Chapter 31

Jake

 

“Hope this works,” Mark said, as we walked down the hallway to her apartment.

“You and me both,” I said, “Although this is a step up from where we were sitting the last time we were here.”

“Good point,” Mark said, glancing at the spot where Karly had kept us cooling our heels.

I knocked, then Mark did, resulting in a ridiculous cacophony of knocks. Brooke wasn’t smiling when she opened the door.

“Hi,” she said in an emotionless voice.

“Hi,” Mark said, “Long time no see.”

Brooke made an expression that looked like a failed attempt at a smile. Then she stepped back to let us pass.

As we did, I studied her wary forlorn face. Would she look like that if she knew what we were about to say?

“You guys want some tea?” she asked.

As she hurried over to a vintage green and white teapot, Mark shook his head.

“Nah, what about some more of those donuts?”

Brooke turned, her face falling.

“Oh no, I didn’t even think—”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said, “We can order them in ourselves if need be.”

Under the table, I gave Mark a swift kick. “Fuck you,” he mouthed back at me angrily.

“So, you think you’ll be here a while?”

Brooke asked the question lightly, although there was a hopeful note evident in her voice.

“We’d like to,” I said, “How about you sit down first?”

“Okay,” Brooke said.

Although when she sat down, she looked like a mouse crouching before two cats, ready to spring away at any moment.

“Obviously, we’re here to talk about what happened Sunday and Monday,” Mark broke in.

Brooke frowned.

“Okay, though I thought we pretty much covered everything Sunday. You guys said your peace. I don’t need any more explanation. I get it.”

Her gaze grew nervous.

“But, I really hope this won’t affect my job.”

Impulsively, I grabbed Brooke’s hand.

“Of course it won’t affect your job. You’re the best nurse we’ve ever had—and none of what happened is going to change that.”

“Sorry, one sec,” Mark said, leaving into the bathroom.

Brooke glanced at me, and I shrugged. Who knew what Mark was up to—maybe he actually did just have to piss. Her sad-eyed gaze went to my hand, and I drew it away.

With a grimace, I tried to fill in the silence.

“Sorry, I-uh, don’t really want to say anything without Mark being here.”

“I understand,” Brooke said.

She gave me a strained smile, then peeled her gaze away, as if it was painful to look at me too long. My heart ached—fuck Mark and his ill-timed mystery bathroom mission—I wanted to hold Brooke now and tell her everything. And wipe that sad look clean off her face.

Luckily, a minute or so later, Mark ambled back into the room.

“Miss me?” he said. And then, before we could respond, he added, “Who am I kidding? Of course you missed me.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Anyway,” Mark said, “we kinda felt like you ran out last time—we wanted to hear your side of things. That was why we came here Monday night.”

“And because we were worried about you,” I added, with a significant look at Brooke.

She nodded slowly, closing her eyes as if she was experiencing a new round of grief. But when she opened her eyes, they were somber.

“Yeah, sorry about that—before. Karly can be a bit over the top sometimes. But I didn’t want to see you guys then, I was hurting too much.”

“And now?” I asked.

She smiled bitterly.

“Let’s just deal with this now, okay? We have to get this over with, so we might as well do it now. So, tell me, what do you want to know?”

“Just, your feelings in all this. Your side of things,” I said, scanning her face anxiously.

If Mark and I were really going to do what we had agreed on, I wanted to be sure that it was for the right reasons.

Brooke inhaled deeply, then spoke, “I never would’ve thought this would happen to me. I always figured I’d have the typical love story—girl meets boy, girl lives happily ever after. But time and again, one man after the next—they weren’t what I was looking for. After my first serious boyfriend, I dated a lot—but no one ever seemed right. I started to think it wasn’t in the cards. That maybe I had set my expectations too high, and that I wasn’t going to find my person. Then I met you two.”

My heart fluttered. A glance over at Mark found that his light blue gaze was riveted on Brooke.

“Immediately, I was attracted to both of you,” she continued, “But as time went on, and I got to know each of you more, my attraction only grew. I kept waffling back and forth between the two of you. As soon as I went on a date with one, I figured maybe he was the one I was supposed to be with. Then I’d spend time with the other, and I’d be back at square one—unsure of which of you that I really cared for most. I figured out the truth gradually—that I liked you both equally and could do without either of you. For better—and for worse.”

Now Brooke’s eyes were coated with a sheen of tears, but on she went.

“At first, I thought I just needed more time, more dates, to sleep with both of you, to even things out. But the more I did, the more I realized that for me, things were even, and I wanted you both. You were both my dream guy—everything I could have wanted in a partner—just in two different men. Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. I knew it was a long shot, and I was as afraid and weirded out by the idea as you were, but I took a plunge and gave it a go. The s-sex,” at this, her voice wavered, “was b-better than I could’ve imagined in my wildest dreams. It was so hot and sensual. I’d never been so turned on in my life. And that next morning, all of us in bed together, joking around. Well, it just felt right. Like a family.”

She sighed, and wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes.

“Anyway, I knew it was pretty crazy from the get-go. But for a minute, there, I really thought you guys were considering it.”

Her teary hazel gaze searched our faces, as if looking for traces of evidence.

“And I guess what was most upsetting to me, was how close we came to it. I mean, I had to do some soul-searching and deep thinking myself before I could come to terms with it. And right when I did, after I’d gone to all the trouble of rationalizing it all to myself and putting myself out there—that was when you guys told me no.”

Mark put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

“It’s alright, Brooke.”

She pulled her arm away furiously.

“Don’t say that. It’s not alright. It’s not. No matter how much time passes, even if you do keep me on as a nurse, that night will always have happened. How to I ever replace that with someone else?”

“I told you,” I said, “There is no ‘if’ about us keeping you on as a nurse. As long as we’ll be practicing surgeons, we’re going to want you as our nurse. Not only are you incredibly talented and reliable, but you also have a big heart. What you did today only underscored that. It’s a vital skill in a nurse.”

At this, she smiled slightly.

“That’s not why I said it was going to be okay, though,” Mark said, slowly.

He glanced at me, and I nodded. It was time.

“What would you say,” I said, “if we were to say that we accept your offer—of being a throuple.”

Brooke stared at me blankly.

“What?”

Just then, Mark’s phone went off.

“Crap, gotta get this.”

And without another word, he rushed out the door. Brooke’s still-shocked gaze flicked over to me.

“Let me guess,” she said, “You want to—”

“Wait for Mark,” I said, with a decided nod.

She grinned at me, and I grinned back. With her eager sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks, Brooke was clearly dying to ask me if I was serious. The thought of it alone had lit her up. For my part, I could barely keep myself from leaping up and throwing my lips on hers. Showing her just how happy our reconciliation made me.

Mark returned with two Pizza boxes. Setting the orange squares on the table, he grinned.

“For old time’s sake.”

“Because it was so very long ago,” Brooke joked.

We all laughed, and, when we were finished, Brooke’s expectant look went to me.

“So Jake, you said—”

“We want to try it—being a throuple,” Mark answered.

He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek.

“You’re worth it.”

Brooke’s whole body was tensed with nervous excitement. Her gaze flicked to mine.

“And you’re sure about this too, Jake?”

I nodded.

“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”

Now the tears collecting in Brooke’s eyes finally rolled down her face. Although something told me that these were an entirely different sort of tears.

“So, it’s really true,” she murmured.

She grinned, then leapt to her feet.

“So it’s really true!” she cried.

Laughing, Mark lifted her and twirled her around.

“It’s true!” he said.

He passed her over to me, and as I spun Brooke’s beaming self around in my arms, I kissed her.

“It’s true.”

I paused to take Brooke in. Really take her in, with her glossy dark hair, pink-lipped grin, rosy cheeks and eyes that just gleamed with happiness. All thanks to us. This remarkable woman was too ecstatic to speak—thanks to us.

Mark gave her ass a resounding spank.

“You bet your ass it’s true—now let’s eat.”

It didn’t take us long to take Mark up on his invitation. The pizza was greasy cheesy goodness incarnate.

Once she’d finished her first piece, Brooke turned to us with malicious interest in her eyes.

“Were you guys a little worried I wouldn’t agree?”

“Nah,” Mark said, “We were 100% sure you wanted the d.”

“Mark!” she scolded.

Laughingly, he admitted “Okay, I don’t know about Jake. But I was, a bit. You were pretty upset the other day. I was worried you might not be able to forgive us—or trust us after we changed our minds.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “Just the thought of you not agreeing tore me up inside.”

“What would you have done, if I hadn’t agreed?” Brooke asked, chewing on the edge of her fingernail.

Mark shot her a malicious smile of his own.

“Oh nothing, just kidnapped you.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “Or just sent you donuts, each and every day—until you agreed.”

Brooke laughed.

“Well, if the kidnapping thing hadn’t panned out, then the donuts would have definitely gotten me.”

“I guess we don’t have to ask what you’d do if we hadn’t agreed,” I said, thoughtfully, “Since we basically saw. Sorry again about that, by the way. It was just a huge decision, and I didn’t want to agree to something and then later pull back and hurt you even more.”

“That’s almost what you did though,” Brooke pointed out, “You two acted as if you were all for it and then just blindsided me with a split-second decision.”

“What can I say,” Mark said. “We’re idiots. Would a present help?”

Brooke smiled shyly.

“Depends on the present.”

Mark left and returned with a little bag.

“It’s from Jake and I.”

Over her shoulder, he winked. I shot him a grateful smile. Now I knew what that quick pit stop had been for. Mark and I had been in such a single-minded rush to get here, that we’d barely exchanged two words, let alone discussed what had taken him so long in Tiffany’s.”

As Brooke opened the golden-handled bag, she let out an ecstatic, “Oh my God, you didn’t!”

Mark shot another smirky look at me.

“Oh, we did.”

“My gosh, it’s beautiful!” Brooke cried, lifting the gold and white riddled necklace.

Eyes shining, she put it on, looking from it to me and Mark, then back to it again.

“How does it look?”

“Almost as stunning as you do,” I said, kissing her cheek.

Mark reached around and undid it.

“But I’d put it away for now.”

“Alright,” Brooke said as he slipped it into the bag.

“What do you say to another throwback?” Mark asked.

He lifted his latest piece of pizza to Brooke’s lips.

She turned to grin at him.

“Be careful what you wish for. Don’t you remember what this led to last time?”

I was the one who pushed the slice into her mouth deeper.

“Oh, we’re counting on it.”