Eli's pov
Noah's hand travels to my hair as he deepens the kiss. He gently scratches his nails against my scalp and I almost moan. My hands hesitantly move from his shoulders so I can pull his body closer to me.
Our chests press against each other and he takes a step forwards, pushing me against the wall. Since we are around the same height neither of us have to lean down or stand on our tiptoes.
My arms wrap around his waist as we continue to kiss.
"Wait-" I day breaking the kiss. "Are you sure this is okay?" Noah's cheeks are flushed and he's out of breath. I don't think I've ever seen someone this attractive.
"Yes. I'm positive. I would never lie to you about something like this." I nod and Noah begins kissing down my cheek and neck. I try get control of my breathing but before I can Noah goes back to kissing me. We're only kissing for a few moments before a cough breaks us apart.
I gasp and turn to see Matthew standing in the doorway holding a bag. "I brought leftovers for lunch."
Noah wipes his mouth and turns away from me. "Um, okay. Uh." He takes the bag from Matthew and pulls out three containers of spaghetti.
I wonder if they do this with Evie and Kara. Probably not Kara because Noah doesn't like her work ethic but he likes Evie.
"Um, I'm gonna use the restroom real quick." I walk past them quickly and lock the bathroom door behind me.
I look in the mirror and regret it instantly. I look like a mess. My hair is tangled and all over the place, my lips are a dark pink and my cheeks are flushed. I comb my hands through my hair and splash cold water on my face.
I take a few deep breaths before leaving the bathroom and sitting at the table. Matthew and Noah are already eating and when I catch Noah's eyes he smiles at me around noodles.
I return the smile and begin eating.
"Eli would you like to come over to our house for dinner Sunday night?" Matthew asks after a few minutes.
"Oh, sure. What time?"
"How about five thirty. You don't have to bring anything except Liquorice."
"Okay."
***
The Uber pulls into the drive way and I unbuckle my seat belt. There are two cars parked in the driveway. One I recognize as Matthew's but one I have never seen before.
I pay the Uber and walk up the sidewalk onto the porch with Liquorice's carrier. Before I can knock the door swings open and Noah embraces me with a hug. I set Liquorice's carrier on the ground and wrap my arms around Noah.
"Hi! I'm so glad you're here. I was so excited!" He says before kissing me. His lips linger against mine before he pulls away and drags me inside.
I shut the door behind me and slip off my shoes. The house smells delicious and my mouth waters.
I open Liquorice's carrier door and she hesitantly exits. Noah grabs my hand again and I follow him to the kitchen.
"Matt made chocolate cake, Alex made stuffed peppers, I heated up green beans from our garden and Gabe made lemonade. Neither of us can cook well so we usually let them do the hard stuff. There's also wine if you want some."
We arrive in the kitchen and see Alex and Matthew setting the table. Gabe is leaning against the island as he snacks on a cheese and cracker platter with a glass of red wine in his hand.
Gabe smiles at me. "Do you want a glass we have Grenache, Chabernet Franc and Chadonnay."
"Gabe is obsessed with wine." Noah whispers with a chuckle.
"Uh, I've only had wine once so what ever you think is best I guess." Gabe smiles and turns to get a glass.
"Hi, Eli! I'm glad you could come." Alex says walking up to us and wrapping his arms around me. I'm stunned for a second but quickly return the hug.
"I'm glad I could come too. How have you been?"
"Good. School starts tomorrow so I'm not that excited for that." Alex pulls a face making me laugh.
"School starts in two days for me. Your gonna be a junior right?" I ask as Gabe walks towards us.
"Yep. Are you going to continue working two job?"
"No. I already put in my two week notice." Gabe hands me a glass of red wine. "Oh thank you." I take a sip and his eyes stay connected to mine. The wine tastes like plum and cherries.
"It's good. What is it?"
"Merlot." I hum and take another sip. My eyes gaze over the glass and I see them all watching me. I lower the glass and wipe at my mouth.
"What?"
"Nothing lets eat." Noah slides his hand back in mine and I follow him to the dinning table.
When Gabe asks what everyone wants to drink they all say wine making him sigh. "I guess there was no point in making lemonade." He gets three glasses out and pours wine in each one for his partners.
He hands them out and sits down. It's silent for a few moments and no one moves.
"You can get food first since your the guest." Matthew says motioning towards the food on the table.
"Oh-h okay." I get a stuffed pepper and a two scoops of the green beans.
They get there food and we all dig into the meal. I haven't had stuffed peppers in years. Alex definitely makes them better than my mom. She hardly cooked so I guess it makes since.
"So Eli, how has it been since you got Liquorice?" Matthew asks.
"Um, it's been different than I expected. He's pretty stubborn and scratches me when he doesn't want to be touched." I look down at the red scratches on my hand and arm.
"Jake used to do that to me too. But now when I hold him I make sure he can't scratch me." Noah states when he notices the scratches. "Hey Matt? Can we have dessert now?"
Matthew stands up and goes into the kitchen.
"You should go see if he needs help." Alex whispers to me from across the table.
"Oh, okay." I grab my glass and walk into the kitchen. I hear soft laughter behind me but ignore it. Matthew looks at me when I enter before looking back down at the cake he's cutting.
The cake looks delicious, it has chocolate frosting with strawberries on top.
"Do you need any help?" I ask hesitantly.
"Can you get five plates down? They should be in that cabinet." He says pointing to a cabinet near the microwave.
"Sure." The kitchen is just as beautiful as I remember. The appliances are stainless steel and the countertop is black and white marble.
I set the plates next to him as he puts each slice on a plate.
"How long have you been baking?"
"My whole life pretty much. When I was in highschool the other boys on the football team would tease me for it. But I enjoyed it."
"I didn't know you played football. Did you play in college too?"
"Yeah, I got a football scholarship and went to Illinois State. I majored in business and then moved back up her to be closer to my mom."
"That's where Noah went right? Did you guys meet there?"
"Yeah, we met freshman year but didn't start dating until junior year. We had a class together so we got closer and when I moved back up here he came with."
"That's cute. How did you guys meet Gabe and Alex?"
"Grindr and church."
"Wait, really?" I ask with a loud laugh.
"Yep, very romantic." I laugh again. "Noah and I broke up for a few weeks a couple years ago and I met Gabe on Grindr. We kind of just hit it off after meeting a few times and when I made up with Noah we became a triad. It's a long story." He days with a chuckle. "Annd two years ago Gabe meet Alex at his brother's church sermon."
"Oh. Are both their families really religious? Noah told me they aren't close with their families."
"Yeah. Everytime Alex sees his family the try to talk him into moving back in with them."
"That's horrible."
"Yeah it is."
"Uh, not to be that person but you said you guys meet Alex two years ago was he eighteen?"
Matthew tilts his head and sucks air in through his teeth. "Sadly no. He lied and said he was and a few days before his eighteenth birthday he told us he was a minor. We were pretty upset but thankfully we hadn't had gotten too far yet."
"Oh, yeah." I say with a laugh.
We bring the plates the dining room and set the pieces of cake in front of each chair. I sit down and realise Matthew gave me one of the biggest pieces.
"So, what's your family like?" Matthew asks.
"Um, well I'm from Iowa. My mom has lived there her whole life. When she got pregnant with me her boyfriend broke up with her and she never remarried or had more kids. She had a few boyfriends but they all sucked. When her parents found out she was nineteen, unmarried and pregnant they disowned her and died a few years ago. She was close to her older sister, she was nice and had kids a few years younger than me." I stop and realise I'm out of breath and ranting. "Sorry."
"Your fine." Noah says with a smile. I look down and take another bite of the cake.
We finish the slices of cake and they all begin to take their dirty dishes to the sink. They rinse them off and Gabe puts them in the dishwasher. Alex goes back into the dinning room with Noah and begin to clear off the table. Matthew is taking care of the cake so I stand in the middle of room.
"Um, what can I help with." I'd feel bad if I make them do all the work.
"If you don't mind you could help me with the dishes when they bring more in." Gabe says from the sink. I walk over to the sink as Alex and Noah come in with the food.
The put the leftovers in containers. I grab the plates, bowls and utensils when they're done and rinse them off in the sink. Gabe grabs them and puts them in the dishwasher. When we're done it's just us in the kitchen. Gabe starts the dishwasher and turns to me.
"Thanks for your help." I return the smile he gives me.
"Of course." I glance at the time above the stove and see it's past nine. "Wow time really flew by."
"Yeah it did. I hope Liquorice got to know our pets since that was the point of tonight."
"Yeah me too." Was it really though?
"I had a really nice time but I better get going." I say after a few moments
"Okay. Well thanks for coming. Uh! I totally forgot since I haven't seen you in forever. Do you still want a copy of my book?"
"Oh yeah! I forgot." He leads to the basement and flips the light on. In the corner two cardboard boxes sit. He opens one and pulls out a book.
"Here you go. Tell me what you think of it. Or if you want instead of waiting till the next time we see each other I can just give you my number?"
"Oh, yeah, sure." I hand him my phone and he puts his number in.
"Okay. Text me when you finish."
"I will." We head back upstairs and find everyone in the living room.
"Hey, um I'm gonna head out." The all look at us and Noah visibly frowns. They all walk over to us and Alex holds his phone out towards me.
"Do you want to exchange numbers?"
"Sure." I create a contact and send myself a text so I have his number as well. I hand the phone back as Noah wraps his arms around me.
I feel him rest his head on my shoulder making me smile. "I'm so glad you came. I really want you guys to like each other too." Who is he talking about? His partners? Do they actually not like me? Maybe their only putting up with me because Noah likes me. Does Noah even like me?
We've kissed twice and almost kissed once but that doesn't mean he likes me. Maybe he's attracted to me physically but not emotionally. I'm not that hot though.
"I just hope even if it doesn't work out you could be their meta. We've never done that you know. Always been full." Alex slurs. He's so drunk. When I had done research on polyamory I had come across the term meta. a partner of one of your partners that your not romantically or sexually involved with.
I've only been in a few relationships and all were only with one person. So going from being single to dating four people is intimidated.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. "I think my Uber is here." Noah sniffs and takes a step back. A few tears leaked from his eyes and are running down his cheeks. "Why are you crying."
"I just really like you and I want everything to work out." He sobs wrapping his arms around me. His partners must have heard him crying because they walk towards us and pull him off me.
"Sorry. He either gets emotional or horny when he's drunk. I guess today it's emotional." Gabe explains.
"Oh it's fine. I think my Uber is here." I call Liquorice and pick the carried up once he's inside.
That night as I lay in bed I think over everything Noah said to me. Maybe he does like me.