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She was wearing a pair of thin ballet-style slippers and I peeled it slowly from the foot, listening for the little hitch in her breathing that signaled nerves. Dropping the slipper to the floor, I wrapped my hand around the delicate arch of her foot and squeezed gently, palpating my fingers against her delicate flesh. She jerked when I ran a fingertip along the inside of her arch and around to the top of her ankle.
Beside me, Gale shifted restlessly.
On my other side, Ezra leaned forward and set down his and Jude’s plate. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see but I could feel him slide closer to Jude when he settled back on the couch. Jude moved slightly, and I imagined he had slid an arm behind her and tugged her against him.
“Can I ask you a question?” A short while later Jude paused the movie and looked around the group of us.
“Of course,” Ezra responded. I twisted so I could see her, waiting.
“What’s going on here… with the four of us, I mean?”
Gale leaned back into the couch, his leg starting to jiggle up and down before he noticed and stopped. “What are you referring to?”
She met his look with one of her own and gestured round the circle with her face pinkening. “You know what I’m referring to. I’ve kissed every one of you. You two seem perfectly fine with it—happy, even.” She looked at me and Ezra, then back to Gale. “But you’re pissy all the time, and I can’t tell if it’s because you want me kissing you and nobody else, or…” She fumbled to a stop.
Gale’s lips tightened.
“We want you, Jude,” Ezra said carefully. “We weren’t looking for you, but now that you’re here, we can’t fathom the idea of not having you. So, if that means you’re kissing me, and Baron, and even Asshole over here...I’m okay with it.”
“And I’m okay with it,” I nodded.
Gale made no reply, instead continuing to sit, stiff and aggravated, but silent. It wasn’t until Ezra pulled Jude’s chin to him for a deep kiss that he leapt up.
“Are you for fucking real? I’m trying here, guys, I really am, but sitting here while you massage her feet and you suck her face… it’s not helping.” His voice was almost desperate and he raked his hands through his hair.
Jude slid her foot away from my hand and rose from the couch. “I think I should go.” She started edging toward her bedroom door, ignoring my and Ezra’s protests.
“Are you really okay with this?” Gale turned his attention to her and she stopped. “Are you really okay with him touching you, and him kissing you, right here in front of me? Would you want me to touch you, too? Is one guy not enough—” He broke off, his lip curled faintly in a sneer, and his question weighted heavily with words unsaid.
Jude stared up at him, her lower lip trembling before she bit down on it. “Well, I guess that answers that question. I don’t deserve this,” she said softly, accusingly, pointing a finger at Gale. “And you don’t deserve an answer. But I’ll give you one, anyway.” She stepped closer and prodded him in the chest with one finger. “Before I came here, one guy was more than enough. I didn’t even want that. And then I met you, and Baron, and Ezra, and suddenly I can’t make up my mind.” She lifted her chin. “So I’m not going to. If that makes me insane, or a whore, or foolish, or any number of other things, then so be it. Because to choose one of you would be to reject the other two, and I won’t do that. I can’t.”
“You’re not a —” Gale started, and she flashed furious eyes at him.
“Stuff it, Gale.”
She strode quickly to her room and emerged a minute later with a laundry basket tucked into her side. We were still all sitting silently like stones, but I jumped up when she went to the door. “I’ll go with you.”
“Please don’t,” she answered. “I need to be alone.”
Reluctantly, I nodded, and the door closed behind her. I couldn’t help thinking the click of the knob catching sounded of finality.
Chapter 34: Gale
Shit.
I paced the confines of my room, tugging at my hair until it stood on end.Why did I keep fucking this up?
Ezra was talking from the other room, loudly. He wanted me to hear.
“We gave it to you, man. Made everything as easy and plain as possible. You couldn’t possibly fuck it up… except… wait! Youdidfuck it up!”
Baron’s lower tones. Patient. Calming. The slam of Ezra’s door. And then a barely audible tap on my door before Baron poked his head in.
“May I come in?” I nodded and he entered, closing the door behind him. He sat in the desk chair, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “Talk to me, man. What are you doing?”
I couldn’t stop my agitated movement across the room. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m fucking doing anymore. I—” My fingers came to my temples and I rubbed them across my forehead.
“Okay, forget what you’re doing. You’re making a mess of things, but I think you know that.What do you want, Gale? No—” He held a hand up to stop me when I started to speak and I stopped. “Wait a second. Take a minute.Thinkabout it.” He stood and went to the door. “And when you figure it out, she’s in the laundry room.”
