50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter One Hundred Four

    Destiny's heart fell into the pit of her stomach. "Then how could I agree to something like this? How could you?"

    "Because seeing you torn apart over this is tearing me apart," Aubrey said.

    She tucked curly strands of hair behind her ear, lowering her eyes.

    "I'm supposed to care for you and your well-being, and you're not well, Destiny," he told her. "You're stressing yourself out because of doubts you have about us, and I can't stand for that. Something needs to be done. This is the only thing I could think of. If you can think of something else, please. Tell me. Let me know."

    "If you'd told me about this before, warned me that you were thinking up something like this, maybe I could have thought of something," she said, but her voice didn't sound the least bit confident.

    Aubrey glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Take some time. Think about it. We all need to take time, make sure it's something we would really want to take part in. We can revisit this in a few days."

    "If you're hesitating because you're afraid of hurting me again, don't let that keep you from agreeing to this." Brian, still kneeling down in front of her, squeezed her hands. "Don't worry about me."

    "Don't worry about you?" She frowned at him. "You almost bit my head off in that hotel room in D.C. I understand why, but...I just find it hard to believe you'd be okay with this."

    "I was wrong for that, and I won't take my frustration out on you like that again," he promised.

    "So...you want to do this? You want to try this?" She searched his eyes.

    He nodded. "Yeah. I do."

    She turned her head and looked at Aubrey. "And you're sure that this is something you want to do?"

    "Want to do?" His gaze slid over to Brian. "Not quite. But do I feel it needs to happen, so we can all move on once and for all? Yes. One hundred percent."

    "So then it falls on me to decide," she said, moving her hands from beneath Brian's.

    "That seems to be the running theme," Brian said, standing.

    "Well...I do need time to think about this," she told both of them, also standing. "Since both of you seem to have your minds made up, I wanted to give you an answer tonight, but...this is just too crazy for me to even fully grasp."

    Aubrey looked up at her. "Then we'll all take some time to think about it. Thank you again, Brian, for coming over on such short notice."

    "Of course," Brian said.

    "Destiny, will you please show Brian to the door?" Aubrey asked, tapping his fingers on the back of the couch.

    "Sure." She walked around Brian and led the way to the door to the condo.

    "Hey."

    Reluctantly, she looked up at him.

    "I'm sorry, for making you feel like I hated you," he said. "I didn't know you felt that way."

    "It's fine," she said, opening the door. "I deserved it."

    "No, you didn't," he insisted. He walked past her and moved to stand in the hallway, but turned back to her. "For what it's worth, I hope you agree to what Aubrey is suggesting."

    Still holding onto the door handle, she said, "I'll think about it."

    He took a step forward, leaned down, and kissed her on the cheek.

    Her eyes grew wide.

    "Goodnight, Destiny," he said, and turned down the hall.

    She leaned her head on the edge of the door, watching him walk towards the elevators. A plan like this can't possibly work. There are too many variables, too many ways that this can get messy. She closed the door and walked back into the living room. Instead of sitting on the couch beside Aubrey, she sat in the armchair Brian had been seated in.

    Aubrey's gaze followed her every move.

    "This idea is insane," she told him.

    "I agree. Wholeheartedly."

    "You said that we would all get tested, and that I would go on birth control," she said slowly. "Meaning...you expect for me to sleep with him again. With both of you."

    "It is a part of how you determine who you want to be with," he said matter-of-factly. "So I would expect for you to sleep with him, yes."

    She grimaced. "But that's...that's..."

    "...Something that men have done for ages without critique," Aubrey finished for her. "Something that men do and get praised for, while women who do the same thing are ridiculed and slut-shamed. It's getting late, and we should really go to bed." He rose and walked over to the dining room table. He stacked the dishes and carried them over to the sink.

    She watched him and wondered how he was such as a master at talking about the most complex, sensitive topics as if they were just casual surface conversation. He'd once admitted to being possessive. There was no way he could be this calm and collected about the idea of her dating him while dating Brian, but he was the picture perfect image of nonchalance as he returned back to her and extended a hand. Without hesitation, she took his hand and followed him to the bedroom.

~~~~~~

    Aubrey pressed gentle kisses to Destiny's bare shoulder while holding her body against his with the strength of one arm. It hadn't been easy, watching her and Brian talk to each other as if no one else was in the room with them. They had a genuine bond, most likely formed while Aubrey was away. All the more reason why this is something we all have to do, he thought while pressing more kisses to her shoulder.

    She released a small moan, followed by a breathy sigh. "Whenever you hold me like this, it feels like I belong to you," she said, sounding incredibly sleepy.

    "Feels like...." He buried his nose in her hair and tightened his arm around her.

    "That's something that I really miss," she said softly. "I miss feeling like I belong to you all the time."

    He raised his head and looked down at her. "And I miss feeling like you belong to me all the time." His voice was thick with emotion.

    "If I agreed to this crazy idea of yours...what if it doesn't end the way we want it to?" she asked him curiously.

    It was a question he'd been asking himself the minute Brian had knelt down in front of Destiny earlier. "That is..." He paused. "That is a bridge we can cross once we come to it."

    "I don't understand how you can be so calm about everything," she said, smothering a yawn with one hand. "I'm freaking out about all of this and you're as cool as a cucumber. How do you do that?"

    It's all a front. I'm scared as shit. "I don't know, baby girl, but you should really try to get some sleep."

    She grabbed onto his hand and lifted it to her lips. After kissing it, she cuddled against him. She found sleep, long before he did.