Deep 6 (Multiple Love)

“It can be one man and two women, or one woman and more than one man.”

Andrew picks up a tire that he needs to fix an old Toyota out front and shakes his head. “Dude goes to one wedding, and he thinks he’s an expert on alternative lifestyles.”

“The wedding was for one woman and two guys?” I ask.

“Four.”

“Four guys?” Arden whistles high and then low.

“But what the fuck does that have to do with Greg bonding with Sandy?” Able says, and I see the moment the penny drops for him without needing a response from Tyler. “Wait. You want to share Sandy with Greg?”

“Fuck.” Arden shakes his head, his whistle at the craziness hitting an even higher note.

“Just Greg?” Andrew asks, dropping the tire. It hits the ground with a thwack, much like the sound of my jaw doing the same at this conversation.

“Not just Greg,” Tyler says. For once, Deep Repairs is stunned into total silence. I guess Tyler wasn’t expecting the completely shocked response because he holds his hands up, palms facing out. “You’re all looking at me like I’m crazy, but I’m not.”

“You lost your last grain of sense,” Able says. “There is no way that sweet girl is going to go for an idea like that.”

“You didn’t hear her yesterday. She’s seen her friends do it. She’s seen them happy.”

“Do you even know if she’s single?” Able has a point.

“I think last night is evidence that she is,” Tyler says.

“Just because a girl is single doesn’t mean she’s going to be up for Dickfest 2021.” Arden rubs his hand over his thick beard as though he’s already imagining Dickfest for himself. I’ll admit that some images have passed through my mind with Sandy at the center. Images that no decent man should ever think about his friend’s girl.

“This isn’t about dick,” Tyler says, and for the first time, I see a cloak of exhaustion curling his shoulders. He looks worn out, tired to the bone. Hunched with the weight of whatever is fueling this train of thought.

I take a step forward. “Chill out, guys. Let him talk,” I say quietly. Although I’m a big guy, the biggest among us all, I know that strength doesn’t come from size or volume. Shouting switches off ears. I learned that growing up, trying to block out my abusive fuck of a father.

Tyler nods at me gratefully, his green eyes staring deep into mine. He fiddles with the leather strap he has around his wrist. “I never meant to leave Sandy behind. I…you know shit happened. Now she’s back, I want her, but I can’t be what she needs alone.”

Arden’s jaw twitches, and his eyes widen slightly as though he’s holding back, saying something about Tyler not being man enough. It would be a joke, and those are his MO, but for the first time in a long time, he keeps his mouth shut.

“Anything could happen to me,” he says. “Anything could happen to any one of us. What I learned from Jake is that life is short, and we shouldn’t count on there being a tomorrow.”

“You can’t live thinking that way, T. Fear of dying makes life not worth living,” Able says. He’s right about that, but I put my hand out to stop anyone else from interrupting Tyler. The dude needs to get it all off his chest, and he doesn’t need any of us making it harder.

“I know I made Sandy suffer. She already lost me once. It was there in the way she was with me last night. I just…you guys are as close to me as brothers. I’d trust you with my life. I’d trust you with my girl. I’d trust you to be what she needs if I’m not around.”

“You’re speaking like you know something bad is coming,” I say.

“I don’t have a crystal ball. I just have enough humility to know I’m nothing special. If the universe could take Jake, it can take me.”

“So you’re saying that sharing Sandy would be all about her protection,” Andrew says.

“Yeah. And for us too. This business…the house…nothing would be the same if we all meet different women. They’ll want to have their own space. Maybe they’ll want us to start up something on our own. Everything will change, and I don’t want that.”

“So you’re talking about keeping us together?” I ask. For the first time since Tyler began explaining, I see sense in his thinking. I still think he’s crazy, but maybe that’s just because this isn’t the way normal people live, and I always imagined the wife and kids and house for myself sometime in the future. Was I doing that because it’s what I want or because I just have this deep need to do better than my own parents did?

“She’s never going to go for it,” Able says. “I mean, look at us. Six fucking giant men with grease under their fingernails and mouths stuffed with curses. She’s a nice girl. She could do a whole lot better finding a nice white-collar guy, maybe a doctor or an attorney or some shit, and settling down with him.”