Shared

“I dunno,” he chuckled. “It still feels to me like you went shopping for yourself on V-Day.”

I poked him. “Hey, there are three of you. One of me. So when it comes to gift-giving, I’m outnumbered, okay?”

“Three to one, eh?” Hunter said, grabbing me around the waist. “Those odds seem to be working out for you so far.”

That night there were no complaints from anyone, especially not me. I woke sticky and sated, overflowing with come, my not-so-new lingerie hanging off my well-stretched body. A hot shower and two coffees later I was a brand new woman, etching yet another glorious notch into my imaginary headboard.

February gave way to March. The weather got nicer. We were outside more, doing more things. But with April looming… the stress of what to do next hung over everything.

That is, until one Friday night.

“Heads up!” Hunter cried, throwing a pizza on the kitchen table. We’d gotten on a schedule, taking turns cooking meals. This was a particularly low effort, even for him.

“Eat fast,” said Hunter. “Then all of you, come with me. I have something to show you…”

Forty-Two

CLAUDIA

We piled into the car together, which was always a tight fit. But we hadn’t gone more than five or six blocks when, all of a sudden, Hunter pulled over again.

“Get out,” he said.

Over in the back seat, Brandon was looking at Colin in confusion. “Uh… what?”

“I said get out.”

Hunter exited the car, slamming the door behind him. The three of us shrugged at each other and got out too. A minute later we were standing at the curb together. Looking up at…

“Oh wow,” said Colin. “Cool.”

It was our house. Or rather, the same exact model Victorian we lived in. This one wasn’t nearly as nice, though. It looked even worse for wear than when I’d first accepted the renovation job.

“Bah! We have nicer digs,” Brandon said. He clapped Hunter on the shoulder. “Cool that it’s the same though. Let’s get back in the car, it’s freezing and—”

“These are our digs,” said Hunter.

We looked at him strangely. None of us knew what he meant.

“My Uncle and I just bought this place from the bank,” he went on. “I went half on it with him, so we could fix it up.”

I blinked. “You’re going to what?”

“I said ‘we’, not me,” Hunter smiled. He stepped in and threw his arms around us. “We’re gonna renovate it. Flip it for profit. Pay my uncle his share, then buy the next property… rinse and repeat.”

“Us?” said Colin.

“The four of us?” asked Brandon.

“Sure,” said Hunter. “Piece of cake, no? Same house, same floor-plan. Same stuff we already did. It should be easy the second time around.”

It started to dawn on me. On all of us. My lips curled into a smile.

“Of course we’ll be living here while we do it,” he added needlessly. “If you think the four of us could get along for another—”

I threw myself at him and jumped into his arms. It happened so quickly I almost knocked him down.

“Really? This is already yours?”