"Oh, you live with my brother too?"
"Yeah, him and Jude took me in. —I don't sleep with them anymore."
It had started out innocent enough. They were just roommates, not bedmates.
Then she spent a night in Jude's bed; he invited her to share with him a few times, not wanting her to sleep on the floor, but not quite willing to give it up entirely. At first, Jude barely touched her, but as she got closer to everyone, she and Jude cuddled closer.
One night, when Jude had a friend, who was a girl, staying the night with him, Max invited Prudence over to his bed. Max didn't give her any pretense of space; as soon as she crawled in, he had wrapped an arm around her, breathing heavily in her ear.
She rotated through the two every few weeks, mostly because they were warm and beds were a precious commodity.
But she came to realize there was little difference between the two boys; they were the type of friends to share everything, if only because there was so little between the two of them. They laughed at the same jokes, lusted after the same women. They were both warm and comfortable, and their beds were equally as lumpy.
Both smelled like cheap cigarettes and beer, but Jude held the faintest trace of charcoal, while Max held the trace of gasoline. Both their heartbeats were loud and strong, but Max's was just a tad bit speedier.
Jude was a little taller, had a little more sustenance to him, a little bit more to hold on to when the nights were colder. Max's hair not only looked but felt a bit like straw, while Jude's curls were always nice to twirl through her fingers.
But the biggest difference between the two was the way they made love.
Max was all fumbling hands, sloppy kisses, and muttered obscenities, the type who'd be willing to do it in the backseat of a car if she wanted.
Jude was soft, controlled, and hardly made a sound but for a sharp exhalation when he reached his brink, and she could never imagine his love anywhere but in his bed.
It was usually after Sadie's gigs when the sex happened. All were drunk, if not a bit high, and Prudence was usually frustrated by Sexy Sadie.
Jude was only having sex with her, she began believing, because he was practicing for someone else, someone more dear to his heart, even if he didn't really know it. If had known, he would've stopped all on his own.
Max was only having sex with her, she thought, because he was afraid his balls would disappear, or maybe afraid that she would disappear.
She stopped sleeping with them when she realized they were all in the same boat:
In love with someone they couldn't have.
For Jude, she showed up about a month later, with golden hair and soft eyes, and left without a word.
For Max, she came in through the bathroom window, bruised and drenched, and left without a word.
But Sadie had always been there for Prudence, and always would. Sadie was the type to haunt dreams, to torture with her affection and nicknames, with soft touches and brief glances.
Sadie would never leave.