"Not really—we don’t want to expand too quickly, particularly if that means compromising on the personnel we hire. We did spend a lot more on the technical equipment than we were initially intending: we’ll have one of the best motion capture setups in the country. And we’re negotiating purchase of an old dairy farm out in Noonerry as a site for the larger office."
"Is that a suburb?"
"An outlying town. A total backwater, currently, but I had a technician do an analysis of the best alternate route for the high-speed rail, and she predicts they’ll put a stop right on the edge of Noonerry, which will make it perfect for employee commuting."
"Sure it’s not another trap?"
"Trying to predict the route is purely my own speculation, and if it works out, we’ll owe you an even greater debt, because I only started investigating after you said the current route would be delayed or unviable."
"Now I’ll worry whether I’ve lost you money."
"One thing about land is you rarely lose money on it. If it doesn’t come off, well, we’ve enough liquidity to keep a bunch of abandoned paddocks until someone wants them. Besides, it’s a very pretty area, and I’d like to build a house there, for when we want to get out of the city. Do you like horse-riding?"
"Yes. I wanted a pony when I was a kid, but couldn’t find one that would fit in a suitcase."
Kyou reached out and brushed the back of his hand against mine. "Is it too soon to say I want to build a home for you, Mika?"
"Probably. But you make me want to see it."
An odd whirr heralded the arrival of an enormous cherry and black Hummer, and cut short any response Kyou might have made.
"Electric," Rin explained, after my luggage was stowed, and Kyou and I had climbed in back with Bran. "The law requires it play a noise when travelling at certain speeds."
"Does yours do the same?" I asked Kyou. "I didn’t notice."
"It pretends to make car noises," Kyou said, smiling, and then stopped me from buckling my seat belt. "One thing I like about this behemoth is that Rin has more than the legal amount of tinting on the side windows."
Pulling me into his lap, he kissed me hard, then regretfully returned me to my seat as Rin reached the exit to the carpark.
"How many Student Council duties do you have left?" I asked, fastening the seat belt.
"Just the Award Ceremony and some handover work," Kyou said. "Then we fly out as well."
"I take it you haven’t told your families you’re going to intern in a game studio."
Kyou shrugged. "They think we’re touring Europe. We’ll primarily be in France, since that’s where the studio is based. We’ll take a few weekend trips and send photographs."
"You have relatives in France, right?"
"Not many we want to be in the same room with," Bran said. "There’s a couple we’ll look in on. And Rin is obliged to visit the office, because his sisters' birthdays aren’t until we get back, so he can’t kick off the traces just yet."
"Which set of sisters is it? I don’t even know their names."
"It’s both sets of sisters—they were born three days apart," Rin said. "Marcelline and Evgenie are the older, and belong to my father. Anthea and Jessamin belong to my mother. I think you’ll like them."
"They’re anyone’s worst nightmare when they take on a cause," Kyou added, laughing. "Corascur won’t know what’s hit it, this coming term."
"I’m hoping they dismantle the Rose Court," Rin said, smiling at me in the rear-view mirror.
Lania’s ringtone cut short my response. I fished my phone out and told her hi.
"Are you done at school?" she asked. "Did the photos go okay?"
"They weren’t too painful," I said. "It went on a little longer than I expected, but I’m on my way to the airport now."
"Say hi to Dishy Christy for me."
I laughed. "He hates being called that."
"I probably would too, but it rolls off the tongue, you know?"
"How’s your trip going?"
"Not bad so far. Gran’s birthday is always a bit of a rollercoaster because it turns into a competition over who brought the best gift, and whose career is going best, and then the family drama queen decides it’s time to add excitement. The fact that Mum and Dad are starting their own firm is a hot topic this year."
"Sounds exhausting," I said, with a quiver to my voice because Kyou had pulled off my tie and Bran was unbuttoning my shirt. "Is it actually necessary to participate? Why not be with her in the morning, let them have her for the afternoon, that kind of thing?"
Rin made a choked sound, and I realised how what I’d said might sound to him, particularly given Bran and Kyou’s current activities.
"Big emphasis on everyone sitting down at the dinner table together," Lania said, oblivious. "I’d far rather be on my way to Peru. Send me some photos of your not-boyfriend when you get there."
"Will do," I said, hung up, and had my breath stolen by Bran.
A pleasant interlude followed, making me reflect on what exactly it would be like with three of them and a blindfold. Certainly enjoyable. Potentially overwhelming.
Bran, after much exploration, fastened his lips on my bared shoulder and made a concentrated effort.
"Falling back into bad habits?" I said to him, when Kyou gave me a chance.
"A message for Dishy Christy," Bran said, lifting his head.
"Good plan," Kyou said, and immediately began working on the same spot.
Fortunately for my skin, Rin had reached the airport, and only had to roam around a little to find a parking spot. Less fortunately, as soon as he turned off the engine Rin climbed into the immediately crowded back seat and added his contribution to the message.
"You three are seriously overestimating my feelings for Christophe."
"Send us off on a holiday with our exes and say that again," Rin said, then pressed me into the seat for a final, hard kiss.
Having worked each other up, it was not the easiest thing to get out of the car and revert to school acquaintances, and to wave them off casually, because at this stage we should not be close enough for them to wait with me.
It wasn’t until I was mid-flight that I remembered the message and took a trip to the bathroom to unbutton my shirt to find a trio of overlapping love bites, neatly arranged in a triangle below my collarbone.
I touched the blue-purple marks. A challenge, a secret, a friendship. A year like no other. And, hopefully, years to come.
Playing games with my boyfriends.
END
Thank you for reading The Book of Firsts.