Love, Exes, and Ohs (Cactus Creek #4)(9)

“Perv.” Xoey couldn’t help but chuckle. “I wasn’t thinking about a girl either.” At his playfully disappointed look, she added as a consolation for his pervy entertainment, “I was thinking about three guys.”

A look of surprise preceded a firm headshake. “I hope you don’t mean us, babe. Because we don’t share our women,” he replied. “We tend to lean toward the possessive as hell style of dating.”

All three guys nodded resolutely.

That was so unbelievably cute.

“My three exes,” she clarified. “I was thinking—well, reminiscing, really—about my three exes when...” She narrowed her eyes on Lia and Sienna. “You two better not laugh.”

At the girls’ silent nod, Xoey revealed her dark, dirty secret in full.

“I was reminiscing about my three exes when I was watching Kate and Leopold.”

A collectively bewildered look crossed all five faces before her.

“Is that the royal British couple?” asked Bennett, thoroughly confused. “No, wait…”

Jackson was tapping away at his phone, as was Lia.

Lia was faster. “It’s a rom-com movie with Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman.”

The five bewildered expressions were back.

And all the water and pretzels Jackson was plying her with was making the drunken haze lift enough for her to notice.

“It was up on cable during a Meg Ryan marathon,” she explained weakly.

When Sienna reached over to sniff Xoey’s margarita glass, Xoey’s forehead hit her forearms on the table. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me you guys. I’ve never wanted a guy to climb up a fire escape with flowers for me, nor have I ever wanted to stand at the bow of a ship and risk toppling headfirst into the Atlantic.” She peeked up at her friends. “But I was a freakin’ crying mess that whole day. I even looked up some real life reunion stories at the Empire State Building. There were a ton, and I cried through those too.”

Sienna gave Lia a puzzled look. And Lia filled in, “Sleepless in Seattle. Even I knew that one.”

“I’ve never been that girl, you know?” Xoey shook her head, wondering where it all went wrong. “I’ve always, always been a Sally not a Kate.”

“Winslet?” queried Sienna, looking utterly lost without map.

“I think we’re back to Kate and Leopold,” offered Lia, though she looked unsure herself.

“Yes, Kate and Leopold. They were soulmates that defied time and space. It’s inspiring. I want to find an epic love like that. A man like that.” She exhaled a long, sad sigh. “I know, stupid, right?”

“Not stupid, honey. It’s sweet.” Jackson stroked a comforting hand on her back.

She looked up and saw the three men on the table looking at her the way Lia’s brothers always did when they were hovering over her.

Her heart squeezed in her chest. Growing up an only child without even any cousins in America, Xoey had never known what it felt like to have that. And with her parents having moved back to Spain not long after her eighteenth birthday, she’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a family at all.

Her parents were good people, and if they were still living in Arizona with her, she had no doubt they’d have a great, close relationship. But they’d had to return home after her only uncle on her father’s side was killed in a terrible house fire, along with his wife. They’d left seven very young children orphaned, not to mention two aging parents, and a family business to take care of.

There had never been any question. Her hard working, loyal immigrant parents’ American dream had come to an end at the wake of that family tragedy.

Even so, she knew they were unequivocally happy back in Spain.

She checked in on them frequently, emailing them weekly and talking with them a few times a month at the very least. With her youngest cousin having just gotten into a prestigious college preparatory academy, and the next three above him still smack-dab in college, money was tight, of course, but they never let her send them any.

They were good parents.

They’d just…had to focus their parental attention on her seven cousins for the last twelve years. Which made sense. She’d been eighteen when they’d left, with a scholarship to cover her undergraduate tuition, and the work ethic to be able to work around her school schedule to pay for the rest. She’d managed. Hell, she’d thrived—look at her today.

Still.

Seeing three real live big brotherly guys in front of her made her feel a familial void in her life she’d never really given much thought to until now.

“Can I be Snow White?” she asked so softly she wondered if they could hear her. She gazed at the guys one by one as she stated her case. “I don’t have any experience being a sibling, and I definitely won’t cook and clean for you. But I’m an excellent wing-woman, and can make sure you’re never without beer in this town.” Feeling the still-potent alcohol in her system giving her liquid courage, she asked again, “So…can I be Snow White? Can I keep you?”

All three guys smiled at her with nothing short of sheer adoration.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been told there would be no chance of sex in a sweeter way,” replied Donovan, thoughtfully.

“And via mass rejection, too. Efficient,” teased Bennett.