The Proposal

Chapter 10

The boys looked at me in awe, and Deacon met me at the bottom of the stairs to take my hand. Hunter was still at a loss for words when I reached the bottom and stood in front of him. I hugged the girls goodnight, because I would be staying with Deacon tonight, and be back in the morning. I grabbed Deacon’s hand again and walked with him across the street to the SUV; he helped me into the passenger seat and put his brother in the back.

He drove a little ways out of town to a very nice restaurant, and Deacon told me to wait in the car for a moment. He then climbed out of the driver side of his SUV and walked over to my side of the car to let me out. He helped me down out of his vehicle, making sure my ankles didn’t buckle as my heels hit the ground. Hunter hopped out as well and trailed behind us; I could feel the small tension between the two of them the closer we got to the door.

We were met at the door by the host of the restaurant and escorted to our table. When we reached the table, it was Hunter who pulled my chair out for me, then sat across from Deacon and I. We all got settled at the table and opened our menus, then the server came around and took our drink and appetizer requests. They disappeared into the kitchen and reappeared just as fast with three drinks on a tray. They also decided to take our dinner order and retreated to the kitchen once again.

Hunter cleared his throat and I could feel Deacon get tense again, then force himself to relax. “I have a proposal I would like to make to you. I have already talked to Deacon about it, but he told me he would only go along with it if you agreed,” Hunter started. I squinted my eyes at him, then looked over to Deacon who looked worried and unsure. I hadn’t noticed that he had tensed up again. Hunter continued, “I would like to propose… a competition of sorts. Let Deacon and I fight for your hand.” He sounded so smug and sure of himself.

I looked at Deacon, surprised; I never in a million years would have taken him as  the person who would openly compete with his brother for a girl’s attention. He lowered his head as if he was embarrassed, then reached for my hand. “You absolutely don’t have to agree to anything, this was solely Hunter’s idea, and I knew this wasn’t something you would go for,” he spoke. A smirk spread across Hunter’s face and I could see the devious replies that he was thinking up for every scenario.

“He’s just afraid that he’ll actually lose to me, finally,” he said smugly. Deacon hid his eyes, and I sat there dumbfounded, trying to find my words. I squeezed Deacon’s hand back, then went inside my thoughts to think all of this through. The server came back with all of our food and noticed the tension at the table. They sat everything down on the table in front of us, then disappeared into the kitchen once more for another table. I thought about it some more.

Finally, I had reached my resolve, and I looked over to Deacon who was eating his dinner in silence. I cleared my throat then picked up my fork. I picked up some food with it and before I took a bite, I said, “Well, if we’re going to do this, then you two need to talk and figure things out. I want you both to act like you actually like each other and get along.” Deacon finally picked his head up and stared at me in shock. I figured, if they’re going to fight over me like a toy, then I was going to make it fun.

I took the girls’ words to heart and kept an open mind about who I would date. I never meant for it to be between brothers, but I guess you have to start somewhere. Hunter, with a smile on his face, spoke, “Well, this is going to be fun. I’ll start now, brother, would you like to split the bill with me, seeing as we are both on a date with her.” Deacon nodded his head, then we were all able to enjoy the rest of our dinner together.

~

A few hours later, we made it back to Deacon’s house, all talking and laughing with each other. Deacon was finally able to relax for the rest of the night and winded his arm around my waste. Hunter had to drive us back, because Deacon drank a few more glasses than us at dinner. He was pleasantly buzzed and finally enjoying his brother’s company. Deacon managed to get the door unlocked and let us inside. He walked down a beautiful hallway to the right, his living room, and fell into the couch.

Hunter and I laughed at the display that had just played out in front of us. With my guard down Hunter took the chance to slide his arm around my waist, and walked me down the hallway to the rooms in the back of his house. We passed what I thought was Deacon’s room, to another room two doors down. He sat me on the bed, and whispered in my ear, “how about we get to know each other physically.” He sat down next to me on the bed.

I let him push me back into the bed and intertwined his fingers with the hair on the backside of my head. He began kissing me with force, and a small moan escaped my lips. “Hunter,’ I whispered. I kissed him back, biting his lower lip and pulling it towards me. His hands gripped my arms as he shivered. We kissed for another thirty minutes before Deacon stumbled into the room, a little more tipsy than he was when he walked through the front door. He jumped onto us on the bed while we were in the middle of kissing.

“I hope you guys aren’t starting without me,” he chuckled at us. He pulled my face away from Hunter’s, then I felt his tongue poke through my lips, and another small moan slipped my lips. I was overwhelmed by all of the things I was taking in; two people kissing me in one night, one after the other? This was a whole new territory I was crossing into, but it still sent shivers down my spine, and caused me to moan.

Another thirty minutes passed, then Deacon had fallen over and passed out. Hunter and I shrugged, then switched to talking. He told me what it was like growing up with his brother, and what it was like after he moved out. It turned out that he was also a law major like Deacon, and that he too has a low level job. He explained the reasoning behind it and it caused me to chuckle. I told him about the medical internship that I would be starting when I went back to school.

We stayed up a little longer, the moon was still out, but birds had begun chirping off in the distance. We got comfortable under the covers, and I was sandwiched between both of them. I was almost asleep before I realized that Deacon had thrown his arm over my waist. After that, we had all finally drifted off.