Page 36 of Buddy System

Twenty-Seven

Brooke

Last night wasone for the books. Today, however, I wake up with a mild case of cramps and decide this might be the best time to head back to Hopkinsville and pack up our stuff. No sense putting a damper on our budding sexual extravaganza by bowing out due to lady issues. I pop a couple Advil, sit down to breakfast, and let the guys know I’m heading to the house today.

“It shouldn’t take more than a few days. If I have any questions about something you might want to keep, I’ll call you and discuss it before getting rid of it,” I assure Levi over breakfast. “And if you know of any items you’re afraid I might overlook, make me a list, okay?” Levi nods with a mouthful of muffin, so I continue. “While I’m gone, the two of you might want to explore your new—let’s call it ‘awareness’ of each other.” I wiggle my eyebrows at them and get nervous laughter back. I hope I’m not pushing them.

Levi shoots a questioning look at Skyler, who grins back and says, “I never thought I had a queer bone in my body, but apparently, I was wrong. I don’t know if it’s just you, Levi, orwhether I was brought up in a bubble where I never questioned my sexuality because I played football like a ‘real man’ and then became a soldier.” He snorts. “Being able to experience things with both of you is beyond anything I ever imagined. We cantryit with just the two of us, but I wonder if it will seem like the major ingredient is missing without Brooke.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but we’ll also never know unless we try. I get it though. I swore I wasn’t queer, but…” He shrugs at Skyler and looks at me as he takes my hand. “If at all possible, I love you more today, babe, than I did even just a couple of days ago. Your openness to exploring and your acceptance of Skyler—who is vitally important to me—goes beyond what I could ever imagine in a wife.”

“I know what you mean,” Skyler adds. “I’ve been so worried about fucking up your relationship, but I see that maybe I’m making it even stronger. When you weren’t communicating with me, I felt horrible. I was missing something crucial, and that made me feel incomplete. But with Brooketoo,it’s like all the stars are aligned or some poetic crap.” We all laugh at him. “Hey, I’m not the songwriter here. I may paint a picture about it, but poetic words are Levi’s business, right, buddy?”

“You do just fine,” Levi tells him with a fond look on his handsome face. “But a song might be a great idea.”

“Okay, well, then let’s just admit it,” I tell them.

“What?” Levi asks.

“That we have something special and beautiful, and we’reallfalling in love.”

They look momentarily surprised and then turn to each other.

“Probably,” Skyler says.

“Could be,” Levi says at the same time, and they both laugh. “I think I’ll work on that song today after our beautiful Brooke heads out.”

“And I think I’ll do some sketching down here instead of way upstairs away from you,” Skyler tells Levi.

“You don’t want to paint today?” Levi asks.

“I do, but I also want your company, so I won’t hole myself up there alone. I’ll wait until you’re busy with something or you can make it up the stairs comfortably. There are good acoustics in the studio; I know because I play music a lot when I paint. Keep that in mind for inspiration to get stronger.”

“That reminds me, I have an appointment tomorrow with your PT guy.”

“Yeah, he booked us back-to-back, so we can drive over together.”

“Perfect,” I tell them. I have a feeling things are going to go well for the three of us. Who’d have expected anything like this when I fell in love with Levi?

I don’t need to pack much because I left clothes and whatnot at home, so less than an hour later, I’m on the road back to Hopkinsville. I downloaded a couple of ménage books to listen to on the road, just in case they give me some inspiration. One is by a favorite author of mine—Willa Camden. Rumor has it she doesn’t write about ménage anymore because she married two guys and doesn’t want people speculating that her bedroom scenes are autobiographical. The three of them are quite open about their polyamorous marriage, though, and I think that’s amazing. The other book is by a famous author named Dolly Gunn. Her life is much more of a mystery. I can never find out anything about her. Too bad. I’d love to tell her how great her stories are, but I guess leaving five stars and a great review will have to suffice. Anyway, I look forward to their takes on threesomes.

I just have to remember to pay attention to the road while I’m driving and not get carried away by the stories.

A couple of rest stops—one for lunch—and a few hours later, I pull into our driveway. Somehow, the little house we shared looks a lot smaller and shabbier than I remember. The neighbor kid who was supposed to water the flowers I planted has neglected them. They’re drooping and brown. Pathetic. And just as I get out of the car, a helicopter flies over the house making a racket that makes me cringe. I’m sure we’re making the right decision to move away.

The first thing I do when I get inside is check in at work and make sure I’m not leaving them in the lurch. Everything seems under control—amazing—so I ask to take another week off to move. After a lot of grumbling, my boss gives in. He knows what a hard worker I am, and I’ve been working a lot since the first week we arrived in Honeybee Hollow. I promise to tackle anything he throws at me as soon as this week is over.

The next thing I do is call the landlord and let him know we’ll be out completely by the end of the month. Once again, I’m happy not to have a lease. I start packing and amassing stuff that will either be donated or tossed out.

For the next four days,I pack, discard, and clean my way through the house. I’ve made lots of arrangements for changing our address and ending services like gas and electric. It’s boring as all get out, so I continue to listen to audiobooks, andwhooeeam I ever getting an education!

I’m glad Levi didn’t push to come help me do this, thinking he’d be the gentleman. He’d also have gotten worn out and would have been in a lot more pain than he’d have admitted to. I know him.

I catch up with a few friends and go out for drinks a couple of times, but I find I’m missing the guys terribly. At least I’m not worried about their lives, so missing them knowing they are safe and together is way easier to handle than when they were deployed. Still, I want to speed up this process and get back to Honeybee Hollow and my men. I check in with them each night before bed, and Levi and I have texted quite a bit about things to keep and things to ditch.

The guys have been somewhat silent on what they’re doing together—if anything. I don’t want to push or butt in, so I just ask generally how they’re doing. They’ve both been to their appointments, and they’ve been painting and singing, so that’s great. Levi is excited about a meeting he has with Buford Wallace, the bar owner who wants him to perform. Apparently, Buford has some musicians lined up for a gig this week and wants Levi to come in and hear them and then talk to them after the show. They’re losing their singer because the guy’s wife is getting transferred out of state, and Buford immediately thought of Levi for them. Things just might be happening for him in a positive way if he likes them and they like him.

Everything has been fairly calm, so I never, ever expected to get the phone call from Levi that prompted me to throw everything into the car, leave the keys on the kitchen table, and hightail it back to the Hollow as fast as I could. At least I was done sorting stuff. Maybe the house wasn’t spotless when I left it, but this will have to do. Besides, I left it in better shape than when we originally moved in. I hadn’t yet found a new home for a couple pieces of furniture of ours, so I left them there for the next tenants.

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