by Lane Hart
"What does that mean? You have a DeLorean hiding in your garage?"
"I mean, you would pretend like you just met the two of us, and date us both, starting from scratch," he said.
"Tyler, what is he talking about?" I asked, wanting to hear his thoughts on the whole idea, since he was so quiet.
"Baby, you know I love you, but I need to know if you still care about Caleb. Because if you do, I don't want you to settle for me. I need to know I'm all you want. If I am, then forget this whole conversation. But if you have any doubt then I want you to be honest with me."
This was it, the moment of truth. Tell Tyler I only want him and always wonder about what could have been with Caleb, or ask for a chance with Caleb and risk losing what I have that's so good with Tyler.
"So you still care about him," Tyler said. It was a statement, not a question.
"You didn't give me a chance to respond," I scoffed.
"Which makes your answer clear. You can't say, without hesitation, that I'm the one you want."
The hurt on his face was one of the worst things I'd ever seen. Damn, I was one confused fucking bitch.
"Don't cry baby. It's fine," Tyler said, and I realized tears were running down my face.
"No, it's not. I don't want to lose either of you."
"You're not going to lose us. You get both of us, because we care about you so much we'd do anything to be with you," Caleb said.
"Although he's a jackass, he's right about this."
"So what would this mean? You get joint custody of me, swapping every other weekend? You know this is ridiculous," I told them, wiping the tears from my face.
"It's an odd arrangement, but we're leaving the logistics up to you. Whatever you decide, we agree not to beat the shit out of each other, to respect your decisions, and not to sabotage the other," Tyler answered.
"You're serious?"
"Yes. So will you move back in with us?" Tyler asked.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Are you out of your mind? Where will I sleep? The couch?"
"Hell no. You'll sleep with me or with him, up to you," Caleb said, like it was just a matter of choosing between flavors of ice cream, not which man to be intimate with while the other was rejected and still had to sleep under the same roof.
"This sounds like all three of us are going to end up getting hurt."
"No more than we already have. We'll give it two months, unless you decide sooner, and if you've spent seven of the eight weeks in Tyler's room then I'll get the hint and move out. If not then we'll have to decide what to do then," Caleb explained.
"Two months to live with you both, sleep with you both, and make a decision?"
They looked at each other and then nodded. I wanted to ask what happened if I was never able to make a choice between the two of them, but I decided to keep that to myself.
"So do we have a deal?" Caleb asked. He was much more excited about this than Tyler. Caleb had nothing to lose. Tyler on the other hand knew he had me, but was willing to risk losing me.
"I have a feeling this is going to blow up in my face, and end with me losing you both, but if you promise me that won't happen then I'm in. Losing one of you will kill me. Losing you both will destroy me."
"I promise I won't leave you unless you tell me we're done," Caleb said.
"I love you too much to leave you, no matter what," Tyler said less enthusiastically.
"Okay. It's crazy and unconventional but if you both want to do this, then let's try it and see what happens."
"I've got a favor to ask. Can we postpone the start of this until I'm out of here? I feel like I'm at a disadvantage laying up in a hospital."
"Agreed. Although if I were you Ty, I'd milk the sympathy bit as long as I could," Caleb responded.
"And I plan to, when I get back to my bed."
"Has the doctor told you when you might get to go home?" I asked.
"Are you that eager to let the games begin?" Tyler asked, a trace of anger in his voice.
I rolled my eyes and waited for him to answer.
"Maybe tomorrow, if everything keeps going like it has been. They took out the IV, and I'm only taking pain pills by mouth every four hours or so. No sign of infection, so I'm good to go."
"Good."
"Yeah, I may have to have a talk with the doctor to push up your release," Caleb said with a grin.
"Bastard."
"Ignoranus," Caleb countered.
"Dude, I think you mean ignoramus, and right back at you."
"Nope I meant ignoranus, you stupid asshole."
"You two sound like nine-year-olds and I just agreed to date you both. I'm such a lucky girl," I joked, but damn if it wasn't the truth. I was already trying to figure out whose bed I was going to end up in the first night.
Chapter Nineteen
Tyler
She'd actually agreed to it. Lauren had agreed to date me and my best friend, after telling me she loved me. I couldn't say I wasn't a little surprised. I'd wanted her to protest and say no to the whole thing, but she hadn't. Now we were starting from scratch, or so we said. After the weeks spent with Lauren I, without a doubt, knew her better than Caleb, and I cared about her more than him. Regardless of how I felt about her, it must not have been enough for her to forget about him.
The next day I was glad to be going home from the hospital and sleeping in my own bed, but I was nervous about the possibility I might be sleeping alone.
I settled in on the couch in our living room, embarrassingly exhausted from the walk up the sidewalk to get into the house. Lauren picked up Chinese food for dinner, and the three of us ate in silence. The same thing was on everyone's mind, and I hadn't missed Caleb's blatant attempts at flirting with Lauren every chance he got. By ten that night I already knew her decision by the way she looked at him, and it stung worse than two bullets.
"So, um, Tyler, I was thinking I'd give you the bed for the next few nights so I don't hurt your shoulder or leg while I'm sleeping."
"Hell yes! I mean, that's really thoughtful of you Lauren," Caleb jumped up, unable to contain his excitement.
"Nights like plural? How many nights will it take before I'm not considered glass?" I asked Lauren. She was sitting with her legs crossed and a book on her lap beside me on the couch.
"Tyler, even if you weren't hurt I'd still probably make the same decision."
"And why is that?" I asked.
"Ty, you agreed not to bitch about her decisions," Caleb threw in.
"I'm not bitching. I'm asking for her reason. How about you let her decide whether or not she wants to answer it."
"Guys, please stop. This isn't going to work."
"Tyler, tell her you'll shut the fuck up," Caleb said, his teeth clenched because he was getting pissed at me.
"I will shut the fuck up. All I want is an explanation."
"Fine," she said, slamming her book closed. "If you really want to know, I'll answer that one, but this is going to be too hard to do if we argue every night. Caleb just got home from being gone for ten weeks. I missed him, and I feel guilty that I was cheating on him with you all those weeks."
"Oh okay. Glad to know it's just a pity or guilt trip fuck," I threw back at him.
Caleb laughed. "You think I give a shit what the reason is?"
"Enough! One more word from either of you and I will move back in with Jess. Then you can both date me, drop me off at her place at night, and go to bed alone."
Caleb mimed zipping his lips, then with a shit-eating grin, picked Lauren up in a fireman's carry and headed to his room.
"Caleb!" she yelled. "I can still change my mind."
"But you won't," he said confidently before shutting his bedroom door.
Well, looked like it was time to pop in a pain pill, find some earplugs, and pass the fuck out.
…
Caleb
God I'd missed this woman. The last two days it'd felt like we'd picked up right where we left off. Hearing Lauren's laugh and see
ing her smile again was even better than I remembered. The only thing missing between us since I got home was what we were finally about to do.
After I carried Lauren into my room I shut my bedroom door and let her slide down the front of my body until her bare feet hit the floor. My arms circled around her small waist, pulling her flush against my body from chest to hip. The look on her face told me everything she didn't need to say. She missed me and wanted me.
"Thank you," I told her, after pressing a quick soft kiss to her lips.
"For sleeping with you tonight?" she laughed.
"For that, and for giving me another chance. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to kiss you again."
"I missed you," she said softly, blinking back tears in her beautiful green eyes. I had no idea until this moment how much my leaving had honestly hurt her.
"Good, because I missed you so damn much. And tonight we're going to make up for a lot of lost time," I told her with a grin.
"Oh really? I thought you'd have me up against the wall and be in me by now. At this pace we'll never-"
My lips on hers put an end to her words, and when my tongue delved into her mouth she relaxed and melted into my arms. Her arms reached up and wrapped around my neck, holding me to her tightly. God, my memory had been sorely lacking on how it felt to kiss her. When we finally broke apart, panting, I pulled her shirt over her head and she reached for mine. She gave a small sound of appreciation.
"Somebody's been doing some crunches," she teased, as she rubbed her fingertips down the ridges of my more defined abs, all the way to the waistband of my jeans. Unbuttoning and unzipping them she pushed them and my boxers down while I stripped her of her pajama shorts and panties. Lifting her up from her bottom, I carried her the three feet to my bed and laid her down before climbing on top of her, our tongues continuing to tease and explore each other's mouths.
When my mouth began a descent down her body she stopped breathing and went still.
"I thought about you every day. How good you feel." My mouth and hands ravished her breasts. "How beautiful you are. How good you taste."
Moving lower I kissed her flat stomach, just before my lips softly placed a kiss between her legs.
Three more open mouth kisses later and she was writhing under me. "Please Caleb," she begged.
"Please what sweetheart?"
"I want your mouth on me."
"My mouth is on you. You'll have to be more specific," I said with a grin, looking up at her from between her thighs, before teasing her with another kiss on her most sensitive flesh.
"Oh God! Fuck me with your tongue," she moaned. My tongue snaked out and licked all the way up her slit before retreating, making her whimper and yearn for more.
"What is it you want me to do with my tongue?" I asked, intentionally holding out on her to make her lose her mind.
"Fuck me. Please make me come," she begged, then moaned and arched her back when my tongue pressed against her clit. I hit just the right spot, over and over again until she exploded.
She still hadn't come back down when I entered her, the waves of her orgasm continuing to flow, making her inner walls clench around my cock.
"Oh God I've missed you. Missed this," I told her before grabbing her bottom with both hands to raise her hips, grinding my pelvis against her clit. She wrapped her legs around me and cried out as the pressure started building inside of her again.
"You want me to make you come again?" I asked, before my mouth locked onto her throat.
"Yes, please God yes!" she moaned, loud enough for our neighbors to probably hear, then she grabbed onto my shoulders as her body started shaking uncontrollably, and I found my own incredible release inside her. Ten weeks had been way too long.
I clutched her to me, probably almost uncomfortably so. My lips brushed lightly over her forehead, then the tip of her nose, across her cheek and down to her shoulder, needing to make up for all the missed touches and kisses while I was away. I regretted leaving her so damn much, and now I was going to show her how much I cared about her. I was going to remind her of how fucking good we were together, and damn it, I wasn’t going to give up until I made her mine.
Chapter Twenty
Tyler
I woke up with the sunlight streaming in my bedroom window, reaching for Lauren before I remembered last night. Fuck. I didn’t know if I could do this again. I’d spent the night listening to them fuck, just like every night the first few weeks after they met.
Some part of me hoped it’d be awkward for them, or that Lauren would change her mind…but nope, that wasn’t the case. It was like he’d never left, and she and I had hadn’t spent the last nine weeks together. Goddamn it. I didn’t want to get out of bed and have to see them, and the pain in my shoulder and leg only put me in an even shittier mood.
I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling when the door opened. Lauren came in hesitantly, her hair still damp from a shower, wearing her jeans and t-shirt.
“Hey,” she said softly, her cheeks blushing.
“Hey.”
“Are you doing okay? Can I get you anything before I leave for class?”
Shit, it was Monday, and she was only asking to be nice.
“No thanks, I’m fine.”
She waited at the door a few seconds more before she came around and climbed into bed on my right side. I watched as she stretched out beside me then leaned down to kiss me.
“Good morning,” she said softly. I hated how easy it was for her to erase my anger. I rolled to my right side to face her, grabbing her hip to pull her closer. I covered her mouth with mine, needing to reminder her how good we are together.
She pulled back first and smiled. “I’ve got to get going, but I’ll see you this afternoon. Maybe we can watch some movies together, okay?”
“Okay.”
“I love you Tyler.”
I closed my eyes, wanting to ask her how she could love me and fuck him last night, but I knew that would only put more distance between us.
“I love you too,” I told her, then with one last kiss she was gone and out the front door.
Figuring I should probably get up and try to find something to eat with my pain medicine, I heaved myself out of bed and hobbled to the kitchen.
Caleb was eating a bowl of cereal at the dining table, his shit-eating grin in place before he ever saw me.
“Morning Ty,” he said all bright and cheerful.
I flipped him off with both hands before grabbing and pouring my own bowl of cereal.
“I’d ask if someone pissed in your corn flakes, but you haven’t had any yet.”
I looked up at him and shook my head. “I’ve never wanted to hit you as much as I do at this fucking moment.”
“I love you too bro,” he said with a chuckle. “Are you cranky because we kept you up last night? I slept like a baby after the fourth-“
“Shut the fuck up,” I warned him, then sat down at the other end of the table to show him he wasn’t getting to me, even though he was actually aggravating the fuck out of me. “I hope you can take it as good as you give it, fucker.”
“Well, the whole neighborhood knows how good I give it, but taking it isn’t really my thing.”
“Just because you won one round doesn’t mean you won the fight. You’re still a pity fuck.”
“You can say that now, but what excuse will you use in a few weeks when she’s still coming for me?”
I ignored that comment.
“Holy shit!” he exclaimed, smacking his hand on the table. “You are actually starting to worry that she might choose me.”
“Of course I worry she’ll pick you.”
“No, you weren’t this worried yesterday. You were so damn confident you had it in the bag, but now you’re doubting yourself, and you should, because I’m not going down without a fight.”
“If you think I’m going to say screw it, and give up and walk away, you can forget that shit too.”
“She missed me, more
than she even realized. And after a few more nights like last night, you and I are going to be on equal ground, even after your nine week advantage. I’m gaining on you asshole.”
“You’ve always been an arrogant prick.”
“Right now I’d put our odds at 60/40, but give me until the weekend and it’ll be 50/50.”
“Bullshit. Tell yourself what you want, but it’s more like 90/10 buddy.”
“Gotta start somewhere,” he said with a smile and a shrug before standing up from the table. “And if you were the man for her, then that ten percent would have never been up for grabs.”
“As soon as the doctor clears me I think you and I should take up boxing. What do you say?” I asked.
“Or MMA. Any arena where I can whoop your ass.”
Despite how fucked up the situation was I couldn’t help but laugh at the bastard.
…
Hours later when Lauren got home from school we curled up on the couch to watch movies and eat popcorn. It was nice, so nice I almost forgot about the night before. Well, until Caleb came home. When he walked in and saw us he froze. It took him a full minute to recover.
"Hey Caleb," Lauren said all bubbly and happy, breaking his trance.
"Hey sweetheart. How'd you test go?" he asked before sitting down in the living room chair, pissing me off that she'd talked to him about school but not me.
"Good. I think at worst I got a B."
"Awesome. I was worried you'd be tired since you didn't get much sleep last night."
I flipped him off with the hand behind Lauren's head so she wouldn't see it.
"I got plenty of sleep," she responded, so into the movie that she completely missed his jab at me.
The time for her nightly decision was approaching, and even though it was stupid I held out hope she'd go to bed with me. I wasn't the only one sweating it. Caleb tried to act like he was watching Super Troopers, but he was chewing his nails so hard his fingers were probably bleeding.
When the movie finally went off around ten Lauren stood up from the couch and stretched her arms over her head. She looked back and forth between us then her shoulders slumped forward with a sigh.
