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“Now, Luka,” he snapped.
Luka hadn’t moved from his spot. He shot Grayson a dirty look before stepping up to Julie. He leaned down, whispering something in her ear before kissing her lightly on the cheek and heading for the door.
Once the door closed quietly behind us, Grayson turned on us with a furious scowl. “What the hell is the matter with you two?”
I grimaced. Now that I could think clearly, it was a bad idea from start to finish.
“She was convinced that she wasn’t good enough, Grayson. She deserved to know,” Luka seethed.
Grayson’s eyes widened, and he looked ready to throttle Luka. “It’s only been three days! You heard her! They’d been in a relationship for six years! You took advantage of a vulnerable situation and we’ll be lucky if she comes back to work after all that! Seriously? You’re going to share her? What was that?”
I shrugged helplessly. “I thought it was better than fighting over her.”
Luka bobbed his head in agreement. “Don’t knock it until you try it. I’m not asking for group sex or anything. But when it came down to a choice between my best friends and that perfect woman, I thought it was better to suggest an alternative that didn’t end up with hurt feelings.”
Grayson pointed his finger at him. “Oh no. You are not getting me involved in this. She’s my secretary, for goodness' sake. I’m not–”
“So you’re saying you’re not interested? I find that hard to believe,” Luka spat.
Grayson glared at him. “I’m saying I value her too much to bring feelings into the mix. In a single month, that woman stopped me from drowning. I need her and I don’t want you two hounding her for a relationship and chasing her away. Stow whatever this shit is and leave her the hell alone.”
Luka shrugged. “Fine. One less person to share with.”
It was a stupid thing to say, and completely disregarded everything Grayson was trying to explain to him. I saw it coming, but I didn’t react fast enough to stop Grayson from punching Luka in the face. I didn’t want them causing trouble for Julie with her landlord, so before Luka could fight back, I grabbed both of them and separated them, shoving them apart.
“Stop it. If Julie’s landlord finds us fighting in the hall, it could cause trouble for her. Let’s just go and we’ll talk about it more in the car.”
Luka shoved away from me with a scowl. “Screw that. I’ll call a cab. I’m not going anywhere with him.”
Grayson seemed to be of a similar mind because he turned and stormed down the hall. Luka went the opposite direction, and I stood there frozen, unsure who to follow or what to do.
Julie’s door cracked open, and she peeked out, a worried frown on her face. “Is everything okay?”
I sighed. Somehow, just seeing her made me feel better. “It’ll be okay. The three of us have been friends a long time. Friends fight. They’ll let it go eventually. Get some rest, okay? And call me if you need me.”
She forced a small smile and nodded before closing the door again. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I turned and walked away. The whole point of sharing her was so we didn’t fight. But with Grayson desperate for his secretary back and Luka unwilling to give Julie the space to recover, all three of us were at odds with each other. I told Julie that we fought like this before, but never over a woman. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen next.
* * *
When Julie walked into work the following morning, I was elated. She was tense, her grip on the strap of her purse making her knuckles turn white, but she smiled a little when she saw me and she didn’t back away when I came to say hello.
“How are you?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I’m okay, I guess. You’re here early.”
“Had to make sure Grayson and Luka didn’t kill each other.” Her mouth fell open, and I felt a smile pull at my lips for the first time in a while. “They’ll get over it. You heading up?”
When she nodded, I followed her. While I was almost desperate to know what she was thinking, I didn’t ask. Grayson was right. We shouldn’t have pushed her, and I was willing to go back to just being friends if it meant that I could keep spending time with her.
“That Chinese food was really good. Are they pretty busy?”
“No, not really. They’re local, it’s why I always choose to go there. If I’m gonna eat out, I think it’s better to support local businesses.”
I never really considered that when I was looking for food, but Julie was smart and caring. She probably thought about stuff like that all the time.
“I wonder if they deliver to my area.”
She scrunched her nose, shaking her head. “Unfortunately not. I tried ordering from there when…” She paused, biting her lip. I got it though. She tried when she was at her ex’s place.
