“I can’t believe you stole her underwear,” Troy grumbled, rubbing at his temples as he sprawled across my couch.

“I hadn’t intended to.” I lied seamlessly. “She taunted me, so I decided to turn the tables a bit.” Troy snorted his disbelief as Alex came back with a glass of water and a small medicine bottle which he tossed at Troy.

“Jenna seemed nice.” Alex hedged a bit, glancing at me. I simply shrugged. Prior to Em, yeah, Jenna would have been more my type. Troy’s as well. Alex always went for the girl next door, literally in this case, so it wasn’t really a surprise that he was attracted to Em.

“You said she looked different?” Troy asked, tossing back a handful of aspirin. “Does that mean something in girl world?”

I could only chuckle. Troy, admittedly, was dense when it came to relationships. He kept things incredibly superficial, had fun for a bit, and moved on. He didn’t like emotional entanglements, or things getting complicated. At best, he knew how to be friends with benefits. Well, I guess make that benefits, as the friend portion required emotional interaction. At least, it did for most people, you could never really tell with Troy. I’d known him for years at this point, and I could say that our emotional interactions were fairly limited, though at least I had the excuse that we were two guys. “It could. It could mean her sister encouraged her and they were just having fun together,” I admitted. “It could also mean she was trying to get someone’s attention.”

Troy sat up straighter, looking from me to Alex and back again. “Whose?”

Alex and I both shrugged. “We leave on Friday for this trip. I think it’s time we talked everything over, maybe set some ground rules,” Alex offered up.

“I need a drink if this conversation is going where I think it’s going,” Troy muttered. I had to agree with him. Alex just rolled his eyes, but he got back up to grab a handful of beers, tossing one to each of us. I realized he’d kept one for himself as much as he’d scoffed at the idea, taking a deep drink before sitting back down. He leaned forward, forearms on his knees, fingers steepled together and I wanted to roll my eyes the way Em frequently did. This was one of his “litigator” postures, opening up his body language and making himself approachable and looking as though he offered wisdom. Surprisingly, it worked frequently, though I think a lot of that had to do with Alex just being Alex.

“We talked some before when we thought about inviting her to Cedar Point,” Alex began, looking between the both of us. I sighed, popping the top on my own beer and flopping down into the chair. “We all agreed she was fun, and that we owed her after that dinner.”

“That insanely incredible dinner,” I pointed out. I still dreamt about that dinner. If Troy’s grunt was any indication, he felt the same way I did.

Alex inclined his head in agreement. “Definitely. Yet, from the looks I’m seeing around the room, there’s possibly some attraction going on as well.” He paused for a moment before adding, “More attraction than just her being beautiful, that is.”

Troy sighed, tapping his fingers against his beer can. “Yes, she’s attractive. I’m sure we all noticed it from the beginning, although she isn’t exactly the type some of us usually take to our beds.” He raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged slightly. I had a bit of a reputation for being wild when I was younger, taking anyone and everyone to my bed in search of a good time. I had calmed that down years ago though. “She’s articulate, amusing, and annoying.” The last word was muttered and I couldn’t help but snort. She had really gotten under his skin.

“It’s been rare for us to hang out with her separately,” I pointed out. “Troy got a little alone time with her.”

“I don’t count performing minor surgery after having the wind knocked out of me as alone time.” His voice was exasperated as he tugged at his short hair. “I nearly stayed just to ensure she didn’t drown herself in the damn creek. How can anyone be that accident prone and still function on a daily basis?” We all chuckled, in complete agreement.

“Alex has hung out with her occasionally as well,” I added. “He’s known her since April.”

Alex grimaced, tugging at his shirt collar. “Yes, I met her when she first moved in April. I even helped her unload some of her stuff. Most of the time I’ve spent has been with her and the kids, or just the kids themselves. I also have to point out that it’s only June. I’ve known her for two months, and even then it’s casually. The first time we actually spent time together as individuals was when I invited her over to watch the game that night.”

“Yeah, and what a time that was,” Troy murmured. I crushed my now empty beer can and tossed it at Troy’s head, ignoring Alex’s wince.

“It was funny, and also an accident. Plus she’s into baseball and can keep up with all of us in the conversation. She’s always got some kind of witty remark or joke.” I grinned at Troy. “I saw you checking out her butt.” He flipped me off, ignoring me in favor of his beer. “I also saw her checking you out when your shirt was stuck to you,” I admitted, and he choked hard on the gulp he had been swallowing causing me to crack up.

Troy considered that for a moment, finally setting his beer can down and blowing out a breath. “I’ve seen her look at the both of you. It’s fairly obvious that there’s at least a physical attraction to all of us.”

“Then we need to figure out how we want to handle it.” Alex jumped back in, ever the mediator. “If she’s attracted to all three of us, there’s not an immediate answer.”

“Well, she’s attracted to all of us physically, but not necessarily interested in dating us. Her sister’s cute, I guess, but it’s Em I’m drawn to.” I didn’t figure there was a reason to hide it. If we were all going to try and stake a claim, I may as well stick mine out there first.

“I would say she and I don’t mesh.” Troy’s words were slow and thoughtful. “There was a moment at the park, however, that it seemed like she actually saw me.” I raised my eyebrows in shock. Broody Troy was actually talking some about his feelings. The world must be coming to an end. “We both share interests, all of us do really, between baseball, books, family, food, jokes.” He glanced at me for the last word and I grinned. “Alex did meet her first, which may need to be given some credit.”

Alex shifted in his chair, holding up his hands to ward off the glares now coming his way. “This isn’t a game. If Emily wasn’t interested in me, it wouldn’t be an issue. The problem seems to be that, at least on the superficial level we all know each other, we’re all interested in her and she’s interested in all of us. Is that an accurate analysis?”

I rolled my eyes, wishing I had another beer can to throw. “Very accurate, counselor. It’s simple.” I interrupted before Alex could go on a winding tirade. “We like her, she likes us. It may only be hormones, but we all need to find out or we’re going to get jealous of each other. Let’s use Cedar Point and feel out the situation.” Troy growled slightly and I flipped him off. “I said feel out, not feel up, perv. It’s slightly unorthodox to all ask her out, but it’s not that out of the box. We all get to know each other, as a group and alone. More than likely a few of us will find we don’t connect and we’ll hopefully stay friends or at least acquaintances.” I shrugged at Alex’s pursed lips and raised brows. “You’re making it complicated. If there comes a time when things get complicated, address it then. Otherwise we’ll play the what if game forever and talk ourselves to sleep.”

Alex groaned and rubbed at his forehead, snagging the medicine bottle off the coffee table and popping a few dry, nearly making me gag. I seriously didn’t see how he could do that. “I have no idea how we work together, Max.” Alex shook his head in exasperation. “You’re a lawyer for god’s sake.”

I shrugged. “Which is exactly why I don’t feel the need to overuse words or polite phrasing when I’m not in the office. There’s no need for the legal dance here. We’re all friends, we like the same girl, we can agree not to get jealous of each other and see how a few dates go, right?” I looked from one to the other.

Troy leaned forward, mimicking Alex’s posture. “I’m not necessarily sure I won’t get jealous.” His words were thoughtful. “This is a more unique scenario than I’m used to. It doesn’t seem as though it is a bad scenario, however.”

Alex rubbed at the ache in his head, exasperation clear on his face. “You’re all okay if she’s sleeping with all of us?”

Troy growled a response to that, but I just shrugged again. “Sex is one part of a relationship. If you aren’t compatible in the bedroom, it’s going to wade into other areas. Plus, do you really want to tell her that since we’re all competing for her she doesn’t have a choice in who she sleeps with and that we have to pick before she’s allowed to express her feelings or curiosities physically?” I pointed out the flaw in his plan, and Alex paused.

“I hadn’t exactly thought about it that way.” Alex mused. “It would be like telling her we get to decide which, if any, of us get her, and that her decision doesn’t matter. That her body is a prize to be won.”

“It’s a prize all right.” Troy’s words were so low I barely heard them. “I don’t like the idea of sharing a woman I’m seeing, but unfortunately, I agree with Max. If we agree to this and we all date her, and things move to a physical level, I think we just need to run with it as much as we feel comfortable.”

“Exactly.” I couldn’t keep the smug grin off my face. “You’re telling me that you’ve started committed relationships with every woman you’ve been interested in from the first date?”That you didn’t see more than one at a time while deciding if you wanted a relationship with either?”

“It wasn’t done cruelly,” Alex argued. “No commitments were made, both parties were aware that other relationships were possible. Additionally, I wasn’t friends with the other men or women that she would be seeing. It adds a different dynamic.”

“Possibly a better one though.” Troy mused, surprising me. “We are all friends; we trust each other. If we know that we’ll talk to each other if she asks for a relationship with one of us, it could work.” He seemed to perk up slightly at the thought.

“Open communication in all directions.” Alex seemed to be thinking out loud. “It’s probable we’ll need to address this with her as a group. I’m unsure if she would believe it if we addressed it to her individually.”

I shrugged, not caring either way. I just wanted to get to know the pretty Em some more, whatever the cost of that would be. Alex was surprising me most, however. He didn’t exactly have the most solid past with women. At the thought of Libby, I squeezed my hand into a fist. It had been years, yet I still wished I could hire someone to pound that woman’s face in. My thoughts flew to Em and I chuckled. If Em knew exactly what had happened in Alex’s past, I was sure she would be right there with me and willing for a slap fight. “We’re all agreed then. Let the relationship flow naturally. Get to know each other. If she wants to pick one of us, she can choose. If we want to step back, we can.”

“If one of us wants to commit?” Troy’s words were low. I rolled my eyes. Troy committing, talk about a joke. The man deserved happiness yet he was completely unwilling to take it.

“We talk it out and we see how she feels. It’s possible one of us will want a relationship and she won’t feel the same. Don’t make the decisions for her, or for all of us.” I looked from Troy to Alex, watching their thoughtful faces. “We’re friends first, and I’d like to say that Em has wormed her way into that category as well.” Troy nodded sharply and Alex’s smile was soft at the thought of her. “We’ll handle this rationally and as friends. Explore it to see if there’s more. Everyone agree?”

Troy nodded, lost in thought. “I agree.”

Alex hesitated for a moment before nodding as well. “Agreed.”

“Then the three musketeers are all in. We just need to tell D’Artagnan.” Troy groaned at my joke.

“I can’t believe you’re still obsessed with that movie. What the hell is with you and Tim Curry?”

“He’s the king, of course.” I grabbed the remote from the table, flicking the t.v. on. “Now, if we’re done sharing our feelings and setting our plans, how about we see what’s on?”