I don’t know what possessed me to remove my shirt. It was a somber moment, the thought popped into my head, so I did it. Caden followed suit, making it even more ridiculous. Scarlet is looking back and forth between the two of us, and I’m not sure if she’s into the fact the Caden and I have entered a state of undress.
“Why are you guys being so nice to me?”
“Because we like you.” Caden answers that one. “And we’ve become invested in your happiness.” I let out a laugh at Caden’s little addendum. He is known for phrasing things awkwardly, and now is no exception. The two of us had this discussion, that our feelings for Scarlet are intensifying, but we’re also both afraid to say anything. Our relationship is a precarious one, and we don’t want to do something to jeopardize it. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Scarlet looks down at her lap and starts to fiddle with her hands. “I- I don’t know. There was just so much going on and I wasn’t sure if-”
“Why don’t we show you how much we like you?” I suggest. She looks up at me, an expression full of questions. She nods, and I tell her, “Come over here,” indicating my lap. She scoots over and straddles my lap.
“Is this okay?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.
I don’t say anything but instead run my hands up her thighs. Scarlet places her hands on my shoulders as if she’s preparing herself. At this point, I notice Caden has left the room. It’s sometimes creepy how quiet he can be, but I don’t put much thought towards it. Instead, I keep my attention on Scarlet,
“Let’s move to the island.”
Scarlet nods again and tries to stand up, but I hold onto her.
“I can carry you there.” I stand up, and Scarlet’s grip instinctually tightens. Her legs are wrapped around my torso with her chin rested on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to drop you.”
“I’m not worried. I just want to be sure.”
I feel her warm breath on my back, and I rush over to the island so I can get started on showing her how much I like her. I place her down gently, and she disentangles her limbs from my body. Once she’s sat down, she also notices Caden’s absence and comments, “Where did Caden go?”
“I don’t know. He’s probably getting something ready or doing whatever it is Caden does.” I’m actually a little surprised he left, but I trust my brother. “But we should get back to you. Any requests?”
Scarlet shakes her head, “A kiss would be nice.”
I position myself squarely between her legs and place both of my hands on either side of her face. As I’m kissing her, I hear some footsteps, which means Caden wants us to know he’s back. We stop kissing, and Caden is on the other side of the island, something in his hand.
“Where’d you go off to?”
Caden has a mischievous smile on his face. “I thought maybe we could try something a little different. I remember when we were in the mountains, Miss Scarlet Russell had a bit of a penchant for taking control, and I thought we could hand over the reins tonight.” Caden holds up his hands, and in them are two pairs of handcuffs. “Let you be in complete control. What do you think?”
Scarlet turns back to me, and I can tell she wants to but there’s hesitation.
“Is something wrong?”
Scarlet takes a few seconds to think and then answers, “No, it’s fine. Why don’t you the two of you go sit at the dining table? I’ll be there in a second, okay?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Caden and I leave the kitchen so Scarlet can prepare herself. She doesn’t seem to be listening in on us, so I whisper to him, “Did you get those from the car?”
Caden gives me another secretive smile. “Yeah.”
“So, you went outside shirtless?”
Caden takes a second, nods and responds, “Yeah.”
“You’re such a weirdo. It’s so cold outside.”
Caden laughs. He’s more reckless than me, but it often leads to amusing situations. We sit next to one another at the dining table, waiting for Scarlet.
“If I’m weird, you’re just as weird. I mean, the amount of time we spend together, my personality has definitely rubbed off on you.” We continue riffing off back and forth for a few more minutes when Scarlet comes back into dining room. The handcuffs are loosely dangling in her hands as she walks over to us. The two of us silently watch her.
“Hello, boys. Are you two ready?” Scarlet walks so she’s standing behind us. She starts with me, handcuffing my hands behind the chair. She cuffs Caden then sits on the table, between us. “Wait. Do you have the keys?” She’s talking to Caden since he’s the one who brought the cuffs, and I have to ask as well,
“Caden?”A look of horror must’ve crossed my face, because when Caden turns to me, he lets out another one of his hearty laughs. He’s laughing for so long that he starts to have trouble breathing. “Caden!”
“God dammit, Caden.” Even though Scarlet sounds annoyed, she’s also smiling.
Caden has an infectious laugh, and even when he’s being ridiculous, it’s hard to not join him in his joy. “Yeah, yeah. I have the keys. They’re in my pocket. You’re welcome to get them out.”
Scarlet hops off the table and bends over so she’s hovering over Caden, her face inches from his. “Which pocket are they in?”
Caden shrugs his shoulders, rendering Scarlet to make a guess. She goes for his left pocket, digs around and finds nothing. “I guess they’re in your other pocket.” So she places her hand into his right pocket and discovers that it’s also empty. Scarlet’s face scrunches into confusion, and she looks Caden squarely in the eyes. “Caden, where are the keys?”
“In my back pocket.”
Scarlet makes a silent, “Oh.”
Caden furrows his eyebrows and says, “Here, I’ll stand up slightly so you can reach back and get them.” Caden picks his butt up so there’s room to reach into his back pocket. Scarlet has to lean more into him. When she leans in more, her nose brushes Caden’s face. Her eyes flick up to his briefly before moving back down. She finds the keys and pulls them out of Caden’s pocket. She looks back at him and says breathlessly,
“Found them…” It looks like Scarlet’s going to kiss him, but instead she backs away, placing the keys on the table. She leans against the table and turns to me. “Oliver.” There’s been a shift in the mood that I may have missed. I look at Caden, but he is just watching me, waiting for me to respond.
“Yes…?”
Scarlet uses her foot to spread my legs. She positions herself between my legs and runs her hands up my chest until her fingers are circling my neck. She softly kisses me,
“Let’s have a little fun.”
• • •
Scarlet took her time teasing the two of us, but it still feels like it was over too quickly. She’s taken off my handcuffs and is currently unlocking Caden’s. I’m rubbing my wrists since they’re a little raw. Once Caden’s unrestrained, he massages his wrists as well. We both stretch then stand up, cleaning ourselves off. It doesn’t take long for all of us to get dressed. “You two can spend the night if you want…” I look at Caden, and we both absorb the weight of Scarlet’s proposition. If she means what I think she means, it would be a big deal. I’m about to ask what us staying would mean, but Caden beats me to it,
“Do you mean spend the night with you in the house or spend the night in the general house?”
Scarlet smiles at the question. “I would say it’s the first option, but it’s really up to the two of you. You can sleep wherever you want, but it would be nice if you chose to stay with me… in my bedroom.”
Well, of course we’re going to stay with her. “Lead the way.”
And with that Scarlet takes us upstairs. Neither one of us has ever been up there. I remember she mentioned not going herself when she first came back. I wonder when she changed her mind. It makes me regret not keeping contact with her. Caden and I were constantly worried about giving her space and what amount of interest was the appropriate amount of interest. Basically, we were overanalyzing every move and, in the end, getting nowhere. But we’re going to change that. Communication is key.
We go into Scarlet’s bedroom, and it’s sparsely decorated. I’m about to ask but she’s quick to explain,
“This is a guest room. I haven’t been able to go into my old bedroom for too long, let alone sleep in there. But it’s still a nice room.” Scarlet wanders over to the bed as her voice trails off. It would seem she’s returning to her more morose state, how she was feeling after we told her about our dad. I guess without distraction, her mind returns to its darker thoughts. Caden and I go to sit on either side of her, Caden placing a reassuring arm around her shoulder as she continues, “I can’t get it out of my head that Grandma Rachel was alone when she died. Not like in the moment, but I’d barely spoken to her in years. It’s like I abandoned her.”
“You have to stop thinking it’s your fault. It was Winston. He killed Rachel. We all make mistakes. God knows I’m no angel, but that doesn’t mean we’re responsible for all the bad things that happened.” Wise words from Caden. He falls back so he’s lying down.
I quickly follow suit and then Scarlet so we’re all on our backs. Caden and I roll onto our sides, looking at Scarlet. Caden places his hand at the hem of her shirt and lifts it up, exposing her stomach. He traces circles around her belly button, causing Scarlet to let out little laughs, “Your skin is very smooth.”
“Thank you. I moisturize.”
“Hmm… I do that, too.”
Scarlet reaches up and strokes Caden’s face. “I can tell. Your skin’s really soft, too.”
Caden moves Scarlet’s shirt further up, and her entire stomach is exposed with the edge of her bra peeking out.
She peers up at Caden, “Do you want me to take my shirt off?”
Caden shakes his head, “Let’s just take things slowly.”
I move Scarlet’s hair from her face and she turns her head to me. I caress her cheek then kiss her gently. As I’m kissing her, I feel my cheek getting slightly wet, and I move my face away from hers. It’s then I notice there are tears running down her face.
“What’s wrong?”
Caden hears my question and stops rubbing her stomach. He looks at us and sees her tears. He doesn’t say anything and waits for Scarlet’s answer,
“Nothing… You two are so gentle, and… I don’t know. It got to me. Life hasn’t been easy for me these past few years, and it feels like it’s finally getting better.”
I use my thumb to wipe away some of the tears and kiss Scarlet’s cheeks. “You mean a lot to us, too.” I know it doesn’t sound overly romantic, but neither one of us has ever been good at saying stuff like that. I just hope Scarlet can feel the sentiment behind my words. I give her another kiss with more gusto this time. Our kiss breaks and I move over.
Caden has moved his hand to the hem of her skirt. “Is this okay?”
Scarlet nods, and Caden scoots the skirt off, leaving her in her underwear. He moves on top of her and kisses her neck. “What do you want, Scarlet?”
“I want you…” Scarlet holds my hand as Caden massages her breasts. She squeezes my hand as she wriggles under him. I see his hands go down to her underwear. He’s about to insert into her and start making love to her, but he stills himself, waiting for Scarlet to say something. “Go ahead. I want you to.”
Caden moves slowly, and Scarlet grips my hand as she inhales sharply. Her breathing is even and deep. Caden keeps his slow pace with Scarlet’s breathing picking up. She lays her cheek on the bed, facing towards me. I give her a kiss, and in the moment, I can tell she’s close. While we’re kissing, Scarlet moans into my mouth and reaches her peak. We break apart as Caden withdraws himself. We all return to lying on our backs and take a few seconds to catch our breaths. Soon, we’re all asleep. It feels nice falling asleep next to Scarlet and my brother.
The next day, we all wake up together, and it feels like this is the way it should be every morning. There are minor readjustments, but we all manage to smoothly get ourselves up and ready. We take a small breakfast before leaving. We’re jollier this morning, laughing over our coffees and toast. After we eat, Caden and I say goodbye to Scarlet, making sure we promise to come over soon. There are a few things that Caden and I have to take care of back at the office, but we’ll make sure to call Scarlet and make plans. We’re not going to let her get away.