Presque Vu

Chapter 35

"I'm sorry, I just don't think it's right!" Raina protested.

"Raina, please be reasonable," Jared pointed out.

Raina grabbed her mug and got up from the table, heading back into the house, cursing Jared's stubbornness. He was probably doing the same, she realized, ruing the day he had ever fallen for such a stubborn woman. She felt sure, however, that she was in the right this time.

"Wait," Shannon said as he grabbed her elbow. "I know you're just trying to look out for my feelings but this one is all right with me. I swear."

She stopped and turned around, gazing from Jared to Shannon and back to Jared again. She had never felt quite so much like their plaything as she did at this moment. "How about the fact that it's not okay with me? Why do you two get to decide everything?"

"Well, you know..."" Jared started.

Raina spun on him. "Don't you dare pull the Dom card on me now mister. This isn't funny. I'm serious."

Jared sighed and gently took the coffee mug back from her hands. "Okay, princess. I'm listening. What's your plan?"

"I don't want to be your girlfriend in public. I don't really want to be your girlfriend in private either. I think it skews things too much.

If I can't be with both of you in public..." Jared looked like he was about to interrupt her so Raina cut him off "... and I understand why that's not on the table. But if I can't do that then I don't want to seem to be with either one of you. We should just appear to be good friends. That's it. How hard is that?"

"Raina, you've already been introduced to some people as my girlfriend. It's a little late to put the cork back in that bottle."

"Only the few people that actually know it's the three of us, not you and me. So it doesn't really count does it?"

Shannon spoke up again, "Raina, I'm not trying to discount what you want. But really, I think you'll be better off if you at least have Jared as a boyfriend publicly. You'll want to grab someone's hand or cuddle or something sooner or later. I have a reputation as a hugger and snuggler. It won't look weird if you hug me or whatever but Jared doesn't really do that. Not on my level. People will notice if you two are are always grabbing each other, even in a non-romantic way."

Raina considered what he was saying. She had been turning that and many other things over and over in her head during the last week and a half that she had spent at Jared's house. She was finally starting to sort what she wanted and find the will to fight for it. What Shannon was saying made sense but it just wasn't what she wanted or was ready for. "Well if we get to that point we can deal with it then. How about we start with things my way, just really good friends, and then if we get caught at something else, then maybe we can change the story. Relationships evolve sometimes. It wouldn't be that unusual to go from friends to dating."

Raina could see Jared trying to reign in his pout. "So basically I could just kiss you in front of someone and end this whole thing?" he said.

"Don't you fucking dare," Raina fumed. "Don't be so damn dismissive and disrespectful of my boundaries."

"It was just a joke. I wouldn't do that, I promise," Jared soothed. Raina scowled at him. "I promise!"

"So I guess it's going to be just friends? At least as far as appearances go" Shannon asked.

"Yes. Please."

Jared set her mug back down on the table in front of her seat. "Okay. I am willing to agree to that for now. So could you please come sit back down?"