Page 19 of Branson's Promise

Initially, friend-zoning Noel had seemed like the best move, until it wasn’t and the idea of keeping him at arm's length made my stomach ache uncomfortably. My thoughts had done a one-eighty since the bar - how I ever thought I could resist him I don’t know. I wanted to be with him and I wanted to give this a shot - maybe I would end up hurt but that wouldn’t be anything new.Take the risk, Branson,I thought to myself

I held back a laugh at the nervous expression he wore - his brows furrowed, his bottom lip lodged between his teeth but I couldn’t help playing with him a little. “Well I never, the infamous playboy, Noel Bennett, wants to date little ol’ me. Wants to be my boyfriend?” I joked and he responded by slapping the side of my thigh.

“Don’t be a brat,” he huffed.

“I’m just messing with you. Okay let’s do this. Date the shit out of me.” I winked at him, loving how one corner of his mouth tipped up into a devilish smirk.

Noel pulled me up, moving me until I was straddling his hips. “We need to talk about Milo though.”

“What about him?” I shuffled myself backwards on his lap so I could meet his eyes.

“He likes you, and you like him, don't you?”

“I do, but we've literally just established I want to be with you. It's just a little crush, don't worry.” How was I already about to screw this up? I wasn't going to lie and say I didn't like him, but I needed Noel to know I didn't plan on acting on it. A schoolboy crush on my roommate, that's all it was.

“Oh, I'm not worried but I am fine with it. I want you to know that it's okay if you do want to act on your feelings towards him.”

My mouth dropped open and my shoulders stiffened. “You mean you want us to see other people too?”

Noel tightened his grip on my hips. “Fuck no. Any other guy touches you and I'll give them a parachute free skydive from my jet, but Milo… I'm good with Milo.”

To say I was shocked was an understatement. Was he really suggesting I pursue something with both of them?

“But why? You don't even like him.”

“Not true. I am in fact very fond of him. I am an even bigger fan of the way he makes you smile. I'm possessive but not where Milo is concerned, especially if it makes you happy. I feel like all I want at the moment is to make you happy.”

I mulled over his words for a moment completely speechless before circling back to what he said. “Do you want to be with him too?”

“Not if it would upset you and, the guy seems to have an issue with me so it’s probably not even something we need to discuss. But honestly, yes. I don't know him very well - a fact I would like to change if not for his obstinance - but I won't lie and say I'm not incredibly attracted to him. Or equally intrigued by him the way I am by you. I feel something unexpected towards Milo and I feel….” His words halted and he went silent for a moment before continuing, “I feel like the three of us would be good together. Like I said, it’s unexpected because I’ve never been in a serious relationship with one person, yet alone two. And, if it’s not something you’d like to entertain, I understand, I just needed you to know it’s okay with me.”

Would it upset me? Did the idea of sharing Noel with Milo bother me? No part of my body reacted negatively to the thought. In fact, one particular part was thrilled and fully on board with the idea.

I liked them both, so much. Could I really have this? Did I want to? Would it ruin things? Would Milo even want that? Holyshit, I was going to collapse under all the questions whirling around in my mind.

“You're going to give yourself a migraine thinking so hard. Come lie here and let me rub your shoulders. We can shelve this discussion for another day.”

Oh sure, as simple as that. Let's just tell my dick to calm the fuck down and discuss fucking two guys at a later date. Yeah, simple. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Chapter 10

Milo

What do you do if you watch your roommate - the one you’re massively crushing on - get a blowjob from a guy who your dick likes but the rest of you finds frustrating? You run. That’s what you do. And that is exactly what I did.

I saw, I came, I ran.

Fuck, fuckity fuck. It was all a fucking mess. After leaving our apartment, I made my way to Central Park, where I walked around for hours before taking a cab (that I couldn’t really afford) to meet Mia at a coffee shop near our father’s house.

My legs were restless, and I rubbed constantly at the back of my neck while sitting at the table, a dark black roast in hand. Mia had been happy to see me but luckily for me she had been so caught up in her own life drama - of which she shared every detail with me - that she didn’t notice my restlessness. I had no desire to discuss any of what had happened with her. I barely wanted to think about it - or the implications of it. The act itself though, I played on repeat like my favourite music video.

That had been almost a week ago and I had done a very good job of avoiding Branson since. Taking longer shifts at work, going for walks with Mia in the evenings, and on the few occasions I’d run into him, disappearing into my room as quickly as possible. We had shared the odd idle chit chat but neither of us brought up the ‘incident’. Meeting his eyes was suddenly so fucking difficult. I hadn’t seen Noel again. Mr Moneybags had obviously decided to retreat back to wherever it was he laid his stupidly handsome head.

As I reached the front of our apartment, tired after a long day at work, my arm aching from the new ink I’d had done at the shop earlier, I was annoyed to find a large black sedan parked on the curb. A well-dressed man stood against the driver's door, looking at his phone. Not a care in the world that he was parked in a no parking zone nor that he was making entering our building difficult.

I huffed as I passed, letting myself in and trudging up the stairs. Shower, food, bed. That was my plan for the evening. I hoped that Branson wasn’t in but as I opened the door, I knew I was fresh out of luck.

“Just like that, daddy.” A breathy voice in an accent I couldn't get enough of, pleaded as I pushed the door open fully to find Branson slouched on the sofa, his legs resting on top of Noel with Noel’s hand somewhere up the leg of the younger man'sshorts. By the pink tinge on Bran’s cheeks, I could guess the exact location.

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