Chapter 443-An Agreement
Verity:
I had no idea how many hours we’d slept, but we’d gotten a surprisingly good night’s rest.
Weirdly enough, I couldn’t explain why, but being together like that just felt right, as though it was exactly how things were supposed to be.
By morning, I was the first to stir awake.
For the first few seconds, I was genuinely shocked to find myself under the covers with both of them, their arms and legs tangled around me.
It wasn’t easy to free myself from their embrace without disturbing either of them, but after carefully untangling their limbs from mine, I finally managed to slip out from between them.
I steadied myself as I climbed off the bed, making sure I didn’t lose my balance and fall onto one of them.
I just needed a few minutes alone.
Once I was on my feet, I turned around and pulled the blanket over both of them before quietly slipping into the bathroom.
I took a steaming hot shower, towel-dried my hair, and changed into a loose gray dress, applying a little makeup before stepping out.
By the time I returned, they were still asleep.
And quite frankly, I had to place a pillow between them to keep them from kicking each other off the bed.
The craziest part was that neither of them had struck me even once while I was sleeping between them.
Yet the moment I was gone, it was as though they sensed that the only people left in bed were their rivals, and they immediately started kicking and punching each other in their sleep.
Once I’d managed to separate them and settle each brother on his own side of the bed, I quietly left the room to prepare breakfast.
After all, it was a small victory.
From here on, the two brothers were headed toward a downfall that would end in something truly horrifying.
Every day would bring them more pain, and there was no escaping what lay ahead.
But as I made my way through the living room, something caught my attention, bringing me to an abrupt halt.
On the living room table sat a packet of dark chocolate wafers and a cup of hot chocolate.
The drink had long since gone cold, and I immediately realized who must have left them there.
Picking up the wafers, I let out a sigh.
Then my gaze shifted to the side, where a small bouquet of black roses lay on the table.
Among them was a single red rose, placed right in the middle.
Somehow, the bouquet had ended up partly hanging off the edge, or perhaps whoever had left it there had simply tossed it down.
I picked it up and noticed a card tucked among the flowers.
The message was simple, and its meaning wasn’t difficult to understand.
’Thank you for being there for me that night. And I think you’re right. Sometimes, we really do need someone to listen to us.’
I couldn’t explain why those words made my heart skip a beat.
Ragnar had been here last night.
He’d come back because he wanted me to listen to him, just as I’d promised I would when we were in the car.
But when he arrived, he’d found me with his brothers instead.
And I had no idea how he must have felt about that.
Was he happy to see that his brothers had finally made amends and somehow reached an understanding?
Or had it hurt him to find me with them when he’d come looking for someone to confide in?
Maybe he was disappointed because I hadn’t been available when he needed me.
I really didn’t know.
"Get the fuck away from me!"
A voice erupted from the bedroom, and I quickly gathered the plastic cup of hot chocolate, the wafers, and the bouquet.
Hurrying to the small pantry beside the kitchen, I tucked everything inside before making my way back to the bedroom door.
"I have no interest in you either!" Jaguar snapped in response to Theodore’s outburst.
"Listen, the only reason I’m doing this is because I don’t want to be left out, you know," Theodore grunted.
And honestly, that made sense.
Neither of them had agreed to share me because they were comfortable with the idea.
They were simply afraid that if they refused to compromise, I might stop spending time with one of them altogether.
That was why they’d somehow come to an arrangement.
Until I decided which brother I wanted to choose, neither would complain about the other’s presence, allowing them both to spend time with me without constantly fighting over it.
It certainly made things easier for me, but that didn’t mean I wanted them to settle for sharing me either.
"Okay, we have to go. Brother’s called me multiple times, and I’m pretty sure he’s been ringing your phone too," Jaguar told Theodore.
I entered the room, and both of them immediately sat up, smiling as they ran their hands through their hair to straighten it.
"Well, last night was something," I commented, deliberately avoiding their eyes.
After all, sharing intimate moments with them was one thing, but seeing them sitting there completely naked was another.
Thankfully, they had the decency to cover their crotches with a blanket or a pillow.
"We were just saying we should get going. Brother’s been blowing up our phones," Theodore informed me, repeating what Jaguar had already told him.
And I knew exactly why they were so eager to leave together.
Neither wanted to be the first to go and give the other a chance to spend more time alone with me.
"Okay," I agreed.
"Are you coming to the office today?" Jaguar asked, and I nodded.
I noticed how carefully he kept the blanket over his crotch while stretching one leg toward his pants, which were lying on the couch.
A small laugh escaped my lips as I reached over, picked them up, and held them out to him. He smiled and accepted them.
"All right, you guys get dressed," I told them before stepping out of the room.
But the uneasy feeling in my chest refused to go away.
Perhaps it was because I had to go to the office now and face Ragnar, and I had absolutely no idea how he was going to behave around me after last night.