Page 35 of Mayhem
Frankie returned with their food, placing the plates in front of them. Cruz grabbed Erin’s plate, switching it with his. He slid closer to her on the couch before grabbing her waist and lifting her, sliding her over him and back to her original spot.
“We can talk more about it after we eat,”Paetyn told her, and Erin nodded in agreement. She was okay with that.
Paetyn leaned back in his seat and drank his scotch. They’d finished dinner, bypassing dessert, and now they were sitting, he and Cruz, waiting to answer Erin’s other questions.
They’d moved her back between them to make it easier for her to try whatever she wanted from the dishes they’d ordered. As Frankie took them away, Erin switched places with Cruz again.
“What’s the average length of your relationships?”Erin questioned when Frankie left the table.
“About two and a half years,”Cruz responded.
Paetyn nodded in agreement. Their shortest relationship had been in college, their first one, and lasted almost a year and ahalf. In contrast, their longest had been about four and a half years. The others fell in between there.
“Do you mind telling me why they ended?”Erin questioned. “Other than the first one.”
The last couple ended because they thought it was a good idea to try playing them against one another. It was the reason Paetyn had brought it up when Erin asked if there was something they didn’t want her to do.
If there was nothing else, there was that. It wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened to them before to a minor degree, but the last two had seemed to begin making a sport out of doing so. As if the thought of him and Cruz fighting for their attention or trying to one-up the other was the entire reason they were in the relationship, and Paetyn honestly wouldn’t doubt it.
Neither believed in fighting for attention because if you were in a relationship, it meant you were willing to give it. The two weren’t naïve enough to think that it wouldn’t take a little time for whoever they were dating to find a balance, but it would all be fine once they did.
“A couple because they seemed to think Cruz and I should compete. The others because it can be complicated and get a bit overwhelming. Everything seems fine when you’ve fallen into a pattern or comfort, but it can begin to seem suffocating,”Paetyn responded.
“Any relationship can be complicated and overwhelming if you’re unwilling to work to ensure it isn’t. I understand that this situation could be even more so. Dealing with two different personalities, confronting and comforting two different types of anger, dealing with two sets of emotions, two sex drives, remembering what one likes that the other dislikes. It can all be hard, but I’m sure if I came to you, asked your preferred approach, or told you when I felt unsure, you wouldn’t just blow me off.”
Erin was right. They could work on it together if she talked to them about it. They never purposely intended to overwhelm anyone they dated, and Paetyn firmly believed in communication. So, if she told them, they could get it worked out. That was not what happened in the past. Bags were just packed, a text was sent, or a call was made, and that was the end.
“Exactly,”Cruz responded. And if you need space or time to yourself, we’ll give it to you because we aren’t under the assumption that you’ll never need it.”
“Speaking of anger,”Paetyn started. “When you’re upset, direct it where it needs to go. We’re in this relationship together, but we’re two different people,”he stated, gesturing between himself and Cruz.“So, when you’re mad at Cruz, be angry at him. Don’t make us pay for each other’s mistakes.”
Cruz turned to look at him with a raised brow. “Why do you say it like she’s only ever going to be upset with me?”
“It was just an example,”Paetyn responded with a smirk, and Erin laughed.
“I’ll be sure to do that,”she replied.
For the next forty-five minutes or so, they answered any questions she had. Paetyn was pleasantly surprised by them. They’d only dated one other woman who wanted to sit down and talk about the relationship they were entering into. They hadn’t had a conversation in college, but they’d been young and letting things fall into place. The rest only had one or two questions, and they referred to sex. They’d now fallen into small talk.
“What are you doing this weekend?”Paetyn listened to Cruz’s question.
“I’m going to a tattoo convention in Santa Fe. I’m driving out Friday afternoon and returning after it’s over Saturday.”
“That’s a six-hour drive,”Paetyn stated.
“Yeah, but that isn’t too bad,”Erin responded before sipping her drink.
“What time do you want to leave Friday?”Cruz questioned. “I’ll have my pilot file a flight plan, and you can take my plane.”
“You don’t have to do that; I’m fine driving.”
“Three o’clock it is then,”Cruz responded, picking up his second glass of scotch, and Paetyn watched as Erin cut her eyes at him.
“It’ll be late when the convention ends, I’m assuming, and driving six hours afterward isn’t safe,”Paetyn said, wanting her to see where they were coming from.
“I’ve driven longer distances afterward before,”Erin informed them.
“You also weren’t ours before, either,”Cruz countered.
