by Ella Roane
“Brad!” I call after him. “Put something on. You’ll scare them!” He’s already halfway to regaining his full, stout salute. But his steady stride tells me he’s not pausing on his way to the door.
I jump out of bed and grab my robe. I pull it on without bothering to tie it before yanking the sheet off the bed to go running after Brad. I reach him a half second before he reaches the door. I toss the sheet around his body like a toga, then plant myself behind him as he swings the door open with a wide flourish.
Peeking from behind Brad, my mouth gapes when I see who is standing on the other side.
“Todd!” This is the first time I’ve seen him since the fire at the abandoned factory. He didn’t come to the wedding even though he’d been invited. Last I’d heard he was competing in a cliff diving competition in Buenos Aires. My heart leaps to see that he’s gotten back still in one piece.
He looks good… really good. He’s wearing jeans with a white button-up shirt tucked in. He’s got a large bouquet of yellow daisies in one hand and a fancy box of chocolates in the other. His blisters have healed, but that’s not the only thing that appears different about him. There’s a maturity I’ve never seen in him before. It’s a manly vibe, that of someone who’s in control of his own life.
I’m a little jealous that he’s doing so well without me when with me, he spent so many years floundering. Guilt settles in, the product of wondering if I might have been what was holding him back all that time. I’d blamed him, but maybe it had been me.
My hands scramble to get my robe tied closed. It’s only then that I step out from behind Brad into full view.
Todd’s gaze goes to my hair, which I’m sure is a fantastic mess. He then shifts his attention to my face, which feels hot to me. I imagine my cheeks are still flushed red from the intense orgasm Brad gave me only moments ago. I know it’s a look Todd will recognize. He’s seen it before—more times than Brad, actually.
“Sorry if I interrupted,” Todd says with a cheeky smile.
“No, you’re not,” Brad says, then shoots me a glance. “I know I wouldn’t be sorry.”
The heat in my cheeks deepens, and I’m sure my face has grown even more red. I ignore Brad’s comment and focus instead on the fact that we have a visitor, one who has come bearing gifts, no less.
“Todd, how did you even know where we live?” I blurt out. Realizing what I’ve said and how it sounded, I shake my head. My cheeks flame even hotter. “I mean, it’s great to see you. Really.”
Todd’s gaze flicks to the center of Brad’s makeshift toga. There is a very distinctive tent. It’s obvious that he’s ready for round two between the sheets.
I look up at Brad. He’s wearing a smug smile, gloating.
I’m tempted to stand back and tell the two of them to whip their things out so that they can measure to find out who’s the bigger man. I sure as hell am not going to say it, but they look far from ready to move on from the unspoken competition they’ve got going on between them.
“Is that for us?” I ask, nodding to the gift Todd is holding in hopes of refocusing everyone’s attention.
“Oh, uh, yes,” Todd says. He hands it over to me, and I cradle the box in my arms.
“You want to come in?” I ask. I ignore the glare Brad shoots me in response to the invite. Todd has been a part of my life for a very long time, and that’s something Brad will just have to get over.
“I’m sure Todd’s got someplace he’s gotta be,” Brad says before Todd can answer. “Why don’t you go on and give Stella the flowers so that you can get on with your busy day and Stella and I can get back to the things that Stella and I like to do… to each other.”
Todd squares his shoulders. “Actually, the flowers are for you,” he says, looking directly at Brad.
Brad laughs. “Come on, man. Give them to her already so that we can get this over with.”
“No, seriously. I brought these flowers for you.”
Brad and I look at each other before turning our attention back to Todd.
“You brought Brad flowers?” I ask.
“I’m a gentleman,” he says, “and that’s the kind of thing a gentleman does when coming to ask somebody out.”
This time Brad and I both laugh, but our laughter dies away when Todd doesn’t join in.
My brain races to make sense of the situation, then it comes to me.
“Oh! You mean like a buddy thing, to be friends.” Though, that still wouldn’t explain the flowers.
“Nope, I mean on a date.” When Brad and I only stare at him dumbfounded, he adds as if for clarity, “A romantic date.”
I take a small step forward. “You do know that this man is my husband, don’t you? As in, he’s off the market. And besides that, you’re not gay!”
“Sexuality is fluid,” Todd says. “That’s what everybody keeps saying, so I’m here to ask Brad out on a date.”
“He’s my husband!” I practically yell.
“And you’re his wife,” Todd says. “So, if I ever want the chance of being with you again, that means I have to win him over. And if that’s what I’ve got to do to have you, then that’s what I’ll do.”
“You want us to be a thruple? This is Marcus’s doing!” My voice reaches a new octave level. “Marcus is an idiot. You can’t listen to him. He’s never had a lasting relationship in his life!” Marcus is a great EMS partner, but he’s awful at building anything lasting with another person. Romantically, anyway.
“Yeah, you need to step off,” Brad tells Todd. “This is about to get ugly if you don’t.”
“You still running into burning buildings?” Todd doesn’t just ask the question. He shoots it.
Brad pauses. “Yeah…”
“So what if one day you go in a burning building and don’t come back out? What happens to Stella then?”
Brad shifts uneasily, and I can feel his eyes on me. “That’s not going to happen,” he says.
“Why not?” Todd challenges. “Because no firefighter has ever failed to make it back home?”
He doesn’t mention the factory roof. He doesn’t need to. He knows it’s what we’re all thinking.
“Todd—” I start to say, but Brad cuts me off.
“Like you’re any better,” Brad says. “At least when I’m risking my life, I’m trying to save others. When you put your life at risk, the only thing you’re chasing is glory.”
“That’s not true,” Todd says. “But that’s beside the point. The fact is there could come a day when you can’t make it home to Stella. If that day comes, do you want her to have me in her life… or no one?”
Again, Brad shifts uneasily.
“Brad don’t listen to him,” I say. I knew what I was agreeing to when I married him. I’ll enjoy the time I have with him, however long that is.
“No…” Brad says, surprising me. “Todd’s right.”
“I am?” Todd blurts and then quickly reprises, saying, “I am.”
“What are you saying?” I asked Brad. “Are you saying you want us to be a thruple?”
“I don’t know,” Brad says with a shoulder shrug. “I just know that I want you to be okay, no matter what happens to me. There’s nothing more important than that.”
I take Brad’s hands in mine. “But Brad, you’re not gay.”
“But that’s not to say I can’t be bi,” Brad says.
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I stand back away from the two of them. “Okay, then kiss each other!” I demand.
The two look at each other and then do their best to look everywhere but at each other.
“See! You guys can’t even handle kissing each other.”
“I’m not going to kiss him,” Brad declares. “He hasn’t even taken me out on a date yet.”
I throw my hands into the air. “Have you ever had anything sexual happen between you and another man?”
I first look to Todd for an answer. He shakes his head no. I then look at Brad, but he’s not looking at
me. He’s not looking at anyone.
“When?” I ask breathlessly, shocked at this wordless revelation.
Brad shrugs again. “My college buddies, Jacob and Andrew, got married in Vegas.” He pauses. “Some of the details about the bachelor party are a bit… fuzzy.”
“Fuzzy,” I repeat. “And did you enjoy that fuzziness?”
He shrugs again. “I think so. Maybe… Yeah.”
I throw up my hands again. “My husband is going to date my ex-boyfriend!”
Todd is beaming. His plan has worked.
“There will be rules,” I snap at him.
Todd fervently nods his head.
“All dates must end by 9 o’clock. 9:30 at the latest.”
Todd nods his head again, smiling even bigger.
“I didn’t agree to actually go out with him,” Brad says.
I grab the bouquet of yellow daisies out of Todd’s hands and slap them against Brad’s chest. I leave them there, cradled in Brad’s arms.
“There, you’ve agreed to go out with Todd,” I say to Brad. Then to Todd, “We’ll text you.” With that settled, I slam the door in his face.
“I just gave you permission to kiss someone else,” I say to Brad. “You owe me more orgasms.”
I start toward the bedroom, but Brad sweeps me into his arms and presses me against the wall. He showers nipping, teasing kisses along the arched length of my neck. “We should make Todd watch,” he murmurs with a triumphant growl. “Let him know who’s boss.”
“We’ll get there, sweetheart,” I say with a giggle. “All in good time.”
The End
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Copyright © 2019 by Ella Roane
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