“Fine,” they said. Their voices came out sounding petulant, and Haley felt even more hopeless.
Still feeling a little jittery from her nerves and what could possibly happen tonight, she led them both into the lounge room. In the corner, Mr. Guidry stood behind a small bar, enthusiastically mixing some drink in a chrome shaker.
“You sit there”—Haley pointed to Gregory and then a chair—“and you there.” She repeated the gesture with Jason but motioned at the couch instead. They both sat and crossed their arms, glaring at each other. “Could you guys be any more cliché?” she asked as she walked away. She didn’t want to see their reaction. She couldn’t believe she’d acted so cheeky as to tell them to sit. Would she regret that later? God, she hoped so. She felt a blush crawl across her face as she approached Mr. Guidry.
“So…” He placed three chilled martini glasses on the bar and poured out the contents of the shaker. “I guess Gregory made it after all. And who is that dark, brooding boy he’s with?” He smiled. “The question is rhetorical, of course. You don’t need to tell me, Haley. It’s written all over your face.”
Haley could tell Mr. Guidry had something more to say about the situation. He’d read the entire scenario that quickly. “What do I do?” she asked. She took an olive off a plate on the bar and popped it into her mouth.
“They offer a good balance, don’t they?” His face held appreciation as he looked over her shoulder at the two men.
Balance
. Yes, they did offer that in more ways than just the variety of play. “But how do I get them to…you know?” While the idea of a threesome had occurred to her—her shower fantasy still plagued her—how would it really work in the end? Sure, she’d had one dom do her and another female sub at the same time, but two doms? How would that work?
Could
it work, even if the doms were friends? These two guys clearly hated each other. Most likely due to her, but it probably ran deeper than that. The animosity felt palpable when she stood between them, as if they’d been born as adversaries. Just like she couldn’t rightly explain her feelings for each of them, the hate seemed instinctual, natural, part of who each man was in relation to the other.
What if she’d been honest with them from the beginning? Maybe if they’d met casually, knowing what to expect, they would have liked each other. She doubted it though.
As if reading her mind, Mr. Guidry said, “It takes a very special pair of men, and a very special girl—which you are, Haley; you know that—but it can be done. Each of those men likes something different, and they’ll discover a way to work together if they find someone who is worth it. You’re worth it.”
Haley just listened, her jaw slightly slack. “You pulling some voodoo on me, Mr. Guidry?” she finally asked.
“Only observant.” He winked and pushed the glasses toward her. “Don’t give up, love. It’ll happen as it’s supposed to. Just be…understanding.”
Haley wrinkled her nose at him and took the three drinks carefully back to her waiting men, trying desperately not to spill a drop from the top-heavy martini glasses. She wondered if she could find a book to read about this or something:
I’m Okay, You’re Okay, and He’s Okay Too, So Let’s Get It On
. Probably not.
She handed off the glasses and took a long sip of hers. Tart and sweet. Haley smiled slightly as the booze—probably vodka—warmed her throat on its way down. She wondered how many of these she would need before she could get up the guts to actually speak her mind to Jason and Gregory. But no, any more than two tonight could lead to bigger complications than what she was already dealing with.
She stood there, watching them watch her. She didn’t know what to say. She looked behind her, back at Mr. Guidry, and he nodded encouragingly. She turned back to them. Even though she stood while they sat, she didn’t feel like she had any extra power or control in the situation. She knew some people used a height advantage as a tactic to get the upper hand in an argument, but it certainly didn’t work when two powerful men were doing their best to stare her down.
In the room around them, people mingled and chatted, murmuring compliments about Mr. Guidry’s drinks and contemplating the weekend’s events. Some even already had their pony-play gear on: harnesses, hoods with manes in wicked colors, restraining hooves. Doms tipped up glasses so their restrained subs could sip, and some were only allowed to stand against the wall, looking pretty.
Haley definitely didn’t feel in the mood for any of that tonight; she didn’t know what she wanted. She certainly couldn’t put it into words yet. Instead she waited for Gregory or Jason to say something, but they seemed more concerned only with who could glare at her more strongly. Haley realized she would have to break the silence, to figure out how to proceed.
“So how did you end up here?” she asked Gregory first.
He glanced at Jason, swallowed the sip of his drink he’d just taken, and said, “When my flight to Houston got delayed, I decided to head out here, hoping someone had tempted you to come. You never could refuse a trip to Mossy Oaks.”
“And you?” She looked at Jason.
“I don’t know if you are going to appreciate this or not,” he warned her.
Haley took another drink and shrugged. “Regardless, we need to all be honest tonight, don’t you think?”
Jason paused. “Your friend Margot called me.”
“What?” Haley remembered he’d spoken to Margot after Haley had left the show last weekend. “How close are you two?”
Jason shrugged. “I got a call on the drive home from work. Gel’s worried about you, so he called Margot. She told me you’d headed out here and that maybe I could sort of corner you and make you talk to me.” He glanced at Gregory. “That gets me extra points, doesn’t it? The friend asking me here, I mean.” He smirked, and Haley—for a moment—felt like slapping him. She couldn’t believe this man of hers who was generally passionate but mature kept acting like a little kid. Did something specific in Gregory bring that out in him? Did it just rise from the threat he presented in relation to her? Haley didn’t know, but she didn’t want to see this side of Jason for much longer.
Gregory—evidently trying to be the bigger man—ignored the last comment and the look on Jason’s face. “So we both surprised you,” he said to Haley.
Haley harrumphed and looked away. “Ya’ think?” she mumbled.
“I know why I am here,” Jason continued, “and I’m pretty sure I know why Gregory’s here, but that doesn’t explain—Haley, look at me—why
you
are here.”
“Why
are
you here?” Gregory asked, and Haley raised her gaze for just a moment. “Did you already find another man?”
Haley shook her head. How could he even think that? “It’s going to sound stupid,” she said. “Neither of you will believe it.”
“Try us,” Jason said.
Haley battled with her choices. “I needed some time alone,” she finally said, and then sat on the arm of the couch next to Jason. Gregory glared at her nearness, but Haley ignored it.
“There are more people here than at your house,” Gregory told her.
“I know, but while here I can go out there.” She waved a hand toward the French doors leading to the back of the house and, beyond that, the bayou. She enjoyed nature, looked to it to soothe her in difficult times. New Orleans was a beautiful city, but short of the rambling acres of City Park, it could be hard to find someplace to go where you didn’t hear trains or cars or throngs of people. Especially in her neighborhood.
“So you’re not here with anyone?” Gregory asked.
“No,” Haley said. “I came with Cyn and Todd, but I’m not
with
them.”
“And you’re not here to
find
anyone?” Jason put a hand on her thigh.
Haley looked down at him. She swallowed. She shook her head slightly.
“Good. So all that’s left is for us”—Jason waggled his finger back and forth between himself and Gregory—“to convince you which of us you belong with.”
Almost instantly, Haley felt herself deflate. How could she explain it to them? “That’s just the thing,” she said. “I don’t want either of you.” She paused, then whispered, “I want both.”
As incompatible as you are
. She knew she’d already told them that, but felt like she had to say it again. Maybe repeating it would help them understand.
Gregory’s sputtered and leaned forward in his chair. The action seemed almost comical to Haley, but she didn’t laugh.
“What do you mean ‘both’?” he asked.
“I liked what I had. I want it back. Both of you have so much to offer, have different things to give me.” She shrugged. “You didn’t let me explain that the other night. You just stormed off.”
“No way,” Jason said, sneering at Gregory. Haley thought for a moment that maybe she
was
better off without either of them; they acted so immature at times.
“Then after dinner, we’ll work out some sort of schedule for the weekend and—” Gregory started.
“No,” Haley said, cutting him off. She even held up a hand. She watched Gregory’s eyebrows go up. She certainly was crossing a lot of lines for a sub tonight, but she would have to do that to get what she wanted. “No schedules.” She felt less certain now. How would they take what would come next? “I’ve done some thinking this week, and I realized I just don’t want to date two men separately. I want both of you…together…”
Jason emphatically shook his head. “A threesome? No way,” he said again.
“Scared, little man?” Gregory asked. He sat back in his chair, set his glass on the side table, and steepled his fingers. “Maybe we can work something out.”
Haley’s eyes went wide with hope.
“But just for the weekend.” He held up a finger to silence the protest Haley opened her mouth to make. She shut it with a snap, knowing that even if she only had them for the weekend, it was better than never. “When it’s over, Haley, you have to make a final decision between us.”
Jason shook his head, clearly not okay with the idea.
“It’s your only chance, I’m sure,” Gregory told him.
“He’s right,” Haley said. “It’s both or neither right now. Either we make this work, all three, or…” She cringed as the words left her. She knew exactly how they would take it: the wrong way, as if each on his own was not man enough, when that wasn’t it at all. She looked down at Jason, praying he would give in. Even if it was only for the weekend, at least Haley would have what she wanted once before ending things for good. She prayed that—if this didn’t work out—there would be someone else out there, somewhere, who could give her what both of these men did combined.
But she doubted that single man existed. No, looking at these two men together only confirmed what she’d already realized—almost as if it were love at first sight. She wanted both of them. She thought again about growing old with two men, and now the scene came clear to her.
She needed them.
Jason stopped shaking his head and turned to look at her squarely. She saw worry on his face. She glanced at Gregory. He could be imposing, even to another dom. He had a few inches and quite a few pounds on Jason, and it was clear that he wanted to negotiate. Jason, on the other hand, seemed too stubborn to make it work. Plus, with his disinterest in exhibitionism, would they manage to come together as a single unit? Haley hoped he’d see reason, or at the very least, give in to his lust.
“Is this really what you want?” Gregory asked her, his voice quiet and full of doubt.
“Yeah, I think it is.” She offered him her best smile but knew it probably appeared pretty weak to him. “I think I’ve wanted it for a long time; I just didn’t realize it.”
“Then we both should have seen that.” Jason looked across at Gregory. “It’s our job to know what she wants.”
“And to give it to her…” Gregory added. Haley sensed the unspoken challenge hanging on the end of that last sentence. She knew Jason would have to rise to it.
Her heartbeat sped up. Adrenaline kicked through her veins. They would do it.
“I’m going to need another drink,” Jason said; all the tension seemed to melt out of his body as he accepted the idea.
“Me too,” Haley said, certain they could hear the rising giddiness in her voice.
“I’ll get them,” Gregory said and stood. Haley watched him move toward the bar. The muscles of his back filled out his dress shirt.
Then she looked down at Jason’s hand on her thigh. She could feel a sheen of sweat on his palm. “What’s wrong?” she asked quietly, trying to quell her excitement enough so he could hear her concern.
Jason’s gaze followed the other man. “He’s…not someone I would spend time with normally.” He looked back at her. “But I can see how he fulfills a need in you that I can’t. A need I ignored. I’m sorry.”
Haley pulled his hand up to her mouth and kissed the back of it. “We’ll get to know each other first,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
“I’ll try not to.” He looked back at Gregory. “At least he’s fit.”
Haley smiled at the observation. “Great stamina too.”
“Where’s he get that?”
She searched her mind. This was one of the details she felt bad about forgetting. “Something to do with his job. You’re going to have to ask him.”
Gregory returned with the drinks and said, “Hank’s serving dinner soon. I think we could all use some sustenance, don’t you?”
Haley realized part of her giddiness could be blamed on drinking on a practically empty stomach. If they were going to consummate this threesome tonight, the last thing she wanted to do was pass out before the fun began.
“Really good idea,” she said. Zeke was an excellent cook and went all-out when it came to feeding the weekend visitors. Her mouth watered at the thought of what he’d serve tonight—and then what would come after. She stood. “Shall we retire to the dining room?” she asked, affecting the most pompous tone she could, trying to lighten the situation.
That got a crack of a smile from Jason. He stood too and drained his glass in one gulp. “Yes, let’s,” he said, evidently trying for the same tone. He offered her an arm.
Gregory offered her his too, and—careful not to spill her drink—Haley allowed them to escort her into the dining room.
Zeke’s cooking tasted exquisite as usual, and the meal gave Haley, Jason, and Gregory an opportunity to get to know each other better. They kept the stories light and humorous. After a couple of hours and many courses had passed, Haley looked up at hearing Gregory’s groan; he pushed back in his chair and rested both his hands on his belly.