50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter One Hundred Three

    "What made you change your mind?" she asked him, feeling Aubrey's eyes on her.

    The muscle in Brian's jaw tensed and he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his thighs. "Well... for the sake of my own sanity, I told myself that you only developed feelings for me because of the traumatic stuff we were going through. I told myself that you didn't really love me...you just grew attached to me because I was there and Aubrey wasn't. I told myself that now that Aubrey was back, I couldn't possibly compete with him, and that he was better for you than I was. But when I had time to really sit and think about it, knowing that you've been stressed out even while he's here with you, maybe...maybe your feelings for me are genuine."

    She blinked rapidly to keep tears from falling.

    He cleared his throat and said, "You and I spent time together during a rough period. A lot was going on. On top of it all, we couldn't really go anywhere. You weren't able to go out and spend time with friends. You were crammed in that house with me, and you didn't really have an option. But with what Aubrey is proposing, we could get to know each other without any other outside pressure."

    "Other than me being in a relationship with Aubrey, you mean," she said with a weak smile.

    He returned the weak smile. "Yeah, you're right. There is that."

    "Dating both of you," she said, almost to herself. The idea was crazy. It was out there. Ultimately, though, Aubrey was right. It was the best way for her to determine who she should really be with. Even though Aubrey is who I want to be with, she thought, turning and looking at him. I feel like he's the only one for me, but my feelings for Brian have been eating me up. I've felt guilty, for even thinking about him.

    "I don't expect you to give us your answer tonight," Aubrey said. "But if you do agree to this, you would get on birth control. Right away. We would all get tested beforehand. We would all agree to a certain time period. At the end of that time period, you would make a choice - either him, or me."

    "At the end of that time period, I would have to hurt someone." She lowered her gaze to her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. A setup like this had the potential to get very messy. Who am I kidding? The situation is already messy as hell. Aubrey was explaining the idea, as if at the end of the established time period, everything would be wrapped up in a nice little bow. But at the end of that time period, someone was guaranteed to be hurt.

    Aubrey looked over at Brian.

    Brian stood up from his chair and walked over to Destiny. He knelt down and covered her hands with his own.

    She raised fearful eyes to Aubrey, whose facial expression appeared to be impassive.

    "You can't think of it that way," Brian said, drawing her attention back to him. "At the end of the time period, you'll know who you want to be with. And we can all move on, regardless of who you choose. That's how you should think of it."

    "What are your concerns?" Aubrey directed at her. "Other than the hurting someone or getting pregnant by one of us, which we've covered. Voice them."

    She shrugged. What were her concerns? She didn't even know where to begin. "I have so many."

    "Like?" he prompted.

    "Like...we all work together, for one," she said, glancing between Brian and Aubrey. "How do we keep something like that discreet? And also, I'm worried about...feeling slutty, dating two men at the same time."

    "It's not uncommon to date more than one person," Aubrey pointed out.

    "It's not something I'm used to," she said. "I've never done it. I've never had an interest in doing it. I prefer to put all of my focus into one person that I'm interested in. I've never been a...'play the field' kind of girl."

    Brian looked over to Aubrey.

    "All of this is pretty heavy," Aubrey told her. "This decision is a fairly big one for you to make, and I don't expect you to give me an answer tonight."

    "I can't imagine how something like that would work," she said. "It sounds all clean-cut and procedural when you talk about it, but the real world isn't that clean-cut. There are emotions and feelings. Even if we all go in claiming to be responsible for our actions, knowing that I have to make a decision, that won't stop the man that I don't choose from hurting. And it won't stop me from feeling horrible for hurting him. I mean...how do I know you won't get jealous, Aubrey? How do I know you won't hate me or resent me?"

    He sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

    "Men are visual creatures, right?" she asked him. "Weren't you the one who told me that? How do I know that you won't be able to get the image of me and Brian...being intimate...out of your head? How do I know that you won't form some kind of complex over this?"

    "You don't," he admitted.