INKED 8: A Tattoo Shop Reverse Harem

“You want us all to share one woman,” Dex asks, his eyebrows drawn up in confusion. Of all of us, I would have thought he’d get it. He’s the adventurer in the group. He’s the one I would have expected to have the fewest reservations about my proposal.

“Yes. But not just any woman. I want us to share Kyla because we’ve shown that we can. We’ve shown that we can handle being with her separately and as a unit. We work well together, and we play well together. She’s become a friend as well as a lover. She’s perfect for all of us. That shit won’t happen again. It’s hard enough to find one good woman, let alone a good woman who all your friends love.”

There are a few nods around the room at that because we’ve all had our fair share of difficult relationships. We’ve all had to walk away from women who didn’t want to play second fiddle to our work passion or our friendships. We’ve all wondered how our lives will develop and what our futures will look like. It’s part of being a human being, this desire to try to see ahead, if only in our own minds.

“But she doesn’t want us,” Kase says softly. “She proved that by going out with that asshole from the club the first chance she got.”

“She wants us,” I say softly. “It’s been there in every soft glance she’s given, every tray of brownies, every erotic touch. It’s been there throughout this game as the backdrop to every experience. We just didn’t acknowledge it, and so she doubted herself. She’s pushing us away before we have a chance to hurt her. What we need to do now is fight for our girl. We need to tell her that she belongs to us and that we’re never going to let her go. She needs to know that we won’t let her run away. We won’t let her retreat back into the life she had before she joined Ink Factor.”

“It was fate,” Carl says softly. Everyone swiftly turns, their eyes wide with surprise. Carl doesn’t believe in things like fate. He’s a pragmatist, a realist. He likes to be in control because he doesn’t trust that there’s anything else out there that can make his life better. And here he is talking about the abstract concept of fate. “I felt it from the moment she walked in the door. I felt it in all the decisions I made to bring her in, even though the way she was introduced was so random. There’s been something nudging us in the background. Something that’s brought us all to this place and is forcing us to look at this situation. Forcing us to focus on what’s important to us.” He runs his hand over his braids, his face relaxing as though revealing his thoughts has eased a burden that he didn’t realize he was carrying. “I want Kyla in my life, and I want you guys too. I can’t imagine a life without you all, so if sharing one woman is what I need to do to achieve the life I want, then I’m in.”

I nod, exhaling a long breath at getting the agreement of just one of the group. My eyes drift to Noah, and he nods, the flicker of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Fuck yeah, I’m in,” he says.

“Me too,” Niall jumps in, nodding at me with an expression of pride in his eyes. Only four more men need to agree.

“We’re in,” Dex says softly, his hand resting on his brother's shoulder. Lex nods in agreement, glancing at his twin and smiling. I never doubted that they would be of the same mind.

“Only you two left,” I say to Kase and Kole.

They share a look, Kole dropping his arms from the back of the sofa and leaning forward, “I’m in,” he says, “If Kase is. I know seeing Kyla with that guy at the club messed you up.”

“If she wants us, I’m in,” he says softly.

“Okay then.” My hand slaps the reception desk to punctuate the decision, but I can’t allow myself to be too relieved. I’ve climbed some of the hill, but there is still a very difficult part of the journey to overcome.

We might want to share Kyla, but now we have to convince her to want to be with us.

I won’t relax until I hear her say yes, no matter how long it might take.

38

KYLA

Dawn is on box-assembly duty, and she isn't happy. I'm not happy either. My throat burns with tears that I keep swallowing so that Dawn doesn't see my wavering. My heart is beating too fast, sending way too much oxygen to my brain. Everything about me is fluttery and nervous. I'm a bundle of stress because my life is out of control. The roots I've put down that have given me a sense of stability are being torn up.