Tricolored Roses

2.

The sunrise is beautiful as it shines through the windows. The clock on the bedside table reads 6:49am, and the smell of pancakes and bacon is wafting through the house. I’m tangled in bedsheets with Alex, half of his body draped over mine and soft snores escaping his lips. The only thing ruining this perfect morning is that I desperately need to pee.

I successfully wiggle out from under him and tiptoe my way to his bathroom. After washing my hands and face, I shrug on Alex’s bathrobe and come back into his bedroom. I sit on the edge of the bed and stare down at him.

“Isn’t he beautiful when he’s silent?”Aspen’s words startle me. My eyes jump to him and I feel my face get hot.

“Good morning”, I say quietly, giving him a small smile. He glances down to the bitemark on my collarbone, an unreadable expression marking his face.

“Y’know, it would have been a good morning if I hadn’t been kept up all night by some little vixen’s moaning. I was disappointed to see that you hadn’t joined me in my bed”, His confident words match his stride, he stops just in front of me. My entire body is being consumed in crimson. His cocky attitude radiates from his body, making my blood boil.

“I’m sorry we kept you up. Fortunately for me, your brother is incredibly good with his tongue. You might want to invest in some good earplugs as long as he and I are together”, Snarkiness drips off of my tongue, however instead of deterring Aspen it only makes his smile grow. He leans down until his face is barely an inch or two away from mine.

“Babygirl, you have no idea how insanely hard I got from hearing you. I’m already stiffening up just reminiscing on it. Eventually those beautiful sounds you make will be because of me”, He whispers, making it sound like a promise. I wished his words didn’t have an effect on me, but the heat coming from between my thighs immediately proved otherwise. I feel my lips part and his smile grows as he glances down at my mouth.

“Aspen? What did I tell you about coming in my room this early?” Alex’s voice makes me snap back into reality. I clear my throat, pushing away the mental image of Aspen being in Alex’s place last night. Aspen straightens himself, laughing at his brother.

“Good morning baby”, I say, leaning to kiss Alex’s cheek. He smiles a half asleep grin that makes me want to swoon. He wraps a hand around my back, pulling me toward him. He shifts so hes sitting upright with me leaned against his chest.

“Good morning beautiful. Aspen didn’t say anything out of line did he?” He asks, kissing my temple. I eye Aspen who’s now sitting on the end of the bed, uncomfortable now. Aspen stares at Alex, communicating wordlessly.

“Just beginning to explain to her that eventually I’ll be between those thighs aswell”, He says, bored. I feel Alex pause behind me.

“I thought we were going to tell her together?” Now it’s my turn to pause. What did they mean? Are they talking about sharing me? Did Aspen plan on putting in the time and effort Alex did?

“Look at her all confused. She looks just like she did when we tried to explain calculus”, Aspen laughs at me, but I can’t find an ounce of humor in this situation. I stand up, tightening the robe around me.

“Being shared between brothers wasn’t exactly what I signed on for when I agreed to that coffee date”, I say, looking at both of them nervously. They exchange a look and stare back at me.

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell you about it yet. I didn’t think Aspen was going to spring it on us the first night you stayed here. But you knew we always planned this, growing up you wanted both of us to be your boyfriend”, Alex says, his expression cautious.

“I don’t know what to say. The idea is enticing, but how does it work?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“Well, as the only one here with experience in polyamorous relationships, it works similarly to a regular relationship. Just one more person. It’s not super complicated unless you make it that way”, Aspen said, shrugging. Alex stared at me expectantly.

“Are you going to put in effort like Alex did? I’m willing to try this but I need to know what to expect. You say this will be like a normal relationship but what do we do about date nights? And eventually we’re going to want to sleep with eachother, how will that work? And what if I want one on one time with one of you? Will the other be mad?” All of my questions pour out, sounding more emotional than I intended. Aspen stands, moving to cup my cheek. He nudges my face upward to look at him. His other hand takes my own as he looks me in my eyes.

“Take a deep breath Michelle. We’ll figure out what works best for us. But, yes I’m going to put in effort. I’ll do whatever it takes to earn you being my girl, and I don’t intend to stop there. The only thing you need to worry about in this is which one of us is going to spoil you more”, He says smiling at me. Alex gets out of bed and comes over to hug me from behind.

“We’ll be in this together baby”, Alex says, kissing the back of my neck. I nod, melting into his hug. We stand there together for a moment, and I have to admit, both of them touching me is causing sparks to fly across my body.

“Okay. Lets do this then. Can we finally go eat breakfast? That bacon has been driving my stomach insane”, I say, giggling. Aspen smiles at me and walks off towards the kitchen.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? You can back out any time it gets too much”, Alex reassures, carefully turning me to look at him. He cups my face in his hands, his eyes searching mine for any lingering uncertainty.

“I promise I’m not going to back out yet. I’m surprised, but willing to explore it”, I smile at him, making sure I’m getting through to him. He smiles back and nods, releasing me from his grasp.

We finally come to the kitchen, and my mouth begins watering at the spread of food laid out before me. I sat down between the two men and began to put myself a glass of juice. I felt Aspen staring at me between bites of fluffy scrambled eggs.

“You've changed quite a lot since we last spoke. I know we all kinda separated when you and Alex went to college, but you don't seem like that giddy 17 year old I remember you as”, He says, looking at me pointedly. I sigh, focusing on the plate in front of me.

“Well, I'm 27 now. Obviously I changed a bit. My sophomore year, I started closing in. I made a few good friends, Valorie and Natalia are the only ones I still talk to though. I wasn't a saint, but I tried to keep myself out of trouble. About 4 years ago I met Nick, we got together, that uh, that's something I'll need time to open up about. But we ended on not so great terms. That relationship did a number on my confidence and self-esteem. But it's okay now, I'm working through it and building myself. I work for a good company, I'm a receptionist over at St Adams. Enough about all that mess though, what happened with the two of you?” I said, biting down on my toast.

“We took over dads company. Christielli Corp has never been more successful now that there are two people running it. I cover the more mathematic part of it while Aspen covers the more schematic area. Lillian runs our overseas management, she's honestly what got me to reach out to you”, Alex said, a bit of sheepishness lacing through the last of his statement. Lillian, their cousin, and I were best friends. I knew she had asked them to reach out before they even got a chance to.

“I'm glad you did, now let's finish eating. I have something in mind we can all do and I want to eat these eggs before they get cold”, I said, taking a sip of the tarte cranberry juice in my glass. The boys exchanged a look, but hurriedly scarfed down the rest of their breakfast.