Love The One You're With

Chapter 23-The Rules

"I think so," I replied nervously as I leaned against the counter across from them, slowly taking a sip from my coffee cup. Seeing Jake in his loose fitting light wash jeans and dark blue button up shirt that he left mostly unbuttoned made me feel slightly underdressed in my black cotton shorts and loose fitting Pink Floyd shirt that I had cropped myself. Sam, on the other hand, was wearing just a pair of tie dye shorts that could possibly be shorter than mine.

"Quinnie, I think you know how much you mean to both of us.." Sam began in an unsteady tone before glancing over to Jake.

"And clearly you're having trouble making a decision, love. So we think you should just date us both.." Jake said calmly as if he hadn't just offered some preposterous solution that definitely would not work in the real world.

"Only until you can pick one of us.." Sam added as he shot Jake a look, clearly he had left that out.

"Uh huh..and how would that work?" I asked as I fought back laughter that was now bubbling inside me. They had to be insane..

"That's where it gets interesting, actually.  We would essentially take turns dating you until the deadline—we're thinking 3 months from now...then you pick one of us to stay with. It's pretty simple," Jake replied in a nonchalant tone and an easy smile.

"There's ground rules, though. Neither of us are going to have sex with you...no matter how bad you want it, Quinnie," Sam teased with a wink causing me to laugh. "We don't want our arrangement to feel like we're taking advantage of you or using you..this is real for both of us, and we want to take it seriously."

"Wow.." was all I could manage. This was not what I was expecting to come from this conversation and I felt a little caught off guard. "Can I think about it?" I asked as I raked my fingers through my hair.

"As long as you need to, Quinnie," Sam replied sweetly. I nodded empathetically before grabbing my coffee cup and disappearing into my room, unable to look at them while I mulled this over. A million thoughts raced through my mind as I sat down on the edge of my bed. I honestly thought I had lost them both, but now I somehow had them both back? I could hear them talking in the kitchen still, and I felt butterflies.

"I told you this was going to freak her out.." Sam groaned.

"Did you have a better suggestion? Because I love her and I know that I'm right for her, but for some reason she can't stay away from you...at least this will give her a chance to figure it out for herself," Jake replied in an annoyed tone.

"I love her and she loves me! If you were so right for her, you wouldn't have let her down like you did at Halloween...we've been drawn together since the beginning.." Sam said loudly before trailing off. I sat my cup on the night stand and threw myself backwards on my bed staring at the ceiling. What the fuck is my life...

After laying there thinking for a while, I stood up taking a few deep breaths before walking back out of my bedroom to find the boys sitting on the couch with guitars playing along with a record that was spinning. They quickly sat their instruments down when they saw me walk in.

"Let's do this," I said as confidently as I could. "I have a few rules, though.." I added as I kicked my foot nervously as I glanced down.

"Of course, love! Ultimately you're in charge here..." Jake said as he reached out to take my hand, pulling me into the empty space between them.

"Anything you need, Quinnie.." Sam said as he snaked an arm around me pulling me closer to him. Jake glared at him before placing his hand on my thigh.

"This," I said as I lifted Jake's hand and pushed away from Sammy. "This kind of stuff can't keep happening. I'm not a prize for either of you to win, so I don't want you fighting over me," I added as I looked from one to the other. They both looked embarrassed as they looked down at their hands in their laps. "No sabotaging dates in any way. No asking me about the other, and no tantrums at the end when I decide because you are brothers regardless of what happens...okay?" I said sternly as I put one hand on Sam's knee and one on Jake's squeezing both lightly. They nodded quietly and I smiled. Maybe this would work. "Oh! And when you said no sex..does that mean..." I trailed off unsure how to finish the thought.