Free Seven Days: The Complete Story by Lindy Dale Page A

cool and I was
flattered by the attention.”
    It’s an
insipid excuse, not even an excuse.
    “That’s
all?”
    “No.”
    “Then what?”
Joel’s super angry with me now. And Nicholas is hurt. How the hell
did I end up in this situation? Okay. We don’t need to go there
again. Everyone knows how I ended up here.
    “It’s more
than that. I’ve never been attracted to two guys at the same
time. Not to the point where I feel compelled to be with you both
without caring about morality or what people say about it being
wrong. If I had a choice I’d want you both.”
    “You can’t
date both of us at the same time. God, Nick was fucking nightmare
enough when I wore his bloody Guns ‘n’ freakin’ Roses t-shirt one damn time. There’s no way we could share a girl. We’d
fucking kill each other.”
    I know that.
I’m not an imbecile.
    “Forget it,” I
say. I scramble to my feet, looking down at the two beautiful men
below me. “We’re drunk. It was a stupid thing to say. I’m going
back to the city in a couple of days. You never have to see me
again. I’ll leave and you can forget you ever met me and go about
picking up random separate girls or whatever it is you do. I didn’t
mean to cause trouble between you. I don’t want to wreck your
friendship.”
    I walk away,
leaving them both sitting beside the tree in the darkness and as I
do, I’m praying that one of them, at least, will run after me and
beg me not to leave, but they don’t. And by the time I get back to
the cottage and open the gate, the tears are streaming down my
face.
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER SIX
     
    I spend a
fitful night, alternately tossing from side to side then staring at
the ceiling. By the time the sun is coming up, I’ve come to the
conclusion that being with neither of the guys is preferable to
having to choose between them. It’s awfully conceited of me
thinking I’d ever even have to choose though. I’m ordinary.
I don’t stand out in the crowd. I go to school. I study. I have a
part time job. I sing along badly to my favourite songs and have
panda eyes almost every morning because I don’t take my makeup off
the night before. I’m pretty but I’m not a great beauty. And more
importantly, I’ve never done anything remotely rebellious in any
aspect of my life — with the exception of that one time Emily
talked me into smoking a joint and that was a disastrous event that
won’t be repeated. I simply don’t understand how I can be in this
dilemma, how two such angels can fall to earth and land at my feet.
I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt either of them. And if
choosing means one of them getting hurt, I’d rather not. I’ll move
on. Chalk it up to holiday romance and get on with my life with a
guilt free conscience.
    But the
thought somehow makes me feel bereft. I have this sinking feeling
in the pit of my stomach when I even contemplate the idea of giving
up either Nicholas or Joel. It’s like I’ve been handed something
precious and will never have the chance to nurture it. I want to
get to know them. I want to have them both as friends. Maybe we can
be friends? Yeah. And maybe Kurt Cobain will come back from the
dead and Nirvana will reunite.
    After falling
asleep somewhere around three, I get up late. It’s another sunny
day, so I put a load of washing on the line and set about folding
the rest of my clothes that have somehow made a messy pile for
themselves on the bedroom floor. I download a couple more books to
my Kindle and charge it up. I tidy the house and clean the bathroom
until it looks spotless. Then I spread out my schoolbooks on the
table on the verandah and prepare to spend a lazy morning watching
the clothes dry and studying.
    After about an
hour, I hear the beach gate click open. I have no idea who it is. I
don’t know anyone in the bay except Nicholas and Joel and after
last night, I’m guessing I’d be the last person they’d want to see.
I look up and there they are, both of them,