“How is this going to work?” he went on. “I mean, how do we know who gets you and who doesn’t?”
She paused. The same question had been nagging in the back of her mind. “I guess we should agree on that together. Maybe we can have a little conversation about rules when Blake gets back.”
Blake hurried back with some fresh peppers and Adam chopped them into Sophia’s omelet. Then he served the hot omelets with fresh gourmet coffee. They enjoyed breakfast at the little table in the living room windows, admiring the sunshine pouring over New York. While it had started to snow lately, the street below was clear and the day looked nice. Some people in the penthouse across the street had already set up Christmas decorations, which looked a bit out of place in the bright early morning sun.
“So, Adam brought up a good question earlier,” Sophia began after they had taken in the scenery for a moment. “And I felt that we should all talk about it. Together, as a team.”
“OK,” Blake said, glancing at Adam suspiciously.
“I think we need to work out the ground rules, like how this is going to work. We need to figure out how to make this run smoothly. And we need to facilitate good communication, if we want to all get along and stay on the same page.”
“Sure, absolutely,” Blake and Adam agreed. “We know all about that from work.”
“Well, I’m sure this will be a little different from work. You see, we’re going to need to use a bit of tact and delicacy. The last thing I want is any jealousy or misunderstandings arising.”
Both brothers concurred.
“I think we need to first decide how we are going to decide. I mean, how do I choose which one of you to be with and when? The threesome last night was awesome but I don’t think I can handle that every night.”
“So, we need to figure out how to take turns and share you nicely,” Blake surmised. “I see.”
“Well, it’s understandable. Last night was like a dream come true. But I can see wanting you all to myself from time to time,” said Adam.
“I think the way things have been going is great,” Blake said after a brief thoughtful pause. “You choose who you want to see, and we go along with it.”
“So, you two are OK with leaving it up to me?” Sophia inquired, a bit surprised. She had assumed that there would be more jealousy and self-righteousness.
“Sure,” they both shrugged.
“We haven’t had a problem so far, right?” Blake asked.
“It’s all about making you happy. This is why we wanted to do this,” Adam went on. “So of course, it’s your choice.”
“OK. But what if I wanted to see the same brother a few nights in a row? Would that cause problems?” she asked tentatively.
They exchanged looks. Then Adam breathed heavily. “I can kind of see some jealousy happening then.”
“Well, but what if that’s what I want? I can foresee that happening sometimes,” Sophia said.
“Yes, but if you go with the same brother every night, then that means you don’t want the other brother as much,” Blake put in. “I mean, the whole point of this was so that you wouldn’t have to choose. And you would be making a choice between us if you did that.”
“I don’t see myself wanting one of you more than the other. It would balance out. Because honestly I like both of you a lot and I couldn’t prefer one of you over the other. I just might feel like being with the same guy for a couple days in a row.”
They were quiet.
Then Sophia sighed. “OK. I can see there’s a problem with that. So I won’t sleep with one of you twice in a row. We’ll have a rotation.”
“OK,” they both agreed. They seemed much more at peace with that idea.
“Now how do I let you know which one of you I want to be with?” Sophia asked.
“I guess just send us a text,” they both suggested.
“Both of you? So, I have to notify each of you which one of you I choose?”
“I guess that would end a lot of confusion,” Adam nodded. “I mean, I’d like to know if I couldn’t have you one night.”
“Sure,” Blake added.
“It won’t cause jealousy?” Sophia asked.
“No,” they both agreed. But there was some hesitation.
“It might,” Blake finally admitted. “I can see getting a bit jealous if you texted me and said that you were going to be with Adam. But we all agreed to this. We’re adult enough to get over any jealousy issues we might have. After all, we are supposed to share you and we know all about sharing. We grew up having to share everything. And anyway, we would know that it would only be one night and the next night would be with the other brother.”
“Right,” Adam laughed. “Remember when Mom bought you a nice bike and I didn’t get one? We had to share that bike.”
“We would flip a coin to see who got the bike for the day,” Blake reminisced. “Usually you won it.”
“Well, we’re not flipping coins here,” Sophia said adamantly. “I deserve a little more delicacy than flipping a coin.”
“Oh, of course. It’s entirely your choice,” Adam said eagerly. “You’re so much more important than a bike.”
“OK. I’m glad that’s settled. So, what about threesomes? When are those acceptable?”
“Anytime.” They both said it at the same time, shooting each other remarkable smiles.
Sophia grinned. “Well, I think that covers everything. Anything you guys want to bring up?”
“Well, there’s one thing.” Blake spoke reticently, as if he was scared to mention what was on his mind. Sophia nodded to encourage him to speak up. “Well, are you going to be seeing other guys?”
Sophia fell silent. The idea of seeing other men had not occurred to her. Two men was more than enough to satisfy her. Why add more men to the equation? Though what she was now doing could certainly be classified as slutty, dating men outside of the brothers just seemed to tip the scales completely into morally wrong territory. “No,” she said decisively. “I don’t need other men in my life. You two are enough.”
They seemed happy with that conclusion. “Yeah, I don’t like the idea of you dating outside of us,” Adam agreed. “Good question, Blake.”
“I just thought of something else,” Sophia suddenly piped up. “Discretion. I want this to be one hundred percent discreet. This cannot get out. That means no telling your friends. Not even your closest friends.”
“Of course. We have enough media coverage that we can’t let this get out,” Adam agreed promptly. “There is no one I really trust, especially with something this juicy. This could really damage our reputation. So your secret is safe with me.”
“Same here. I don’t kiss and tell, so don’t worry about that.”
“Good. I can’t have my family finding this out. Or my friends. You can bet that I would get disowned.”
“Your family would not take this well, huh?” Adam began to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Sophia demanded haughtily. Blake stared at him quizzically.
“Well, I was just thinking about you were raised to be this good little Catholic girl. Married, waiting till marriage for sex, all that. And now here you are.”
She forced a smile. But really, that reminder only served to make her more uncomfortable. She didn’t like how far she had parted from her upbringing. Maybe it was a good thing to break with morality and tradition, but that did not make it any easier. This was an uncharted path, unknown territory, and she had no idea how to navigate it. This talk had helped qualm some of her worries, but she was still uncertain about how this would impact her life. Only time would tell. Breaking with tradition was never a simple or clear thing to do. Now she had to rely on herself and trust the Franklin brothers. She had no one and nothing to guide her.
They concluded breakfast in amicable spirits. At the door, they both hugged and kissed Sophia. Then she went to her apartment to begin getting ready for a day at work. How she could walk into work as a totally changed woma
n was beyond her, but this was her and Adam’s and Blake’s secret. No one else had to know. Still, she swore that the night before had changed her so much that everyone would notice.
And indeed, everyone at work did notice. “You look chipper this morning,” the secretary commented as she entered the office.
“You seem to be in a great mood!” her boss told her as he gave her the daily assignment.
“What’s gotten into you today? I have never seen you smiling so much,” one of her nosiest co-workers remarked at the coffee machine as she filled her mug in order to power through another long eight-hour work day.
At lunch, her co-workers kept asking her if she was dating anyone new as they exchanged knowing looks. She blushed and denied that she was dating anyone. “Nope. I’m just the same old single divorcée,” she joked as she speared a piece of kale in her salad.
“You seem to have gained weight,” one of her co-workers who was known for barbed compliments said.
“Nancy!” Marie scolded. “That’s a rude thing to say.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” Nancy cried defensively. “That’s just always a sign that you’re with someone. You know, men eat twice as much as we do and we share food with them so we get pudgy. It’s called the love pudge.”
“Trust me, I’m not with anyone,” Sophia responded. This conversation was making her nervous. “I guess I’m just comfort eating.”
“No, you look fine. You don’t look like you gained any weight,” Marie sighed.
There was one person that Sophia was dying to tell about her secret, but she was not sure if she could. Maybe Marcy had expressed excitement and playful envy before, but how would she react when she found out that Sophia’s fantasy was reality? She might judge Sophia. So, Sophia resisted the urge to call Marcy to talk about this. She decided that maybe she would tell her one day in the future, but not now. She needed time to get used to this. And to see if it even worked out. It seemed too good to be true and most things that were too good to be true were.
That line of thinking plagued her with worry as she plugged through the afternoon, waiting for five when she could join the rush hour traffic and make her way home at the rate of a turtle. What if this all fell apart? What if the brothers dissolved into jealous fighting? Could they really handle sharing her? And also, what if somehow her family found out? What if her mother dropped by while she had both men over, for instance?
After work, she decided to go Christmas shopping to clear her head. As she perused some of the most high-end stores, gaping at price tags and then realizing that she no longer had a husband to answer to about receipts, she began to feel liberated and at peace again. Even if this didn’t work out, she was at least free. And she was able to do what she wanted and date whom she wanted. Life as a divorcee was actually going great. She didn’t need to worry. Besides, Blake had assured her that they could always call this whole thing off if it went sour. There was nothing to worry about. It was time for her to just enjoy something sexual for once in her life.
****
For the next two weeks, as time sped up toward the holidays, Sophia devoted herself to work and her two boyfriends. One day she would go out dancing or jogging with Blake and then make love to him at her place. Then the next day she would meet Adam somewhere for a fancy dinner, followed by some romantic lovemaking at her place again. Every time, sex was exciting and different. They tried all sorts of new things. Every few days, she would crave both men inside of her, so she would knock on their door with a special three-knock pattern they came to jokingly call “The Threesome Knock.”
Often when out with Adam, they would be approached by people whom he knew, which made her nervous that she might start getting media attention as his new girlfriend. After his relationship with Esmee, his dating life attracted a lot of interest, especially from gossip columnists. He was good at picking restaurants where they would probably not be recognized, but it still happened more often than not. He just had a bigger media presence and more of a spotlight than Blake because of his former splashy lifestyle and entanglements with various celebrities. He always just introduced her as just a friend or even a contact at the Times, which made her feel bad but also reassured her.
In the cab home from dinner one day, while they snuggled together and discussed what they were about to do to each other back at her place, she decided to bring it up. She didn’t want trouble in paradise, but she also liked the clear communication that they had all agreed to have in this ménage. “You introduce me as your Times contact just for anonymity, right?”
“Of course.” He seemed surprised and even a bit put off by the question. “I thought that’s how you would want it.”
“I just wanted to make sure that you aren’t hiding me for some reason.”
“Well, I thought I was supposed to hide you.”
She laughed, realizing how ridiculous she was being. “I know. You’re right. I was just worried that maybe you had other girlfriends or something.”
“I don’t have other girlfriends. I just wanted to keep this discreet. You made me promise that, remember?”
She nodded as she pressed her head into his chest. “I know. I’m just being silly I guess. I guess it’s PTSD from Tony.”
“I understand.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “But I’m not Tony, you know. I would never hide you if I didn’t have to. If I could, I would shout it from the rooftops. Because you sure are lovely.”
She beamed, feeling confident and reassured. These two men were the very opposite of Tony. There was no need to mistrust them and assume that they might pull the same shenanigans that he had.
Nevertheless, she trusted Blake more than Adam. Blake was more of a stay-at-home guy. Though he had dated models, he kept his life out of the limelight and didn’t seem to dabble in the same escapades as his brother. What she knew of the brothers before meeting them personally was that Adam was a wild boy who partied with Prince Harry once, while Blake was a good boy who rode his bike everywhere and advocated for recycling and donated money to Greenpeace. Pictures of Blake on the tabloids featured him riding his bike, while pictures of Adam always depicted him with his arm around some model. Of course, those pictures had slowed recently, and she had no evidence that Adam was still that way.
Sophia’s suspicions were entirely quelled when she went home with Blake a few days later. As they began to kiss on the couch, she paused and asked, “Is this working out well? You two aren’t jealous of each other?”
He gave a little laugh. “Well, it’s working out fine. He seemed a little upset we were spending the night together since you saw me yesterday.”
“But we just went jogging yesterday. We didn’t even make love. So, I didn’t violate the agreement.”
“I know. That’s what I told him. But I guess he was just a little jealous.”
She sighed and pulled herself up off of Blake. “Let’s go talk to him.”
“Oh, no, don’t do that,” he said hurriedly as she headed to the door.
“Why not?” she demanded, hesitating with her hand on the doorknob.
“He has company,” Blake said hesitantly. “Let’s just go back to what we were doing.”
“Company? What kind of company?” She imagined a party like the one they had invited her to before, a ring of rich men playing penny poker. But something about Blake’s expression told her that Adam was entertaining a different kind of company.
“I don’t know. Some girl he met at a night club.”
Sophia felt the world tilt as fury began to boil in her veins. “Some girl? Seriously?”
Blake looked guilty. “I didn’t think you would be so mad about it. I’m sorry, Eve.”
“What? You didn’t think I would be mad? We’re in a committed relationship! Or so I thought. And you just tell me that he’s cheating on me right now?”
Blake looked even guiltier. “I sort of told him that, but he said you never told us not to see anyone.”
&
nbsp; Sophia stormed out and headed to their condo. “This is ridiculous! I can’t believe him!” she shrieked.
“Sophia!” Blake chased after her, redoing his belt.
“I’m so sorry, Sophia,” he kept repeating.
“What are you sorry for? Is this what you do when I’m with Adam too?”
He held his hands up. “I swear I don’t. This is his thing. He’s a horndog. I’m sorry.”
Sophia stormed up to their door. When she knocked, there was only silence from within. “Let me in,” she ordered Blake.
Blake hesitated before obliging her. She marched through the door and into the bedroom, where she found Adam giving a slim, dark-haired girl covered in tattoos a back massage. She had no top on, but her skirt was still on at least. Adam was also still clothed.
“What the hell?” Sophia cried.
Adam jumped up, looking shocked. “Sophia! What’s going on? I’m kind of busy here!”
“I can see that!”
The girl hopped up, holding a pillow over her breasts. “Who is this?” she demanded of Adam.
Adam gaped, uncertain what to say.
“I’m his girlfriend. And you can leave now,” Sophia told her sharply.
The girl stared at Sophia, then shot Adam a scolding look before scooping her silk blouse off of the floor and fleeing the room. Sophia did not even move out of her way as she rushed through the bedroom door.
“Really?” Adam seemed unhappy with Sophia. “What is this about? Why are you acting like a jealous girlfriend?”
“Uh, because I am your girlfriend!” Sophia cried. “Didn’t we agree to be together?”
“Yes, but you were with Blake tonight,” Adam protested.
“So? That doesn’t give you a right to fuck somebody else!” Sophia sniffed and smelled the scent of the special massage oil that Adam loved to use on her. “You’re even using that massage oil!”
“We didn’t agree on that. You just said you wouldn’t date other guys,” Adam protested. But he looked guilty now.
“I thought it was obvious!”
“I guess I just misunderstood. I thought it was OK when you were with Blake….”
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