Page 12 of Riding My Dragons

”Elliot likes to include us in his plans,” I said, smiling sincerely.“And we like to include him in ours.”

“But you don’t seem to get what I’m saying,” she said, brushing her fingers through a lock of her hair, a little nervously.

”We get exactly what you’re saying,” I assured her.“We ‘date’ with Elliot all the time.”

Now she was startled.Her eyes darted back and forth from Cade to me with sudden surprise.“You do?”

”We do!” I said.

Incredulously, Jenna said, “Really?The two of you…and Elliot?The three of\ you?”

”Yep!” said Cade.“And everybody has a good time!”

Jenna’s disbelief grew.She hugged herself with one arm.“But…it’s the three of you.That’s…four people.”

I said, “That would be the three of us…and you.If you’re interested.”

Not seeming to want to believe what she was growing to understand, Jenna said, “But that would be…all of us!”

Cade leaned just a little bit towards her, grinning meaningfully, and said, “And we promise you’ll love it.”

I started to worry a little that Cade was making her too apprehensive, and quickly cut in, “Jenna, we don’t mean to scare you and we don’t want you to feel rushed or pressured or overwhelmed.It might seem like a lot to handle, so to speak.But we think we could make you feel good.Maybe better than you’ve ever felt.Consider it.You enjoyed being with Elliot.I think maybe you might be attracted to us the way you are to him.It could be a really beautiful thing for you.And if you trust Elliot, I swear you can trust us.”

She couldn’t seem to get past the fact of it.We seemed to be losing her.“But…the three of you…”

”We can see you’re unsure about the idea,” I said, remembering the last thing we talked about before leaving Elliot’s place.“Maybe we’ll just let you consider it.But when you see Elliot, ask him about how we get together.He’ll tell you how good it is.If you want, we’ll go and let you think it over.”

Jenna still looked hesitant.She took a breath but said nothing.Her uncertainty was obvious.

“Okay,” I said.“It looks like you’re not sure.That’s fair.We’ll just go.But really, when you see Elliot, ask him about us.”I touched my friend on one arm and tilted my head towards the top of the tiers and said, “Come on, Cade.”

Cade and I started walking up the tiers towards the campus beyond.He looked over at me disappointedly and I just gave him a roll of my eyes, a shrugging expression that said without words, Well, we gave it a try, right?

And that was when we heard her voice calling from behind and below us, “Wait!”

We stopped and turned.She was walking quickly up the tiers after us.Did this mean all wasn’t lost?

Reaching us, Jenna blurted, “I have a confession.”

”What?” I replied.

She said, “Elliot messaged me before the race.He told me to expect you.He said you were his friends and you’re okay.”

”We are,” said Cade.“We’re for real.”

To me, Jenna said, “So…you want to go back to your place?”

”And you can trust us,” I said.“Absolutely.”

The moment seemed to freeze around us.Jenna shut her eyes, creased her lips, and took a deep breath.

We saw a more decisive look when she opened her eyes again.“Okay,” said Jenna.“Let’s go.”

My heart gave a little leap inside me at this, the second thing that Cade and I had “won” today.“Great!” I said.“Let’s go!”

It was now the three of us, continuing back up the auditorium tiers together.Jenna said, “And you’re both really good?Like Elliot is good?”

I grinned sexily at her, and saw the same expression coming from Cade.“Just wait,” I replied.

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