Free Between Friends by Lolita Lopez

thick. “I’m sorry I insinuated otherwise.”
    “It’s okay.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. Looking thoughtful, she asked, “So what happens on a date? I mean, do I go out with one of you on, like, Wednesday and the other one on Friday?
    Do we sort of double date? Or do we not go out in public at all? Is this Between Friends
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    some kind of secret thing we don’t share with outsiders?” She chewed her lower lip. “I don’t know how this threesome thing works.”
    “We do whatever you’re comfortable with,” Mick explained.
    “Obviously, this choice isn’t something a lot of people understand or support. Generally, Eddie and I keep our trysts on the lowdown.”
    “So no dates?” She seemed a bit disappointed.
    “No, we’ll take you out,” Eddie promised. “There are some places that are…friendlier than others.”
    “And,” Mick chimed in, “if you’d prefer, we can always do one-on-one dates. I like the opera. Eddie hates it. Eddie loves paintball, and I hate that. There are plenty of things we can do with you without the other feeling left out.”
    “On that note,” Eddie said, “I’d prefer if we avoided any one-on-one sex for a while. Just until we’re sure where this thing is going,”
    he added.
    Mick snuck a glance at Whitney. She seemed a bit confused by Eddie’s request. He saw the flicker of realization in her soft green eyes. Yes, she understood. She may not have all the details, but she could tell Eddie had been hurt badly by someone.
    “Sure,” Whitney agreed. “I’d probably feel kind of weird having sex with just one of you anyway.” She toyed with a few strands of golden hair. “So you guys won’t have sex when I’m not around either?”
    “No, we won’t.”
    “Um”—she coiled the hair tighter around her fingers—“what if I wanted to, you know, watch you?”
    “We’d say name the time and place,” Mick answered with a laugh.
    “Thirty minutes? Eddie’s bedroom?” She gave a little shrug. “He has the bigger bed.”
    “Hell yes!” Eddie turned to Mick and made the universal gesture for Rock, Paper, Scissors. “Best of three gets out of dinner cleanup duty.”
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    Lolita Lopez
    Whitney giggled and pushed back from the table. “I’m hitting the shower. I’ll see you two in half an hour.”
    Mick watched the sultry swing of her hips as she left the dining room. His attention reverted to Eddie, who still waited for their first match. “How about we double team the kitchen so both of us can catch her in that shower?”
    Eddie grinned deviously. “I like the way you think.”
    In record time, Mick and Eddie cleared off the table, threw the leftovers in the fridge, tossed dirty dishes in the dishwasher and wiped down the counters. Eddie checked the front door and set the alarm while Mick hit the lights and ceiling fan. Like a couple of excited teenagers, they knocked shoulders as they hurried down the hallway.
    Finger to his lips, Eddie warned Mick to be quiet as they listened outside the door of the bathroom between their bedrooms. It was much bigger than Whitney’s smaller private bath and had a ridiculously oversized shower.
    Mick shucked his scrubs, socks, and boxer briefs. Eddie followed suit, stripping out of his jeans, tee, socks, and boxer briefs. Very carefully, Eddie opened the door and did a little recon. Smiling, he gave Mick the go-ahead to follow and entered the bathroom’s steamy interior. Whitney sang the lyrics of the latest Lady Gaga single. Mick fought the urge to laugh at her horribly off-key warble. It was cute but terrible.
    Eddie reached for the handle to the glass door, but Mick stopped him. He mimed a nasty fall and the possibility of Whitney’s head whacking into the tiled bench inside the shower. Eddie made a face.
    He understood how dangerous it could be to scare her while she stood on the slippery tile floor.
    Mick loudly cleared his throat and waited a full three seconds before opening the door and stepping inside