Seven Days: The Complete Story (31 page)

“
Fuuuuuck
. Please tell me you’re making that up.”

“Nope. Thank
God you were tanked. The guests thought you were a cute little girl
who couldn’t handle her drugs.”

“Oh God. I’m
so sorry. I was trying so hard to act like an adult. I wanted to
impress your friends.”

“You did that
alright. Not in the way you were hoping for though.”

Nicholas
shifts and I look up into his eyes. I can see he’s struggling with
something and I hope I didn’t say anything else incriminating in my
intoxicated state.

“Do you love
him?” he asks, at last.

“Who,
Simon?”

“Funny.
Joel.”

“Yes. A
lot.”

“More than
me?”

“Never more
than you, Nicholas. Never. This is the weirdest thing that’s ever
happened to me and if you asked me how it could possibly happen I
couldn’t explain. I love you both equally. I think of you the same
amount. When I’m with you, it’s only you and when I’m alone with
Joel it’s the same for him and me. I could never choose between you
and I don’t want to. You’re everything I need and more. You two are
like my fantasy come true. Joel fulfills my needs in one-way and
you in another. You make a pretty irresistible team.”

“So you’ve no
intention of leaving?”

What is he on
about? I cast him a quizzical look.

“You told
Simon you couldn’t go on a date with him because you were going on
a study sabbatical after graduation.”

Oh. Yeah.
That. Guess I should have told the guys about my plans if I didn’t
get a job. I have such a big mouth when I’m drunk, or high or
whatever it was I was last night.

“Um, well, I
sort of put my name down to do a study tour of the gardens of
France. It’s only for a month.”

If you don’t
count the extra month of travel I want to do after the tour. Having
bitten the bullet and decided I’m going to travel like I always
dreamed of doing, I want to see as much as I can.

“The
university will give me a two thousand dollar grant if I get
picked,” I continue.

“You’ve
thought about this pretty carefully.”

“Well, yeah.”
Nicholas should know how I like things to be organised. If I don’t
get a job the tour will give me extra experience and I’ve worked my
butt off for four years. Don’t I deserve a break? I can’t
understand why he’s so upset about this.

“Does Joel
know?”

“Nobody knows.
I wasn’t going to say anything until I was sure.”

Nicholas eyes
me. “I thought you were happy here with us.”

“I am but I
want to see the world, Nicholas. I’m not leaving you. I just want
to see things I’ve never seen. I want to eat croissants in a
patisserie in Paris. I want to have authentic Italian pizza, not
the westernised type. I want to go to the Gaudi Cathedral in
Barcelona and the Picasso Museum in Malaga. I don’t want to be here
the rest of my life wondering what I’ve missed.” My voice is
getting higher and whinier with every word. Tears are pricking the
corners of my eyes. How can he not see this isn’t about us? I love
him and Joel more than the universe but I want other things in my
life too.

At this point,
Joel comes into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He
looks dazed, yet adorable with his track pants slung so low he
might as well not be wearing them and his hair sticking up all over
the place. He frowns at Nicholas and I. “Is it impossible to ask
that a guy can get some sleep on his birthday? Seeing he didn’t get
any sex?”

“Sorry buddy,
Sadie was just telling me about her plans after graduation. The
discussion must’ve got a tad loud.”

“Ya reckon?”
Joel pads to where we’re standing at the sink. Grabbing a glass
from the shelf, he fills a huge glass of water and drinks it in one
go. “Right. I’m awake now. What the fuck is going on with you two
lovebirds? And why did I need to be woken from my slumber to hear
it?”

Lovebirds?
Despite the fact that this is our first real fight, I laugh at
that.

“Sadie’s
leaving.”

Joel stares me
down. “What?”

“If she
doesn’t get a job after graduation, she’s leaving to travel.
Apparently, a bunch of gardens in France are more important than
us.”

Now, he’s
twisting my words. I never said that. “Nothing is more important
than you. You know that. I just want to have a life.”

“We can give
you a life like you never imagined, baby. You don’t need to leave,”
Joel says. “I like having you here. I don’t want you to go.”

Oh for Pete’s
sake. They’re never going to understand.

“It’s not
forever. It’s for, like, two freaking months.”

Nicholas cocks
his head. “I thought you said it was a month?”

“It is. But I
was going to extend my stay after the tour.” I’m getting angry now.
I don’t have to justify myself. We’re not married or anything.
Geez. “And anyway, none of this will be happening if I get a job.
If that happens, I’ll do it when I get some holidays.”

Joel looks to
Nicholas. “Then give the girl a job, man.”

“I can’t.”

“Why the hell
not? It’s our bloody company. We can employ the Easter Bunny if we
want to.”

“Because
firstly, we have no vacant spots in Landscaping — which Sadie
already knows — and secondly, the three of us will never be able to
have an open relationship if she’s working at Hardwick &
Lawson. It’ll smack of nepotism of the worst kind.”

“Then use your
contacts and get her a job elsewhere.”

“No!” I scream
at them this time, my arms flailing in frustration. “Stop! I will
not have you ‘getting’ me jobs that I’m perfectly capable of
getting myself. And if you intend to do that I won’t even put you
down as a referee, let alone take any jobs I’m offered. I’ll just
go away. I want to stand on my own two feet. I don’t want your
help.” I glare at Joel. “Either of you.”

There’s
silence.

Then Joel
says, “Does that mean I don’t get birthday sex, then?”

Oh geez. He’s
incorrigible.

The remaining
hours of darkness are few but we make the most of them. This time
the sex is different to any I’ve experienced with my boys. It’s as
if they’re trying to convince me that leaving — even for a short
time — is not an option; that they can’t be without me for a
minute, let alone a month. Sweeping my feet from the kitchen floor,
Nicholas carries me to the bedroom where he tosses me onto the bed.
I lean back on my elbows, backing up the bed, watching as he and
Joel step from their track pants as if they are one hard male
entity. Two pairs of eyes glued to mine, they crawl across the bed
like predatory animals about to take their fill of me and I love
it. I ache for it.

“I think she
needs to see we mean it,” Joel says, tracing a finger along the
side of my body. He doesn’t look me in the eye. He’s too busy
playing his little game of lust.

“I think she
needs a fucking so good she’ll never want to leave,” Nicholas
replies.

I quiver at
the delicious anticipation the idea sparks in my body.

“And we both
know what she likes.”

“But long and
slow or hard and rough?”

Just give me
both, I think. I’m whimpering inside already.

Joel straddles
my body. Sitting on my hips, he pinions me to the bed, a devilish
grin on his face. His erection is in full view and I reach out to
touch it. I want to take him in my mouth but he grabs my wrist,
tugging my hand away.

“Uh, uh,” he
says. “You’re going to have to beg for it this time, Ariel.”

He tears the
condom wrapper with his teeth and rolls the condom on. He leans
forward and kisses me, a long deep kiss that sends ripples of
desire through me. Then he pulls back and slides his tongue down my
neck, over my shoulder. He grazes the skin along my collarbone
before his lips find their goal, locking on my breast. A hand
skitters around my flesh, down my side and back again. He sucks
harder. Between us, his erection throbs on my belly.

I hate that he
knows what that does to me.

Somewhere at
the bottom of the bed, I feel Nicholas parting my legs. A hot
breath tickles my skin and I wriggle. Fingers play in the space
between my legs, sliding along, teasing but not entering, making me
gasp in pleasure. It’s good. Really good.

“Lay
still.”

“Don’t be so
bossy.” I pant. He’s, like, asking the impossible. He should know
that.

“I thought you
liked bossy?”

“I do. I,
um—”

He doesn’t
wait for my reply, which is fortunate. As his head disappears
between my legs, sending me into oblivion, my brain can’t register
words let alone have a conversation.

Following
Nicholas’ lead, Joel sits up. Still straddling me, he shuffles
closer to my ribs. He spreads my arms out and locks them to the bed
under his knees. His body has me trapped but I don’t care, the
pressure of him crushing me is intoxicating, even if it is hard to
breathe. He fondles my breasts with both hands, tugging at each
nipple in turn. He bends forward sucking so hard at my neck I know
there’ll be a mark in the morning. Then his lips move further
around, stopping at the pounding vein below my jaw. I feel his
knowing grin against my skin and I close my eyes, biting on my lip.
He has me. He’s completely aware of everything he does that makes
me quiver.

Joel rubs
himself against me, pushing his erection against my cleavage. I
hear him moan softly and I imagine the look of lust on his face but
I don’t open my eyes. I can’t. Nicholas is using his tongue and his
fingers now. His fingers are inside me, fucking me. His tongue is
lashing. I am writhing in ecstasy. There’s not a hope in hell my
eyes are going to respond to a call to open.

“Fuck me.
Please Nicholas, do it.” I can’t help it. I have to cry out.

“Not yet.”

“Yes yet!” I
scream, writhing against them both, pushing them away.

Nicholas sits
back. Joel climbs off. I open my eyes and see him watching, his
eyes dark and intent as Nicholas flips me over and lifts my hips to
slide a pillow under them. Joel lays on the bed, his face near
mine, his fingers caressing every rib, every bone.

“Hurry,” I
whimper. “Please, Nicholas. I can’t wait much longer. Please.”

“Do you think
she’s ready?” Nicholas asks Joel. His finger slides over me. I feel
it disappearing inside me. Why is he teasing me so? Why does he
prolong this agony when I know he wants it as much as I do.

“Just fucking
do it,” I growl.

Joel’s hand
runs through my tangled hair. His eyes are intent on mine as
Nicholas enters me from behind. He stretches out and kisses me
again then I close my eyes and squeeze the pillow, the ecstasy
building as Nicholas holds my hips and slides himself deep into me,
long and slow. Long and slow.

“Harder. God,
please, do it harder.”

But Nicholas
pulls out. And before I can register how desperate I am at the
prospect, I am filled with Joel. His length is thicker, longer.
He’s consuming every inch of me. He knows how I like it. He knows
not to stop even if I beg him to. And I do. But he doesn’t. Not
until I come.

Then he asks
if I want more.

Still
breathing heavily, I roll onto my back. I’m smiling as I pull
Nicholas to me a second time.

“Are you
sure?” Nicholas says.

“I want you, I
want you in me. I want to feel you.”

He kisses me.
He needs no further coaxing. His loving is long and slow, the
complete antithesis of Joel’s and as I finally collapse into sleep
between them I wonder if I’m going to have the strength to leave.
Even if it’s only for a month.

Fast-forward
six weeks to graduation day. I don’t know where the time has gone
but I’ve completed my final exams, got my marks and somehow am
putting on a cap and gown as Dux of my year.

I was so
pumped when I got the email that I’d topped my class I almost
whooped for joy in the middle of Target — if it hadn’t been that I
was standing in the queue to buy undies at the time I would have.
As it was, I settled for a little internal squee and a grin that
I’m sure scared the checkout girl into next week. I’ve never seen
anyone pack a recyclable shopping bag so fast.

The bus ride
home was ridiculously slow. I thought I’d burst if I didn’t break
the news to Nicholas and Joel but somehow I managed to not pick up
my phone. I think it was the idea of seeing their faces when I told
them. And like me, the boys were over the moon.

“I told you
there was nothing to worry about,” Nicholas told me. “You were
always going to be the stand out. I’m so proud of you, baby.” His
big warm hand smoothed my hair and he looked into my eyes with more
admiration and love than I’ve ever believed to be possible in one
person.

“You did good,
kid,” Joel added, giving me a jovial poke in the upper arm, his
version of a hug. “Who said you were just a cute bum in the
surf?”

Joel can never
be serious.

Well, only on
certain occasions and even then I think it might be a stretch.

“I can’t
believe this is happening to me,” I said. The week had already
brought news of two job interviews. Sure, neither of them would
ever carry the prestige of a job at Hardwick & Lawson but I had
to start somewhere. I wanted to make it on my own. This was a great
start.

That night, we
celebrated by snuggling in the last row of the rooftop cinema
watching Carey Mulligan in
Far From the Madding Crowd,
something we’d never do any other time — for obvious reasons. The
groans were loud and weary when I told the boys how I wanted to
celebrate. I think they had other ideas. But they suffered through
the love trials of Bathsheba probably wishing it were
Fast &
Furious
or something. They endured it for me. It was our own
private celebration.