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“I wasn’t standing in the way,” he insists, climbing to his feet and rubbing his knees through his jeans. “It’s called being polite. Normally, you wait for someone to invite you in before you barge through a lady’s bedroom door.”
“Just felt sadness,” Connor explains, his low voice still laced with concern.
My cheeks burn as it dawns on the others that Connor would have known if I was being more intimate with Kaleb, because he would have felt it too.
“Well, not all of us have a magical empathy connection with Callie,” Felix states with a comical scowl. “Some of us have to use good manners.”
Connor shrugs in a way that says it’s not his fault they can’t make a lifelong magical bond with me. I’m relieved that they’ve reached the point of teasing each other about it. Though I understood their anger, it was hard to be caught in the middle, feeling like I was driving a wedge between them. One of the things I love most about the guys is how much they love and care for each other.
Nolan holds out a hand to invite me to sit next to him. I place a soft kiss on Connor’s wrist before stepping toward the bed. Nolan’s arm wraps around my shoulders, and he pulls me against him. He made an effort in his appearance today—combing his hair back, dressing in his casual chic attire, and lightly spritzing on his favorite cologne. I breathe in the spicy scent, using it to ground me in the present.
He kisses the top of my head. “Having a bad day, love?”
“That’s one way of putting it,” I murmur, folding the hem of my dress into a small fan.
Since summer hit, I’ve been wearing a lot more dresses to keep cool. It’s been kind of fun to be a little more girlie, even if it does sometimes feel like I’m wearing someone else’s clothes—someone flirty and feminine who knows what to do with multiple boyfriends.
Felix sits on the other side of me and starts rubbing small circles near the base of my spine. “D is right—maybe not about hitting things—but if the party is too much, we can tell everyone you’re not feeling well. They don’t need to know why.”
“We can all hang out in the living room, eat too much food, and watch movies,” Nolan suggests, snagging one of my hands to stop some of my fidgeting. Joke’s on him, I can make the fans with one hand.
My shoulders droop with an exhaustion that only comes from forcing too many smiles when all I want to do is cry. “After I managed to wrangle your parents down from planning a grand blowout to a small backyard party, I don’t want to disappoint them by canceling it halfway through.”
“They’ll understand,” he assures me, leaning his head on top of mine. “Besides, this won’t be the last party they’ll plan for you—whether you want them to or not. Party planning is one of their odd love languages.”
“Can we keep the chocolate fountain?” Felix asks while stealing my other hand, and he starts to absently play with my fingers. “I love those things.”
“Careful, or they’ll love you right back,” Donovan teases, rubbing his flat stomach.
“I’ll have you know, I actually enjoy exercise now,” he states, and then he shakes his head. “I never thought I’d say that in a million years. It’s like my body craves working out. So weird.”
“If you’re interested, I have a more advanced workout routine you can try,” Kaleb supplies, leaning against the wall near my closet. “It should keep you from plateauing.”
“Do I get to learn to use swords?” Felix asks with boyish enthusiasm.
Kaleb tilts his head to the side. “It isn’t what I had in mind, though it’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”
“Yes!” Felix cheers, raising both of our hands into the air. “I’m going to be so good at LARPing.”
Donovan groans as if the idea physically wounds him. “I hate that I know what that is.”
“You know, you’d make a pretty good LARPer,” Felix encourages, his voice practically giddy. “We could all do it!” Tapping his chin with his free hand, he ponders, “I wonder if there’s, like, D&D LARPing. Callie would make an excellent wizard. Nolan could be a rogue with his super speed and reflexes. Kaleb would obviously be a paladin or cleric.”
“Why obviously?” Kaleb questions, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Because both classes are about helping people and usually about doing the right thing,” Felix supplies with a shrug. “Besides, all groups should have some type of healer.” He looks over at Connor standing by my dresser. “Hmm… For Con, maybe a druid, since he can shift into a wolf, though he wouldn’t be able to do it if we’re playing with other humans. We’ll workshop that one.” His gaze shifts up to Donovan. “I think you’d like the barbarian class.”
Donovan lifts one heavy brow. “There’s no way in hell I’m LARPing.”
“You get to run around half naked with a giant sword that you hit people with,” he adds with singsong brightness.
Donovan lifts a hand to his chin, his brows furrowing in consideration.
Somehow, we’ve sidetracked from my PTSD to D&D LARPing, and the absurdity of it causes me to laugh. It starts as a small chuckle, a bubbling hiccup from my lips, but quickly escalates to side-splitting, tears streaming down my cheeks, wheezing for air, hysterical laughter.
Felix grins, fully aware of what he was doing, while the others look on with relieved smiles.
Through choking gasps, I blurt, “I love you all so much.”
