Seven Days: The Complete Story (26 page)

“How about
not. I think our mutual sex life has caused enough problems for one
night.”

I release a
heavy sigh and sit on the couch with Nicholas. At least, I know
he’ll take the situation seriously. I mean, I’m homeless. I’m
having a not-so-secret sexual relationship with the two men in
front of me. If the university finds out we are in deep shit. This
is not a time to be getting smashed on tequila. Besides, tequila
makes me flirty and Joel damn well knows it.

I sag into the
back of the couch. God. Why is this happening to me? Things were so
much easier before I let these two into my life. Now it’s a mess. A
big, fat mess that I created because I have no willpower
whatsoever. I should never have gone to Nicholas’ office after
hours. I should never have let them do the things to me they did
when I knew where it would end up. Yet, somehow, I find myself
powerless to resist where these men are concerned. And I don’t
understand why. It’s not the sex. It’s way beyond that. It always
has been.

Joel arrives
with a glass of red wine. He scrooches into a corner of the sofa so
I have to shift along and end up between him and Nicholas. Not that
I mind about that. Not at all. He hands me the glass. “Red
okay?”

“Perfect.
Thanks.” Discounting what I said about drinking, I take a glug so
big the glass is nearly empty after I swallow.

“Steady on.
You
will
be incapable of work in the morning if you keep
that up.”

“It’s been a
stressful few hours. What can I say?” I finish the wine and put the
glass on the console table behind the sofa. I feel better now.
Simply being in the near vicinity of the boys calms me. I don’t
know how they do that. I read a study once that showed loved ones
were able to relieve each other’s pain with a hug or a touch. Maybe
that’s what happens? Maybe it’s a transference thing?

Nicholas
swivels to face me. He bends his knee across the sofa cushion and
slings his arm along the back. He takes a drink and eyes me like
he’s trying to make sense of the fact that I am sitting on his
couch. “So what happened?”

I tell him
about the fight with Emily; how she got angry when she found out
I’d been lying about being interested in Joel. About how livid she
was that I told her he was gay to throw her off the scent because
the three of us were sleeping together. I tell him everything and
by the time I’ve finished venting I’m physically and mentally
exhausted. I’ve also got very swollen eyes from the tears I’ve shed
in the process. I am such a girl sometimes.

“So basically,
I’m homeless
and
friendless.” I conclude with another
sniff.

“I told you,
you could stay here. We have a spare room,” Joel says, gesturing to
a closed door. “We never have overnight guests.” He chuckles
dirtily. “Well, not the sort who want to use the spare room. Nick’s
fine with it, right big fella?”

Nicholas nods
his head. “Sure.”

“But the Uni.
There have to be rules about fraternising with your boss. I’ll be
kicked out of the course if they find out and you’ll be in massive
trouble. Besides, I don’t want people to think I’m having sex with
you so you’ll give me a good grade or a job.”

“Aren’t you?”
Joel jokes again.

Honestly, his
propensity for joking at inappropriate times is astounding. I give
him the glare but it’s water off a duck’s back. “This isn’t the
time to be funny, Joel.”

“You know me.
Why be serious when you can make light of a problem?” He puts a
hand on mine. “At least I made you smile.”

“Finding a
place to stay pretty much trumps smiling at the moment. I can’t
stay here indefinitely.”

“Why not?
Nobody will find out.”

“It’ll take
Emily about two seconds to figure out where I’ve gone. She knows I
have no one else. And if she knows where I am, then Alex knows and
probably Mason. The entire Uni could know by the weekend.”

“Calm down,
Sadie. You’re stressing.”

I don’t think
he understands the grimness of my situation. “Do you have a better
suggestion?”

Joel pauses
for a minute, thinking. “I think it might be best if you stay here.
You don’t need the anxiety of house hunting when you should be
studying for exams. Let’s work on getting you through this prac and
to the end of the academic year so you can get a job. You can
decide where you want to be after that.”

Okay. That was
a fairly sensible response.

“Are you
saying you want me to live here permanently? Like, move in?” I came
here because I had nowhere else to go. I wasn’t gunning for a room
with a view and built in lovers. I imagined a week tops till I
found somewhere of my own. I mean, I like being independent. I’m
not some useless girl who needs a guy to look after her. I have
resources. I was lonely and sad, that’s all.

“Why not?”
Nicholas says. “I think Joel and I have proven ourselves honest and
trustworthy.”

My head
swivels to face him. He’s been quiet up until now, which is his
way. But I know there’s been plenty going on in that handsome head.
He thinks more, he’s more considered than Joel.

“I hardly know
you—”

Discounting
the fact you’ve been inside me. A lot.

“—If you take
out the six months we were apart, our relationship has been a total
of like two weeks. I can’t move in with you after two weeks.”

“Sure you can.
And you know tonnes about us. You’ve been quizzing Jill for the
past week.”

Eek.
Busted.

Nicholas
chuckles at my reddening face.

“I meant about
your private lives,” I say. “You could be cross dressers or into
leather or something. You could be those freaks who wear cow suits
when you have sex and moo when you come.”

“You think
so?” His left eyebrow lifts in amusement. He looks incredibly hot
when he does that.

“Well, no
but—”

“Then stay. I
don’t mind. I want you to.”

Okay. I’m out
of reasons to say no.

Without
another thought, I agree and we clink glasses to seal the deal. It
crosses my mind briefly as I sip, that only last week I was
reluctant to move in with Mason, yet here I am shacking up with
Nicholas and Joel like I’ve known them my entire life. Living with
Mason would have been a mistake. I know that. Sharing my life with
these two, on the other hand, seems like the best decision I’ve
ever made. It’s right. And Mum always told me I should go with my
gut because intuition is a powerful thing. I just have to quell
that niggly voice inside my head that’s telling me we’re gonna be
in deep shit if wind of this gets out.

We sit for a
bit, discussing the moving of the rest of my stuff and the
logistics of bedrooms — because they may be my lovers but I need my
girl space. Then Nicholas says, “We’re going to have to keep this
quiet. I think we have to come and go at separate times, live our
usual single lives outside the house. So if anyone does say
something we can stress you’re our housemate, especially if we have
separate bedrooms. Who’s to know what we do when we’re alone?”

He slides his
hand along the sofa. His long fingers caress my neck and I feel
that tingling sensation of excitement. I suck in a breath as he
gazes deep into my eyes, his own piercing my soul in their
intensity. Suddenly, the world and its problems are insignificant.
If I can have him and Joel everything is as it should be. Sure,
nobody will ever understand but I don’t care. I don’t. I’ll do
whatever he wants, as long as he looks at me like that. Like he
loves me.

Nicholas
shuffles closer. He bends his forehead to mine. “I can’t be without
you again, Sadie,” he whispers into my cheek. “I’ve been thinking
about it constantly since the other night, mulling scenarios to
make this happen in my head. I know we agreed on how this thing
would work but you landing here changes everything. I don’t want
just sex. I want more. Need more. I’ve never wanted anyone as much
as I want you. I want to take you out and hold your hand and go to
movies. I want to see you in your little white knickers making my
morning coffee and curl up with you on the sofa every night. I want
a proper relationship.”

Wow. Um, like
wow.

Nicholas
I-am-the-hottest-dude-on-the-planet Lawson wants to be my
boyfriend. I consider this idea for a minute, trying to keep a lid
on the elation that’s exploding in my brain. I consider the
proposal logically.

Well, as
logically as a girl can when the person making it is sweeter than a
truck full of chocolate and hotter than Hades to boot.

The concept
isn’t entirely heinous. I could so be Nicholas’ girlfriend. If
there wasn’t another person in this equation.

“What about
Joel? He’s in this with us. What about our agreement?” I pull back
slightly and my hand reaches behind me, finding Joel’s on his knee.
He takes it and mover closer on the other side of me. His chest
leans into my arm. He drops a kiss on my shoulder and rests his
cheek on the spot. He’s like a lost little boy and I want to
comfort him, to make it right. I need to let him know I’m not
giving up on him, even if Nicholas wants me to. I want to be with
Nicholas more than anything but I won’t take him at the expense of
Joel. “I won’t choose if that’s what you’re asking. Joel is as
important to me as you are. I’d rather go and stay in a hotel and
just do the threesome thing. I won’t give Joel up.”

“I wasn’t
asking you to choose,” Nicholas says quietly.

“It sounded
like you were.”

“All I was
doing was letting you know how I feel. I want us all to be happy.
We shared before. I’m pretty sure we can do it again in the same
house. We’re adults.”

“It sounds
good in theory but I don’t see how we can.”

Nicholas
groans. Then he shrugs and stands before heading to the kitchen.
“This is doing my fucking head in. Stay if you want, go if you
want. It’s up to you. I’m getting more wine. I’m going to become a
fucking alcoholic at this rate.”

I’ve hurt him
again. I don’t know how but I have. Shit.

“Nicholas—”

He ignores me
and disappears under the counter, presumably into the wine
fridge.

Joel pats his
lap. “Poor Sadie. It’s been a rough night, yeah? Put your head down
here for a bit and curl up. Let me make you all better.”

Oh for fuck’s
sake.

“I’m not in
the mood for sex, Joel.”

“Furthest
thing from my mind, Ariel.”

I stare at
him.

“Honest,” he
says. “No funny business intended. I just thought you might be
tired. Fighting can be exhausting. I know, first hand.”

Joel’s never
given me a crumb about his personal life, other than the part I
share. I don’t know if he has a family or what it is that makes him
think it’s easier to be a playboy than to settle down. I know he’s
been hurt, I got that a long while back, but other than that this
statement is the first thing I know about his life.

I lower myself
and snuggle into the spot between his hip and thigh. My body is
heavy like I couldn’t move it if I tried. My head is suddenly
pounding. I need to close my eyes and sleep for a very long time.
I’m so tired, I just don’t care anymore. I just want to go to
sleep, forget this night has happened.

Sometime after
that, with Joel gently stroking my hair, I fall asleep. I don’t
know for how long, but I wake to the motion of being carried. Joel
is taking me into a darkened room. I cling to his neck as I feel
him pull back the covers and his knee on the mattress as he lowers
me to the bed. Through half-closed eyes I feel him extricate
himself from my arms and slip off my shoes. I watch as he places
them neatly at the foot of the bed. His fingers unbutton my jeans
and slide them from my hips but it’s not in the way he normally
does it. It’s like he’s caring for me because I’m incapable of
doing for myself. Then he covers my body with the doona, pulling it
as far up to my chin as it will go, just like Mum used to when I
was little. He bends to kiss the tip of my nose; his fingers trace
the side of my face and over my lips. His face is close to mine.
“Goodnight, sleepyhead. Sleep well. Tomorrow’s another day.”

I roll over
and lock my arms around his neck again. “Don’t go.”

His look is
quizzical.

“Stay.”

He raises an
eyebrow.

“No funny
business, just sleep. I need you to stay,” I mumble, and a drowsy
smile graces my face as I hear him take off his track pants and
slip into the bed beside me.

“You’ll be the
death of me,” he replies.

“I hope
not.”

Joel wraps his
arms around me and we lay spooning, his body cradling mine as we
drift into unconsciousness. Then as I fall into slumber for the
second time, I feel the movement of the bed on the other side.
“Room for another?”

Behind me,
Joel is breathing the rhythmical breath of sleep so I pull back the
covers, allowing Nicholas in.

He cuddles
close to me, kissing me goodnight. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be
sorry. I was being annoying.”

“Sweet dreams,
baby.”

“You too.”

“I’m glad
you’re here. It feels right.”

“I’m glad
too,” I whisper.

And it does
feel right. More right than I want to admit.

I’m
disoriented the next morning when I wake up so I lay on my back in
the empty bed, trying to remember where I am and how the hell I got
here. It only takes seconds before the events of last night come
rushing back and I’m overcome with waves of conflicting emotions.
I’m elated and happy. Nicholas wants me, like really wants me. And
Joel, for all his joking, is tenderer and more caring than most of
the guys I’ve ever been with. He mightn’t be as verbal about
emotions as Nicholas but actions speak louder than words. He wants
me, too. It felt like love between the three of us last night. Like
we are meant to be.