Page 62 of The Proximity Effect

When we pulled up to the cabin, I heard her soft gasp of appreciation. The snow made it look like something out of a Christmas movie.

Once inside, she spun slowly, taking in the open floor plan and the single bedroom visible through the door. “Wow. I’m surprised you three haven’t killed each other yet.”

“The jury’s still out on that one.” I arranged the contents of the food bags in the refrigerator.

“There have been some close calls.” Evan kicked off his boots with his usual disregard, leaving them directly in front of thedoor where someone would inevitably trip over them. “We put your bags in the bedroom and put some fresh towels on the counter in the bathroom if you want to take a shower.”

Tessa wandered to the bedroom door, her fingers trailing along the wooden doorframe as she peeked inside. The casual intimacy of her exploring our space made something shift in my chest. “One bed and two bunks? Who gets the bed?”

“We rotate monthly.” Liam busied himself starting a fire in the wood-burning stove. “This cabin used to be for Gavin’s family and friends or for VIPs. It wasn’t really meant to be stayed in long term.”

“Interesting.” Tessa’s lips curved into a smile. “What if this would have happened and all three of you were married with kids?” I could practically see her imagining the chaos of three families crammed into this space.

I’d questioned it about a million times myself. Gavin hadn’t been sick as far as we knew, but it was possible he didn’t want anyone to know. It was the only explanation I could come up with for why he would include something with a timing sensitivity unless he had planned on updating his documents every year.

“Maybe he decided it would be a good prank.” Evan didn’t sound like he believed that, and his usual playful demeanor faltered as he stared into the flames. Gavin had had some elaborate schemes, but this felt different. More purposeful.

It was quiet for a few moments, the kind of heavy silence that settles when everyone’s lost in their own thoughts. The only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the soft whisper of snow against the windows. I watched Tessa, noting how she seemed to be processing everything we’d said, that sharp mind of hers probably piecing together parts of the puzzle we couldn’t see.

Finally, she sighed, pulling the hair tie out of her hair. “I’m going to take a shower.” There was something endearing about how she announced it, like she was giving us fair warning that she was about to stake her claim on our shared bathroom.

She disappeared, and I waited until I heard the shower running before turning to face Evan and Liam. The elephant in the room had grown too large to ignore, and someone needed to address it. Naturally, that someone would be me.

“We need to talk about this situation.” I took off my tie, draping it on the back of the couch. “Whatever this is between us and Tessa.”

“You mean how we’re all sleeping with her?” Evan was sprawled across the couch now, his casual demeanor at odds with the tension in his voice. “Or how we’re all falling for her?”

“Both.” I ran a hand through my hair, pacing in front of the TV. “This isn’t sustainable. Eventually, she’s going to have to choose.”

Liam snorted from his position by the fire. “Like you’d be okay with that if she chose one of us over you.”

“I didn’t say I’d like it.” The admission cost me more than I cared to admit. “But we can’t share her forever. That’s not how relationships work in the real world.”

“Says who?” Evan sat up, his normally relaxed posture now alert and challenging as he fixed me with an unusually intense stare. “We’re already breaking every conventional relationship rule in the book. Why stop now?” The way he said it made it sound so simple, like we were discussing what to have for dinner instead of upending societal norms.

“Because—” I started, then stopped, the words dying in my throat as I realized I didn’t have a good answer beyond ‘that’s how things are done.’ And wasn’t that perfect? Me, who always had a response ready, who prided myself on having soundreasoning. Of course, Evan, of all people, was making the most logical argument.

“Because you’re scared.” Liam’s voice was gentler than I expected. “We all are. This thing with Tessa... it’s different from anything I’ve experienced.”

Evan stood up, crossing to the kitchen to grab beers for all of us. “We’re actually talking again. Like really talking, not just about business.”

I accepted the beer, taking a long pull while I considered his words. He had a point. In the past few days, we’d remembered how to be friends again, not just business partners who barely tolerated each other on a good day.

“But what happens when she does choose?” I voiced the fear that had been gnawing at me. It was maddening how someone could slip past decades of carefully constructed walls in only a few days.

“What if she doesn’t want to choose?” Liam challenged, his eyes intense in the firelight, reflecting the same uncertainty I felt. He shifted his weight, running his thumb along the label of his beer bottle. “What if we’re the ones making this complicated by assuming she has to?”

I sat down in a chair, lost in thought. Could I handle all the uncertainty that came with this? It was risky not only for my heart but for the business we were supposed to be running together. Things had already been tense between us, and this would completely destroy everything if we let it.

But somewhere in the back of my head, I knew that wasn’t the case. We were talking about our feelings instead of ignoring them or fighting over Tessa. And Tessa?

The mere thought of her made me smile.

The shower shut off, and I could hear Tessa humming some pop song through the bathroom door. The sound madesomething in my chest ache in a way I wasn’t ready to examine too closely.

“Look…” Evan leaned forward, his voice low but urgent. “We’ve spent over ten years letting one woman destroy our friendship, and maybe this is our chance to let another one fix it.”

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on her.” My resolve was weakening… if it had even really been there at all.

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