Free Trifecta by Kim Carmichael

his.  "Don't get me a racetrack for Christmas." 
    "Of course not."  She stirred her ice cream.  No, where Russell was easy, Jason was not.  He didn't have a hobby like Russell.  His career was his hobby, and he was particular about his art supplies.  She couldn't buy him clothing because she could never quite figure out the mystery of how Jason chose his apparel.  He was the only man who could walk into a seemingly normal store with normal items and come out extraordinary.  In fact, she loved it when he bought her clothes.  His talent in selecting just the right item didn't only pertain to himself.  She agonized over his presents.
    "Just you and Russell in bed and some bows in convenient spots is all I need."  Jason took a huge bite of his ice cream and turned on the television.
    "You never use anything I buy you."  She continued making her ice cream into a whip.
    "I love Lauren's gifts."   Russell's voice came out muffled by the ice cream in his mouth. 
    "That is absolutely, one hundred percent not true."  Jason flipped through the channels.  "I love your gifts, too."
    She ran down a mental list of years of unused or forgotten presents.  "What about the designer shirt I got you last year?"  In her last attempt to get Jason clothes she went for a label instead of style. 
    "I don't want to wreck it.  It's hanging in my closet."
    "What about the shaving kit?" She never knew a man who liked to be as hairless as Jason.  Now she knew to what extent.  He shaved everything.
    "I didn't want to destroy it.  It's in the bathroom."  He threw the remote to Russell.
    "What about the pencils I got you that had something like five hundred colors?"  She stirred her ice cream one more time and deeming it the correct consistency, spooned some in her mouth.   Her special mixture dripped off onto her chest.  "Do you have a napkin?"  She went to wipe up the mess with her fingers.
    "Hold up."  Jason put his bowl on the nightstand and caught her hand.  He looked into her eyes and curled his body around her, taking his time to lick the ice cream off her.  "There, all clean."
    Russell yawned, put his bowl down and began playing with her hair.
    She didn't think she would ever get used to the three of them in bed talking about nothing, eating ice cream and fooling around.  Rather than letting the moment take her, she tensed.  What if she never got enough time to get used to it?  Everyday she tried to wipe these thoughts out of her head, just like she tried not to worry about where they would sleep.  "What happened to the pencils?"
    Jason rested his chin on her shoulder.  "I have them.  They're on the third shelf of my bookcase in my studio."
    She narrowed her eyes.  For a man who hated her gifts he sure knew where all of them were.
    "You gave them to me on our third Christmas, and I never opened them."
    Russell closed his laptop.  "That was the Christmas you got me the futuristic train set."
    She turned to him.  Did these men really remember every gift? 
    "I think I'll set it up this weekend."  He kissed her nose.  "I love that train set."
    "You got me my bracelet and Jason got me my earrings."  Though she tried not to read too much into those gifts, she did anyway, toggling between which one of them she wanted to end up with.  She still wore those gifts at least a few times every week.
    Jason moved her hair away from her ear.  "I never used the pencils because I didn't want to take the chance of using them up.  I didn't know what was going to happen and I had a horrible crush on you."
    Her heart raced making it hard for her to breathe. "Way back then?"
    "I had a crush on her first."  Russell took her chin.
    Now, she couldn't breathe.  She knew she loved them, wanted them, but couldn't fall in love.  They were only acting out what they needed to for years, getting it out of their systems.  Hell, she didn't even know where they were going to sleep tonight.
    "You only voiced it first."  Jason put his