Page 18 of Jane
Juan grins as he opens the pizza boxes. “We got a meat combo pizza, a pepperoni and sausage, a veggie pizza with salami, extra hot wings, honey hot wings and cheesy bread sticks.”
Shocked at the order, I see both he and Jon look a little smug. “How did you know my favorite pizza? It’s not a normal order for people.”
Jon is the one to say something first. “Babygirl, we’ve been having lunch together a few times a week for over a month. We pay attention. I know you like your pizza and your omelets both to be veggie and add meat to it ’cause you feel it's the best tasting ratio. You like your sandwiches whole, but always eat the second half in layers. When eating Mexican, you always order guac, but want it on the side so it doesn’t get warm. You won’t eat anything with pumpkin or sweet potatoes in it. You believe that white chocolate is not chocolate and is no substitute for it. Jane, we have paid attention because welikeyou. And not as a friend as you apparently think. We want to date you. We want a relationshipwithyou. Rory said he asked you out in a letter a few weeks ago and you haven’t answered him.”
“But he doesn’t even know what I look like. He could—”
“Yes, he does.” Juan surprises me.
“We showed him a couple of pictures of you on our phones. Jane, get that we’re attracted to you. We think we could have something good and something serious with you. Do you think you could see yourself dating us and seeing where this could lead?” Jon puts it out there.
I know I’m attracted to them and I know it’s my issues about my size and looks, not theirs. But do they date as a group, individuals or what?
“I’m definitely interested, but I have some questions.”
“Ask away, sweetheart,” they say in unison.
“So, would we all go out on dates, or like one-on-one? Are you three intimate with each other? I know you say you want something serious, but would it be exclusive for you guys as well?”
Juan pipes up first. “First, we are not intimate with each other. There is nothing wrong with that, but we aren’t into that.”
“Second, it would definitely be exclusive for all of us. We’d only date you and you’d only date us,” Jon adds. He continues, “We would date you individually and sometimes together. Same as when we would be intimate. You’d develop your relationship with each of us individually. What do you think?”
“You three want this, right?” Seeing them both nod, I continue with my train of thought. “Then I don’t think we should move into anything serious or intimate till all three of you are here. It seems only fair.” I can see Juan’s about to say something, so I hold up my hand to him. “I’m not saying any of us date anyone else, but maybe stick with things like the lunches we’ve been doing and spending time together so we can know each other better. Also, I’m technically an employee of your family, so I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
Juan starts, “We kind of talked to Ma and Pa about it. Ma thought you would have an issue with that. We—”
“I can’t afford to lose him as a client since I haven’t completely replaced the ones I lost.”
Jon grabs my hand. “Babygirl, that’s not what we’re suggesting at all. We know you need to work. We thought that when you’re at Pa’s working with him, we won’t stop by. We know you only have a few weeks left with him, so during that time and with you wanting to wait till Rory comes home, we won’t be more than friends out in public. We know you have a good reputation at work and we don’t want to do anything to hurt that. What do you say?”
Realizing that they really have thought about it and how much I’ve liked spending time with them and getting to know Rory too, this is one of those times in life I need to take a chance. I pull my hand back to grab my glass of wine and take a fortifying sip. I watch both of them stand up to start to clean up and I give them my answer.
Juan
We laid it all out for her. Seeing her take her hand away from Jon just about broke my heart. Sensing he’s feeling the same, we both stand up to start putting the pizza away when Jane speaks.
“Yes.”
Never has a three-letter word made me move so fast and give me so much hope. I vaguely remember setting the stuff in my hands down as I moved around the table without thinking. I grabbed Jane’s hand to stand her up and kissed her with every emotion flooding through my body. Feeling her luscious body against me as I kiss the lips that have been on my mind for weeks is more than I imagined. Her lips open slightly on a moan, inviting me in. Fuck, this woman kisses better than any woman I’ve had before. Knowing I need to stop before I pick her up and take her to her bedroom, I break the kiss and look into her eyes. Her blue-gray eyes are my new favorite color—that and the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. Bending down, I touch her forehead with mine.
“I couldn’t wait any longer to do that, baby. I’ve been dying to kiss you for weeks, and seeing Jon kiss you just upped that even more. When you said yes, my willpower left me. I’ll do as promised and not go further, but I have to touch those lips whenever I can. I felt that kiss in my soul.”
She nods as I look into the eyes I could get lost in forever. I hear a chair squeak. Hearing J move around the table, I can tell when he stands behind Jane. Standing up straight, I can tell he’s grabbed ahold of her hips. With her hair up like she always wears for work, he’s got easy access to her neck.
Jon
Hearing Jane say yes settled something inside of me. I can’t really describe it other than to say I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be. Watching Juan kiss her for the first time feels right. Seeing them have a moment after that makes me even more anxious for Rory to get home. Feeling the physical need to be touching her right now, I can’t help myself so I get up and move behind her.
Placing my hands on her hips and bending down to kiss the base of her neck softly and working my way up, I whisper in her ear, “Babygirl, you know this means you're ours. That means if something like what happened earlier happens again, you need to call us. I know you’ve always turned to Nicky and we know he’s your best friend. We wouldn’t want to change that, but we need to be the ones you call. You get me?” As I wait for her to answer, I kiss that spot right under her ear. She breaks out in goosebumps. Just as I’m about to go back down her neck, the timer in the kitchen buzzes and brings us back to reality.
“I need to get the cupcakes out of the oven.”
Stepping back to let her go, Juan grabs her chin. “You didn’t answer him, baby. You call us, okay?”
“Yeah, I got that.”
He lets her go and we both watch her walk into the kitchen and take care of what she needs to do. We both have to adjust ourselves. Why do I think we’re going to be taking plenty of cold showers till Rory gets home? That day can’t get here fast enough for so many reasons now.
