Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 35128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 176(@200wpm)___ 141(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
She tapped her thigh as she watched the houses go by. Everything was so perfect in the street, each home looking exactly the same. A single car in the driveway at the end of the day. One or two of the houses had a basketball hoop.
Sometimes she hated the conformity of something like this, but today, it felt right. The street seemed like the best place to be.
“Did you do any more research on our homes?” she asked.
“There were a lot of myths and legends online,” he said, pulling up onto the driveway.
“Tell me about them.”
“The one that really stuck out is what this land was prior to the houses being built,” he said. “There’s a tale that there were two lovers that came from different worlds. I’m guessing the rich and poor.”
“Okay.”
“The girl was poor, and the guy was rich. The land was owned by his family, and she worked there from the time she was a little girl. They grew close, and it wasn’t long before that closeness turned into love. The problem was, he was destined to marry a woman with money, who would help them grow stronger.”
“Oh no, this is sounding tragic.”
“So anyway, they decide to run off, to marry anyway, and to have a life together. He always loved the simple life with the sweet things, and she never wanted anything more than him.”
“This story is not getting a happy ending. Is it?”
“Nope. According to sources when they were running away, they were caught, but for whatever reason, he ended up shot, and was dying. Completely swamped with grief with her love dying in her arms, she took his gun, pressed it against her temple, and shot herself. He didn’t die straight away. The tale is that they were found together. He was still alive when she shot herself in the head, and he’d pulled her into his arms, holding her, and before he passed away, he wrapped her arms around his so everyone would know that he loved her.”
“Wow, that story sucks, but that is incredibly detailed. How does that have any relevance to us though?”
“They died in this exact spot where our houses join. We’re the only houses in the street that are joined together as a terrace house. I even checked the planning of this. Our houses are not built the way they were meant to be designed. No one can explain what happened. Clearly a builder or contractor read it wrong, which is why they have the trees and why it’s at the end of the street, so it doesn’t look odd.”
“What a sad tale. Do you really believe this?” she asked.
“Think about all those couples before us, Meredith. You tell me.”
“I wonder if we’re going to be the three to break the cycle.”
****
“What do you think about the future?” Brett asked Ace a couple of weeks later.
They’d been with Meredith for a couple of months now, sharing her and enjoying her together. They still hadn’t taken the chance and made love to her at the same time, but it was close. Whenever he was inside her, he felt that need building within Meredith, how she’d either look at him or Ace, and it was in her thoughts.
“Is this about the house again? I checked your computer, and you’ve been going crazy with this whole thing.”
He wasn’t about to tell him that he reached out to Wynter and to Cassie, who had lived here before them. They believed in the magic of the houses.
“It’s not about the houses.”
“Then what is it?”
“Meredith.”
Ace stopped his press-ups and sat on the mat. They’d been teaching a class, which was a new thing the owners of the gym wanted to try. Some people didn’t like one-on-one treatment, but they needed guidance on how to work out themselves. He and Ace had opted to teach the class together. They knew what they were capable of, and as such, their class had been a huge success, so much so they were now doing two classes a week and the owner wished to up that to three within the next month.
“What do you feel for her?” Brett asked.
It was the only thing they hadn’t talked about when it came to Meredith. Sharing her felt natural to the both of them. They’d shared girls in the past but never to this degree. Not only that, he actually looked forward to seeing and hearing about their dates. He wasn’t jealous of Ace or the way she was with either of them.
Meredith didn’t choose favorites. She adored them both.
Ace stared at him, and he knew he wasn’t going to like what was about to be said.
“I love her,” Ace said. “I know she’s different and she has this fire and shit like those creative sorts do, but I love her and I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t have her in it.”