Three. The Perfect Number

MADISON

“Um, me? Yeah, sure…I’m okay,” she stammered.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Levi murmured, sounding slightly more awake.

Ethan stirred to her left, then moved his hand to her upper thigh to play with the hem of her shorts.

If he’d only move his fingers slightly up, he’d be surprised.

Or was he even awake enough to know it was her he’d be touching?

“Nothing really,” she answered. “I just…I need to get going. I’m meeting Sam in a bit.”

She tried her best to sound convincing as she pulled herself free from the twins’ grip. “You can stay here if you want, but I’m sure Liam has kicked everybody out by now.”

She kissed each of them on the cheek before she rolled over Levi’s body and jumped out of bed.

“Nah. Why be here if you’re not?” Levi said. “That was the whole point of coming in here.”

That they liked to tease her was not news. What was new was the effect their jokes were having on her.

“Yeah, right. Catch you later?” She smiled at them from beside her door.

“Bonfire?” Ethan asked, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

Damn if he wasn’t a fine piece of art.

“Yup. See you there,” she said as she gestured pointedly toward the hallway.

As they both got up and shuffled toward her, she did her best not to stare. The way their shorts had bunched up around their bulges was almost embarrassing—but honestly, mostly just arousing.

“See you later, Mads. Make sure you put on that great bikini we bought you in high school.”

“Yeah, I’m sure by now it will fit you just perfectly.”

Yeah right. She rolled her eyes. That bathing suit had been deliberately huge for maximum coverage.

On their way out of her room Levi tugged on her hair and Ethan swatted her on the ass playfully.

“When are you gonna grow up?” she grumbled, but they were already down the hall.

***

Sam was late, as usual.

Madison was already licking salt off the rim and sipping a margarita at Green Bay Shore, the only bar on the beach that was doing a bonfire that night, when her phone finally buzzed.

The text made Madison smile. She’d been looking forward to seeing Sam all day, on time or not.

Just a few minutes later Sam burst in, full of explosive enthusiasm as she threw her arms around Madison. “Good Jesus, girl. Look at you.”

Madison let her arms slip around Sam’s body, hugging her tightly. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much!”

“Sooo…what’s the occasion?” Sam ran her eyes over Madison.

“What do you mean? I’m dressed for the bonfire, that’s all.” Over her bikini, she was wearing a cream-colored crochet top that set off her newly tanned skin, and a pair of light denim shorts ripped at the hem. Simple and practical.

They placed their orders, and as soon as the waiter left, Sam leaned forward.

“So, how have you been? How is the whole breakup thing going?”

“Oh, right…the breakup.” Madison took a sip of her drink while looking at her friend. Sam hadn’t changed a bit, apart from her hair, which looked shorter.

“To be honest, if Daniel hadn’t been texting and calling all freaking week, trying to get back together, I wouldn’t have thought about it once.”

She had no tolerance for that kind of betrayal. Not from her parents, and certainly not from a boyfriend.

“Right. Of course. Because you have too much testosterone around you to focus on the fact that your ex-boyfriend cheated on you.”

Sam always knew what to say to make Madison laugh and spit out her drink.

“What can I say? I’m not even sure anymore why I was with him in the first place.”

“I’ll tell you why. Because for the first time you had no one to stop you from having a boyfriend. Even if I don’t understand why you two never had sex.”

“Right. Those fuckers screwed my life entirely.”

“Well, those boys certainly did their best to keep you out of the game, that’s for sure. But seriously, why is that? And why is it that you never felt the need to be intimate with anyone?”

“I have no idea,” Madison admitted. “It’s not that Daniel didn’t try. He did. I just couldn’t get my body to cooperate. Besides, I never really felt anything during foreplay that would make me want to go further.”

“He wasn’t the right one then.”

“No question. But really, I thought something was wrong with me! I couldn’t even get that turned on. Until I discovered that I can do the trick myself, you know?”

“Oh girl, I’m so sorry for you and your V-card…which I’m sure one of those sexy twins will be more than happy to help you with, hmm?”

Once again, Madison’s drink sprayed out of her mouth.

She hadn’t told Sam about her dream yet, or about what she’d witnessed this morning, but it was like her best friend was psychic where Madison was concerned.

“Idiot,” she muttered to herself, wiping her face. She couldn’t hide her smile though. “Nothing’s happening there, and nothing will. Besides, can you imagine what Liam and Ezra would do? They would kill us!”

She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I’ve definitely been thinking about them, though. Ever since I got home. But I think it’s all in my head…and down there. I can’t even explain what they do to me when they’re close.

“It’s like I can’t even control my body!”

“So what happened?” Sam pressed, leaning in herself. “Something must have happened if you’re so worked up.”

“Well…let’s just say that we keep running into each other half-naked.”

“Good place to start.”

“Wait for it. You know about their Friday tradition, right? Go out, get drunk, come back home with random girls, keep partying?”

Sam grimaced. “Well aware of that.”

Yeah, she would be. She’d had a crush on Ezra since forever.

“Sorry.” Madison took a deep breath. “Well, last night was no different—except for the fact that this morning I was in the pool and heard the twins having sex. But not only could I hear it, Sam, I could see it.”

She moved slightly closer and grabbed Sam by the wrist, lowering her voice to a whisper. “And they were having sex with the same girl.”

“I knew it,” Sam hissed, and her indignant glower was so dramatic, Madison had to hide her grin.

“Well, it did something to me. I can’t deny that. What’s wrong with me, Sam? I haven’t even had sex once, but the only thing occupying my mind lately is how badly I want to feel both of their hands on my body.”

“Nothing’s wrong. I think you’re just fine—a hormone time bomb, but fine. Besides, have you ever thought that maybe they’ve started to see you with different eyes too?”

“No way. They tease me just like they always did. Calling me ’Flake and saying they used to change my diapers.”

Madison paused, thinking back over the week. “I mean, sometimes I think they’re being flirty, and sometimes they look at me a certain way…”

She shook her head. “Nope. Not going to go there. I’m their best friends’ sister and they like to…you know…work together. I don’t think they’re capable of seeing me in a different light.”

“I think you’re wrong, but—” Sam didn’t finish her sentence, instead stretching her arm upward to wave at someone on the other side of the bar. “Hey, boys!”

It was the twins. And Madison’s brothers were with them.

Sam jumped off her stool and exchanged enthusiastic hugs with the twins, then Liam, and finally, like she really didn’t want to, Ezra.

“Hey, ’Flake,” Ethan said. “We’re heading outside. You want to join us?”

Without thinking twice, Madison and Sam grabbed their drinks and followed.

There were already a lot of people around the bonfire when they got there, and they had to squeeze into the circle.

Madison ended up between the twins—which reminded her of this morning and made her blush—and her brothers sat on Ethan’s right, with Sam on the other side of Levi, as far away from a glum-looking Ezra as she could get.

Interesting. Was her friend finally over her crush?

“Did you manage to get some more rest?” she asked Ethan.

“Yup. Even though it would have been better if you were napping with us,” he whispered back, making her glad she could blame the crackling fire for the increased heat in her cheeks.

But before she could formulate a reply, their attention was captured by the sound of someone shouting.

Was that her name? Was that—

Daniel?

Her stomach twisted. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Who’s that, Madison?” Ezra and Liam asked in unison as Sam looked over, eyes wide, and mouthed a silent “Holy fuck.”

“’Flake, what’s happening?” Levi asked, putting his hand on her arm as she stood up.

She shook it off.

“Nothing. I’ll be right back.”