for the old carriage house.
But no, it wasn’t work that made things especially nuts. It was a crazy few weeks because I had three simultaneous boyfriends.
And simultaneous often meant simultaneous.
There were nights where I spent one-on-one time with the guys, and that was always relaxing. I took this past Tuesday night with Roderick, curled up in his bed. Wednesday evening with Bryce, working ourselves ragged in the gym so we could treat ourselves to guilt-free Italian food in Old Beach. Thursday I planned on staying in and crashing early, until Roderick and Camden showed up with a soft knock and a bottle of wine. I’d just slipped on my favorite silk nightgown when I let them in. It was off my body just as quickly, and spent the night in a crumpled heap on the floor, beside my bed.
It was fun though, being their employee by day and their girlfriend by night. Going from being respectful and professional as I went over our daily progress reports, to being their dirty little plaything later on… or even turning the tables and making them mine.
By the second weekend I was tired, exhausted and sore. So were the guys though, and that made me proud. It was a little strange celebrating the fact I could outlast them most nights, but that’s exactly what happened. Our sex sessions were marathons, not sprints. Although some nights they certainly felt like both.
More than anything though, I cherished the fun of being with them. Of eating and drinking and laughing alongside them, of working hard and playing harder. I felt like part of their team, all of a sudden. Not just because I lived and worked with them, but because I was a part of their inner circle. I wasn’t merely a girlfriend, I was a shared girlfriend.
And that part was so much cooler than I realized it could ever be.
Saturday was the first morning I woke up alone. I went for a run while the guys slept in — an occurrence about as rare as a full solar eclipse — and was enjoying the cooler morning air when a bright yellow Jeep passed me in the opposite direction. I would’ve thought nothing of it, except I heard the breaks engage and the tires squeal.
Then it flipped a U-turn and followed me.
Shit.
I moved further over on the shoulder, walking backwards, keeping my eye on the vehicle the whole time. It would be easy to dive away, into the thickets on the side of the highway. If I needed to, that is.
But the Jeep just rolled up on me, slowly and safely.
What the—
“Hey!”
It was even with me now, and with the windows down I could see the occupants. They were three young girls, two blondes and a brunette. Early to mid 20’s. Pretty as hell, and dressed for the beach.
“You’re Karissa, right?”
The passenger pulled her hair back over one freckled ear and regarded me with piercing eyes.
I stopped and placed my hands on my hips. “Yes. Why?”
“Hop in.”
They looked sweet and innocent, but also a little mischievous. And that was probably because they were grinning. Smiling in a way that wasn’t exactly happiness, but more of an inside joke that I wasn’t a part of.
“No thanks,” I huffed, still catching my breath. “I was just—”
The girl in the back leaned forward, and I saw her face. It was Bryce’s face. Almost to a T.
“Wait, you’re Bryce’s sister,” I said. “Aren’t you?”
They three of them laughed. Together they said the same thing: “Yup.”
My eyes widened. “Wait, all of you?”
“She doesn’t even know he has three sisters?” the driver rolled her eyes. “Yikes. That’s not a good start.”
Her hair was darker than the others, but the features were unmistakably the same. It was easy to see now, that they were all sisters. Each of them shared similar facial characteristics, and mannerisms as well.
“Well I knew he had sisters,” I said, a bit defensively. “I just didn’t realize they traveled in packs.”
The blonde in the back laughed. The others eyed me over.
“Was there a memo I missed?” I chided. “Because if you think I somehow—”
“You’re dating our brother,” the girl in the passenger seat said matter-of-factly. The others nodded beside her. “We’re here to determine whether we’re okay with that.”
“Okay with that?” I laughed. “Is that how it works?”
“Yes.”
“It’s pretty standard actually,” said the girl in the back seat.
“You’re not the first,” the driver said. She shrugged. “You might not be the last, either.”
I ignored the statement. “And how do you know I’m dating your brother?”
“He told us.”
“He tells us everything,” said the cheerful girl in the back.
I reached up and mopped the sweat from my brow. “Well I can assure you, you don’t know everything. And I’m not sure I should be—”
The driver’s laughter stopped me mid-sentence. Her eyes flared. “Oh wow, she thinks we don’t know.”
“Really?” said the girl in the back. She seemed incredulous.
“Look,” I said, “if this is some game you guys play or—”
“We know all about Camden,” the driver said abruptly. “And Roderick. And our brother’s… proclivities for sharing.”
It was impossible to hide my shock and surprise. I didn’t even try.
“So…”
“So we know how this whole thing works,” the girl in the
