Three Is Not A Crowd

Lily Velden

Description

Why would anyone think three was a crowd?No. No. No. No. No.Three is a triangle... and did you know it's the strongest geometrical shape?All the best things come in threes... Muskateers, primary colors, three-ringed circuses, stooges, blind mice, little pigs. The list goes on.Of course they say trouble comes in three too... but we won't go there... or will we?**giggle** There's three sheets to the wind.And **sigh... drool** there's three piece suits.And trust us, it's no coincidence that there are three ingredients in a BLT.Or only three elements to the game Rock, Paper, Scissors.Want to get physical??? Well, there's... three-legged races... (what were you thinking?)Political? Of the people, by the people, for the people.Or creepy? Hear no evil. Speak no evil. See no evil.Why, three has so much going for it we don't even need to mention a... 1............ 2............ 3............ sandwich (substitute your own dream guys)And of course, there's: On your Mark. Get Set. And Go!So Go! Read the short stories in...THREE IS NOT A CROWDStories Included:B.A.D. Boys by Lily VeldenMe, Callum, and Dingoman by Asta IdoneaKnowing How He Feels About You by Eric GoberChimera Copyright by Alina PopescuLife By Even Numbers by Kay EllisLove in 1975 by L.V. LloydThe Proposal by Eddy LeFeyChance Encounter by Aimee BrissayExploring Heaven by Rian Durant

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Wayward Ink Publishing
• Date de parution: 18 septembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781925222630
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Published by
Wayward Ink Publishing
Unit 1, No. 8 Union Street
Tighes Hill NSW 2297
Australia
http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
B.A.D. Boys Copyright 2015 by Lily Velden
Me, Callum, and Dingoman Copyright 2015 by Asta Idonea
Knowing How He Feels About You Copyright 2015 by Eric Gober
Chimera Copyright 2015 by Alina Popescu
Life By Even Numbers Copyright 2015 by Kay Ellis
Love in 1975 Copyright 2015 by L.V. Lloyd
The Proposal Copyright 2015 by Eddy LeFey
Chance Encounter Copyright 2015 by Aimee Brissay
Exploring Heaven Copyright 2015 by Rian Durant
Cover Art by: Jay s Covers by Design
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other enquiries, contact Wayward Ink Publishing at: Unit 1, No. 8 Union Street, Tighes Hill, NSW, 2297, Australia.
http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com
eBook ISBN: 978-1-925222-63-0
Printed in Australia
First Edition
September 2015
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-925222-64-7
Contents
B.A.D. BOYS
ME. CALLUM. DINGOMAN
KNOWING HOW HE FEELS ABOUT YOU
CHIMERA
LIFE BY EVEN NUMBERS
LOVE IN 1975
THE PROPOSAL
CHANCE ENCOUNTERS
EXPLORING HEAVEN
OTHER WAYWARD INK ANTHOLOGIES
WHENEVER I get in a lift I always have an almost-impossible-to-ignore urge to say or do something inappropriate.
It happens every single time.
That is so not great considering I work on the twentieth floor of a highrise in the heart of Sydney.
Think about it.
Including leaving the building for lunch, it means I use the lift a minimum of four times per day. So that s at least twenty times per week I m tempted to say or do something that could well be career suicide. At least four times per day I have to purse my lips to stop myself from loudly blurting out that crass joke I got in an email from one of my mates the day before. Or bite my inner cheek not to share to all and sundry the R-rated goings on from the previous weekend, because for those few moments we re all trapped together, I m certain they all want to know about the sexy bad boy I hooked up with.
Worse, I can t help thinking it might be cool to fart. I mean really let one rip. Logically, I know its rarely cool to fart in company. Well, unless it s a locker room full of jocks and someone has a lighter handy and you turn it into some sort of pissing contest to see who can do it for the longest or loudest or shoot flames the farthest. But those days are in the past. I m a career man now, an up-and-coming advertising exec, and craving to do something as juvenile as wanting to watch my fellow lift occupants asphyxiate from my flatulence should be well behind me.
But there you have it. I hop in a lift and all these urges just about overwhelm me.
Perhaps it s the confined space. People feeling awkward and uncomfortable as others are forced to invade their personal turf.
Maybe I just want to break through the veneer of boredom worn by everyone as we ignore each other and study, as if our lives depended on it, the digits as they light up.
Or perhaps I subconsciously wish to provide them with a valid reason for the way they bolt out of the elevator like Olympic sprinters off the starting blocks. So eager are they to escape the Box of Bored Bullshit you can see their chests expand as they heave a sigh of relief to be free of its four walls.
Tonight, though, I was the opposite of that-I couldn t wait for the ping that would inform me the lift had arrived at my floor, and not because I wanted to shock someone or pull my skunk act. I pressed the down button again, tapping my foot. It was seven o clock on Friday night and I d had the crappiest of weeks. So crappy that mere normal, run-of-the-mill crap seemed like something to aspire to.
At last my prayers were answered. My long awaited ping, accompanied by the sliding apart of steel doors, arrived.
Unfortunately, I wouldn t be alone.
I d seen the guy before. In my head, I called him DiNozzo because he looked like what I imagined a young, geeky, glasses-wearing DiNozzo from NCIS would look like. Unlike DiNozzo, though, this guy was shy and cute and totally oblivious to how sexy he was. If it weren t for the fact he looked like he should still be in high school I d have asked him out.
He smiled bashfully at me. I returned his smile, silently apologizing in advance and praying he was deaf, dumb, and hopefully totally lacking in the ability to smell, because my resistance was mighty low.
Floor? he asked.
Ground. Definitely ground, and if you can make it go faster I d appreciate it.
DiNozzo chuckled. That bad, huh?
Worse. Bad to the power of ten.
Before he could reply, the lift came to a stop on the sixteenth floor and I groaned at the delay to my escape. DiNozzo chuckled again. The doors parted, revealing the dark-haired hunk I knew worked for the big accounting firm that took up the whole of the sixteenth floor. I couldn t imagine anyone less accounterly looking-the guy would have been right at home on the cover of some high-end fashion mag. And not just for his face. He was the whole deal-tall, broad shoulders, narrow hips, and, if the cut of his suit didn t lie, flat abs and a tight ass.
He was also a pussy hound.
In the two years I d worked in the building, I d lost count of the number of women I d seen him with. Pity. I wouldn t have minded seeing if his cock matched the rest of him.
Ground floor? asked DiNozzo.
You betcha, and if there s an express button hit that one too.
It was my turn to laugh-sounded like someone else had had a shitty week. They both looked at me. I grinned. TGIF.
Thank God It s Friday, we all chimed in together, sharing a chuckle as the doors shut and we began our descent. Began being the operative word because we didn t get far. A couple of floors down we came to a clunking, grinding halt. Problem was it wasn t because someone else would be joining us. We weren t even on an exact floor. Rather, we were stuck halfway between the thirteenth and fourteenth floors, if the panel could be believed.
Each of us muttered a few choice words that, had our mothers been present, they d probably have washed our mouths out with soap. Truthfully, had I been alone, my language would have been a hell of a lot more colorful. Would this week from hell never end?
Almost immediately DiNozzo got antsy, madly jabbing at the keypad. The lift jerked as if to go upward, then dropped, leaving my stomach in my throat. He managed to punch in about another three or four floor numbers before I grabbed his hand and yanked him away from the control panel. As I stepped backward, with DiNozzo in my arms, the lift lurched a second time, once again dropping what felt like a whole floor. Already off balance, I lost my footing entirely with the sudden plummeting and fell on my ass, bringing DiNozzo with me. His back landed heavily against my chest, knocking the wind out of me, and as my head made contact with the metal wall, I cursed at the jolt of pain that radiated out from the point of contact.
Stop! For fuck s sake, stop!
DiNozzo made to scramble to his feet, but I held him fast, glancing up at tall, dark, and handsome to check he wasn t also freaking out. I sincerely hoped he wasn t a bit on the claustrophobic side as well-if I was going to be stuck in a confined space for God only knew how long until someone rescued us, it was going to be a tough enough gig doing it with one panic-stricken phobic guy, let alone two.
Mr. Hunky Accountant was the exact opposite of freaked out-he was so amused he laughed. You two look so cosy, cuddling up like that. You want to get a room? Oh, wait. You re already in a room. Maybe if you two are going to get, ah, this friendly, we should all introduce ourselves first. I m Aiden.
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline. Cuddling? Friendly? I could only assume he was trying to diffuse the situation with humor.
Danny, DiNozzo squeaked.
I could only stare at his back. Danny? Really? Danny. DiNozzo. Shit, I ll never get the name out of my head now.
Danny squirmed against my torso in an effort to free himself. I hung on, telling myself he wasn t calm enough yet, but I have to say it felt good to have his firm ass rub over my groin. If I had to be stuck in a lift for an indeterminate length of time, I could think of worse ways to pass it. Pity we had tall, dark, and handsome, or Aiden as I now knew him to be, keeping us company. And, of course, he had to have a name like Aiden. He couldn t be a Frank or a Winston or a Cyril. No, it had to be as sexy as the man himself. It was the kind of name you could imagine being splashed across a billboard or magazine cover.
Danny turned his head, trying to look at me, and a glance at Aiden informed me he was also waiting for an answer.
Brad.
Well, hi, Brad and Danny. Aiden held out his hand to Danny and I finally relinquished my hold on the guy, which was probably just as well because another sixty seconds of his squirming and I d have undoubtedly been sporting a semi.
Once Danny was on his feet, Aiden held out his hand to me. I noticed he put himself between Danny and the control panel, and seeing the way Danny looked at it longingly, it was clearly a wise decision.
We all started firing questions at once-Danny, two to every one of Aiden s and mine.
So what do we do now?
In the mad button push did you happen to hit the emergency one?
How long do you think it will take till we re rescued?
Do you think we re safe?
Will we run out of air?
Y