Authors: Marla Monroe
“Yeah, right behind you.” Neal wasn’t sure what to say to mend their relationship. He’d start by not griping.
They pulled into the parking lot with the other members of The Dirty Dozen and climbed off their bikes. Cole and Zack walked up to them.
“You two doing okay?” Cole asked, looking mostly at Neal.
“Yeah, fine,” Mark said.
“Fine, Cole.” Neal figured they were tired of his pissy attitude, as well.
“We only have another two weeks on this job, but they want us to look at doing the repairs for the hospital next.”
“Whatever you want to do, Cole,” Neal said.
Mark looked at him but didn’t say anything. His friend probably expected him to say he didn’t want to hang around any longer. He didn’t, but they probably needed to work. It was better to work than sit at home and stew, he decided.
“Good. I think we’ll do it, but I want to find out how everyone feels about another three or four weeks of work here.”
“Well, we can go home on the weekends, so that works for me,” Mark said.
“Good deal.” Cole and Zack headed for the door with Mark and Neal right behind them.
“You really okay with working more?” Mark asked him.
“Not really, but it’s better than moping around the house, I guess.”
“You’ve been doing some moping around here, as it is.” Mark looked at him.
“I know I’ve been an asshole. I’m sorry. You’re hurting, too. I’ve been selfish.”
“Yeah, you have. I tried to warn you not to get your hopes up.”
“I know you did. I just couldn’t believe she didn’t feel the same way about us that we felt about her.” Neal picked up a menu and waited for the waitress to take their drink orders.
“She did, Neal. The difference was that she didn’t think it would work. She thought loving two men at one time was wrong. It was tearing her up inside. She was hurting, too.”
“I guess we’re used to threesomes. We’ve been around them for so long now that it just seems natural to us. I guess it would be a shock to someone like her.”
The waitress returned with their drinks and to take their order. She winked at them and walked away. Neal shook his head. He didn’t feel anything in the arousal department for the pretty waitress. He noticed Mark wasn’t paying her any attention, either. They were in sad shape. He couldn’t help but wonder how long it would last.
They ate their meal, talking with the rest of the gang about the school and how the kids had brought them all sandwiches one day, and soft drinks the next. They were excited about having their school back. Neal talked with Mark as if nothing was wrong and hoped that everything would be okay now. It didn’t change the fact that he planned to drink a beer before he retired for the night. He needed something to calm him down so he could sleep. Alexis had done that for him.
“Dessert, guys?” The waitress was back.
“None for me, honey. I’m stuffed.” Neal smiled but didn’t hold eye contact.
Mark shook his head. “None for me, either.” She poked out her lower lip but nodded and went on to the next table.
“She wanted us to take her home,” Mark commented.
“I know. I’m not interested, though.”
“Neither am I. Not sure when I will be again, either.”
“We will get over her. Right, Mark?” Neal needed to hear it to believe it.
“Yeah, one day.” Mark stood up after leaving a tip on the table.
Neal did the same. After they paid their checks, they left to return to the hotel. Once inside, Neal headed for the fridge and pulled out a beer. He looked at Mark to see if he wanted one. When he nodded his head, Neal tossed that one to his friend and pulled off another one. He popped the top and sat back on the bed with his back to the wall to watch the TV. Mark channel surfed for a few minutes before settling on a movie they hadn’t seen before.
He took a swig of his beer and let his mind wander. He couldn’t help but think about how good it had felt to hold Alexis and wondered what she was doing right that minute. He checked the clock. It was nearly nine. She’d be at home and probably reading over something. She had said she took work home with her most nights.
Had she learned anything from them on relaxing? He worried about her health since she’d been diagnosed with an ulcer. He sighed and finished the beer. He tossed it in the garbage can, earning two points. He didn’t get up to get another one. He could do without a second or a third tonight. He needed to do without them.
“You’re not paying attention to the movie,” Mark said.
“Sorry. Guess it doesn’t catch my interest.”
“Want to look for something else?” he asked.
“Naw, I’m good. I’m just thinking.”
Mark was silent for a few seconds. Then he spoke up.
“About her?”
“Yeah. Wondering what she’s doing right now. Hoping she’s taking care of herself.”
“I’ve worried about her health, too. What with her having an ulcer and all.”
“Do you think she’s seeing anyone?” Neal finally asked.
“I don’t know. I almost hope she is. It would mean that she was doing okay.”
“I guess you’re probably right. I don’t like to think about her with someone else.” Neal
hated
to think about her with someone else.
“Either way,” Mark began, “are we okay now?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
Chapter Fourteen
Alexis sat on the chair waiting for Dr. Searcy to return and give her the verdict on her health. Funny, she had been sitting here nearly four months ago to the day when he’d told her to take a vacation or else. Well, she’d taken that vacation and now was back sicker than ever. What would be the verdict this time?
“Alexis, what have you been doing to yourself? You’ve lost weight and you’re anemic.”
“I just don’t have an appetite. My ulcer is better, isn’t it?” she asked with a forced smile.
“It would be better if you were eating right. I think you’ve learned to relax, but if you’re not eating, there are stomach juices working on that ulcer all the time.”
“You just can’t be happy no matter what I do. I did what you told me to do and relaxed.”
“Then why have you lost your appetite? What happened that led to it?” he asked, crossing his arms.
“I don’t know. I went on vacation. Learned how to take it easy sometimes and came back to work.”
He sighed and shook his head. “Look, whatever happened, you need to get over it and move on. If you lose much more weight, I’m going to put you in the hospital with drips. In the meantime”—he pulled out a prescription pad and scribbled something on it—“take these to help build your iron back up.”
“What are they?” she asked dubiously.
“Iron pills. I bet you’ve been getting out of breath easily.”
“When I’m doing housework I do sometimes. What does that have to do with needing iron?”
“Iron makes hemoglobin, hemoglobin carries oxygen. If you are low on iron, you’re low on oxygen-carrying hemoglobin.”
“Is that all?” she asked.
He sighed. “Get that filled and take them.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Alexis, whoever he was, you really should think about going back. You have all the symptoms of being in love.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Is he married?” he asked.
“No. But it wouldn’t work. Trust me.”
“Then figure out a way to get over him, and soon, or you’re going to end up in the hospital.”
“I’ll be fine. I just needed some grieving time, I think.”
Alexis walked out of the doctor’s office after making a return appointment for six weeks instead of the requested three weeks. She knew what was wrong with her, but there wasn’t a cure for it. It would take time. In the meantime, she needed to get herself back on track or she was going to have to endure Dr. Searcy’s daily presence in the hospital.
She swung by the pharmacy and got the prescription filled then picked up some Chinese takeout for her dinner. She toyed with it but managed to get half of it down. How was she supposed to get over love? She guessed if she knew the answer to that, she would make a mint selling it to the public.
Sometimes, late at night when she had been lying awake, Alexis would pretend that she could have both of the men and live with them. She pretended that there wasn’t anything wrong with it, and that she could be a part of their family. Sometimes, she would even pretend to have their babies, making their family a real family.
Then she would wake up the next morning and realize it had all been fantasy, a dream. The tears would start and she would end up wearing a ton of makeup to cover her reddened eyes. The brothers at the office didn’t seem to notice anything different about her, so she figured she was doing fine at work. She knew she wasn’t on the fast track to success anymore. She had slacked off and wasn’t working all the overtime she once had. Neither was she working from home.
Instead, her home was her refuge. She buried herself there after work each day and on the weekends. Sometimes she would watch a movie and sometimes she just read. Mostly, like today, she thought about Neal and Mark and how they had made her laugh and feel wanted.
* * * *
Three weeks later, Alexis was in the emergency room with stomach pains once again. Dr. Searcy shook his head and admitted her to the hospital.
“I told you to start eating or you were going to end up in here.”
“I have been eating.”
“Not enough, and you’re worrying, too. Add to it the ulcer and you’ve worried yourself into a mess.”
“What am I supposed to do? You tell me and I’ll do it,” she fussed with tears running down her face.
“What is it about this man that keeps you from being with him? Does he not love you? You said he isn’t married.” Dr. Searcy sat on the edge of her hospital bed.
She worried the cover with her fingers without looking at him.
“Come on, Alexis. What could possibly be so bad that you can’t tell me?”
“It’s not a he,” she said.
“I—see,” he began with a deep breath.
“No, not a woman. It’s a them. It’s two men.”
He blinked a long, slow blink then nodded his head. “You’re in love with two men and can’t choose between them.”
“Not exactly. I’m in love with two men and they don’t want me to choose. They want to share me between them, a ménage relationship.”
Dr. Searcy was silent for a few seconds. Then he smiled. “Why should you choose? Go for it.”
“They live in Dallas, which would mean not only leaving my home and my job, but being a part of a group of bikers.”
“This just gets better and better every minute. Again, I say, go for it.”
“You don’t think there is anything wrong with a woman living with two men?” she asked, totally astounded.
“It’s not conventional, but if it works for you, why does it matter? Are you worried about what others will say?”
“I don’t think so. It just seems wrong. What happens if one of them decides they’ve found someone else?”