AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tristan shook his head. “It is my fault for not considering my own emotions. You have always steered me on the right course, so I never doubted you for a moment. But perhaps I should have this time.”
“I have no qualms about fatherhood,” Andrew chimed in. “But Melinda… I can’t stop thinking about her. She’s always on my mind. I think she’s the one, Pierce. And I don’t say that lightly.
The one. A concept I had always been skeptical of. There were billions of women on the planet; it was likely that I was compatible with thousands of them. Millions, even.
But now that Melinda was in my life? Our lives? I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else. It really felt like she was my soulmate.
“If this is a problem, I understand,” Tristan said curtly. “I will tender my resignation.”
Andrew didn’t say anything else, but he nodded.
I couldn’t imagine losing either of them. That was as impossible as losing Melinda. Which made my decision even easier.
“I don’t want this to end,” I said. “Sharing Melinda… it works. I think it will keep working, long-term. If she is willing to continue that way, then so am I. We can find a way to make it work.”
“You mean that?” Andrew asked. “You won’t change your mind once there’s a baby and decide you want her all to yourself?”
It was my turn to shake my head. “I love both of you like brothers. More than brothers, because we choose to be friends and colleagues. I won’t allow a woman to come between us. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. Let’s keep doing what we’re doing, for as long as we’re all happy. That’s what matters the most.”
“I’m in love with her,” Andrew said. He chuckled and added, “Wow, it feels good to say that out loud.”
“I do believe I am also falling in love with this woman,” Tristan admitted carefully.
Love. It was a subject I had been debating extensively lately, and now I knew the answer in my heart. I was hopelessly, desperately in love with Melinda Norris. I couldn’t imagine not being in love with her.
“I love her too.” I blinked a few times. “I just realized that I’ve never told a woman that before.”
“Quite the milestone,” Tristan replied. “But fitting for a woman of Melinda’s calibre.”
The three of us smiled at each other and let the moment sink in. We were all in love with the same woman. And we were stronger for it.
“Now,” Tristan said, “we simply need to discern why Melinda returned in such a hurry.”
“Something clearly happened at the wedding,” I speculated. “Maybe she came to the same realization: that she’s developed feelings for us.”
“She might be afraid that you’ll toss her aside once she has a baby,” Andrew said.
I felt a thrill in my chest. “Then she should be relieved when we tell her how we feel.”
“Shall we do so now?” Tristan asked.
I shook my head. “When I knocked on her door, she insisted she wanted to be left alone. Let’s give her some space and wait until the morning.”
Even though Melinda wasn’t in bed with me, I was happy and excited when I crawled under the covers. We had wonderful news to share with her in the morning, and I couldn’t wait to see how she reacted.
I went about my routine the next morning: I downed an espresso, spent an hour on the exercise bike, then showered. It was a beautiful morning off the coast of Rhode Island, so I took my breakfast out on the sun deck by the pool. Andrew was already awake, reading a book on one of the chairs. Tristan joined us a few minutes later.
When Melinda finally emerged from her room, she was far less fancy than the last time I had seen her at the wedding: jeans, sneakers, and a loose-fitting T-shirt. She looked beautiful. I definitely love her, I thought. There’s no doubt in my mind.
“Good morning,” Tristan said.
“Morning,” I added. “Before you get comfortable, we have something to tell you.”
She stood at the edge of the sun deck, not coming any closer. “I need to tell you something first.”
I wanted to pour my heart out to her, but I held back. I would let her go first. That made me nervous, more nervous than I was before my first big IPO. My heart was in this woman’s hands. I was vulnerable in a way that I rarely felt.
It was exhilarating.
