Saying Yes

by Edie Sommers

  A muscle clenched in his jaw. “I haven’t.”

  “Then why are you talking up Andy?”

  “He’s my brother. He’s had it rough. I want him happy.”

  And the pendulum swung back towards Jack. “What about you?”

  Jack finally looked at me. “Dad put his boys before his own needs. Could I do any less for my brother?” I could drown in his soft, brown-eyed gaze, which warmed my insides clean down to my toes.

  Bringing tears to my eyes at his love for his brother.

  “The thing you gotta know about Jack is that the bluster, the overblown ego? It’s all for show.” The most words Andy had strung together in recent memory, and in defense of his brother.

  “Why does he do it?”

  Andy ran his fingers through his hair, lightly tugging at the strands. Okay, no waiting for a reason or invitation, I lifted his arm, plopped my head in his lap, and kicked my feet up on the extra-long couch in my living room. I’d call my aunt later and thank her again for the useful, if not exactly comfortable, piece of furniture. Andy could make a rock pile more comfy.

  “Did he tell you about our dad dying?” Andy’s throat bobbed with his swallow.

  “Some.” Best not to let on too much.

  “Well, he took it hard. Blamed himself. Mom ran off, Dad worked himself to death, or rather, working too much contributed to his dying. Jack acts like he does sometimes to keep people away.”

  My heart broke for Jack. For both Jack and Andy, actually.

  Whereas I’d always enjoyed the security of a stable home and two loving parents, who never had to worry for money, Jack and Andy had grown up in a harsher world.

  Andy ran his fingers through my hair. Did he even realize he was petting me? “All those girls he dates?”

  Images came to mind of the women I’d seen coming and going from next door. “Yeah.”

  “He finds fault with ‘em all. Most don’t make it a week.”

  And here I’d been seeing Jack over a month. “Why are you telling me this?”

  Andy sighed. Uh-oh, here we went, the big letdown.

  He swallowed hard again and stared down at his hands. “Nothing would make me happier than if you chose me, you know that, right?”

  Really? My heart gave a leap.

  Andy finally met my eyes, his full of sadness. “But you picking me over my brother just might kill Jack.”

  Holy shit. What should I do now?

  I sat at the table, staring at my plate. The guys had gone all out: steak seared to perfection, baked potatoes, corn roasted on the grill, lovely tossed salad, and even banana pudding for dessert. There I sat at the picnic table in the back yard, stomach too tied in knots to eat a bite.

  “Is something wrong with your steak? I can throw another one on the grill for you if you’d like.” I glanced up and Jack smiled, his mouth pulling up on one side. In the bright sunshine I could clearly see the white scar on his chin he’d gotten when he’d fallen off a bicycle the first time he’d ridden without training wheels.

  Now, I picked up on so many differences. Jack and Andy, twins, but completely different people—in looks and actions.

  But both equally good men.

  “The food’s not the problem,” I muttered, heart heavy in my chest.

  “Then what is?” Andy shot a concerned frown towards his brother. I’d seen the gesture a lot, some kind of silent twin communication they shared. They were closer than any two people I’d ever met before. How I envied them their ease with each other. My brother and I were close, but nothing compared to Jack and Andy.

  I’d never felt more alone than at that moment. Given time, could Andy and I develop such a closeness? Or maybe me and Jack?

  But no. Though there was nothing sexual in their interaction, they were a couple in their own way. They needed no one but each other. I’d either come between them or be in the way.

  “I’ve reached my decision,” I mumbled, staring at my hands.

  “Try not to be too let down, bro,” Jack said, a touch of humor, but also sadness, in his voice.

  Andy kept his tone even. “And?”

  I looked up then, regarding the warm, caring, understanding, sensitive soul shining out from Andy’s eyes. This man would comfort me in sickness and health, he’d rock our children to sleep. He’d be my rock. With him I would never have to fear the world or worry that he’d stray. He wouldn’t.

  Together we’d explore the world.

  I shifted my attention to Jack. He brought fun to my life. He made me laugh, made my blood boil with exasperation one minute and desire the next. He’d fumble his way through a diaper change, try his best not to pat me awkwardly on the back when I cried.

  Andy made sweet love to me, Jack curled my toes and made me feel things I never imagined. Andy worshipped me, Jack debauched me. How I loved them both.

  “I’ve decided…”

  They both sat up a little straighter.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t see either of you again.” I choked back a sob. Jack stiffened, Andy sighed and slouched. Before either could say a word, I fled up the steps and through the back door to my side of our shared duplex.

  God, it hurt. My heart wrenched in my chest. Why? Why?

  All my life I’d waited for the right man, the perfect guy. Instead I’d found two flawed ones, but the traits I always sought in a lover were there in one or the other.

  Flopping down on the couch, I howled. Not fair! Not fair! How could I have been so stupid as to try to choose anyway?

  I ignored the knocking at my door. No one could help me now. I’d just thrown away all I’d ever wanted. The door opened anyway.

  Strong arms wrapped around me. “Shh… Don’t cry. We never meant to hurt you.” Andy, the comforter.

  The smart thing to do would be to push him away. Instead, I clung. “I… I… love you so damned much,” I blubbered, “but I love Jack too. And I’d rather die than come between you.”

  Andy sat me upright on the couch. More arms surrounded both me and Andy. “Shh… What makes you think you’d come between us?” Jack gave a strained laugh. “And wouldn’t that be a mighty fine place to find yourself?”

  “Do what?” I jerked away, but they held fast.

  Andy averted his eyes, blew out a breath, and met my gaze. “Baby, we need to talk to you, and please don’t freak.”

  I searched frantically for a tissue before my watery eyes and runny nose turned gross. Andy grabbed tissues from a box on the coffee table and dabbed at the mess I’d made of my face.

  “You… you mean worse than I’m freaking now?” I managed to get out.

  “Yeah, that,” Jack said.

  I glanced back and forth between the brothers I loved so dearly.

  Andy brushed a kiss across my forehead. Jack held my hand.

  Jack, always the more vocal of the two, spoke. “My brother and I share a bond. I dunno, it’s kind of a twin thing, I guess. Anyway, we’re closer than most brothers. We live together, we work together. We don’t like being away from each other. He’s always been my best friend, and when Dad died, we stuck together. Now that Grandpa’s moving away, it really is me and him. We’re all we have—at the moment.”

  At the moment?

  Andy picked up the story. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ve noticed that neither of us keeps a girlfriend for long.”

  Would it be polite to agree?

  Apparently, agreement wasn’t needed, for Andy continued, “At first they think it’s great that we’re so close, but then, they get resentful that I want to do things with my brother. Most women would want to take me away from him, want me to move in with them.” Pain shimmered in Andy’s eyes. “I can’t leave my brother—ever. When we’re old and gray, we’ll be sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs together.”

  Oh wow. What could I say to that? His words further proved why I needed to butt out.

  Jack brushed our joined hands across my cheek, wiping away a stray tear. “We’d like you to be the
re with us.”

  “What?” I jerked my head back and forth, taking in Andy and Jack’s determined gazes. “I already told you I can’t choose between you or get in the way of your bond.”

  Jack’s wicked grin would be the end of me one day. “We don’t want you to choose.”

  I closed my eyes and trembled. Surely he wasn’t suggesting…

  “What about both of us?” Andy leaned in, trailing his lips across mine. Jack nibbled my earlobe. Ahh… Just like that, every nerve in my body flamed.

  “We’d like another month of dating, if not more. This time, you’ll go out with both of us.” Jack spoke, but both brothers smiled and nodded.

  “You mean, all three of us on a date?” Boy, that’d make the locals talk.

  “Sometimes,” Jack replied. “Other times you and nerd boy over there might go do something cultured, while I drink beer, scratch myself, and watch monster trucks on TV.”

  “Or you and the Neanderthal might go bowling, while I stay home and read,” Andy countered. “Other times, you might want to go out with a friend, or me and Jack might have to go out of town to a car sale or something. We might all go hiking or camping. Like any other relationship, we won’t be joined at the hip.”

  “Just the groin.” Jack grinned. “As often as possible.”

  “Horn dog.” Andy’s comment lacked heat. These two men loved each other as much as brothers could. And they wanted me. Both of them.

  Could we make it work? The three of us?

  16

  Blindfold in place, I took a tentative step. Immediately a hand came to rest on the small of my back, while another took my arm, leading me forward. Body heat radiated from the front and side of me. Jack would be in front, guiding me. Andy had to be the one beside me, taking each step I did.

  I leaned in and caught a whiff of woods, sunshine, and outdoors, with the underlying scent I’d grown familiar with. Yes, Jack stood before me.

  Together we shuffled down the hall and into the room at the end. The master bedroom. With its huge bed. The smaller room and its double bed suddenly made sense, the lack of personal effects. They slept in the same bed, shared a room, as they’d done as scared little boys following their father’s death. My heart went out to them. How many times had I longed for that kind of closeness when upset or ill?

  They were twins, best friends, closer than any two souls could be. Panic wound in my guts. We stopped moving. “It’s all right,” Andy whispered. “We can stop if you want.”

  “No,” I replied. “I just realized that y’all share this room.”

  “Is that a problem?” came from Jack.

  “No. Many people wouldn’t understand, but I think I do.” Lord, Darlene would let her dirty little mind run rampant with this info.

  “We don’t like to be apart.” Jack leaned down and rested his forehead against mine. “That now includes you.”

  I raised my head and Jack brought his lips against mine. When I opened my mouth, he plundered. Nothing gentle about the kiss. Two more moans joined my own. Jack withdrew and I turned my head to the left. Andy brushed his lips across mine and slipped his tongue into my mouth, the kiss no less fiery for Andy’s controlled passion.

  Fingers fumbled with the buttons on my shirt, before finally giving up and yanking the garment over my head. Impatient Jack. Andy removed my bra, careful to protect the delicate parts of my flesh. Wordlessly they gave me cues: when to hold up a foot for shoe removal, when to step out of my shorts.

  At last I stood, naked and blindfolded. Fabric rustled to the floor. Jack pressed against me, skin to skin, gripping my shoulders and claiming my mouth again. Andy’s lips caressed my shoulder. My knees buckled. My men held me up.

  Lightning shot straight to my groin. My men. And soon I’d have them both.

  Jack’s erection nestled against my belly. Andy worked his way around me, pressing his hardness against my butt. I bit back a giggle. I’d finally become the filling in the twin sandwich I’d joked about. When Andy sank lower, all humor fled.

  He nipped at my ass cheeks. My nether region screamed for attention: a finger, a mouth, a cock, a thigh to rub against. I brushed my mound against Jack’s leg. Fire raged through me.

  “She’s an impatient one, ain’t she?” Jack rumbled.

  Andy’s chuckle teased my ears. “Yeah. Took all my self-control to be a gentleman.”

  I tested Andy’s unbreakable control? Go me!

  Andy turned me, parted my folds, and plunged his tongue into me. Thoughts fled.

  “Oh damn!” I whimpered, spread my legs, and arched my back, giving Andy more room.

  “I think we should take this to the bed.” Jack scooped me up and deposited me far more gently than expected on the California king bed that made absolutely no sense for one man, but hit my top ten list of things I was grateful for.

  Andy resumed his mission between my legs, his hands firm on my thighs. Jack went to work on my breasts, his none-to-gentle sucking and licking, combined with Andy’s skilled tongue, nearly pushing me over the edge.

  Hands were everywhere, stroking. Andy slipped a finger inside me while sucking my clit. Oh God!

  He pulled away a moment too soon. “No!” I yelled. “Get back here.”

  Twin snickers sounded in my visionless world. “Slow down. You’ll get there.”

  Prodding at my hips had me turning and rising up on all fours. No mistaking the smooth object rubbing against my lips. I opened my mouth and took a cock inside. Groans joined my slurping—Jack’s. The moment I established rhythm, Andy pushed into me from behind.

  I stilled. He filled me so perfectly, as Jack did my mouth. I had them, was having them both. Bucking backward, I seated Andy fully.

  I didn’t need to see them to tell them apart.

  Full. So marvelously full at both ends. With my men.

  Electric currents set my nerve endings alight.

  Rocking back and forth, I settled into the loving of my life. Now to make it as good for them as it was for me.

  I grunted on the forestroke, Andy burying himself in me, and whimpered when he pulled away. Jack wove his fingers through my hair, steadying my head. It took me several minutes to work out how to divide my attention between them.

  God, Jack in my mouth. I sucked, and licked, making up with enthusiasm what I lacked in practice.

  Andy gripped my hips, not hard enough to hurt. One day I hoped he’d let go of his careful reserve, give me everything he had.

  “Mind if we switch places?” Jack asked.

  “Not at all,” I mumbled around my mouthful.

  He disappeared, and a moment later Andy’s cock filled my mouth.

  Jack shoved inside of me, wrapping his hands around my waist.

  God, how he pounded into me. Consciousness fuzzed out around the edges. All that remained was feeling. The slip of flesh over my lips, both my men urging me toward the finish. Cologne and sex mingled in a heady perfume. Moans, groans, and harsh cries filled the room.

  Pressure built within. Just a little more…

  All motion stopped and Andy withdrew.

  “What?” I nearly ripped the blindfold off, but a hand on my wrist stopped me.

  Nothing was said, but hands rolled me over and spread me out on my back. One of my lovers settled between my thighs. Four hands stroked me, caressed me, but only one man filled my body. In my mind I pictured Andy, or Jack, covering me, while the other stood back and watched. I nearly came from the image.

  Hooking my ankles around firm thighs, I urged my lover on. Harder and harder he sank into me. Such forcefulness could only come from Jack. He withdrew, and my other lover cupped my breasts and exhaled harshly. Andy’s breath teased my erect nipples. While gentler, he was no less thorough, rubbing me in all the right places as he changed positions with Jack.

  “How close are you?” he gasped.

  Pleasure nearly too intense to bear gripped me, and I arched off the bed. I’d explode if I didn’t find relief soon. My muscles clenched.
The tension of a tightly wound spring released. Above I heard a strangled, “Oh God!” Andy slammed into me and held.

  Spasms hit me, rocking me, the bed, my lovers. The world exploded around me.

  Gradually I came back to myself, panting harshly, running my hand over Andy’s sweat-slicked back.

  Oh dear lord! Is this what I could expect from here on out?

  “You okay?” Andy asked, when we collapsed into a puddle.

  I nodded, unable to speak.

  He pulled away, but the party wasn’t over. Jack filled me, poor, left out Jack. Though I’d just come, the tension built again. I’d come for Andy, brought him pleasure. Now for my other man.

  I rocked into Jack, impaling myself on his cock over and over and over. “Damn, we got us a live one,” he exclaimed through a haze of passion.

  Jack smashed his mouth down over mine, grunting into the kiss. I shattered into a million pieces, taking him with me to ecstasy.

  Soft snores woke me. No need checking. It was Jack making those barely-there noises. He mumbled incoherently and I nearly laughed. He really did talk in his sleep. He also pressed against my back, one arm thrown over me.

  Andy lay chest to chest with me, an arm around my waist.

  Safe. I’d never felt so safe. Or such a part of something special.

  “Well? What did you finally decide?” Darlene toyed with a tomato from her salad, pretending she couldn’t really care one way or the other. Liar. She worried about my love life more than I did.

  Bless her heart. The magnolia tree above our heads sported sweet-smelling white flowers. The day was warm, but not hot enough to drive us inside to the safety of air conditioning.

  “I told them I couldn’t decide and didn’t want to come between them.” I took a drink of soda to hide a smirk and give her a moment to stew. If she’d taken one look at my lovingly packed lunch bag she’d know the truth in a minute.

  “You what?” She jumped from our shared picnic table.

  Brenda from accounting shot a worried look at us from her perch at the next table and returned her attention to her book.