“Um—how about we go into the other room and talk about this minus the audience,” Chris offered. Luke looked at him and Chris could see his wheels spinning. He was worried that Chris was once again trying to deny that they were involved and that couldn’t be further from the truth. He reached for Luke’s hand and he smiled and took it, taking Winter’s hand with his free one.
Mr. Snow stood, “Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?” he asked.
“We just need a few minutes to talk, Dad,” Winter said. “Mind if we use your office?” Her father looked at Mrs. Snow and she shrugged.
“Fine,” he said. “But then, you are going to explain to me what is going on here.” Winter looked at Chris and then back to her father and nodded. He hated that she was being forced to announce to her family that she wanted to be in a relationship with both of them. It was an awful thing to feel as though you were being forced into something.
She led him and Luke up the stairs to her father’s office and turned on the lights. “Sorry about that,” Luke all but whispered.
“Are you?” Chris asked, turning to face him. “Or are you happy that we won’t be able to hide? That was what you and I broke up about after college, Luke. I wanted to keep our relationship a secret and you didn’t.”
“What are you implying, Chris?” Luke asked.
“Just what I said—did you come here tonight so that Winter would have to tell her family about being with us both?” Chris questioned.
“No,” Luke breathed. “Listen, if coming here was a mistake, I’m sorry. I’ll leave.” He turned to go back out into the hallway and Winter shut the door and locked it, even standing in front of it for good measure.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” she insisted. “Not until we talk this out. Sit,” she ordered pointing between the both of them. Luke crossed the office to flop down into a chair that sat in the corner, reminding Chris of a child that had been put into time out. He pulled up Mr. Snow’s office chair and sat staring Luke down while Winter paced between the two of them.
“Why did you leave, Luke?” she asked.
He shrugged and for a minute, Chris worried that was going to be his answer. “I was scared,” he admitted.
“Of us?” she asked.
“Of you not wanting me. Of not fitting into what you two already had going—all of it. What happens to me when you two go back to Los Angeles?” he asked. Chris hadn’t given that too much thought but he wondered if Winter might be feeling the same way he was.
“What if we moved back here?” he asked Winter.
“You mean give up our jobs and apartments and just move back to San Francisco?” she asked.
Chris smiled, “Why not? You just said last night that you weren’t happy out there, right?” Winter nodded and sat down on the corner of the desk. “I’m not living up to my full potential out there either. What if we came back here and tried to find a life for ourselves—the three of us?”
Luke stood and paced the floor, “This wasn’t what I wanted,” he said. “I was just thinking out loud. I didn’t want you two to give up your damn lives for me.”
“What if we want to start something new with you, Luke?” Winter asked. “We wouldn’t be giving up anything we don’t want to. But, I have been missing home,” she said.
“I’d love to live closer to my parents,” Chris admitted. “I’m their only kid and they’re not getting any younger.”
“We’ve spent one night together guys and you’re talking about what—us moving in together?” Luke asked.
Chris stood in front of Luke, effectively stopping his pacing. “We won’t do anything you’re not ready for,” he promised. Those were the same words he gave Winter a couple of days prior and she giggled.
“You seem to say that a lot,” she teased.
“I’m not about to push either of you into something you don’t want but at least consider the possibilities,” Chris said. “Spend the rest of the week with us, Luke. This time don’t run. Stick around and give us a real chance to see if this thing can work. Please,” Chris begged.
Winter took Luke’s hand into her own. “At the end of the week, we can sit down and figure out what we all want. If we decide this doesn’t work for each of us, no hard feelings. If this works, we’ll figure out our next step—deal?” she asked.
“Deal,” Chris agreed. They stared down Luke waiting for him to give his answer.
“Deal,” he said. Pulling them both into his body. “What are you going to tell your parents?” he whispered into Winter’s hair, holding her between the two of them.
She sighed, “The truth,” she said.
Winter
Winter walked back down to her parent’s dining room hand in hand with her two guys. That’s what she was considering them now—her two guys and denying that to her family wasn’t something she’d be willing to do. She was never one to run and hide from the truth and she wouldn’t start now.
“Mom, Dad,” she said, standing in the doorway, not letting go of either of their hands. She didn’t miss the way her sister’s watched her. Cassey’s smirk let her know how much she was going to enjoy watching this whole shit storm unfold but she wasn’t about to give her sister that satisfaction. “Can we talk to you both in the family room?” Winter asked.
“But, we’re in the middle of dinner,” her mother insisted.
“I’m sorry but this is kind of important,” Winter said. Her father stood and tossed his napkin onto the table and walked past them to the family room with her mother on his heels. Winter looked back at her sisters one last time and then followed her parents into the other room. It felt like she was about to be grounded for something she didn’t do. Why did being back at her parent’s home always make her feel like a little girl? She was a grown adult and it was time she started acting that way.
Her father eyed the way she was holding both Chris and Luke’s hands and her mother nervously cleaned up some of the Christmas wrapping paper that laid strewn across most of the floor. “What’s this all about?” her father asked, cutting straight to the chase.
“You should know that when I said I was with Chris, I wasn’t being one hundred percent truthful,” she said.
“You and Chris aren’t together?” her mother asked. “Are you with Luke then?” she questioned.
“Yes,” Winter said.
“But why would you tell us you were with Chris if you aren’t,” her mother asked.
“Oh for Peet’s sake,” her father grumbled. “She’s with both of them, aren’t you, Winter?” She nodded and he blew out his breath.
“How can you be with two men at once?” her mother asked. Winter felt her face heat and Chris squeezed her hand into his.
“A few weeks back, I came up with the crazy idea that Winter should bring me home for Christmas and we would pretend to be dating,” Chris said.
“Why would you do that to your mother?” her father asked. “You know she just wants you to find someone who will take care of you.”