“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.”