@@@@@ Ian swallowed loudly We didn't speak for 644
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Ian swallowed loudly
We didn't speak for the rest of the evening, all of us made thoughtful by what we'd seenWe
went to sleep early, so we could rise early and get back to work
I slept alone, in the bed farthest from the doorThis made me uncomfortableThe two big men
did not fit easily on the other bed; Ian tended to sprawl when he was deeply asleep, and Jared
was not above throwing punches when that happenedBoth of them would be more
comfortable if I sharedI slept in a small ball now; maybe it was the too-open spaces I moved in
all day that had me constricting in on myself at night, or maybe I was just so used to curling up
to sleep in the tiny space behind the passenger seat on the van's floor that I'd forgotten how to
sleep straight
But I knew why no one asked me to shareThe first night the men had unhappily realized the
necessity of a hotel shower for me, I'd heard Ian and Jared talking about me over the whir of the
bathroom fannot fair to ask her to choose,? Ian was sayingHe kept his voice low, but the fan was not
loud enough to drown it outThe hotel room was very small
?Why not? It's fairer totell her where she's going to sleep? Don't you think it's more polite ??
?For someone elseBut Wanda will agonize over thisShe'll be trying so hard to please us both,
she'll make herself miserable
?Jealous again??
?Not this timeI just know how she thinks
There was a silenceHedid know how I thoughtHe'd probably already foreseen
that given the slightest hint that Jared would prefer it, I would choose to sleep beside Jared, and
then keep myself awake worrying that I'd made Jared unhappy by being there and that I'd hurt
Ian's feelings in the bargain
?Fine,? Jared snapped?But if you try cuddling up to me tonight? so help me, O'Shea?Not to sound overly arrogant, but to be perfectly honest, Jared, were I so
inclined, I think I could do better
Despite feeling a little guilty about wasting so much needed space, I probably did sleep better
al
