Strictly Research (Bad Boy MFM Romance)

by Terry Towers

  We ate in silence. Each minute that passed made me wish I hadn’t brought it up. “You know, she may think it’s an insane idea. Of course, I know I may be jumping the gun. But you know how I am.”

  “So, what if things get to the point where marriage becomes a factor? Or children?” Mitch stared at me, waiting.

  Valid points. “I honestly haven’t gotten that far.”

  Mitch threw his hands up in the air as if to say, ‘yeah exactly.’

  “But that doesn’t have to be an issue. We play it by ear.”

  “Pretty sure you’re still only allowed to have one husband or wife.”

  “Okay, I didn’t say it was a perfect idea.” I popped the last forkful of pancake covered in syrup into my mouth. “But it’s an idea. One I think can work.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. When I think about getting married and all the things that come with it I never envisioned sharing my wife, even if it is with my best friend.”

  ~*~ TT ~*~

  Monica

  Upon waking, I placed my hands above my head and pointed my toes stretching as far and as long as I could make myself, uttering a low groan. The feel of my muscles pulling felt divine. One of my favourite parts of my morning routine was the after waking stretch.

  Opening my eyes, I turned my head to the left and frowned, noticing men’s clothing draped over the back of a large black armchair by the closet. I did sleep with Phillip? I cringed. How much did I have to drink last night?

  The smell of breakfast drifted to my nose, causing my stomach to grumble. At least he made me breakfast. Hey, wait a second. Phillip went home last night. Male voices coming from the other room made me gasp.

  Xander and Mitchell… I thought it had been a dream. Obviously it hadn’t. They were here – now. In my kitchen. Ohmygod! The previous night came rushing back to me: Mitchell and Xander showing up, the three of us having drinks as we reminisced, then me falling to sleep on the couch, cuddled up in Mitchell’s arms sometime late into the night or early into the morning, depending on which way you wanted to look at it.

  My brow creased as I looked down at my naked body. Did we have sex? I hadn’t had sex since the last time with them in Amsterdam, and I would have guessed that if we did, I would be feeling it this morning. Who undressed me and why?

  Something occurred to me and I cringed. Throwing the blankets off, I looked down at my hairy legs and groaned. I had no intention of sleeping with Phillip and didn’t even bother to shave my legs. I looked like a human ape. Oh, fuck me over with a wooden spoon. Even my mound wasn’t fully shaven like it normally would be. I’d kind of let myself go in regards to my primping routine. It wasn’t a amazon jungle down there, that was hardly the case, but still… On the bright side my armpits were perfectly shaven – at least something was going right for me.

  Slipping out of bed, I grabbed my black satin robe that was hanging on the back of my bedroom door and slipped it on, tying it firmly around my waist. I was tempted to run to the shower and clean up my hairiness before going out to greet them. But considering one or both undressed me for bed, the damage was already done.

  Maybe they were into ape women? I thought with a snicker – not likely.

  Opening the bedroom door I stepped out to find both Mitchell and Xander bare-chested, wearing only their boxer briefs. What a fucking sexy sight for the morning. I could easily get used to seeing them both like this every morning for the rest of my life. As soon as I stepped into the room, their hushed conversation completely stopped and both sets of eyes stared at me as I crossed the living room and took a seat on a stool on the other side of Mitchell.

  Xander immediately stood and rounded the counter, grabbing a plate from the overhead cabinet and beginning to fill it with breakfast foods. “Is there anything you don’t like?”

  Straightening in my chair, I examined what he was serving; bacon, scrambled eggs, home fries, and pancakes. “I like it all, so maybe a little of everything.”

  He spun around, plate in hand, and a grin on his face. “Good, that’s exactly what I gave you.”

  My eyes left the food and began to examine him. “Damn,” I muttered under my breath as I peered upon his well defined chest. Was he that chiseled when I was with him last? I did know one thing: the tattoo above his heart of a pink ribbon with the name ‘mom’ on one ribbon end and ‘1947 – 2012’ on the other wasn’t there before.

  “Your mom passed away?” I didn’t know that. I’d talked to Mitchell about his family, a well-to-do family from Massachusetts, but my conversations with Xander had stayed away from the topic of his family. I’d asked a time or two, but he always seemed to divert the conversation to something else and I let him.

  It was like he’d forgotten the tattoo was there. After placing my breakfast plate in front of me he looked down at the ribbon on his chest. “Umm, yeah.” He ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. “My mother had lung cancer. She passed a few years ago. I got the tattoo not too long after meeting you.”

  “I’m sorry.” I had the urge to hug him, but refrained.

  “Don’t be. Death is a part of life.”

  “It’s a beautiful tattoo.”

  He smiled and nodded. “Thanks.” We stared at each other a moment, his blue eyes locking with my dark ones.

  “So, Monica.” Mitchell’s hand on my bare leg – my bare, hairy leg - surprised me, breaking the moment with Xander and shifting my attention to the man beside me.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What are your plans for today?”

  “Plans?” I looked at him as if I’d never heard of the word before.

  He laughed. “Yes, like do you have anything scheduled?”

  “Nothing.” Grabbing the fork that Xander passed me I speared a few of my home fries with it. “What’s up?”

  “It’s been a while since we’ve been in New York and as you know we’re not from here, so we were wondering if you’d be interested in escorting us around to look at some of the apartments we have lined up.”

  I forced myself to remain looking dour. “Hmm, what are my options here? Spend the day in front of a computer fantasizing about a hot guy, or actually spend the day with two of them in real life. Geez, that’s a tough one.”

  “Excellent. Thanks, hon.” Xander leaned over the counter and gave me a quick and unexpected kiss on the lips.

  “What was that for?” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, yearning for more.

  “Because I wanted to.” Xander gave me a wink and walked out from behind the counter. “Gonna go get dressed.”

  I turned to Mitchell.

  “I can do so much better than that,” he stated matter-of-factly as he leaned in, his lips capturing mine. I sighed as he bit at my lower lip, his hand moving a little higher on my thigh.

  Oh shit, my hairy gorilla thigh! I jerked back, batting at his hand.

  “What?”

  “You know what.”

  “I do not.” He played innocent so well.

  “Like you didn’t notice I haven’t shaved when you undressed me.”

  “As a matter of fact, I didn’t.”

  I cocked a brow at him, dropping my fork on my plate and crossing my arms over my chest. “Bullshit.”

  “I didn’t at first. Xander was the one who stripped you.” He gave me a lazy smile. “I just watched.”

  “That’s so creepy.” I crinkled my nose up at him.

  “You like it.”

  “Uh-huh.” Hmm. I suppose I couldn’t deny it, and of course the slight blush I knew was coloring my cheeks would have given me away anyhow. I was getting wet simply at the thought of being with the two of them again. And now that they were out of the escort, or whatever it was they wanted to call it, business and I didn’t have to think about them being with different women every night... maybe. I forced the thoughts from my mind to keep from getting excited over the idea. Then and now were two entirely different things.

  They’d said themselves med school was taxi
ng. They wouldn’t have much time. Besides, we were all friends. Nothing more. Getting excited over something that was a big question mark at best was something a teenager would do, not a grown woman who should know better.

  “That almost sounds like a challenge to me.”

  Rolling my eyes I gave my head a shake. “Hardly.”

  “That’s what it sounded like,” he insisted, leaning toward me, his lips grazing my neck. “At least to me.”

  Get your head out of your ass, Monica! This is second nature to him. It means nothing! The voice at the back of my mind chastised. Watch yourself or you’re going to get hurt. I listened, pulling back from him and sliding from the stool and taking a few hasty steps away from him.

  “I need to get a shower and dressed.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the bathroom.

  “Okay. I should get dressed, as well. Our first appointment is in three hours.”

  “Exactly. I’m going to go now.” Without waiting for a response, I spun and rushed toward the bedroom not looking where I was going and colliding with what felt like a hard wall. I yelped as I was sent sprawling backwards onto the hardwood floor, my robe coming open and leaving my front exposed.

  “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.”<
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