Free My Two Doms by G. G. Royale

two,” she said as she walked away.
    She heard Jason and Gregory both sigh at the same time. But soon she left them behind, turned a corner, and the damp heat of the swamp closed in over her. Haley had learned a lot about her two men in a very short span of time. Like how they could turn a simple walk into a war of wills and immediately strip the fun out of being together.
    Faintly, behind her, she could hear Gregory say, “Why did you have to tell me you loved her?”
    Haley slowed. He must think I’m out of hearing distance.
    “What does it matter to you?” Jason this time.
    “It got me thinking about it.” Haley heard a long pause, and then she could hear footsteps on the boardwalk and the voices growing louder. “I think I love her too, remember?”
    “Yeah, I know. And fuck you,” Jason grumbled. “I said it first.”
    “Real mature,” Gregory said.
    Haley realized they’d catch up to her in a moment, so she picked up her pace, trying to walk quickly and quietly so they wouldn’t know how close she had stood to them.
    “I’ll do whatever—”
    “Makes Haley happy?” Gregory said.
    The voices faded out, and after a while, Haley forgot they followed. As the darkness of the swamp descended over her, peace filled her. She had been fighting against her own feelings. Sure, she wanted both these men, but it became clearer every passing moment that they just couldn’t get along. She didn’t want to spend time with them, but she wanted them terribly. Something of a paradox.
    But right now she could stop and appreciate the nature around her, let her strife recede. This was, after all, the reason she’d come.
    A flash of color caught Haley’s eye, and she stopped to examine it. As she looked at the flower a few yards off in the undergrowth, Jason and Gregory finally caught up to her.
    Trying to mask the feelings that warred inside her, Haley instead focused on the flower, a bright yellow bloom on a tall green stalk, its petals the crinkled texture of crepe paper. “Look at that,” she said, pointing.
    Jason’s gaze followed her gesture. “I wish I had my camera. That’s a golden canna. They’re really rare.”
    “No, I have them in my yard,” Haley told him.
    “Not this kind, you don’t.”
    “How do you know that?” Gregory asked.
    Jason looked at him. “I work for Wildlife and Fisheries.” Haley noticed some of his professional pride peeking through his pissed-off facade.
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, I specialize in conservation and combating invading species.”
    “Pretty specific,” Haley said. She started walking again, and the two men followed.
    “What do you do, Greg?” Jason asked.
    Haley realized the topic had yet to come up.
    “I work for Shell Oil.”
    Jason stopped dead. “What?”
    “That’s right,” Haley said, her memory now jogged. “That’s where he gets the stamina. From diving around the rigs.”
    Jason blinked, looking at her. She gazed back at him, her head slightly tilted. She could tell he was not happy.
    “Haley, he works for an oil company.”
    She glanced at Gregory. “So?”
    “The entire reason these very wetlands are threatened is because of the oil companies. They cut in canals that allowed for saltwater intrusion—”
    Gregory stepped closer to him, and Haley noticed his fists balled at his sides. “Wait a second. That’s the old way of doing things. They haven’t done any of that since I’ve been on board.”
    “What does it matter?” Jason crossed his arms. “You guys are a propaganda machine that’s got America by the throat. Haley, I can’t believe…”
    She pursed her lips. Evidently he read the look on her face, because he stopped talking.
    “A nice walk”—her words came out low and full of venom—“was all I wanted, and you two can’t even calm down enough for that!” At the end, her voice rose up into a scream, and then she turned and stalked off again, leaving the two men behind her. She didn’t care what they thought.
    Haley