15. Aubree
FIFTEEN
Brody and Hayden,
While I’m upset at what you did by not telling me that you knew I was dating you both, I am not without fault, so I want to apologize. Until you two came along, I had only gone on one crappy date since Pete passed away. And before him, I only had one boyfriend in high school, so I’m not extremely experienced in the world of dating.
When you both asked me out, I wasn’t quite ready to move on yet, but Lacey convinced me to get out there, so I did with Brody, but then he had the wrong number, and I assumed he didn’t want to see me again, so I agreed to go out with Hayden. And then Brody came in. I never meant to date you both, and I wasn’t trying to pull one over on either of you, but somehow, it happened. I kept telling myself I would pick one of you, but the more I fell for you both, the harder it became. I’ve spent so much time trying to pick, and I can’t.
When I met my husband, the first time he looked at me, I got butterflies, and the same thing happened with both of you. At first, I thought maybe the butterflies were a lie, that they didn’t mean what I thought they meant. But then I realized they were accurate. It would be my luck that when I moved on, I would fall for not one but two guys.
The fact is, I could see a future with both of you. I know it’s early on, and anything could happen, but I wouldn’t continue to date someone I don’t see a future with. Who I can’t imagine introducing to my kids. That is why I was so hurt when I found out you guys are best friends and roommates.
It was one thing to pick one of you when you didn’t know each other, but now that I know you’re friends, I can’t do it. And that hurts because I went from having two amazing guys who I was enjoying getting to know to having no one. And I feel like if you would’ve been honest, my heart could’ve been saved because I would’ve stopped seeing you both a long time ago. But you weren’t. And now, I have to end things with both of you. I truly wish you both the best, and I’m sorry for my part in all of this.
xo Bree
I hit send on the group chat, figuring it’s best to message them both at the same time—since I don’t have their emails—then exit the thread. It’s been eighteen hours since I found out I was not only dating two men but two best friends, and my heart still hurts. Yeah, I’m mad that they hid it, but I’m more hurt than anything because they let me get to know them and care about them both, and now I have to be without them both, which sucks.
After closing up and thanking Jessica—who is in culinary school and loves to bake—for opening this morning and handling all the baking when I realized I was in no place to open the shop myself after crying all night, I head home.
I call my kids and chat with them for a little while—telling them no less than a dozen times that I miss them—and then decide to throw on my pajamas and make the rest of the day a wallow day. Tomorrow, I’ll wake up, ready to move on, but today I need to wallow with a pint of ice cream and an ugly cry book. As I’m grabbing my e-reader from the bathroom where I left it last night, there’s a buzz from the intercom. Assuming it’s Lacey coming to check on me, I buzz her in and unlock the door, swinging it open so she can come right in.
Only it’s not Lacey who enters, but Brody…and Hayden, both dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, somehow looking sexier casually dressed than they did in their tuxes last night.
“Do you always blindly let strangers up and unlock the door so they have access to you?” Brody chides as they stroll in like they own the place.
I shake my head, shocked and confused as to why they’re here. “I thought you were Lacey,” I stammer. “She texted me that she would be by this afternoon.”
“Text her that you have company,” Hayden says, taking my hand in his and guiding us toward my couch. “We need to talk.”
“Umm…” I shake my head again, watching Brody close and lock the door.
“In the future, you need to ask who’s at your door,” Brody says. “What if it were a kidnapper or a sex trafficker, or someone coming to rob you?”
“Umm…” I repeat because what the fuck? “Did you get my message?”
They both nod.
“We did,” Hayden says, “but we don’t agree or accept it.”
“What?” I choke out with a baffled laugh.
“We’re not going to apologize for both of us dating you,” Brody says, sitting on the coffee table in front of me while Hayden sits beside me. “Dating you was the best decision we’ve made. Should we have told you? Yeah, and that’s on us, not you. In the beginning, we honestly thought you’d pick one of us. When you didn’t, we both fell for you, and since neither of us was willing to give you up, we accepted that we were both dating you.”
“And we don’t want to stop,” Hayden adds.
“So you want me to just date you both?” I choke out, wondering if this is some kind of joke.
“You said in your message you couldn’t pick because you like us both,” Brody says, his face deadly serious. “Well, we both like you too. And we both want to be with you.”
“So the only solution is for you to date us both,” Hayden says matter-of-factly.
“Until I decide?” I glance at each of them. “I’m not going to do that to either of you. That’s what I was trying to do, and look how that turned out.”
“No.” Brody shakes his head. “We don’t want you to choose…”
“Unless, at some point, you feel that one of us isn’t for you,” Hayden finishes. “But as long as you want us both, we want to be with you.”
“We’d rather share you than lose you,” Brody says, taking my hand in his and kissing the top of it. His lips are soft yet firm, and the way they linger on my flesh sends sparks through my body, straight to the apex of my legs. For a moment, I’m distracted by the way he makes me feel… until his words hit me.
“Are you insane? Are you seriously suggesting I date both of you? How would that even work? You take even days…” I eye Brody. “And you have odd.” This time Hayden.
“Nothing has to change,” Hayden says, taking my other hand and threading his fingers through it. The traitorous damn butterflies swarm my belly, and I silently beg them to go away. “Until you found out we were friends, you were dating us both.”
“Yeah, but I also felt guilty as hell!”
“Now you don’t have to feel guilty,” Brody says.
As my gaze flits back and forth between them, I realize they’re serious. They want me to date them both, and they’re okay with it. And then, because I’ve apparently lost my mind, I start to think about how it would all work. Sure, we’ve been dating, and I haven’t done more than kiss them, but eventually, things will move to the next level. “What about sex?” I blurt out.
“You want to have sex with us?” Hayden smirks playfully.
“Well, I mean…” My body heats at the thought of being with them. I imagine Brody would be gentle, taking his time to make love to me sweetly. Hayden, on the other hand, would be a bit more animalistic, devouring every inch of me. The thought of having both of them, in their own way, has me clenching my thighs in want.
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?” Brody grins. “Who were you thinking about? Me or Hayden?” The way he asks, he already knows.
“Both of you,” I breathe out.
“And we both want you,” Hayden says. “We talked about it, and we’re okay with you being with both of us…in every way.”
I’m crazy to even consider this, right? But how can I not? I want them, care about them, and they’re offering a solution where I can keep them.
“So we would be in a relationship, the three of us? Or would it be separate?”
“It can be however you want,” Brody says. “But we’re okay with the three of us being together. It’s probably too soon to talk that far ahead, but if it came to it, we’re okay with sharing you completely. Living together and creating a life together.”
“And what if one of you changes your mind?” Just the thought of one of them walking away has my heart sinking.
“It’s not going to happen,” they both growl at the same time.
“But if it does?” I prompt, refusing to let my question go unanswered. “We have to consider every possibility because the damage and hurt will affect all of us.”
They both nod in understanding, but Brody is the one who answers. “We discussed all of this last night. If one of us decides to walk away or if…” He swallows thickly. “If you decide you don’t want to be with one of us, that person will walk away.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he lifts his hand to halt my words, continuing. “Hayden and I have been best friends since elementary school. We’ve been living together for over ten years. Our friendship is solid. I can promise you that while it will hurt like a bitch, whoever it is you don’t want to be with will walk away without issue, and our friendship will remain intact.”
“This is no different than being in a conventional relationship,” Hayden adds. “Nothing is ever guaranteed in life, but we want this to work if you do. We don’t have all the answers since we’ve never done this before, but we can take it one day at a time…together.”
“I need to think about it,” I say. “This is a huge decision to make. I have two kids…”
“Who aren’t coming home for another month at least. That gives us time to see how it goes.” Brody moves to the couch and lifts me onto his lap so I’m facing Hayden. “We know about your kids, and we look forward to getting to know them.”
“And I need to think about the fact that even though you say it won’t affect your friendship, there’s a possibility it will. And what will people think? You both are prominent businessmen. Aren’t you worried about how this will all look?”
“Is this conventional?” Brody says. “No. But it’s been done plenty of times. And I can assure you that Hayden’s and my friendship is strong enough for this.”
I’m about to respond to the friendship part of what he said when his other words—it’s been done plenty of times—hit me. “Have you guys done this before?”
Hayden and Brody share a look, and then Brody speaks. “In college, Hayden and I hooked up with a few women together.”
Holy shit! “You’ve had multiple threesomes?”
“We were young and experimenting. None of them meant anything, but when I was younger, I thought I might be gay…or maybe bi.” Brody pushes a fallen strand of hair behind my ear and grins sheepishly. “I wasn’t sure what to do or how to figure it out because I was too afraid of what people would say. My parents knew and accepted me no matter what, but the outside world can be cruel as fuck.” He cups the side of my face. “One night, I was struggling. When Hayden and I were with a woman, I was so turned on, and I was afraid I was attracted to my best friend, who I knew wasn’t gay. Hayden came home and said if I wanted to know if I liked guys, I needed to be with one.”
“So what did you do?” I ask, invested in the story.
“I spent the night with Hayden.”
I swing my gaze over to Hayden, who shrugs nonchalantly. “We meant it when we said we’re best friends. I knew Brody wouldn’t be comfortable being with some stranger, so I fucked him.”
“So you’re bi?”
“Eh, I think I was more bi-curious. Don’t get me wrong, I find Hayden attractive.” He smirks at his friend, who waggles his brows playfully. “But being with him made me realize that while it was good, it wasn’t enough. If I never had sex with a guy again, I’d be fine with that.” He glides his hand down to the curve of my hip and squeezes. “But the threesomes we had made me realize I enjoy watching people have sex. The thought of watching you and Hayden together turns me on. The possibility of getting to keep you forever and knowing my best friend is also happy and with the woman he wants to be with makes me fucking happy. And I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks or says.”
“I don’t either,” Hayden agrees. “Maybe it’s because we’re worth billions between the two of us that we don‘t have to give a shit about what anyone thinks, but I have no problem sharing you with my best friend and the world knowing it. My family isn’t close, and I’ve struggled with whether I wanted to be with someone. I was scared to end up in a loveless marriage like my parents. I haven’t been able to picture a future with any woman I’ve dated. The truth is, I was content just simply living with Brody and sharing my life with him. He’s more than my best friend. He’s my family, and the idea of being with you and him, the possibility of spending our lives together, makes me, for the first time, want a future with a woman. I would be nothing but proud to walk down the street with you…and Brody.”
Oh, my heart. I should be freaking out, but the way they love and care about each other and want me to be a part of their lives makes it so hard to be anything but in awe. But the problem is that the fantasy isn’t always the reality.
“I still need to think about this,” I tell them. “I need to make sure I’m okay with everything going into this. I know nothing is guaranteed, but I don’t want to say yes when I’m not completely sure.”
“We get it,” Brody says, leaning in and kissing my lips softly. My stomach knots, wanting more, but all too soon, he ends the kiss and looks at me with patience and understanding in his eyes. “If you need to talk, we’re here.”
As I’m nodding, wishing the kiss could continue, Hayden pinches my chin with his thumb and forefinger and turns my face toward him. His mouth crashes against mine, his tongue pushing past the seam of my lips. My body heats, and before I realize what I’m doing, I slide off Brody and into Hayden’s lap. He chuckles against my lips and breaks the kiss, making me pout.
“You see that?” he murmurs. “The way you felt when you kissed Brody and then me? You can have that all the time. You just have to say yes.” He briefly presses his mouth to mine and then stands, setting me on my feet.
The guys head toward the door, and I almost beg them to stay, but I really do need to think with a clear head. And I can’t do that in their laps while kissing them.
“We’ll wait to hear from you,” Brody says.
“But try not to make us wait too long,” Hayden adds with a wink.