Chpt. 9 APOV:

"Why don't you see if Taylor's awake and then the three of us can go out for breakfast together?" Christian suggests before I leave the room.

I quickly use the bathroom and brush my teeth before knocking on Taylor's door. His bed is empty and doesn't look like he slept in it at all which surprises me. I glance around the room noting that it looks almost like a hotel room. There are no personal effects, nothing to really show that someone actually lives in this room. I know he's not close to his family, but there's literally nothing personal in the room. No pictures of things he likes or places he's visited, nothing. Aside from an alarm clock on the nightstand, nearly every surface in the room is empty. I have the crazy urge to do something with this room; to make it more personal for Taylor but I have to stop myself. I don't know why he doesn't have anything here; I have to wonder if he wants it that way for a reason.

I shake my head before closing the door behind me, I head to the kitchen and immediately feel relieved to find Taylor leaning over a stack of papers on the dining room table. The table that was clear just last night, is once again covered with books, papers, folders and a laptop with Taylor positioned at the end of it.

"Hey," I greet him and when he looks up at me I nearly gasp at the site. His eyes are blood shot and he looks completely exhausted.

"Hi Ana," he walks around the table and wraps his arms around me pulling me against him.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"No."

"Everything okay?" It's a stupid question because obviously something is wrong if Taylor stayed up all night, but I ask it anyway.

"Is Christian awake?"

"Yeah, he asked me to see if you were awake so the three of us could go out to breakfast."

"Let me talk to him for a few minutes and then we'll go out."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he kisses me quickly before releasing me so he could go back to his….whatever it is on the table.

Before heading back into the bedroom, I go into the kitchen and open the fridge to grab a bottle of water.

"Fuck Ana," Taylor groans behind me.

"What?"

"You're not wearing anything under that shirt, are you?" his eyes went from exhaustion to being filled with want in a matter of seconds.

"No," I blush.

"You're killing me," he pulls be back against him and so I can feel his erection against my ass. "If I didn't need to take care of this mess right now, I'd take you right here in the middle of the kitchen."

I gasp at his words, instantly picturing him doing just as he described.

"Go find Christian so I can talk to him," he nips at my ear before closing the fridge door in front of me. "Later, when I'm done dealing with this shit…."

"I missed you last night," even though I thoroughly enjoyed spending the night with Christian it did feel odd not having Taylor there.

"Trust me, I would have much rather have been in bed with you than dealing with the mess I walked into last night."

The exhausted, frustrated look is back on Taylor's face; I kiss him one last time before heading back to the bedroom to let Christian know that Taylor needs to talk to him. I have no idea what happened last night, but whatever it was I hate that it kept Taylor up all night. I feel a little guilty that we were in here enjoying ourselves while Taylor dealt with whatever was going on last night.

"What's wrong?" Christian asks as soon as I walk into the bedroom.

"Taylor wants to talk to you."

"Go take a shower, I'll talk to Taylor and then the three of us can go for breakfast," he says as he slips on a pair of sweatpants.

He kisses me deeply, pulling away just as my body begins responding to him. The smirk on his face tells me he knows exactly what he did before he heads out of the room. I grab a change of clothes from my suitcase on Elliot's bed, along with my toiletry bag and head into the shower. Turning on the hot water, I take off Christian's shirt and step into the shower letting the warm water cascade over me. It's kind of surreal being in here right now…I'm practically living with Taylor and Christian for the next few days maybe even a week. This is by far the craziest thing I've ever done, yet in a way it doesn't feel like crazy at all…it just feels right. I can't describe it, but I feel such an attraction to both Christian and Taylor; it's like nothing I've ever felt before. It goes beyond the incredible sex between us, so far beyond that. I like that Christian is so protective, so fierce and knows what he wants. Yet I loved how he comforted me last night when I told him about the condo falling through. Then there's Taylor: I like how gentle he is, how he wants to fix everything and how he worries about everyone else instead of himself. I think we have more in common in our past that either of us are even aware of right now. It's hard to imagine, but I can easily see myself falling for both of them…at the same time. I don't know if they feel the same about me, I don't know if they think long term when they think about me.

I shake my head needing to get away from these thoughts, needing instead to focus on the here and now. Practically living together for the new few days could change things either way for us. Living with someone is very different than dating them. Maybe after a few days, Christian and Taylor will decide that what we have is just great sex. Maybe they'll decide that they don't want a relationship, or they don't want a threesome relationship. I don't know what I would do if they decided that; I could never pick between them and I couldn't ruin their friendship like that. I would rather walk away then have to choose between them. I can't imagine being with one and not the other; at the same time though I can't imagine not being with them at all. Who knew it was possible to feel so strongly about two people at the same time?

Realizing I've been in the shower a lot longer than I should have been, I quickly wash my hair and body before getting out and throwing some clothes on. I toss on a pair of jeans which seem to have become my every day attire since I'm not working right now. I head out to the dining room where Christian and Taylor are staring at a tablet on the table.

"Everything okay?" the tension in the room is high.

"No," they both say at the same time.

"Anything I can do?" I ask.

They both look at each other for a moment, there's some unspoken communication going on between them that I obviously don't understand.

"Let's go out for breakfast, we can fill you in on what's going on there," Christian says.

"Okay," I agree.

Christian heads back to his room to get changed; before Taylor leaves the room he slips an arm around my waist and tugs me against him.

"I like you better in the shirt you were wearing this morning," he whispers before heading down the hall to his room.

"Your nipples are hard," Christian announces walking into the room.

"You two are killing me," I can only imagine my face is as red as a tomato right now.

"Want to tell me what's got you turned on this morning?" he whispers, standing right in front of me with his eyes glued to my hardened nipples.

"No," I answer but even that comes out all breathy.

"I told her I liked her better in the shirt she was wearing when she came out of your room this morning," I have no idea when Taylor returned to the living room but now he's standing right behind me with his breath at my neck.

"She looked fucking hot in my shirt," Christian agrees.

"If it wasn't for that fucking mess we have to deal with, I told her I would take her in our kitchen this morning," Taylor says both of them acting as if I'm not standing between them.

"Hmmm…bent over the table," Christian nips at my ear.

"Spread out on the counter," Taylor presses himself against my ass letting me know that I'm not the only one being affected by this conversation.

"Riding me on the kitchen floor," Christian slips his hand down the front of my jeans which at some point became unbuttoned.

"While sucking me, taking me down her beautiful throat," Taylor grabs my ass just as Christian slips a finger into me.

"I'd pinch her clit," I groan as he does that very thing. "All the while thrusting deep into her hot pussy until she's so close to coming-"

"So close," I whisper caught up in the picture that they're both painting.

"Every time she swallows me it feels like she's fucking me with her throat," Taylor groans slipping his hand down until both him and Christian are teasing me. They take turns, one finger slips into me and as that one slips out another slips in. Their hard bodies are pressed against me, their heavy breaths are against my ears and my body feels like it's on fire, the need to come nearly unbearable.

"When I pull her down, I thrust deeper into her and she-"

"CHRISTIAN!" The orgasm that has been building for so long finally explodes when they both thrust their fingers into me at the same time. Christian smothers my scream with his mouth while Taylor wraps an arm around my waist to hold me up when my own legs can't seem to hold my weight any longer.

"You look so fucking sexy when you come," Christian whispers in my ear.

"I can never get enough of you," Taylor groans.

They slowly bring me back to reality as my breathing returns to normal; my face reddens at the realization we're still standing in the middle of their kitchen. Their words describing everything they were thinking had the fantasy nearly a reality. I could picture every move, every feeling and every emotion as if we were actually doing exactly what they were describing.

"Let's go get breakfast," Christian buttons my pants back up before kissing me.

"What about-" with their bodies pressed up against me I know they were just as affected by the fantasy as I was.

"Later," Taylor leans in and kisses me.

"Later…I want to take my time with you, and right now we're all hungry," Christian kisses me before stepping away.

I watch both of them adjust themselves before walking out of the kitchen to get ready to leave; breakfast is more like lunch by the time we make it to a local diner just a few minutes from their apartment. We walk into the diner and end up having to wait a few minutes for a table, so we take a seat on a lunch bench in the crowded lobby. Thankfully there was just enough space for the three of us to fit on the bench, of course with me squeezed in the middle between Taylor and Christian. Taylor takes my hand in his; my other hand is on Christian's thigh while he checks his email.

"I forgot to thank you for dinner last night, it was delicious," Taylor leans over to say.

"I hope it didn't become too dried out when you reheated it," I reply.

"Not at all," he kisses me on the cheek. "Thank you for putting a dish aside for me. I was starving by the time I got home."

"How late was it when you got home?" I ask.

"Um, I think it was just after midnight," Taylor answers.

"It was closer to one," Christian leans closer to me placing his hand on mine and gently running his thumb over my knuckles.

"Really? I guess you could be right," Taylor says.

"I only know because I heard you come in and looked at the clock wondering how late it was," Christian says.

"Sorry, I tried not to wake either of you."

"No problem, I was pretty tired so I fell back to sleep pretty quickly after that anyway," Christian smirks at me making me blush.

"Grey, party of 3," the hostess calls for us.

We stand up, Taylor takes my hand and I take Christian's leading us through the crowd to the hostess stand. As we slowly make our way past everyone I hear a few people whisper and snicker, but it's not until I get closer to a small group that I hear exactly what someone is saying.

"You don't think-" one girl says.

"It looks that way," another cuts her off.

"All 3 of them? What a slut," the third says.

I turn around, thinking there's no way they're talking about us but when they're all staring at us the answer is clear. They're talking about us, more importantly they're referring to me as a "slut." Who the fuck do they think they are? They don't know me from anyone yet they think they have some right to talk about my love life as if they were part of it or part of my life in anyway?

"Excuse me," Christian stops dead in his tracks and turns to the girls who were just talking. The sudden stop halts me and Taylor who turns around to see what's going. "Did you just call my girlfriend a slut?"

"Uh…" the one girl's face turns bright red as she stutters.

"If the shoe fits-" the middle girl begins to say.

"Who the fuck are you to comment on what goes on in someone else's bedroom?" Christian cuts her off quickly.

"When you bring it into a family establishment-"

"When we bring what?" Taylor asks. "Did I miss when we started an orgy in the middle of the restaurant?"

"You have some nerve," I hiss. "We haven't done anything wrong; we were simply sitting waiting for our table."

"Excuse me, is there a problem?" a manager walks over to us where the small crowd's attention is now focused.

"We don't have a problem," Taylor answers.

"But the same can't be said for these ladies here who think it's appropriate to call someone a slut-"

"That type of language is not appropriate here," the manager hisses glaring at the girl before his eyes dart around the room taking in the families with young children in the room. "If I hear that type of language from anyone again, you'll be asked to leave immediately."

"Maybe she shouldn't put herself out there like one and she won't-"

"How dare-" Taylor interrupts, but I quickly put a hand on his chest silencing it.

"You'll have to explain, as I'm completely confused as to what I've done that you think deserves that title," I demand to know.

"Isn't it obvious? You're fucking both-"

"Get out," the manager cuts her off before she can even finish her sentence.

"WHAT?! We didn't do anything-" the other girl whines.

"I've warned you about the use of inappropriate language in here. There are kids here; they don't need to hear that," he glares at them.

"Well maybe they-"

"I have no idea why you have an issue with them and I don't care. Now either leave my restaurant or I'll have the police escort you out," he gestures to the door. The girl who called me a slut looks shocked and ready to argue, but when her friend grabs her by the arm she turns and follows her out the door.

"Please accept my apology for what just happened-"

"It wasn't your fault," I assure him.

"Regardless, this is a family establishment and I won't tolerate bullying of any type," he explains. "Please allow me to escort you to your table, your meal today is on me."

"That's not necessary," Christian assures me.

The manager doesn't respond, but escorts us through the dining area to an empty table. As we walk through the crowd, I feel eyes on me by those who likely overheard what just happened while we were waiting. I knew people might think what we were doing was odd and I expected comments from people we knew, but hearing it from complete strangers? That wasn't something I was expecting. Christian's family…sure. Their friends….sure. Kate…maybe. But complete strangers in the middle of the restaurant…no. Not at all.

"Thank you," I say to the manager as we sit down.

"I've been in your shoes," he shrugs sadly. "People don't always accept what they don't understand."

When we look at him questioningly, he pulls out his phone and shows us a beautiful family picture. There are two men with their arms wrapped around a woman, and three adorable children all laughing at the beach while someone snapped their picture. I have so many questions, yet none of which I can ask a perfect stranger.

"You have a beautiful family," is the only thing I can think of to say.

"Thank you," he smiles.

"Thank you for intervening," Taylor says.

"I hope we didn't cause too much of a disruption for you," Christian adds.

"None at all," the manager says. "Please, enjoy your email."

A waitress steps up to the table just as the manager leaves, handing out menus before taking our drink order.

"Ana, I'm so sorry-" Christian says.

"What are you apologizing for Christian?" I ask.

"Those…girls," he grimaces I'm sure remembering what was said.

"It wasn't your fault," I assure him.

"No, but it's something that you're probably going to hear again if we…" Taylor says.

Of course the waitress picks that moment to come to our table to take our order; we all quickly glance at the menu and let her know what we would like. While the waitress takes our order, I think about what Taylor was saying. I knew that when people found out we were in a relationship together that some people wouldn't understand and others might not support it. But I didn't expect name calling from complete strangers when we went out on a date.

"What did you mean if we?" I ask Taylor wondering if I heard him correctly.

"I mean if we…if we went public with our relationship," he says.

"Went public? Maybe I'm not understanding," because truly I'm confused. "I didn't think we were taking a billboard out and notifying the world that we were dating. I mean, most couples don't do that, right?"

"What Taylor meant was, if we decided that we would tell our…people we're close to that we're dating," Christian says.

"As opposed to…?"

"As opposed to only dating one of us-"

"Is that what you want?" I glance back and forth at them trying to figure out if they're trying to say we should break up.

"No!" Christian says quickly.

"Hell no," Taylor's response is immediate.

"I'm not understanding then…"

"We weren't sure if you would want people to know you were in a relationship with both of us," Christian tries to explain it again. "The reaction today…that could happen again. I could care less what the…people think, but as Taylor has pointed out to me not everyone thinks the same way."

"You thought I might want to hide…this?" I gesture between the three of us.

"We considered you might want that," Taylor says.

"Oh," I sit back taking in what they just said. "I never thought that was…something…"

"It's not what either of us want," Christian takes my hand in his squeezing it tightly. "But we know that you're the one who will have to deal with things like what happened today the most."

"We hate the idea of what happened out there happening again," Taylor gestures to the lobby. "But as more people find out about us it's a possibility."

After today, I realize what he's saying is true. It's a double standard, a guy dates two women at once and he's a stud. A guy and another guy date a girl, they're both fucking studs. A girl dates two men at the same time and she's a slut. It doesn't matter that I've only slept with three people in my entire life, including the two men at this table, to people who don't know me or don't understand what we're doing I will be a slut. The waitress comes by with our breakfast as the three of us sit in silence; I think they're both waiting for me to say something.

"Would it be easier if I was dating only one of you? Sure. Would it be easier if we hid the fact that the three of us are together? Of course," I watch both of their faces fall at my words. "Here's the thing; there's not much in my life that has been easy," they both look at me with that. "I don't want to hide what we're doing; I don't want to only be with one of you. I…I don't want easy."

"Ana," Taylor gasps.

Christian simply wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him. He kisses the top of my head when I lay my cheek on his shoulder. Taylor takes my other hand in his and simply holds it on the table. This, right here, this makes the confrontation in the lobby a distant memory. I love that they both stood up for me out there. I love that they both cared enough about how this could affect me to having discussed this before today. I can't imagine hiding our relationship; how do people do that? Someone is always the one left out; someone always ends up hurt.

"Let's eat before our breakfast gets cold," Christian chuckles when my stomach growls loud enough for everyone to hear.

"So tell me about what happened last night and why you were up all night?" I request changing the subject.

"We need your help Ana," Taylor's response surprises me.