50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Torn: Chapter Two

    "I've...thought about it, yes," Destiny replied, tucking curly hair behind one ear. She raised a bent knee onto the couch as she turned to face him. "But...I don't like the idea."

    "Trust me, I don't like it either," he told her. "However, for us to move forward, I do feel like it has to happen."

    She fidgeted with the bottom of her pajama pants.

    "What do you have an issue with? Is it still the sleeping with two men issue?"

    "Issue?" she echoed. "As if something is wrong with me and not the act of jumping from one bed to the other?"

    He laughed and stroked his jaw. "I didn't mean to make it sound that way. A lot of people your age date openly. That's what dating is, really...getting to know someone before you move onto the next step. Not everyone dates only one person during that period. And back in the old days, it was common for women to have a number of male suitors who courted her."

    "On dates that were chaperoned, so no funny business went down," she added.

    He nodded. "Back then they were very prim in that regard, yes. Well...sometimes they were prim. There were couples who got around the chaperones."

    She sighed and tilted her head back. "I can't wrap my head around dating two men at the same time. I also can't wrap my head around why you're pushing the idea on me. Why would you want me to agree to something like this?"

    "Because I see what you're doing to yourself, and I refuse to stand for it," he explained. "But it's not just that. Not to push the age factor, but you are young. We've got - what - ten years' difference between us, right?"

    "So?" she asked him.

    "So, I'm at a phase in my life where I'm ready to settle down. But you..." He hesitated, trying to search for the right words. "You're at a time in your life when you should be out there, finding out what you like. Experimenting."

    "I get more than enough of my share of experimenting, just by being with you," she commented.

    He had the grace to blush a little. "Touche," he said quietly, dropping his gaze.

    I never knew he was capable of blushing. He always seems so...bold, so in control all the time. She smiled at how adorable he looked with red cheeks. "I understand what you're saying, but if I'm in love with someone I would settle down with them. I don't care how young or old I am."

    "It's just that too often, I see couples who spend their young years together, only to find out that they should have never been together in the first place," he told her. "In my opinion, people should take time to date around a bit before settling down, so you get a good idea of what you like, and what you don't. It's a chance for you to get to know yourself better, a chance to grow as an individual before attaching yourself to someone else. Too many people skip this very important part of growing and evolving, and as a result, end up with the wrong person. You've already shown that you have doubts you should be with me. Before we settle down or anything like that, I want those doubts to go away. Completely. "

    "So you one hundred percent feel like I should do this?" she asked him.

    "Yes," he answered without hesitation.

    She exhaled and rubbed her temples. "And how would that work? He would ring your doorbell and ask for me, and you two would give each other a high-five before I go on a date with him?"

    He laughed abruptly. "I don't know about that."

    "Then what?" she demanded. "Help me understand how something this crazy could actually work. Help me understand how this doesn't end up with you and Brian fighting each other, or feeling jealous of one another."

    He stopped laughing and shrugged. "I don't know what you want to hear, Destiny."

    "For me to agree to this, it has to make sense to me," she said. "And it doesn't make sense to me at all. Just like how sending me off to live with Brian in the first place didn't make sense to me. The way I felt that day, that's how I feel right now. I feel like...I feel like it's a very bad idea. I have a bad feeling about it."

    "Then don't agree to it," he said, the expression on his face turning serious.

    But then...then these feelings will continue to eat me up, she thought sadly. And I'll keep thinking of Brian, and eventually I'll wonder if I should have ended up with him. There is no easy path here. I either choose to go along with his idea, and wind up having to hurt one of them, or I stay with him and continue to feel guilty over thoughts about Brian - and hope for the day when I stop thinking about him.

    Aubrey reached up and touched one of her curls. "You're not refusing to go along, because on some level you know that it's what you need to do in order to make sure you choose the right person."

    "But I feel like...I feel like if I choose you, I can't go wrong," she said quietly.

    A sad smile touched his lips.

    "If I had to choose today, it would be you," she went on, her brows drawing together. "So why can't I just...choose you?"

    "You can," he said. "You can choose me, and we can go on with our life together."

    She started to smile.

    "But," he said, letting the word stand alone.

    Her smile faltered.

    "Before you choose to do that, I ask you this: when was the last time you fantasized about Brian?"

    A lump formed in her throat and it took a lot of effort and multiple attempts for her to swallow it.

    "When was the last time you wondered if you should be with Brian?" he asked, once he realized she wasn't going to respond to the first question.

    She broke eye contact with him.

    "As far as how this would work, I don't know how this would work," he said, leaning close to her and draping an arm around her shoulders. "While you may perceive me as some sort of expert in all things polygamous, because of my experience as a casual dater, this is the first time I've allowed someone that I was truly head over heels for, to date someone else. So...I don't know. I can't answer all of your questions. I can't promise not to be jealous. I can't promise to not want to punch Brian in the mouth for touching you. All I can promise is that I'm here, and that when you come home from seeing him, I'll still be here. I'll still be in love with you."

    Her bottom lip trembled at the thought of him sitting at home waiting for her to return from a date with Brian. "Why aren't you more worried about any of this?"

    "Honestly?" he asked her, looking her in the eyes.

    Meeting his gaze, she nodded.

    He stared at her for a long moment, and the look in his eyes was so intense, it felt like he was looking into her very soul. "Because I already know how this ends. This ends with you choosing me. It can't end any other way. You were made for me. I know that as surely as I know that the sky is blue, or as surely as I know that I need air to breathe. No higher power in this world would bring a woman as perfect as you, as beautiful and funny and passionate and intelligent and open-minded as you are, into my life just to take her back out of it. So...I guess you can say that I'm not worried because I have faith. I have faith in you. I have faith in our love. And I have faith in myself. You were made for me, but I also feel that I was made for you. You saw that once before, and once you see that anything you feel for Brian pales in comparison to what you feel for me, you'll understand that the only choice you can make, is to choose me. I mean...it's going to me, baby girl. It's always been me, and it's always going to be me."