by Terry Towers
“Shit. Monica. You okay?”
Physically, I was fine. But I couldn’t be more embarrassed. I groaned and flopped, spread eagled on the floor, murmuring, “I’m fine.”
Xander knelt beside me, Mitchell rushing to my side as well. “Anything hurt?” Mitchell asked as he knelt down beside me.
Turning my head to look over at him, I sighed. “Just my pride.”
Chapter 15
Monica
“They can’t be serious!” I gave my head a shake in disgust at the tiny apartment unfit for even an animal. What a damned dive.
Xander and Mitchell shrugged in unison. “Could be worse,” Xander stated, though by the expression on his face I could tell he was feeling the same way.
“I swear they are getting worse and worse. I mean, seriously, where do they get off charging what they do for these places?”
“It’s New York.” Mitchell cut in.
“I know that. I’ve been living here most of my life.”
“Then why are you so surprised? We have viewings lined up all week. We get the bad ones out of the way now, and the good ones will be coming next.”
“Because,” I stomped my foot as if I were an upset child. “It’s so not cool to be charging this much.” I looked at the ad and the monthly rent price in disgust. “This is almost as much as I pay and my place is twice, no three times better than this.”
Xander crossed the room, which only took a dozen steps as the room was so small, and pulled me to his side in a warm hug. “If worse comes to worst there’s the dorms.”
“Aren’t they insanely expensive, even for a shared room?”
“There could be worse places than the dorms. We stayed in the dorms when we were undergrads. Come on,” He gave me a nudge toward the door. “Let’s get some lunch and restart with an open mind.”
I ran a hand through my hair, allowing myself to be led. “Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”
“Sure we are,” Mitchell assured me, giving me a reassuring smile.
~*~ TT ~*~
Mitchell
We’d been searching for a place all week and it felt like a futile effort to say the least. Xander was still being optimistic while Monica had given up on the second day. I was starting to worry. Tomorrow would be our final day in the hotel, so it would be time to move to a more affordable room, maybe a Super 8 in New Jersey for the time being. We were sinking way too much money and quite frankly I just wanted to start settling in.
“Another bust.” Monica flopped down onto the sofa and placed her arm over her eyes. “How many places have we looked at this week?”
I looked at Xander and he shrugged. “Maybe a few dozen or so.” I had lost track, but that sounded like a good ballpark.
I sat down in the armchair next to the sofa while Xander lifted her legs and sat down, placing her feet on his lap. “We keep looking. No big deal.”
This past week had been an eye-opener in many ways. There’d been flirting all around and we’d both slept over a couple of nights but nothing sexual happened between us, except for an odd kiss here and there. But there was fire simmering under the surface, waiting to explode in a full-blown inferno.
Xander and I hadn’t spoken any more about sharing her or who would get the chance to be with her, but I knew it was on his mind as much as mine. I could also see how she was becoming more and more confused. Something had to be done soon.
Monica removed her arm from her eyes and looked back and forth between Xander and me. “You two start school in a little over a week. You’re not going to have time to start moving into a place, getting it furnished, and be ready for school in time.”
Removing Monica’s white ankle socks, Xander began to massage her feet. “That’s our problem, baby, not yours. We’re pretty resourceful.”
Readjusting the throw pillow behind her head, Monica crossed her arms behind her head and fixated her gaze on him. “Resourceful or not, you can’t make an apartment available that doesn’t exist.”
“We’ll figure it out, love.” I reached out and patted her jean-clad knee. “Don’t worry.”
She closed her eyes and sighed, a soft sweet sound that made my cock jerk in my jeans. All the memories of being with her intimately seemed to be haunting me. All week I’d been tortured with hard-ons. Every time she pressed herself against me, or touched my arm or leg I’d get painfully hard. It felt like I was an adolescent teenager again.
“That feels so good, Xander. This is just what I needed after a full day of walking.” She wiggled her toes. Perfect little toes. Most men have some odd thing that turns them off about a woman. Usually something really stupid. It may not be a deal breaker, mind you, but certainly something that takes them a while to overlook. For me it was big, long, claw toes. And there was a surprising number of hot women with that horrid toe type. But not Monica.
“We’re here to please, beautiful.”
She laughed, not opening her eyes. “You guys sure know how to woo a woman.”
“I’m only touching your feet. There are much more effective ways of wooing you.” Xander teased, slipping one of his hands up her inner thigh, stopping before he got to the apex. Her entire body froze for a split second and then relaxed. Like us, it was apparent she was also struggling with keeping the relationship between the three of us platonic.
“I swear, it would be heaven having you guys here with me, treating me like a princess day and night.” Before either of us could register what she she’d said, her eyes flew open and she sat up pillar straight on the sofa so quickly it gave both of us a start.
“What?” Xander looked at me and I shrugged. We both stared at her, waiting for her to explain.
“That’s the perfect answer.”
“What is?” Was I missing something?
“You guys move in here. I have room.”
Feeling Xander’s eyes on me, I turned my attention from Monica, who was now beaming at him. It appeared that he was attempting to communicate something to me, but unfortunately mind reading isn’t one of my talents. I gave up on attempting to figure out what he was trying to get across to me and turned back to her, ready to voice my concerns. I just wasn’t sure what those concerns were, but I knew I should have some.
She wagged a finger at me. “No, before you start protesting, hear me out.”
“Okay, let’s hear it,” Xander responded before I could get a chance to.
“We all get along great.”
“Uh-huh,” Xander and I said in unison.
“I have lots of space and it’s close to the train lines, so easy access to the university.”
My mind was spinning. “All valid points.”
“Yup.” Her smile widened, excitement gleaming in her stunning eyes.
“But there are some issues with your suggestion.”
The excitement dimmed, but just a smidge. She seemed to already have made her mind up. “Like what?”
“We didn’t hunt you down looking for a place to stay.”
“Never said or thought you did.”
“It would feel like freeloading.”
“Hardly. You two would be helping with the rent,” she countered. If nothing else, she seemed to be getting more and more excited over the idea.
She wasn’t going to back down easily, though he wasn’t sure why he was even trying to change her mind. “What if you want to have a man over?”
Her brow creased and she cocked her head to the side, giving me a peculiar look. “Why would that be a concern?”
“Because I think the guy you bring home would be a little turned off to know you live with two former male prostitutes.”
“Like they’d ever know.” Her grin widened. “Besides, why would I even want to date some internet loser when I have you two to fulfill my every desire?”
“Oh, so we’re going to be your boy toys, huh?”
A gleam of triumph flashed in her eyes. She was winning this battle and knew it. “That would just be a bonus. And it would be awesome
to have a couple of experts in the act of amore here. You know,” she shrugged, “For research purposes.”
“Uh-huh.” I looked over at Xander and he was grinning almost as widely as she was.
Neither one was seeing the problems that it could cause. Standing, I extended my hand to Monica. “Can I talk to you a moment in private, please?”
“Fucking private?” Xander raised a brow at me, giving me a bewildered look. “Seriously, man.”
“Yeah.” I gave him a look that said not to push it. I could see the confusion in her gaze, but I needed some time to really talk to her about the possibilities. Taking her hand, I gave it a tug, pulling her to her feet.
“But…” she protested, but went along with me into the bedroom. I closed the door behind us. Usually I wouldn’t hide anything from Xander. In fact, I’d happily divulge why I wanted her alone once I spoke with her – without the peanut gallery’s input. “What’s this all about?” She asked the moment the door was closed behind us.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I patted the spot beside me. “Come on, sit down. We need to talk.”
“I assumed as much. But why without Xander?” She sat down on the bed crossed-legged beside me.
“Xander brought something to me last week. The morning after we started the night, that first night. I’ve been pondering it. I’m still not even sure how I feel exactly.”
She leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees. “Just spit it out.”
“Our relationship with you, while we’ve been playing the friendship game, hasn’t been quite that way on our side and I suspect that it isn’t on yours, as well.”
She blushed, a stunning rosy glow colouring her cheeks, but said nothing so I continued.
“The thing is if we were to move in here it’s going to be hard on all of our parts to keep things platonic.”
“Oh…” I could almost see her mind whirling with the information.
“Xander made a suggestion.”
“Which was.”
“We share you.”
She paused, eyeing me intently. “Come again.”
“We both have romantic feelings for you and after spending this past week with you, I’m certain that the feelings aren’t one-sided.”
She lowered her gaze and nodded. “You’re right. I do.”
“So you have an option. Choose one of us, or we entertain the idea of a threesome type of relationship.”
“Have you even been in one like that before?”
I shook my head. “Never. It wasn’t something that I would ever humor, before you. Generally, Xander and I have very different tastes in women. I don’t know if it would even work without jealousy. But one thing I do know is that if we were to move in here, something would come to a head. Xander has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. I won’t let anyone or anything change that.”
Taking her lower lip between her teeth, she bowed her head. “I’m not sure what to say.”
Placing my hand on her knee, I gave it a gentle squeeze. “Xander and I are going to leave for the night. I just ask you give it some thought. Give it all some serious thought. What do you want, one of us? Both of us? Neither? How would you expect us living with you to work? Think about these things and tomorrow let us know if you’re still on board with us moving in here. If so, then we think seriously about it.”
She didn’t answer.
Capturing her chin in my hand I gently urged her gaze up so it met mine. “Promise you’ll really think about this and not jump into anything without a clear head. If you decide you want to try a relationship between the three of us, it’s going to be hard. It took me this past week to decide it’s something I would be willing to give a shot, simply because I’d rather share you than not have you at all.”
“I…” She shook her head. “I’ve never had anyone say anything so sweet to me before. Ever.”
There’s a million things I could say to her, but I refrained. I did what I set out to do. I gave her the information to consider. Anything else said would just confuse things and perhaps lean her toward a choice she may not have decided otherwise. It was time to grab Xander and leave for the night. “Think about it.”
“Okay. I will.”
Leaning forward, I gave her a soft, tender kiss on the lips. “Then I’ll leave you with it.” Getting up, I left her in the bedroom closing the door behind me.
“Hey, man. What the fuck was that?” Xander asked as I made my way over to the sofa.
“We’re leaving.”
“Why the fuck are we doing that?” Despite the question, he stood and followed me to the door.
“Because I told her that we wanted to share her and she needs time alone to think it over.”
“Shit.” He thrust a hand into his hair. “So did she say something, anything, about it?”
“Nothing. I told her not to say anything until she gave it a lot of thought.” We reached the door and I opened it up, exiting after Xander. Monica hadn’t followed me from the bedroom and I was happy for that.
“Fair enough.”
We walked down the hallway and to the elevator in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. This had the potential to be either the best or worst decision I’d ever made. I just prayed that if she chose both of us that I’d be able to handle sharing the woman I was falling in love with.
Chapter 16
Monica
I watched as the two men in my life exited the apartment building and jogged across the street towards the train station. Mitchell’s proposal threw me for a loop. I had been suspecting they were both falling for me, but I hadn’t allowed myself to give it much thought beyond day to day fearing that it may be less about them falling for me and more my own wishful thinking. This is the type of stuff that happened in my books, in my wildest fantasies, it certainly didn’t happen to women like me.
And to be completely honest, I had no idea what to do or how to react. Sure, there had been parts of me that secretly fantasied about having two hot men to myself – one on each arm. And the sex, ohmygod, need I even bring that up? The sex was incredible, having two beautiful men intent on making you their world.
But there was so much to consider. Mitch had been right on that.
After spending an hour pacing through my apartment, I threw on my jacket and shoes and decided to go for a walk. I didn’t care where, anywhere that would maybe free my mind for a minute. After a half hour of walking I found myself wandering into a bar. It was a lightly traveled bar that Joseph and I would go to from time to time, where up and coming bands and artists could play their music.
Tonight there was a pretty, dark-haired female soloist. She was on stage with her guitar playing a romantic song that I had never heard before. I assumed it was something she wrote herself. It was very good, soulful. It seemed to call out to me, her lyrics mimicking how I felt inside; twisted, scared, unsure, but wanting to make the plunge regardless.
I ordered a drink. Then a second one. I was on my third when the young woman who I discovered was named Josie Cannon announced she only had three more songs to sing before her set was up. I felt a tap on my left shoulder.
With a start, I jumped in my seat and turned to follow the finger to the hand and eventually to the face that it belonged to. My heart stopped for a split second before it restarted and I smiled. “Xander. What are you doing here?”
“Stalking you, pretty lady.”
Laughing, I rolled my eyes at him. “Seriously. Why?”
“I might ask you the same thing.” He looked at the empty seat at the two person table. “That seat taken?”
“Not yet.”
He sat down and leaned his elbows on the table top, fixating his gaze onto mine. “I had to get out of the hotel room, I told Mitch I was going out for a walk and landed here.”
“Great minds think alike.”
“Indeed they do. He told me what he said to you.”
“He said it was your idea.”
“It was.”
“Why?” Leaning back in my chair, I brought my wine cooler to my lips and took a drink.
“It seemed to be a good solution. At first I thought about going head to head with him for you.”
“Why didn’t you?” I couldn’t help but play devil’s advocate. At least a little, anyhow. I was curious to find out how the whole idea came about. “I mean, wouldn’t you prefer to have a woman to yourself and not have to share?”
He didn’t miss a beat. “Of course I would.”
My heart sank a little. This wouldn’t work. It was a band-aid solution to something that would ultimately blow up in our faces.
He reached out took my free hand, pulling me to my feet. “Dance with me.”
“Huh?” I thought we were having a serious conversation and he was just blowing it off. “Shouldn’t we...?”
“We will.” He led me to the little dance floor at the center of the room and pulled me into his arms, swaying to the sound of the soft, sultry music. It felt so good in his arms, my face nuzzling against his neck, but I also felt a little embarrassed. There weren’t many people in the bar, and none were dancing. In fact, we were quickly becoming the main attraction. I kept my face buried into his neck and ignored the eyes I knew were on us.
I indulged in the feel of him for a song, but just for one. I needed to know what to do. I needed answers. Pulling back just far enough so I could look into his eyes I asked, “Then why suggest it if you don’t want to share?”
He met my gaze, and a soft smile touched his lips. “I would prefer not to share, but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to. For you.”
“But how would it work?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sleeping arrangements? Sex? And if things progress, all the other things that come with being in a relationship?”
“Mitch and I aren’t gay. Or bi for that matter, despite playing the part while in Amsterdam. We’d both have our own rooms, as would you. You’d go to who you want and of course on the days you felt a little greedy and wanted us both, you’d have us.”
I laughed, hard. “This really has to be some sort of dream and I’m going to wake up any minute.”