“Yes,” Ace said.
“That’s not going to be weird for the two of you?”
“Nope.” They both spoke in unison.
“Now, how about we get to fucking?” Ace said.
Before anyone else could speak a loud rumble came from Brett’s stomach.
“You hungry, baby?” Meredith asked, placing a hand on his stomach.
“He can wait, I’m sure,” Ace said, his cock already rock-hard.
“How about you two move this to my bedroom and I’ll go and order some more Chinese food?” Meredith asked.
“We shouldn’t eat more takeout.”
She pressed a finger to both of their mouths. “While you’re in my house, you don’t get to complain about the kinds of food you eat. That’s my condition. I grew up with all that bullshit, and I promised myself I wouldn’t stand for it when I was an adult.”
“Consider it done.”
“Excellent. I’ll go and order.”
She didn’t put on any clothes as she got to her feet, leaving the room completely naked.
“Why do you want a day alone with her?” Ace asked.
“You don’t want to invade each other’s day, do you?”
“Well, no.”
“I thought this was the best solution. If you don’t like it, why didn’t you speak up?” Brett asked.
“I do like it. I want to spend time with her.”
“I know you, Ace. What’s up?”
“What if she doesn’t like me as much as she likes you?” Ace asked. He hated sounding vulnerable. “I like Meredith. I don’t think I could handle the two of you being together if it doesn’t work out.”
Brett stared at him, and he felt like a bug under a microscope.
“This is brand new, Ace. You’ve got to give it time. Nothing is going to move faster than it needs to be. Please, don’t worry about it.” His friend patted him on the shoulder.
They’d gone from being models, to fucking within the space of a night, and he knew things could move fast as they already were.
****
“I think you’re just better suited to other work, honey, you know that.”
Meredith listened to her mother on her cell phone as she continued to walk down the long town road. She’d already been into the florist and ordered more daffodil bulbs to plant. Then she’d gone to the supermarket to look for a nice bottle of wine and some beers. It was the first Friday, and Brett had already said that he wanted to cook her dinner. Since Ace had somewhere to go, Brett had given her a list of things to buy, and she’d been working her way through them when her mother called.
News had gotten back to her parents about her canceling another gallery show and that she wasn’t taking orders anymore. On her website, Will had also told her he’d put “creative vacation” down as her reasoning for not being available.
“Mom, I’m not going to work for some advertising agency where they’ll want me to doodle little pictures about their products. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you this.”
“Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? Your brothers don’t cause this kind of stress. Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
For the next five minutes she listened to her mother’s pains. How she just wanted her little girl to be happy, and that she wouldn’t listen to reason. Then of course came the talk of the husband that Meredith didn’t have, the children she still hadn’t given birth to.
“Mom, I’m thirty years old. I’m not dead. There’s no rush for me to have kids.”
“What about me being a grandma? You want me to be old? To not be able to enjoy my grandkids?”
“It’s not happening right now or even ever, okay? I don’t want to argue about this. I’ve got to go.”
Her mother wasn’t ready to finish the conversation, so Meredith had no choice but to listen to a little more complaining. Close to an hour later, she finally hung up, and Meredith was back home but feeling anything but inspired.
She threw her cell phone onto the table beside the door and made her way into the kitchen to put away her things. By the time that was done, she didn’t feel any better. In fact, she felt annoyed, angry.
Grabbing the daffodil bulbs, she made her way out into the garden. Kicking off her pumps, she sighed as the cool grass slid between her toes and she was finally able to relax.
Everything was fine now.
Her mother would make her demands.
Her father would agree, and she’d be the rebel child that wouldn’t conform.
It was totally fine.
She didn’t know why she was close to tears. It wasn’t like anything had changed in her life. There was no way she was ready to start a family or settle down. She’d just come to a damn agreement with two men. There was no way her parents would ever accept that.
“Are you okay?” Brett asked.
She looked up to see the man she intended to date tonight standing in her yard. “I didn’t even hear you come in.” She’d given Brett and Ace each a key to her place so that they could make themselves at home. They’d given her a key to their place.