by Nikki Dean
Bentley checked again. “Nope, unless he wants to dye his hair. There’s a box of fire engine red down here, but I’ve never seen Allie with anything but light brown.”
“Me neither, but I bet she’d look hot as a redhead. Here, hand it over,” Greg demanded, holding his hand out. “I’ll buy her a new one if she wants me to.”
Curious, Bentley gave him the box and watched as Greg pulled the shampoo/body wash combo bottle back out and opened it up. He then took the hair color and squirted the bottle of red in, recapped it and shook the bodywash.
“There. Now he’ll be fire engine red too.”
Bentley grinned. “That’s petty, man.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t love it.”
Bentley nodded in spite of himself and turned back to what he was doing, then found a box of men’s disposable razors. He tossed them to Greg and said, “Here, don’t forget to trash these too. Oh, and get the laundry soap to take to Allie, too. I hate not being able to do laundry, and from the looks of Xander’s shirt he needs to wash some shit pretty soon.”
Greg gave him a thumbs-up and snagged the roll of toilet paper on his way out, then winked and dropped it into the box he’d placed on the counter, followed by the disposable razors. “I don’t wanna waste her money, so I’m saving the stuff she can use,” he explained.
“Petty and considerate. I like it.”
Bentley finished up and went to see what Trevor was doing. He found him just coming back into the apartment.
“I took all of Daisy’s stuff that I could find out to the truck, and disconnected the cable outlet from behind the wall. That way I can reconnect her service at the box, but it won’t work and he’ll have no idea why. Doesn’t hurt her router or anything, and I’m not thinking he’d be handy enough to figure it out. I’ll reconnect it for her once she moves back in.”
Greg came around the corner with the whole router in his hand, then stopped when they both looked at him. “What?”
“Or we could just take the router, I guess. But he won’t be able to watch TV my way either,” Trevor said in amusement.
Greg just smiled and dropped the TV’s remote control into his box next. “Abel, you almost done?”
“Yep, I think that’s about it. He’ll have ketchup and ice left, and that’s all,” Abel called back from the kitchen. He closed the door and picked up the bag of food that he’d cleaned out of the fridge and pantry. “He can order in if he’s desperate enough. Or, you know, leave.”
“Why don’t we just call Allie now? Xander is out of the way, so why not just leave one of us in here and toss his shit out instead?”
Almost as though he heard them, Xander came back into the apartment. The dog breathed heavily by his side, as though they’d been running.
Most likely hurrying to get back before Allie arrived.
“You’ve had long enough, now get out before I call the cops,” Xander ordered without preamble.
“Just remember what I said about trashing the place, dipshit,” Trevor said. “Don’t think I won’t send every one of the embarrassing dick pics that you’ve ever sent Allie straight to your mom.”
Xander turned red as he sputtered in outrage.
“Nah, you’re right, that would be too easy. I’ll post them to your Facebook wall randomly for the next six months, too, just to keep you on your toes. Your official account and your second one, Foo King Hung. Like anyone would believe that.”
“Get the fuck out,” was all Xander could say.
They left, filing out of the apartment with Daisy leading the way. Bentley held her leash and cursed when she immediately squatted to pee in the grass.
“You better not pee in my truck,” he ordered.
Daisy just gave a happy whine and licked his hand before jumping up into the backseat.
It took a few tries before they finally got Allie on the phone to tell them where she was staying. She answered on the fourth call, laughter already in her voice.
Greg put the call on speakerphone so they could all hear her, including Trevor, who was in the backseat with Daisy.
“Hey, gorgeous, what are you doing right now?”
“Just sitting around, wondering what you’re doing,” she replied with a giggle.
All three of the truck’s other occupants gave Greg a look of surprise, or envy, he wasn’t sure which. He hoped it was envy.
“Umm, just hanging out, not up to much. Are you busy, or can I come over to wherever you’re staying? I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sure, come on over and bring your friends. I have a feeling that I should probably see all of you.”
“My friends? What do you mean?” he tried to act innocent.
“Cut the crap, Greg. Did you guys think Xander wouldn’t call me as soon as you walked out of the door? He was blowing up my phone to bitch about my new boyfriend and his friends trying to intimidate him and rob the apartment. Oh, and the internet doesn’t work still. I told him to call the internet people then.”
Greg burst out laughing, unable to help himself. “We didn’t rob anyone. Much. We just grabbed everything that we thought belongs to you.”
“Uh huh. And that includes the router, huh? And my dog?” She sounded amused, at least.
“We figured you needed them.”
“Right. Is Abel with you? Xander said there were four of you, but didn’t know anyone’s name.”
“Hi, Allie,” Abel answered. “I’m here.”
“Of course you are,” Allie replied. “Do you two do anything without each other? Never mind, don’t answer that. I don’t think I want to know. I’m staying at my friend Mads’ place, up in Rock Creek. Let me grab the address and text it to you so you can stop by.”
“Sounds good, princess,” Abel said.
“Hey, guys? Thank you. Seriously. I appreciate the thought, even if it’s a little weird that you knew where I lived, and now Xander won’t stop blowing up my phone over it. It’s totally worth it though.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll run out of battery soon enough,” Greg said with a wink. Abel just shook his head. “I may have taken the power cords, too. I couldn’t remember what kind of phone you have, so I just grabbed them all to be on the safe side.”
“Dude, did you just wink at her over the phone? You’re pathetic,” he hissed. Bentley had to stifle his laughter.
“Shut up, it’s a habit,” Greg whispered back.
“Anyway, I’ll see you soon. Thanks again! I owe you one!” Allie said just before she hung up. They could still hear the laughter in her voice as she disconnected the call.
“So, which one of us do you think Xander said was her boyfriend?”
They each whacked Greg without even looking.
Chapter 6
Allie could only watch in surprise as Bentley’s truck pulled to a stop in front of Mads’ apartment building. “What on earth…” was all she could say as the doors opened and not only Daisy jumped out, but so did Abel, Greg, Bentley and Trevor.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” she said as they got closer, sheepish smiles on their faces. “I didn’t even know that you guys knew each other.”
They all exchanged looks, some wordless communication going on that she wasn’t part of.
“We don’t, really,” Bentley finally answered. “You emailed us and we started talking from there.”
“And just conveniently forgot to copy me?” she asked with a laugh.
“Well, yeah. We’re not dumb,” Greg said. “You would have just told us not to do it.”
She patted his arm and said, “And you’re even willing to admit that out loud. You’re not very good with girls, are you, sweetie?”
The others laughed as he slung his arm around her shoulders, then handed her Daisy’s leash. “But I brought you your dog to make up for it. And we grabbed a bunch of other stuff while we were there.”
“That’s amazing and I really appreciate it. But why did you guys go to so much trouble? I don’t know wh
at I was going to do, but I would have figured something out next week.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Trevor answered. “You take care of us, so we took care of you. End of story.”
“Besides, that jackass doesn’t deserve to live rent-free with all of your stuff and you paying the utilities. They’re in your name, right?” Abel asked this time.
She nodded, not seeming to mind Greg’s arm resting on her shoulders. “Yeah, I got that apartment before I met him. I liked it, and it’s too bad I’m going to have to move because of him, but I kind of want something with more of a yard, you know? Someplace that I can let Daisy run around while I’m in class, or at the gym.”
“That’s understandable,” Abel agreed. “You know, Greg’s place has a yard, and we’ve got that third room you can use.” Greg’s eyes lit up at the reminder.
“Thanks, guys, but I think you’ve done enough for one day. Let me think about it and we’ll see. You want to show me what you brought and then I’ll tell Mads that we’ve got company? You’re welcome to stay and have some pizza or something. It’s the least I could do since you rescued my sweet girl from my evil ex, and saved me from having to borrow Mads’ toothbrush.”
“Isn’t all of the furniture yours too, though?” Trevor asked as they walked back to the truck. “It didn’t look like much, but call me when you actually do decide to move and I’ll help you. I’ve got a truck too.”
“Me too,” Bentley chimed in. “You already know I have the truck, but call me and I’ll help you.”
“We’ll be there, too,” Abel said.
“Wow. OK then, thanks. I’ll be sure to let all of you know,” Allie said, blushing a little. “I appreciate you guys, I really do. Now then, let’s get all of this inside.”
They each grabbed a bag or box and followed her and Daisy up a flight of stairs into her friend’s apartment.
“Hey, Mads? Mads, a few of my friends from the gym stopped by, is that cool?” Allie called as she opened the door to let them in. “Apparently they decided to go to my old place and liberate some of my stuff from Xander.”
“Hell yeah, they’re welcome any time, then. I told you Xander was an asshole from the beginning,” a tall, slender girl with olive skin, brown hair and blonde highlights said as she came around the corner. “He never deserved you and anyone that helps give him hell is fine with me.”
“Well, in that case…” Greg trailed off with a meaningful look at Trevor. “Have a seat and prepare to be entertained.”
“Yeah, I really want to hear this story too,” Allie said as she grabbed several beers from the fridge. “Does everyone want one?”
She came back with six cans and passed them around, then settled into the corner seat of the couch, curling her legs beneath her so she could face everyone in the room. “Why did you all start emailing each other?”
They all exchanged another wordless look.
“Stop that. You all know already, and it’s unfair that I don’t, so stop deciding how much to tell me. I’m right here. It’s about me so I should get to hear the whole story,” she said, exasperated with their prolonged silence.
“Well, the emailing thing was my fault,” Bentley finally said. “I decided to help you any way that I could after I got your original email, which I guess she meant to send to you, Mads. She said that she needed a place to stay because her friend Jill is out of town, and that she needs clothes because Xander is holding her stuff hostage at the apartment. So I showed up at the gym, intending to offer to let her crash with me as long as she wanted to, since I have a two-bedroom condo off Lux, but the second room is hardly ever used. I work from home so I originally got it to use as an office, but decided that I like having my computer set up in my bedroom instead.”
Allie blinked at the rush of information. “OK. I appreciate that, but I don’t think Daisy would like it very much. I want a yard to let her out in every so often.”
“Right, I didn’t know about Daisy at the time, but there’s a dog park nearby and a small greenbelt behind it, close to the river if you ever wanted to bring her over for a weekend. It’s not the same as having your own yard, but it wouldn’t be hard to take care of her. A lot of my neighbors have dogs, too.”
It was Allie’s and Mads’ turn to exchange a look.
“So you wanted to come ask Allie to live with you,” Mads repeated, “in your condo off Lux. Which is a very nice area, and it sounds like you’ve looked into what accommodations can be made for Daisy if you looked up dog parks and stuff. So you still want her to come stay with you? Are you guys dating or something?”
“No, I just broke up with Xander!” Allie replied in mock outrage. “He was a douche but I’d never cheat on him. It’s only been a few weeks since we broke up, and we had agreed to keep living together until the lease ends next month, but I guess Xander changed his mind. Even though everything is in my name.”
“He’s such an asshole,” Mads repeated. “OK, so Bentley wants you to move in with him on Lux, and that’s why he’s here. Got it. But what about the emails?”
“Well, that was me, too, actually. I met Greg and Abel at the gym when I went to talk to Allie yesterday, and they seemed like cool guys, so I thought I’d email them about getting together to rescue Daisy. I didn’t know Trevor then, but thought I’d leave him on the email list since I know Allie only trains a few guys at the gym for credit for one of her college classes. I thought why not give this guy a chance to step up for her too? So, I just sent out a note saying I was going to stop by her place and get Xander to let me in, one way or another.”
“Then I emailed back first, saying I was in. I’ve been wanting to make it up to you for a while since you pulled some strings to get me listed as an eligible candidate for personal training since I don’t technically go to your college, and I thought this could be the perfect thing. Why not put these knees to use moving some of your shit instead of doing terrible squats, you know?” Trevor said next. “You’ve always had my best interests at heart, so I figured I should return the favor, and any guy that screws up with a girl like you deserves what’s coming to him.”
“Wow. OK, then. So what about you two?” Mads asked, turning her gaze to Greg and Abel. “How do either of you fit in?”
“We train together with Allie,” Abel said. “They had us set up individually for half-hour sessions three times a week, but Greg and I have been roommates for years, so we decided to see about linking up our times with her at the same time. That way we both get twice as much training in, and Allie said yes. We’re linebackers for the Wildcats.”
“And when you got the email, you thought…” Mads prompted.
“We both thought ‘hell yeah!’ No one treats our girl like that and gets away with it!” Greg declared. “I asked Allie out a while back but she said no because of Xander. Now maybe she’ll realize what she’s missing out on and come out with us a few times,” he said with a grin. “Especially when she sees what kind of presents I brought her from her old place.”
“You realize it doesn’t count as a present if it’s already her own stuff, right?” Mads asked with a smile, clearly a little baffled by Greg. “So let me get this right. Bentley is helping because he wants to ask Allie out, Trevor is helping because he feels like he owes Allie, Greg wants to ask her out, and Abel… wants to also ask her out, I guess from that look?” Mads asked with a glance at each of them. “Wow, Allie, I had no idea personal training was so great for meeting men. Maybe I should do it. You’ve got your work cut out for you trying to pick one.”
“No, no, that’s not how this is going to work,” Allie protested. “I appreciate you guys getting my stuff and, of course, my Daisy girl,” she said, ruffling the dog’s ears, “but I could never choose between you, especially while I’m training all of you. It’d be completely unprofessional.”
“Pfft, why choose? Just date all of us,” Greg joked. “We talked about it and we’d be down. Well, maybe except Trevor, he wasn’t real clear on if he wanted to
ask you out or not. But the three of us would be cool.”
Chapter 7
Allie gave a nervous laugh as she exchanged a glance with Mads. “You guys are so funny. I can’t date all three of you.”
“For the record, I never said no to this,” Trevor said at the same time. “I go out of town a lot, but if I knew you had three other guys to take care of you and it was cool with everyone, then I’d be OK with it.”
Mads let out a peal of laughter, drawing all eyes to her. “You guys are really serious about this, aren’t you? Why don’t you walk me through the logic here, because I think this is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
They all looked at each other, now a little uncomfortable about talking to both Allie and her friend about it, instead of just Allie for the first time.
“I mean, there are four of you. Wouldn’t you think of it as cheating?” Mads pressed.
They all glanced at each other again, then Allie as they slowly shook their heads.
“I’m not comfortable with a traditional relationship because I go out of town a lot. I work in the oilfield industry, and I could be called out to a rig for the next six to eight weeks at basically any time. That’s not fair to ask a woman to be OK with, unless there’s someone else to keep her from getting lonely. I’ve been cheated on a lot, and the worst part is the lying and sneaking around, feeling like a girl thinks I’m an idiot and that I don’t know what’s going on. I had one girlfriend for a while that had another boyfriend and we both knew about each other, and would hang out together when I was in town, and that was fine. We didn’t fuck together or anything, but we went to the movies and stuff, and she slept with each of us on our own. It was nice to know she wasn’t lonely when I was gone, and had someone to do things with,” Trevor explained.
“I haven’t ever tried anything like that before,” Bentley said. “But it sounds like it could work well. I have a lot of time commitments between school and work and extra stuff I like to do, like working out. It’d be nice to have a girlfriend that could handle all of that and, like Trevor said, always have someone to hang out with. I really like Allie, and would want to spend as much time with her as I could, of course, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get jealous if she has stuff to do, too. Plus some other personal reasons that I think I’d be more comfortable sharing if she was actually considering the idea.”
