Under the Tree

“Say, we’ve been meaning to ask you. The Christmas Eve party. You bringing anyone special?” Jasper asked, leaning close to her.

The smell of his cologne was intoxicating. She scooted over, but that meant she was too close to Roger. His scent was equally stimulating to her senses. It was a no-win situation. “Um, you know I’m not dating anyone at the moment.” She balled her fists in her lap.

“Oh.” Roger began playing in her curls. “You want to be our date then?”

“Our?”

Jasper reached to play with her locks as well. “Yeah. We don’t have dates either.”

“I thought you two were an item, to some extent.” Nadia removed both their hands from her hair.

“Nah. You know it’s nothing serious,” Roger said.

“Well, the party isn’t a singles meet-and-greet. It’s just a get-together of family and friends. But if you want to bring someone, I have no problem with that.”

“We want to be your dates.” Jasper smiled at her.

Nadia quickly got up. All of a sudden she was feeling a bit uneasy sitting between the both of them. “Uh, you two want another beer?”

“No,” Roger said. He leaned back in his seat. “We want to talk.”

“Oh?” Nadia sat in a chair across from them. “What about?”

“Us.”

Us? “Oookaay.”

“Yeah. Roger and I were just thinking. Since none of us has someone special in our lives, why not go with each other?”

“Huh?”

Roger looked over at Jasper with an exasperated look on his face. “I think what Jasper is trying to say is, that since we have each other, there’s no rush in looking for someone else.”

Nadia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This conversation was too close for comfort for her. Yes, the thought of having these two hunks for herself was her dream come true. But there were too many complications.

“Uh…are you actually suggesting we date each other? Do you mean me date you,” she pointed to Roger, “at one point, then I date you?” She then pointed to Jasper.

“Umm…not exactly,” Jasper said. “I meant what I said earlier. You date both of us.”