A Couple is Three: The Beginning (book 1 & 2 Completed)

Chapter 20 - Forced Into It

A/N  I have been trying to keep my author's notes to a minimum, but this one needs to be written. I want to thank all of you, who read this story and those who vote, from the bottom of my heart! You pushed this story into being ranked in romance which is the toughest category to be ranked in. Two days ago this story was ranked 770 and I was esctatic. I had not even expected it to be ranked.

Today, this story was ranked 230! I am beyond floored! Thank you all again for joining me on this voyage with Josh, Jake, and Samantha.  ❤️

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"No!" exploded out of Josh's mouth before he could stop it causing Samantha to jump. The force of his refusal had all his muscles clenching. He knew that she wasn't trying to be mean and didn't deserve this, but it was a sore spot for him. Discussing this issue with Jake always led to arguments so Jake no longer even brought it up with him.

He slowly unclenched his fists and rolled his shoulders trying to loosen up. He worked at breathing in through his mouth and out through his nose to center himself just like all his martial arts training had suggested. When he felt calm enough he forced himself to speak softly and quietly, but with a hint of steel running through it. He didn't want Samantha to think that he was going to change his mind on this issue.

"You know why I can't tell him. I'm not going to be responsible for putting a wedge between him and my mother," Josh tried to remind her, but Samantha hadn't forgotten this. She remembered that his mother liked Cheryl, but if his mother only knew what Cheryl had sent, Samantha was sure that his mother would change her mind.

"Josh," she tried again, hesitantly this time, "I understand why you didn't tell him before, but this time is different. It's far more serious and we need an adult."

"I can't do it," he stated jamming his hands into the front pockets of his blue jeans. He tried to make his face as indifferent as possible, but his eyes showed everything. They no longer had the warmth of a roaring fire in them, instead they were cold, ice cold.

Samantha shivered, wrapping her arms around herself to try to regain some of the warmth that had gone out of her when she looked into Josh's eyes. She honestly didn't know what to do. She couldn't force Josh to tell his parents even though she firmly believed that they needed to know. She also knew that there was no way she could go behind his back and tell them. To do so would be to lose Josh and then Jake forever. That would be even worse than dealing with Cheryl by herself. She felt like crying, but there was no way that she was going to show any weakness. They needed to discuss this, not sweep it under a rug.

Josh looked at Jake. "What? Have nothing to say?" Josh snarked.

Jake held up both his hands in a sign of surrender. "You know my views on this, Josh. They haven't changed, but I didn't push it before because she was just an annoyance. Now...," he said softly while dropping his hands and shoulders in defeat.

"This time she is breaking the law. If we are caught with those photos or if she decides to tell the police herself about the photos, but lies about how we got them, then we are in big trouble. We need an adult to know," Samantha pleaded with him. The tears that she had been trying to hold back started streaming down her face.

"Shit!" muttered Josh as he watched her tears come down. He didn't want her to cry, but there was no way that he could tell his parents.

Jake reached out and wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs. He looked her in the eye and silently asked if she was ok. She nodded her head, but couldn't produce a smile to reassure him. He pulled her to him, spinning her around so that her back was nestled into his chest allowing him to wraps his arms around her from behind.