Triad: A Three Way Love Story Read online

  Sammy leaned over and grabbed her hand, “Tell me how to fix this mess my moron created. What’s it gonna cost me?” “Ummmmm I want my puppy back.”

  Sammy looked puzzled and turned to me for clarification. “Her ex kept her puppy. Has it locked in a kennel in the backyard. Won’t give it back just to be a dick”. “And a thousand dollars. I’ll fix everything he fucked up and show him how to keep it that way. If you get my puppy back.”

  “PROSPECTS! Get the van, you’re gonna go puppy napping”. For some reason a few of them seemed really excited about the adventure. Stone is an expert in security systems, so he’ll be going along with Bug.

  Joss started chugging the coffee down. “I have to go too, he’ll be scared. He’s just a little baby. He won’t recognize them.” She poured another cup. “Baby, you realize this is a felony, right?” She nodded and sucked down another cup. “I guess I’m going with you baby.” She smiled and kissed me. Grey just said “Fuck”, but I know he is planning on going along without even asking. He’d never let the two of us get in trouble without him.

  Two more cups of coffee later she had drawn a map of the house and grounds and provided the gate code for the maintenance truck entrance to the gated community. Bug is driving. Stone is taking down the security system and we’ll get the dog. What could go wrong?

  Chapter 14--Joss

  I really think I’m going to puke but I’m fighting it down. I took off my boots since there was no way I could run through the grass in them. Hell, at this point I doubt I could stand in them. Honestly I am not sure I can stand barefoot either. Neither Grey nor Mick look really happy about this little road trip, but my new besties, Bug and Stone think it’s a fine idea, since they never get to do anything fun.

  I am also pretty sure that Buckley and Belle are plotting ways to kill me.

  We slip easily through the back entrance of the community in the plain white vehicle with the “White House Plumbing” sign stuck on it. Before we left it said “Master Electrical” and had different plates. How convenient that they had spares lying around.

  There is a direct correlation between my level of sobriety and my level of bravery. There is no way I could pull this off without help from my friend Jose Cuervo. I know that I am legitimately and legally hammered.

  “This is fun” I said to Bug, “just like playing Manhunt but for grownups”. He thought it was hysterical. Grey held the bolt cutters and tried to reason with me again. “Why don’t you wait in the van, baby? We’ll get your pup.” “This is my baby. My responsibility. I’ll be fine”. I really hope I don’t puke. I am pretty sure there is DNA in puke.

  The mission was going fine. We got in and Stone did whatever he does with the security system. Together we make our way along the shrub line, and hide behind the pool cabana. There were no lights on in the house at all. He who shall not be named was probably slipping his skinny dick into Amber. The thought didn’t make me the tiniest bit jealous.

  Mick grabbed my arm and held me back. “Where’s the kennel?” I pointed to the right of the sliding glass doors, behind the garage. We slowly made our way in that direction when I heard a low deep growl. “What the fuck is that?” “Shhhhhhh Ogre baby, it’s mommy”. I heard a happy little whine. “Shhh baby boy”. Grey snipped the padlock on the cage and slipped it in his pocket. I opened the cage and out of the darkness was greeted with a hundred and fifty pounds of furbaby love!

  “Holy mother of God is that a dog or a fucking pony?”, Grey asked. “This is Ogre. He’s a purebred Anatolian Shepherd.” Anatolians were extra large sized dogs with blonde coats and black muzzles. They are bred as guard dogs and for size. “Didn’t you say it was a puppy?” “Oh, he is a puppy. He’s 7 months old. He won’t get too much bigger though”.

  “Can we share this heartwarming reunion moment later? We need to get the fuck out of here”, Stone urged.

  “Wait. I have to do something”. I started giggling hysterically at the idea that was blooming in my mind. I walked over to the hot tub and unbuckled my jeans, peeling them down over my thighs. “Babe, what are you doing?”

  “I’m fucking peeing in his fucking precious hot tub. Please. Feel free to join me. I want that fucking asshole to stew in piss during his evening soak. Fuck dignity. Dignity is overrated”, I ranted. Mick grinned and joined me. Stone and Bug were happy to comply as well. Finally Grey shrugged his shoulders and joined us. My baby Ogre peed on the steps. It was like he knew what the plan was. He was a super intelligent dog. I hung my ass in over the edge and let it go. I may have looked fucking nuts, but damn this was a fun night.

  We snuck down back down the property line and out the back alley to the van. I couldn’t have been happier to have my baby back. He sprawled across my lap, covering me with black and golden fur, his big curled tail thumped on Grey’s chest. “This beast is not sleeping in my bed”. “How about on the floor next to the bed?” “Maybe”. Still better than a kennel in the backyard. My life just keeps getting better and better.

  I curled up against Mick with my baby in my lap and promptly passed out. Again.

  Chapter 15--Grey

  Joss passed out again. She’s softly snoring with her head against Mick and Cujo across her lap. What a fucking night. All those years of military training led up to Mick and I extracting a werewolf and peeing in a hot tub. I start laughing. Tears are literally rolling down my face at the absurdity of the situation. Mick joins me and the two of us give a fist pump, like we used to do at the end of a mission. “Job well done, boss”. Ogre decides he’s my new best friend and licks my face with his giant slobbery tongue. Definitely not sleeping on my bed.

  “Bug, drop us at home and we’ll get the bikes tomorrow. We’ve got to take Cujo home and he’s not riding bitch with me”.

  Mick carried in our sleeping co-conspirator and I took control of the leash. Ogre sized up the house, sniffing every corner and piece of furniture. I followed him around to make sure he didn’t lift his leg on anything. He made about a half dozen circles, and settled down in front of the fireplace. I rummaged around and found a plastic mixing bowl and filled it up with water for him.

  By the time I made it upstairs Joss and Mick were curled up in the middle of the bed. I watched them both sleep. Joss had her head on his shoulder and was snoring softly. Mick was sprawled out like a starfish on his back and snoring like a runaway freight train.

  I slipped in next to them, surprisingly unbothered that I only had a sliver of my King sized bed to lie on. I was finding their company in my personal space unexpectedly comforting. I am full of surprises lately. Today was the most fun I can remember having in my entire life. I laugh again at the memory of Operation Rescue Cujo. My superior officers will be thrilled to know that I am using eighteen years of training for good and not evil.

  Rolling over, I spoon my girl, loving the way it feels to find her warm naked skin next to me. She sighs and pushes her ass back into me and goes back to dreamland.

  Was I loving the feeling? Shit. How did this happen? I managed to keep my heart and my sanity to myself for nearly twenty years. I thought about the one that ruined me, my ex-wife, Rosey. It was odd that the vise like ache in my heart didn’t happen when I thought of her, like it always had in the past. I conjure up her image in my mind. Forever eighteen. Young and sweet and innocent. I see her blonde pixie haircut and her big blue eyes. I wait for the pain and it doesn’t hit me. It’s like the relief you feel when the tooth that has ached for a few days is finally extracted. It’s a relief and also a surprise when it’s gone.

  Sleep wasn’t going to find me tonight.

  I saw Rosey across the room in a Mexican bar, just off of the base in San Diego. It was the first one I’d ever legally gotten into, and fell fast and hard for her.

  I was 21 years old. I’d finished basic training and my schooling, but hadn’t received my orders yet. I was ready to get out there and do what I was trained to do. I was ready to die for my country if that’s what it took to get the job done. I
was young, dumb and full of cum, as the saying goes.

  She was out with her girlfriends who were partying hard and getting crazy. She was sober, the designated driver, drinking soda with a maraschino cherry in it. They were wearing mini skirts and tube tops and dancing on the bar but she was wearing a sweet and modest little dress and keeping it classy but sexy on the dance floor. I finally caught her eye and she smiled back. It took me another glass of liquid courage to make that long trip across the room and ask her to dance.

  We spent the rest of the evening together, dancing and talking. She told me outright that she was not going home with me. She wasn’t that kind of girl. I respected her for her choices.

  Five days later, I got my orders to leave for the Middle East for a year. I was ready to go, get the job done and come back to my girl. Rosey cried and carried on about me leaving her all alone, and somehow we ended up making the drive to Vegas. I married her in front of a fat Elvis in a white jumpsuit and cape at the Chapel of Burning Love. I wore my uniform. She wore a white dress she bought at Target on the edge of town. The King serenaded us with “I can’t help falling in love with you”. Well, he had the “fools rush in” part right.

  Did I love her that day, or was I just in love with being in love? I was jealous of my buddies who had wives and babies waiting at home for them. Reasons to come back. Reasons to stay alive. I could pretend I was brave and fearless, but part of me was a kid still, scared shitless of real bullets and suicide bombers and landmines and the other horrors of the desert. The dream of a white picket fence and my beautiful girl in an apron baking cookies haunted me. I wanted what I had never had in my whole sorry ass life. I wanted a family life.

  That night I rented us a honeymoon suite at the fanciest hotel I could find. I carried her over the threshold and laid her gently on the big soft bed. I was new at romance, so I didn’t even think about champagne and roses, but then again, my new wife was only eighteen. I made love to her as carefully and gently as I could, since it was her first time. She screamed when I finally pushed into her enough to break her hymen. I spent the rest of my wedding night soothing her and kissing her until she fell asleep. Eventually I jerked off in the bathroom.

  The next day we did manage to complete the deed. I came. She didn’t. I tried to tell myself it was just her inexperience and it would get better as time went on.

  Problem was that there was not another time. By the time we got back to base and filed the marriage paperwork, my orders had changed and I was leaving immediately. I had to leave my wife behind to handle everything on her own and I shipped out.

  Her letters came regularly. She had gotten base housing finally and moved in. I sent her money to furnish our place and get what she needed. Her allotment funds had started up, giving her regular paychecks from Uncle Sam. I called her a few times, but it was hard to get through and the lines were super staticky.

  Life in the desert was even more horrifying that I had imagined. In just six weeks I’d seen nothing but death, destruction and despair. The letters from my wife were a lifeline that I held onto both both hands. I read them and reread them over and over again, imagining that white picket fence and designing the little house I’d build for her near the ocean. I still have the letter she wrote me telling me she was pregnant. Even in the midst of this gigantic cat box of blood, I was ecstatic. I tried to call her again, but there was no answer. The next week she sent a picture of her in a dress, standing sideways. One hand was above her belly and the other below it, holding the yellow gingham fabric close to her skin. The tiniest bump in her waist was my child. Our baby. My first born.

  Sometimes it would be a few weeks before I got a letter and a new picture. She was getting bigger all the time. I kept the pictures in order so I could look at them and see the growth. Christmas time. Our baby was due at Christmas she said. Santa was bringing us a wonderful gift.

  On Thanksgiving we finally got to talk on the phone. She told me she was going to a friend’s for dinner and asked about ours. She said that the Dr. told her she had a few more weeks, and that everything was fine. She told me it was a little girl and she would send me the ultrasound picture. A sweet little lady like her mama. I was thrilled. My time was up and I had to get off the phone. I think she hung up before me, because when I said “I love you Rosey”, she didn’t respond.

  Little did she know I was preparing an amazing Christmas surprise for her. My unit was returning on December 23rd. I planned on picking up some gifts and launching a happy ambush on my girl. I couldn’t wait to see her again. To hold her in my arms again. We’d only had a few days together as man and wife before I left.

  Everything went exactly according to plan. I was a fucking expert on planning. I had even called her the day before, to wish her a Merry Christmas, in case I couldn’t get ahold of her on the holiday. We only talked for a few minutes and she said they were fine and the baby was due to make her appearance “any day now”.

  I knocked on the door, blocking the peep hole with a dozen pink roses for the prettiest mama on the base, in a santa suit and hauling a sack full of presents for my girls. The door flew open and she squealed with delight at the flowers. I stood there, staring at my girl, who clearly didn’t recognize me. Her blonde hair was longer, but her eyes were the same shade of cornflower blue I remembered. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of tight jean shorts and holding a little baby girl on her hip. This baby girl had black hair and big brown eyes, and skin much darker than either Rosey or I had. She was clearly much older than a newborn, and my wife’s belly was as flat as the day I met her.

  When I pulled off the beard and wig and hat and said “Surprise Rosey”. She looked surprised all right. She looked scared and stunned and shocked and angry, all within a few seconds. “Grey, what are you doing here?” she all but whispered. “I live here with my pregnant wife, or at least I thought I did.” I never even made it past the front door. I stood there, looking into someone else’s life. Someone else’s living room. “I can explain.”

  “I doubt that, but go ahead and give it a shot.” “I had to”, she teared up, “I didn’t have a place to go or any insurance, when I met you, I thought you were a great man and would be a good dad and I figured that eventually you’d be ok with it. With her. With us.” I punched the door frame and it started the baby in her arms. “You know Rosey, had you told me from the beginning you were pregnant. If you had been honest from the beginning about yourself. If you hadn’t lied to me about your fucking virginity, well, I probably could have accepted it and love you anyway, but that ship has sailed.” I handed her the bag of gifts. “Merry fucking Christmas. I’ll file for divorce.”

  I walked away and volunteered to go back to the Middle East.

  It took me two years to get divorced and prove that I wasn’t that little girl’s daddy.

  It has taken my twenty years to find a way to let go. I don’t remember what it feels like to love a person, but I can’t forget what it feels like to lose one.

  Chapter 16--Joss

  I slowly regained consciousness. Through my eyelids, I knew there was a horrible bright light shining through the bedroom window and i cursed the sun shine. I waited for the inevitable pain to invade my brain and I was quickly rewarded with a stab to my temples. I haven’t been drunk in a very long time. I tried to open my eyes, but it was painful. I did notice a bottle of water and a handful of advil on the nightstand. Ah...good boyfriends. Aw hell, did I just call them that? Was that even possible? I swallowed a few headache pills and washed it down with the lukewarm water. They must have gotten up early and I’m still being lazy. I don’t remember undressing. In fact I don’t remember coming home after we pissed in David’s hot tub. Oh fuck, we did that? I chuckled to myself while climbing into the shower.

  Mick and Ogre had bonded. “Ogre, come here boy. Get the ball, get it!” Mick threw a dirty baseball with an arm like a center fielder. My furbaby’s big curly tail was wagging a mile a minute and he took off like a golden flash. “I fuckin
g love this dog”. I beamed. Grey shook his head. “Maybe you could finish those brake lines now and play fetch later? How’s your head today, baby?”

  “Feels like a herd of elephants are in my brain fighting over the last peanut.” “That’s pretty bad”, Mick snorted. “But it was worth it. I had the best time of my life. I got my baby back and I peed in the Zimmerman hot tub.” “Don’t forget the dancing on the bar and the body surfing, oh, and insulting drunk bikers.” I did all that? Wow. I’m way cooler today than I was last week. “Yeah. That too. Now, I have to get downtown to the lawyer. Who wants to make a road trip.” Mick dropped the wrench in his hand. “I’m your guy babe. Plus we have to go see Sammy and Buck. You have to fix Buck’s financial fucktardedness.” He headed into the house to get cleaned up.

  Grey looked up from the carburetor he was working on and smiled at me. God he had an amazing smile when he chose to show it. I smiled back. “I want to make dinner tonight. A thank you for liberating my dog appreciation dinner.” “Only if it includes an “I'm grateful you drank enough beer to pee in my ex’s hot tub” dessert.” “Definitely. That one includes whipped cream.” “Mmmm...the kind in the can?” “Of course. Only the best for my guys.” I grabbed his face in my hands and kissed him deeply. Shit, did I say my guys out loud? Crap on a cracker. “See ya later.” I ducked back into the house in a very feeble attempt to avoid addressing my words.