“Are you sure about this? There’s no going back after this.” I sit forward on couch, my elbows on the small, wooden coffee table. If he’s serious about this, then I need to give it my all. There’s no way that I’m going to back off. Not now. I’m in too deep to back away from it all.

Both of us have had our shot with her. We’ve both gotten what we wanted and yet neither of us are sure where to go from here. I think we’re starting to freak her out coming to her door all the time.

“Positive. Whoever wins this gets her.” Blake pulls the sleeve of his shirt all the way to his shoulder. He shrugs his shoulder and gets into place. He locks eyes with me and grabs my palm. “Winner takes all.”

I nod to his words. For the last week, we’ve been trying to figure out who gets another chance at Rose. Which one of us backs down and lets the other give it another go with her. So far we haven’t come up with a solution. Neither Blake or I are ready to give in. At this point, we are quickly running out of ideas.

“One. Two. Three,” I shout. My nails dig into his skin as I push toward my side. Arm wrestling challenge is the last idea that we’ve come up with. It’s a test of brawn to see who wins Rose over. I’m pretty sure I have this in the bag since my arms are bigger than his.

Both of our faces are red as beets, huffing and puffing at every turn. One second it budges toward my side, then it goes toward his side. Neither of us are getting any headway in this little challenge.

After ten minutes of back and forth, I look up at Blake. “Truce?” I huff out.

I’m exhausted, but I won’t give up. Not when it comes to Rose. But I don’t know if these caveman tactics will work out.

Blake looks at me and pushes a little harder toward his side. I hold my place and he lets out a long breath. “Truce.”

Neither of us lets go right away. Slowly, we uncurl our fingers and fall back in our seats. I roll my wrist and shoulders.

I didn’t expect him to be able to keep up so well with me. Always thought I had the upper hand when it came to physical strength. We might not have resolved anything, but Blake’s impressed me a little.

Blake brings his hands to his face and rubs at his eyes. “What the fuck are we going to do?” he moans out in exhaustion. “We’ve spent the last week trying to compromise, but neither of us have gotten anywhere. Now Rose is dodging both of us.” He takes a cushion from the couch and punches into it. Blake’s been to the gym every night, several times sometimes, hoping that he gets to see Rose there. I’ve been stopping at her house after and sometimes before work with coffee.

Neither of us have had any luck with it. This is new territory for us. Neither of us have ever been so hooked on a girl before, especially not the same girl.

There’s one final plan that I’ve been thinking about. Something that might appease the both of us. It would take some time to get used to the idea. I’m down for it if he is. I don’t see another way. I just need to ease him into this.

“Let’s run through one more time.” I point in his direction. “You want Rose.” Blake nods. I point to myself. “And I want Rose. And neither of us are willing to give her up without a fight or compromise.”

Blake nods. “Yes, we’ve been over this a hundred times. Where are you going with it?” Blake tilts his head to the side, clearly noting something different about how I’m breaching this age-old subject.

I run a hand through my hair and gather my thoughts. This is going to be tricky, there’s no doubt about it. And even if I manage to convince Blake, that doesn’t mean Rose will be in love with the idea.

“You might not like this, but it’s the only way that might get us what we both want.” Blake throws the cushion across the room and sits next to me. I can feel the excitement pouring out of him. I can tell that he cares about Rose, almost as much as me.

“What is it?” he asks, a little too cheerfully, like a kid about to find out if he got his first puppy.

“We could both have her,” I lay out simply. Direct and to the point. There’s no way around it.

Blake looks at me and down at the floor. He bites his lip a little and then looks at me. “I don’t follow.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. I was hoping that he would catch on. I don’t want to go through every detail right here and now.

“You and I would both share Rose when it comes to everything,” I reiterate.

“So we would all go on dates and we would all share the same bed and…” His eyes grow wide and he looks at me. He takes a step back and taps on his chin. “And both of us would share her,” he says, as if finally catching on. Blake walks around the kitchen island, alternating between glancing at my direction and at the far corner of the room.

I need to break the silence. Get him to see that it’s the only way, since neither of us want to back down. “This is it. This is the only thing that will move this forward. Do you think you’re okay with it?” I gulp at the idea of being intimate with Rose and Blake in the same room. At the same time.

I don’t even know if I’m okay with the idea of sharing Rose with Blake. It’ll take some time before I can get used to it. The idea of seeing Blake naked while I’m trying to be with Rose isn’t a stimulating idea. I’ve seen Blake naked hundreds of times at the fire academy and at work. But taking this next step is something out of the ordinary for both of us. We’ve been friends since we’re young, getting along with almost everything. This would be taking everything to the next level.

Blake stops pacing and leans against the counter. “Would we ever cross swords?” he asks matter-of-factly.

“Fuck no,” I answer. “I’m not into that.”

Blake holds his hands up in defense. “Me neither. I just want to be with Rose.”

“Me too,” I shoot back. “And this is the only thing that I can think of as a solution. Unless you have a better idea?”

Blake takes out a piece of paper and scribbles on it. He looks at it and back at me. He crosses out whatever he’s written and crumples the piece of paper. “Nope. You’re the brains of this operation.” He flexes. “I’m the muscle.”

“And you’re going to be okay with this?”

Blake shrugs. “Eventually, I will be. It’ll be a see as I go kind of thing, but if it means being with Rose then I’m game.” He stares through me, nodding at his words like he’s trying to convince himself.

“Good, because I’m not willing to give her up.”

This was simpler than I imagined. Blake can be a hard ass sometimes, but I’m glad he’s willing to try something different when it comes to Rose.

Blake nods, opens the fridge, tosses me a beer, and opens it. We tap our beers together and chug them both down. Blake wipes the suds from his mouth and burps. “Do you think Rose would be down for it?”

That is the million-dollar question. None of this will matters if Rose doesn’t want any part of it. It adds even more pressure on her side since she’s the daughter of the Mayor. But, if she is game then Blake and I will make sure it didn’t get out. We can be pretty tight lipped if we need to be.

“There’s only one way to find out.” I set the bottle down and make my to the door. “You coming?”  

“Right now?” Blake asks.

“There’s no point in pussy footing around anymore. It’s the first time in weeks that we’ve come up with a sensible solution. Something that might work.”

Blake smiles and follows suit.

Tonight might get a little interesting.