Season: Summer
Weather: cool with scattered showers, warming back up in the afternoon back into a scorcher
Day of the week: Sunday
Date: 19th February, 2024
I woke to hearing the men talking quietly over my head, thinking I was still asleep.
"I have never needed to have as many cold showers as I did last night," Stony Boss confessed.
"I know. I had just as many as you," the shameless boss replied.
"What do we do if she continues to refuse both of our advances?" Stony Boss asked. "I'm starting to get the feeling that she may never change her mind."
"Then we let her go," breathed the shameless boss's gentle voice. "We let her go wherever she will be safe and happy. Regardless of how we feel."
"If she were willing, would you ever think of or consider sharing her?" Stony Boss asked.
"Would you be willing to share her?" asked the shameless boss with a sharp tone. "Don't make unreasonable guesses. Even if she's willing to share, I am not. I'm a one man, one girl kind of guy."
"But being together like this is kind of nice, isn't it?" Stony Boss sighed, lightly stroking my hair. It tickled and made me dive deeper into the shameless boss's embrace.
"Yeah. I get what you mean. No, but yeah. Don't wake her up."
"What do you like about her?" Stony Boss asked the shameless boss.
"I told you. I've had my eye on her for more than a year, trying to think of how to approach her without scaring her. And now that she's here, she still only sees me as a fire breathing dragon boss. A nice one, but still just a boss. I don't know how else I can show my love for her anymore. She keeps throwing up walls at me and blocking all my advances."
"I asked you what you like about her. Not to boast about how much you like her or how you spotted her first."
"Everything. I like everything about her. The way she smiles. The way she frowns. The way her hair curls over like a funny wave and just won't stay down. I like her temper. I like her attitude. I like her work ethic. The only thing I don't like about her is how her past with that bastard has affected her so much and how much she looks down on herself, thinking she's not worthy. And how she's so sick, on the verge of death every time she goes to hospital and refuses to acknowledge it."
"I like how her nose wrinkles when she's thinking and the dimple in her cheek that comes out when she's annoyed. And I like the way she can roar like a lion when she's mad. She's so cute. I never thought I'd fall for her when I first met her. At least, not this hard."
"You and me both," the shameless boss grunted while I felt myself blushing at the compliments. It was a good thing that my face was buried in the man's chest and they couldn't see anything.
"What do you think we should do about her family back home and that Evil Evan?"
"Don't meddle. Let the police do their job. It involves one of their own. It'll take them quite a while to investigate without alerting the man. There's nothing we can do other than wait and keep her safe," the shameless boss said, gently stroking my back. "They said the investigation will keep him from being able to run across the country to find trouble with her, so she should be safe for now."
"We need to help her keep her mind from wandering too much while she's recuperating. Do you have any ideas of how to keep her occupied without her overworking herself?" Stony Boss was playing with one of my hands.
"I was thinking of getting her enrolled into a few online courses, upskill her and prepare her for moving up the ranks. Such a gifted worker shouldn't remain down on the floor where she can easily be exploited. We need to bring her up closer to our level where we can keep her safe and help her reach her full potential."
"Online courses and study. Of course. Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you're slow. There's a reason why I'm still your boss, even after all these years."
"Hey. Just because you're my boss doesn't mean you can be so mean."
"I'm speaking as a friend."
"Do friends stab their best friends in the heart like this?"
"Of course. All the time. Only the best friends know where it hurts the most."
"Oh? You want to hurt me? Come. Let us harm each other."
"I'm not scared of you. I'm just scared you'll wake our girl up. Here. You hold her for a while. I need another cold shower."
Stony Boss gathered me into his arms and I turned over to hide my face from him.
"Crap. I'm gonna need a cold shower again too," he hissed. "Why are you so loveable and cute? You can stir us up with just a touch. Do you have any ideas what power you hold in your hands? You don't, do you? We're not just your bosses. We're men too, you know. Men with dreams and needs. Men who would love to make the plain and simple you the happiest woman in the world. Actually, I know you don't like me that much and perhaps what I feel for you isn't completely pure. Part of it is wanting to compete with Seamus, because we've always been rivals. He always gets the better of me, and so I want to beat him for once. But that's not fair for you. So I can drop out of the competition to give you more space. On the other hand, Seamus is really smitten by you. If you don't agree to be with him, he's going to be depressed. If he's in a bad mood and depressed, the entire company is going to suffer for it, you know. You're the dragon tamer who can command the wind and clouds in the company just by keeping the fire breathing dragon happy. Just so you know."
I mumbled incoherently and swiped at the hand tickling the hairs near my ear. And then curled up into an even tighter ball, covering my head with an arm to protect it.
Who would have thought that one day I would ever feel comfortable enough with these two men to not mind them sleeping on the same bed with me tucked between them? I feel all kinds of conflicted. All kinds of confused. All kinds of disgust for myself.
How had I become one of those women I used to look down on because they were stringing two guys along behind her? Wait. Am I stringing these two guys along? No. Definitely not, right? I've already clearly rejected getting into any kind of romantic relationship with both of them. More than once, if my memory serves me correctly. Just go back over the past entries and you'll see.
Besides, Stony Boss said he's dropping out of the running. Which is a relief.
I'm thankful and grateful and appreciate all they've done for me, but I have not and may never feel romantically in love with either man. They're bosses and should stay in the boss rank where they belong. I'm pretty sure I've said this before. Predators and prey don't belong together.
Even so, being hugged and held by the two of them made me feel the most secure I have ever felt in my life.