by Sam Crescent
Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2013 Sam Crescent
ISBN: 978-1-77130-313-2
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To Evernight Publishing for being a wonderful publisher and to the readers for their continued support.
JUST FRIENDS
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Leah Jones threw herself down on the sofa with her bowl of potato chips. They were spicy, and she needed the heat to rid her mind of the awful date she’d been on. Chocolate ice-cream would have been preferable, but Mitch had clearly forgotten to get the groceries for the week. She shared an apartment with her two friends, Mitch Fields and Chase Lawson. They were currently watching football with a couple of beers in their hands.
“You’re back early,” Mitch said.
She glared at him and went back for more chips.
“Did Guy not match up to your expectations?” Chase asked.
Guy was the name of her date. Leah refused to talk to them. Both men were hot as hell and never struggled with finding women. She hated dating, and living with two of the sexiest men in the world made it even harder. It was hard to realise she had a life when she was more than happy to spend her time with both men in the apartment they rented out together.
“I bet he said something to piss her off,” Mitch said, chugging down some beer.
“He didn’t say anything.” She lied. The chips were losing their appeal. Her tongue felt like it was on fire from the excess chili.
“I thought you’d be out for most of the night. Or at least be going back to his place for a fuck,” Chase said.
Leah felt the blush fill her cheeks. Out of both of her friends, Chase was the cruder of the two. He said what he liked and didn’t care what others thought of him. Mitch, on the other hand, was the more fun-loving of the two. They’d been friends since they were kids, going through school and then high-school, all the way up to college. Their friendship had survived prom, puberty, and the loss of their virginities. They were the two people she trusted most. The only two she’d tell all of her worries to. Her biggest problem at the moment was her feelings toward them.
Don’t go there.
They were all twenty-five years old and showed no signs of settling down or moving on. She didn’t mind, but the problem was with all of her dates. Her dates were adamant they would pick her up from her apartment. That was fine. She didn’t mind them having a beer and waiting with Chase and Mitch as she finished getting ready. The biggest problem came half-way through their meal. Like several other dates before Guy, he’d asked about her accommodation.
“What are you doing living with two men?” Guy said.
“They’re my best friends. I don’t see the problem.”
He’d leaned forward reaching out to stroke her hand. “Leah, I like you a lot, but I don’t want to have to compete with your roommates.”
“You’re not competing.”
“No? I don’t think it’s right for a single girl like yourself to be living with two men. I imagine you’re high on the gossip list.”
Guy’s innuendo had been the last straw for Leah. She’d had enough and made sure he knew about it. Storming out of the Italian café may have seemed childish, but it hadn’t felt like it at the time.
“Come on, Leah. What has gotten into that head of yours?” Mitch asked, moving to sit beside her. He pulled her legs over his lap, removed her socks, and began to play with her feet. She smiled at him, loving his touch.
This is how it used to be. The three of them together without any fears at all. Her biggest problem was her response to him. In the past when he had played with her feet or rubbed her thigh, she’d not felt anything. Now, her pussy melted from his touch. She felt her cream leaking into the thong she’d been wearing. Her nipples tightened against the fabric of her shirt, which made them harden further from the movement.
Chase sat on the opposite side of her holding her hand.
She enjoyed both of their touches, and that was her biggest problem of all. She fancied, not one, but both of her friends. Leah stared at the television screen as the football continued to play. When they were on their own, she’d read a book or check through some recipe books for new styles of food to try. She loved being in the kitchen, and with Mitch and Chase, she had two men with healthy appetites. Leah watched the ball being kicked from one team to another.
“Do you think we’re doing the wrong thing still living together?” she asked.
Both men froze by her side. She felt Mitch tense on her foot while Chase squeezed her hand tighter.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Chase asked.
“I don’t know what has gotten into your head, but you better stop it, Leah. I love the way we are. Are you planning on moving out? Is that the problem?” Mitch asked.
“Forget I said anything,” she said, moving away from them both. Mitch and Chase caught her, pulling her back, so she’d little choice but to listen to them.
“Who has been putting these ideas in your head?” Chase asked.
“Nothing.” Leah pulled out of their embrace and stared at the television. She wished she’d kept her opinion to herself. “I just wondered what we’re going to do with the future. I mean, you’re one day going to find a woman, and both of you will get married. I wondered where that would leave us.”
She bit her lip, feeling the tears fill her eyes. Glancing down at her lap, she forced the tears back. When they were younger she’d never thought of them going their own separate ways and starting their own families. To her, they would always be together with no fears of what the future would bring. She hated the uncertainty she felt about it all.
“I need to sleep. I’ve got to work early in the morning.” Leah gave them both a smile then disappeared into her own room. She grabbed her towel and robe then made her way down to the bathroom they shared.
Leah removed her clothes and waited for the shower to warm up. She hated feeling this way. Guy was her third date to point out her living arrangements. She made good money being a receptionist for a prestigious law firm. Admittedly it wasn’t what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, but it paid the bills. She’d gotten a degree in business, but with the economic markets the way that they were, she hadn’t been picky when getting a job. Sharing the apartment with Chase and Mitch meant her money went so much further. She was able to afford some of her creature comforts while keeping a decent roof over her head. It all worked together.
What she hadn’t anticipated was the feeling of doom inside her. She’d dated three men in the past month, and all of them had made comments about her living arrangement.
She tested the water to see if it was warm enough before getting into the shower. Leah rinsed her hair, soaping her body as well. She made sure she cleaned off the make-up she’d worn along with the perfume she’d sprayed on.
After washing the date away, she got out to clean her teeth. She’d worry about their time together in the morning. There was plenty of time to panic and make other plans. The thought of no longer being with the two men she loved the most was like a dull ache that refused to go away.
****
Leah needed excitement in her life. She needed someone who knew and understood her. He knew the passion inside her that lurked beneath the surface, scared to come out.
“You’re dick is making a tent in your pants,” Mitch said, throwing him a cushion to cover his obvious arousal.
“You can’t tell me you’re not a little pissed at the way she was talking?”
Mitch shrugged his shoulders. The glare on his face contrasted with his carefree nature. Chase knew his friend felt the same way he did about Leah. They’d discussed their feelings for the brown-haired beauty many times.
“We’ve got to be careful with her, Chase. She wants us to be friends.”
“Screw friendship. I’m sick of those fucking jerks that come here giving us the eye because we’re here. I don’t trust half of them with her.”
His friend nodded his head in agreement. “I don’t want to scare her, Chase. I know what you mean. It was hard enough seeing her kiss another guy growing up, let alone loving someone else.”
Chase fisted his hand in the cushion on his lap. He remembered prom night and the way James Cook had wrapped his arms around her. Over the years it had been a constant test of his strength to not kill one of her boyfriends.
“Do you remember Randall?” Mitch asked.
“I remember the cheating scumbag. You know she spent a week crying her eyes out over him. I went over to his building to show him what messing with our girl meant,” Chase said.
“I never knew that. What happened?”
“Another girl had already cottoned on to what he was going and proceeded to hit him with her hand bag. I wished it was my fist, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
They were silent for several moments, watching the football without taking any of it in.
“I love her, Mitch. I can’t keep waiting for her to see us as more than friends.”
His friend agreed. They paused as the bathroom door opened. Leah walked down to her room. Her hair was wet from the shower. The pink fluffy robe she wore covered her glorious curves from their view.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” she said.
“Good night, Leah,” they both said in unison.
She chuckled then closed her bedroom door.
They turned back to the television. Chase’s cock thickened as he wondered how she’d look without the robe. He kept the cushion in place trying with all of his might to stop the erotic images of Leah entering his mind. The more he tried not to think about her, the harder it was. The images refused to be gone from his mind.
“I love her, too, Chase.”
“We can’t lose her. I know we’ve been talking about it for some time now. I think we need to act on it.”
Mitch didn’t say anything.
“We’ll talk to her at some point.”
Chase knew talking was the answer. Leah wouldn’t believe them if they told her they were in love with her. He’d known her for too long for her to accept that as an answer. They’d need to show her with actions and words.
“Whatever happens, I’m not having another date walking through that door. Leah is ours.”
“Sharing her is a huge step for all of us, Chase. Even for us.”
They’d argued about who was going to take her to the prom. Chase remembered the fight they’d had in his back yard trying to win the honour of taking her to prom. Instead, they’d been pulled apart by Chase’s father and been told to settle it like gentlemen. They had had to talk through their problems. Both of them had confessed to loving Leah. His father had said she needed to be the one to choose.
She’d ended up going to prom with a jock on the pissing wrestling team. Chase had then decided to go with another girl and Mitch the same. Over the years, they’d dated girls and watched her date other guys, never wanting to push her into anything.
Sharing an apartment had been a genius idea of Mitch’s father. However, seeing her date other men was the worst.
Chase shook his head. “I’m going to bed.”
Then, after too many beers they’d begun fighting once again while she was out on a date. They had both come to an agreement. Both of them loved Leah and wanted her to be happy, but they didn’t want her to have a choice. They had heard of ménage relationships as Mitch had a cousin in a place called LawCastle. The little town was predominantly filled with ménage relationships, so they knew it could be done.
“Good-night,” Mitch said.
Chase left his friend to close off the television as he made his way into the bathroom. The scent of Leah assailed him. She loved using lemon and honey shampoo. The beautiful scent complemented her perfectly.
Chase grabbed his toothbrush and began to brush his teeth. A piece of pink fabric caught his eye. He turned, with the toothbrush in his hand, and saw Leah’s pink thong. Bending down to pick it up, Chase stared at the small piece of fabric that had been close to her pussy.
Not wanting to invade her privacy, he placed the scrap in the washing basket before going back to the sink. His cock was thicker than before. He finished brushing his teeth then made his way to his bedroom across from Leah. Mitch waved his goodnight as he closed the door.
Chase’s heart was racing as he leaned against the door. That small piece of fabric threatened to undo him. Only minutes earlier, that piece of fabric had been nestled between her thighs, touching her creamy pussy. He moaned, pushing his jeans down his hips and onto the floor.
Chase padded over to the bed and then climbed between the sheets. His cock was long, thick, and sticking up in the air.
Many nights had passed with him fucking his fist, but this night wasn’t going to be one of them. He wanted Leah, the real woman. Not his fantasies. His fantasies were no longer strong enough to keep him interested.
No, he wanted Leah, naked, in his arms and between Mitch and himself. That was what he wanted more than anything.
****
Mitch picked up the beer bottles, turned off the television, and walked into the kitchen. He hated the thought of Leah having to clean up after them. When they’d first moved into the apartment, she’d done most of the cleaning. Now they had a job schedule of who did what. He looked on the fridge to see it was his job to go grocery shopping.
Shit.
He’d completely forgotten to go shopping. That explained why she had been eating spicy potato chips instead of her usual chocolate ice cream. He pulled out his cell phone and typed in his tasks and then placed it into his alarm so after work tomorrow he’d be notified to go shopping.
Walking into the bathroom, he scented Leah in the air combined with Chase. He grabbed his toothbrush and began brushing his teeth thinking about his two best friends. Chase and Leah meant the world to him. He’d do anything for them. Chase was like a brother rather than his best friend. However, his feelings for Leah had been going a little crazy of a late.
Chase was more vocal in his feelings whereas Mitch kept them locked up. He was worried in case his feelings would send Leah running scared. The love he felt for her was not sweet but intense. He wanted her badly. His every waking thought was devoted to her.
No other woman would ever replace her in his mind. She was his everything.
He washed his face then made his way to the third bedroom. Flicking on the light, he stripped down to his birthday suit before climbing into bed. He turned on his lamp, then picked up the photograph he kept beside the bed.
The photograph was a picture of all three of them at graduation. Their parents had been there to take it fo
r them. Their friendship had been one of their unusual qualities. No one dared to tear them apart. Being apart from one another never entered their heads. At least, it had never entered his head. He loved being with his two friends. They understood him. He knew Leah and Chase loved him for who he was. Mitch remembered his father’s words trying to reassure him that when he got to high-school they’d drift apart.
“You’ll find new friends. Leah and Chase will be a thing of the past.”
Mitch hadn’t needed to be reassured. Who would want to have any other friends? He figured his dad was just trying to warn him. He knew a lot of friends drifted apart. They never had. No matter how many classes they had differently or the teasing they got. They stuck together through thick and thin.
The only time they’d come close to losing their friendship had been the fight over Leah. His father and Chase’s had sat down with them and talked. Leah needed to make a choice. When she hadn’t made a choice, Mitch had sat down with him again a few years later. It was after they had graduated and moved into this apartment, and his father had told him about his cousin down in LawCastle.
“What are you trying to say?” Mitch asked.
“I’m saying, son, that sometimes women don’t have to make a choice. Leah loves both you and Chase. I don’t think she’ll ever pick between the two of you.”
Those words kept him going. His father never lied to him. The thought of sharing her with Chase filled him with excitement.
They hadn’t been celibate. Both of them had gone out and fucked plenty of women. They hadn’t shared a woman before. Leah would be their first and only woman.
Chapter Two
“Why do you hate me?” Leah asked her buzzing alarm clock. She’d been in the middle of a very erotic and fun dream. She didn’t like it when she was pulled out right before the good part. Mitch had been about to fuck her from behind, and Chase had been pressing his impressive shaft to her lips when the inane sound invaded her pleasant dreams.
