Page 22 of Triplet Tease

Wegot along instantly with the Bretton brothers.Atfirst I was taken aback by their appearances. I didn’t know what Iexpected. I guess I thought all photographers should be like my mom.I hadn’t expected to meet dudes with severe shaven heads, denimcut-offs, and arms full of tattoos. They had the look of intimidatingmacho bikers about them. Cedric was friendly and outgoing, however. Iwarmed to him straight away. Simon was quieter and reserved; heseemed more thoughtful.

Anyway,we had some common ground to chat about, such as living in the lovelyBretton Building, what they thought of New York, and our experiencesof growing up as triplets. Most people found it weird thatIstill livedwithmy brothersas adults, but they did, too.

And then Simon just happened to mention theirwife.

I never did find out which one of the guysshe’d actually married. It was made clear that it didn’t matterbecause they were all equally her husband. Again, this wasinformation that Harry took in his stride; in fact, he already seemedto know it.

When did multi-partner arrangements becomecommonplace in America? As far as I was aware, it only happened thatday and had never existed on any previous day.

Outside the venue, waiting for Eton and Siena,I had some time to think of the questions that needed answers.

I picture myself living alone or with anameless, faceless wife. I wondered if and how I’d find her.

I thought about living with my brothers in ananimal sanctuary that we’d set up. Perhaps somewhere to house theabandoned and unwanted pets of America. I could picture us doingthat.

I understood the logic of their suggestions; Ijust couldn’t imagine how it would work.

If we had one wife, would I have my brotherssitting next to me at every romantic dinner, or would we take it inturns to have time alone with her? How did that work? Did the Brettonbrothers go on group dates or one at a time?

A beautiful redhead with a shapely full figuregot out of a cab and distracted me from my thoughts. I shouldn’thave stared at her, but the way she presented that buxom cleavage, itdemanded attention. It took a few seconds for me to notice shearrived with Eton and only a half a second for me to decide I mightget on board with his suggestion to share a girlfriend, if this ladywas the one.

Well done, team Maxwell. I gave him animaginary fist bump while trying not to meet his eye. He’d seeright down into my soul and find all the sinful thoughts I had abouthis lady friend. I felt proud of him for finding such a beautifullooking woman, and at the same time, I wanted her, too. I was prettysure it was basic stuff, one of the Ten Commandments – do not lustafter thy brother’s girlfriend.

My thoughts were pure evil.

We all began to say hello at the same time.

“Hi, bro,” said Eton. “This is Siena.Siena, meet my considerably smarter brother, Finn.”

“I’m charmed to meet you.” We shook handswhile I said, “It’s short for Finbar, but I don’t know why I’mtelling you that. No one calls me Finbar. It’d be like telling youmy middle name or my favorite style of domestic roof. I just come outwith strange pieces of random information when I meet beautifulwomen.”

Fortunately, she looked amused.

Weshook hands, but I would have gone in for the European kiss on thecheek, had I not had seen a look in Eton’s eyes which said,keepyour thieving hands off her, she’s mine.At least that was what I would have thought if I were in his shoes.But it wasn’t what he said earlier, and from where I stood rightthen, I was willing to embrace his suggestion and share her.

“Finn’s the smart one. I’m the fun one.That’s how you tell us apart.”

“Or by the fact that you don’t lookcompletely alike,” she said, but she seemed to be studying ourfaces. It was our clothes and haircuts that made us look differentfrom each other.

“I don’t know about being the smart one.Don’t let the clown costume fool you; he has brains to burn justlike any doctor.” I may have wanted to steal his girlfriend, but Iwasn’t a bad guy. I would happily take the side of my brother andbuild him up in front of a woman just like I knew he’d do the samefor me.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” she said. “Andwelcome back to America. I must admit I felt a bit nervous aboutmeeting Eton’s brothers.”

“We’re all very easy to get along with. Ifyou like one of us, you’ll like all three of us.” Was that toomuch? I glanced at Eton.

“I expected to meet two brothers?”

“Where’s Harry? Is he inside?” Eton askedas we began to make our way toward the entrance. It was much busierthan earlier, as many people were now arriving for lunch.

“Oh, no. He’ll be back, but he’s gone offwith Simon. They instantly hit it off together and left to visit acamera shop. They’ve gone to drool over lenses and filters.”

“Simon left? I thought he was one of theorganizers.” Eton turned to Siena, and I noticed him take her hand.“Sorry, Siena, you’ll have to wait a while before we get to meethim.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SIENA

It was obvious the boys were brothers.

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