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Authors: C.E. Black

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BOOK: Shifted Temptations
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I jump
ed clear out my skin when I felt a large hand gently wipe the tears from my cheek. Rolling over I saw both men still standing by my bed. Their eyes were wide with worry and confusion as they gazed down at me.

"What are you guys still doing here?" I aske
d wiping the tears off my face.

I must have looked a mess
. I shook my head trying to clear away the numbness that had begun to spread.

Jordan's brows pulled together
as he said, "You asked us to stay."

Now it was my turn to look confused. "Yeah, but you never stay."

That got a reaction from both of them. Jordan looked angry at my statement of course. I loved him, but the man could be broody.

Alex sat on th
e bed; his eyebrows lowered in concern. "We have talked about this Sam. You know we can't stay with you. It was part of the deal we made."

His voice was so soothing I wanted to smack him. Looking between the two men I loved, my anger
grew.

"But you
have never told me why." I almost shouted. "And if you can't stay with me, then why are you here now?"

Jordan
voice was soft. He did not look as angry, but there was a tightness around his eyes that told me he was definitely uncomfortable.

"We wi
ll stay for a little while, just until you fall asleep, but that is all we can promise."

I looked at Alex. "He talks for you now too?" I practically sneered.

He gave me a chiding look. "No, but he is right. Now, tell us what's wrong."

Both men stared at me expectantly, but I wasn't ready. They were willing to stay with me for a li
ttle while and there was no reason to ruin my special time with them. Sighing, I shook my head, all the fight flowing out of me.

"Not
hing really, I'm just tired. It’s been a long week." I lied.

They both
had given me disbelieving looks, but did not push. Maybe they hadn’t really wanted to know. That thought broke my heart a little bit more.

Jordan nodded. "I noticed the
dark circles under your eyes when we got here." He ducked his head sheepishly and my eyes widen. Jordan rarely looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I was so selfish I didn't stop to think about it."

"It's okay," I stammered.

"You need to take better care of yourself, Sam." Alex gently scolded. "Now scoot over and let us slide in beside you."

They both crawled
into bed, placing me between them. My head rested on Jordan's smooth chest as Alex spooned behind me, our arms surrounding each other. I was in heaven. If only this was how it could always be. I sighed, remembering what tomorrow would bring. It was over and I needed to move on, for myself, for them and for...

“Go to sleep,”
Alex whispered against my neck and I did.

I fell
into a deep dreamless sleep nestled between the two men I loved for the first time and the last.

 

 

 

~ 2 ~

 

Sam

 

Pacing through the living room, I mentally calculated what I had left to do. Everything in the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen were pretty much packed. The living room and a couple of large pieces like the television and a bookcase, I would finish last. Luckily, the apartment came furnished and I would not have to move any of the larger pieces. That made it much easier and faster.

Sighing, I looked around the room again, wishing I could just start filling more boxes. I didn't have much more to pack. The bookshelf had only a few knickknacks and a couple of books. I did hav
e to clean out the TV cabinet. There were a lot of movies in there. I had started somewhat of a collection when Jordan and Alex began coming over for movie nights. Of course, that was before everything got complicated.

As
much as I wanted to, I could not start on the living room yet. I still had to meet with the guys and I did not want them to see me packing. I was going to tell them I was moving, but I saw no sense in throwing it in their faces how quickly I would be gone.

I wasn’t
sure why I bothered. I doubted they would even care. No, that wasn't fair. They would care. In fact, I had not planned the break up to go smoothly. They both were very dominating males and would fight to keep things the way they were, if only to stave off rejection. No, I definitely hadn’t thought they would make it easy for me to walk away.

The phone rang; reminding me it was time to stop stalling. "Hello," I said into the recei
ver.

"Hi Sam,
how did it go?"  My best friend, Liz, asked.

Sighing
, I flopped down onto the couch and clutched a pillow to my chest. "Well...I haven't talk to them yet."

"Why not? Have you changed your mind?"

"No, I haven't changed my mind. I just...I don't know." When silence greeted me, I blew out a breath. "Okay, I do know. I'm scared," I whispered.

"Hey, it's going to be alright." Liz's voice took on the soft quality she was known for. She always knew the right thing to say when someone was upset. She never failed at being there
for me and I loved her dearly.

"I know you'
re scared Sam, but are you sure they are completely opposed to making a commitment?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

"That does not
make any sense Liz," I groaned. "You are usually better than this."

"Ha ha," she
mocked. "I'm not done smarty pants. Tell me, what are you so scared of?"

"Everything," I said so soft I doubt
ed she heard me. Louder I said, "I guess I'm afraid of the end. I know I have to, but I love them and it was going to be hard to walk away. And even though I know they don't want more of a relationship, they might put up an argument to stop me."

"If they don't want more, then why would they fight it?"

“Sex, what man would willingly give up good, free sex so easily?"

"Sam," she
groaned. "I don't think it is just sex. Jordan and Alex are good men," she stressed.

"I know, they’re
the best, but that doesn't mean they want a relationship with me. I told you what the deal was between us, no strings, no commitment, no overnights and no babies." My eyes stung with unshed tears. I sniffed and closed my eyes to stop them.

"Oh honey, I'm sorry."

"I know Liz, it's alright."

"
Listen; take your time, but not too much. The sooner you get it over with, the better. Call me when you're through, okay?"

"Yes, I will. I should see you tonight."

"So soon?" Liz asked, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, I'm almost done packing and the movers should be here later this afternoon. I'm calling Jordan and Alex after I get off the phone with you."

"What if you're wrong and they are willing to commit to more?"

I shrugged
forgetting she couldn't see it. "Then I will call the movers and cancel. It's much easier to cancel than try to get them out here at the last minute. As soon as this breakup is over, I am not going to want to stay here another night, too many memories."

I wiped at my cheek angrily. I was so tired of crying.

"Alright, I understand. So I might see you later, or I might not. Call me, okay? Love you, girl."

"Thanks Liz. Love you."

I hit the end button on the phone and took a deep breath. Better get this over with, I thought.

"Hello," Alex answered.

"Hi," I managed to squeak out.

"Hey Sam, what'
s up?" His voice turned husky and my mouth went dry.

O
ne sentence and I was ready to surrender. I shook my head. Be strong, I told myself.

"Hey Alex, uh
, can you and Jordan come by? I need to talk to you both." I was proud of myself when my voice didn't crack.

"Sure,
hold on." I heard muffled voices and assumed he was talking to Jordan. "Hey," he said when he came back on the line. "We're done with work and Jordan was just checking e-mails, so we can head over there now, if that's alright?"

Both Jordan and Alex worked from
home. They owned their own computer programming company and it appeared they were successful too.

I envied their work schedule. Being your own boss must be awesome
, I thought. I worked as a file clerk for a small lawyer’s office. It was a small local firm in Kingston, Tennessee. It was not very exciting, but it paid the bills and was close to my apartment.

"Sam?" Alex's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Oh, ah, sorry, yes, that's fine. See you in a few."

I h
ung up without saying goodbye, no sense in saying it twice. I rested my head back against the couch and stared at the ceiling, my hand still clutching the phone in my lap.

Alex
had sounded excessively eager. He probably assumed I called to hook up. I closed my eyes in frustration. That was exactly the problem, I thought angrily. I called and they assumed it meant sex. Well, I guessed they were in for a rude awakening.

When the door
bell rang, the anger that had surfaced helped keep the nerves at bay and when I opened the door, I did not break down. I also did not smile back when Alex gave his usual heart-stopping grin.

"Come in," I said calmly. Alex frowned as I closed the door behind them. I looked at Jordan, but his usual mask of indifference was in place. I mentally shook my head. How could I be in love with someone who nev
er showed any kind of emotion? Alex, I could understand. He was fun and sweet. Even though he didn't want a relationship, he always treated me well.

I sighed. Honestly, Jordan did also. I scolded myself for being so hard on Jordan. He was sweet too when he wanted to be. It just took more to break him out of his shell. He bought me flowers once, when my cat died. She had been old and the death expected
, but it had still been painful

I
had come home from work to find three dozen flowers sitting on my kitchen table. The card had said from Jordan and Alex, but when I thanked them, it was obvious Alex did not know what I was talking about. It was the first time I had ever seen Jordan look embarrassed, so I dropped any dramatics I was feeling toward the gesture and just said thank you with a kiss on their cheeks.

That had been before we started having sex. In
fact, everything that had me falling in love with them happened before we became physical. Jordan and I could talk for hours about unimportant stuff such as movies, then in the next moment get into a discussion on politics without killing each other. I remembered how Alex would diffuse the heat of an argument with jokes that would have us rolling.

I smiled inwardly thinking about those days. It had been simple and fun, but
truthfully, we probably would have ended in a similar spot. I was in love with them both and they did not feel the same. I knew without a doubt I would not have been able to stay in a one sided relationship for long, even if it was only friendship.

My gaze took in both men as they waited for me
to say something. They stood straight and stiff with tension. I guessed my expression was a bit unfriendly. I tried smiling, but it was probably more of a grimace, so I gave up.

"You can sit down if you want," I said, thinking it would be easier if they weren't looming over me while I talked.

Both sat down on the couch still as rigid as they had been standing. Jordan crossed an ankle over his knee and fidgeted with the hem of his black dress slacks. He must have had a meeting that day. When working at home neither of the men needed to dress up, but I had to admit Jordan looked hot in the robin's egg blue button down shirt. It drew attention to his beautiful eyes.

Needing to focus my wondering thought, I looke
d at Alex. He sat next to Jordan, casually dressed as usual with a green t-shirt and blue jeans. His fingers swept through his hair a couple of times and I wondered if he was nervous.

"Alex said you needed to talk to us about something?" Jordan asked impatiently.

I cleared my throat. "Oh...yes. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's okay," Alex said as he sent Jordan a look of warning
. Jordan did not acknowledge him and continued to watch me.

I sat down in the arm
chair across from the men and rubbed my sweaty palms over my jeans. "Okay, I..." I stopped, not sure how to continue.

I had this all planned out in my head, but with both of them sitting there in front of me, I froze. I close
d my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, they both were giving me curious looks. I stood, too keyed up to stay still, and started pacing in front of them.

Both men followed my movements silently, never once pushing
me to continue. When I looked at Jordan, his eyes had softened. He knew I was upset and I loved him even more for being so patient. I stopped pacing and faced them both. Finally, I found my voice.

BOOK: Shifted Temptations
3.87Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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