Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
14
NOAH
I was just going over the latest returns on Ethan’s investment portfolio with him when Leo arrived at the loft. We were trying to act normal, but the excitement was a buzz of tension in the room.
“She’s gonna say yes,” Leo announced as he put a six-pack in the refrigerator.
“I know you said on the phone that her only concern was hurting us, but it’s an unconventional step,” I cautioned them. “She’s lonely, but she’s not desperate. If this seems wrong to her, she’s not going through with it. We’re serious and she knows it.”
“Madison is unlikely to make a choice based on how sexy it sounds to her,” Ethan said flatly, “she may not know what she wants yet, because she doesn’t think it's possible, but I think I can say this to you two in confidence. She’s the one. I knew it during dinner the other night. She’s it for me.”
“Do you—want us to back off?” I said.
“What? And ‘let me have her’ like she’s the last beer in the fridge? No. I’m telling you how serious this is for me. How serious I know it is for us all. I’m not going to make her choose and say something stupid like you can be with me, move in here, or you can be with my brothers too. That’s a stupid thing to say and preys on this traditional idea of monogamy or faithfulness that gets drilled into everyone as we grow up.”
Leo chuckled, ‘You said drilled.”
“Fine, on second thought maybe I’ll say that I want her, or she could be with Noah and me since you’re over there making dick jokes,” Ethan said wryly.
“You’re right,” I said.”
“About what?” Leo asked, “Not joking about leaving me out of the equation I hope.”
“No, of course not. About not giving her ultimatums that create an artificial test of loyalty and commitment. We’re not trying to pin her down or make her sign a contract. The idea here, as I see it, is to create something new where we’re all happy and can explore what we could have with Madison. On her terms.”
“Agreed,” the other two said.
When a knock came at the door, I cleared away my laptop and papers while Ethan answered the door. I watched from the corner of my eye as he kissed her cheek and welcomed her in, not a whispered word.
I wanted to grab Madison by the hand, take her to the couch, pull her down with me, and start making out. That was how wound up, how high school-esque over-the-top in love I felt about her. Like the attraction was consuming everything.
She went to the table and sat down, asking us to join her. “I was nervous coming here,” she admitted. We sat down and listened, nodded our agreement. “Nobody has ever offered anything like this to me. I just want to know how it would look, what it would be like before I agree to anything. What are the rules?”
“There are no rules,” I offered, “whatever we want it to look like is what it is. You, I’m sure, have something in mind, and you can give us an idea of what that would be.”
“Okay, well, it’s a dumb question, but would we have to make a schedule? Like Mondays and Thursdays with one, Tuesdays and Saturday, Wednesday and Sunday. That kind of thing?”
We exchanged a look and shook our heads. “We don’t want to do anything you aren’t uncomfortable with. Suppose you want a schedule—I’m not a schedule kind of guy myself, but I’ll adapt. In that case, we can do that,” Leo said. I knew it was not an idea he liked, but he showed patience and eagerness to ensure she was okay with this. I admired how he was handling the question and stayed quiet myself.
“You can let things happen organically, be with whoever you feel like, whenever you feel like it, and the other two will be available to you for a midnight snack and binging Suits or whatever.”
“We’d watch TV?” she said with an incredulous smile.
“What do you mean? We all do whatever we want. If you want to play Call of Duty, then that’s what we do,” Leo said.
“I don’t see myself wanting to play Call of Duty,” she said with a giggle.
“You get my meaning though,” I said, “that you don’t have to do anything to set up activities or make plans. If you show up at one of our apartments and you just can’t sleep and it’s one-thirty, and you think getting dicked down would help, that’s what we’ll do.”
“You call the shots,” Ethan put in. “No rules on what we do, who attends, when and where. You’re an adult and so are we. There’s no obligation to see us more than one at a time, or to keep track of who gets what. I’m going to use the word, guys,” Ethan warned ruefully. “I’m falling for you, Madison. It may scare you off, but I need to be honest about this. Because what I’m trying to tell you is that love doesn’t keep score.”