Page 34 of Just Breathe

“Are you sure you’re ok to drive?” I walked her out and the guys followed.

“Yeah, I’m stone cold sober now and I only had two beers.” She opened her car door. “If I take this road, I can catch the freeway and head north, right?”

“Yeah, you’ll get to Monroe in about fifty minutes. Hey if you don’t mind, just let us know you got home ok after you’ve helped.” Nathan closed her door. She nodded her head, waving and backing out of the driveway in a hurry.

We watched her leave and went back into the house. We cleaned up in silence, each of us in our own thoughts, most likely about Jane or at least my mind was.

A phone lit up on the counter and Callum pick it up right away and sent the call to voicemail.

“Candy?” Nathan asked.

“No, that was Margo, but Candy did call earlier.” Callum put his phone in his pocket. “I’m wondering if it’s even smart to be hanging out with Jane like this.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“It felt good to have her here and how she set up the coffee table and brought out a bucket of beer. I thought I might propose before she even left.” Nathan leaned against the counter and threw a dish towel over his shoulder. “She fucking beat me in Mario Kart and hustled us.” he smiled.

“I liked her here too,” I admitted. “But Callum is right. She’s a widow, she had a life that was pretty cookie cutter, she will not be ok with all of us and if something happens, I don’t see it being long term.”

“That might be perfect then.” Nathan looked like that was the answer.

“Or it could end really badly,” Callum added, always being the pessimist.

“It could also be perfect.” Nathan glared at Callum like he just took a shit on his cake.

“Don’t be so naïve, Nathan.” Callum glared back.

“Guys, there’s no use in fighting over this.” I leaned over the island. “I think we should just be cautious. We all like her, which is a fucking miracle because that shit never happens, but that might not be enough for this to work out. I don’t know if she’s even thought about all of us like that.”

“She’s checked us out. I see her blush around us and I’m positive she’s attracted to all of us,” Nathan stated because he was usually the one that read girls so well. He was the most observant out of all of us.

I looked at Callum, and he looked like a lost puppy. I knew emotions were hard for him, especially with a woman and one that we all liked was foreign to him, even Nathan and I.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I think we should just continue how we’ve been and if things change, then we can talk about it again,” I said, seeing no point in talking about what ifs.

“What if she only wants one of us?” Callum asked like he really didn’t want to know the answer, but it was a possibility that it could happen.

“I think we should start thinking that could be a possibility.” I didn’t know what else to say, but I knew that was a fear for all of us.

“We need to sleep on it and just go with the flow, like Aiden said.” Nathan went back to finish the dishes.

Callum didn’t like that suggestion, scowling like it was the worst idea. We cleaned in silence, and we all went to bed right after. I laid in bed after a shower wondering what it would be like if she did like us, and we started a relationship. I know we’ve always joked about the only way we were going to settle down was if we all shared the same girl because we were so codependent.

Relationships were a lot more complicated that most people thought, and we were all broken from our pasts. Was it fair to the women we dated to date someone who wasn’t completely whole? Fuck. I don’t think any of us thought that would be a possibility, and just for a second, I let myself hope that it really might happen.

* * *

“Fuck, I slept like shit last night.” Nathan walked into the kitchen while I made us some coffee.

“Me too. I had a nagging feeling all night that something was wrong.” I poured the water into the coffee machine and turned it on.

“Me too, man.” Nathan leaned against the counter. “I thought about her all night. Did she text you?”

“No, I checked several times last night.” I grabbed some mugs.

“Something is wrong.” Callum walked into the kitchen looking a lot more alert than usual.

“We didn’t sleep either.” Nathan nodded at Callum. It was fucking creepy as fuck when all of us had the same feeling. When that happens, it usually means it’s bad.

“Did Jane text?” Callum looked anxious.

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