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Three's company

I'll do anything to keep my fella...


Published by: Paul Carter and Jean Jollands
Published on: 13 September 2012

Just what did my bloke have up his sleeve this time? ‘Go on, you can look now!' Jez said excitedly, as I opened my eyes.
A brand new outfit was laid out on my bed perfectly. It was my 19th birthday and he'd popped round to my parents' first thing, showering me with loads of prezzies.
‘They're perfect!' I giggled, holding up the silky, white blouse and long black skirt.
When I'd first spotted him at a club five months before, it was lust at first sight! ‘Check out that bod!' I said to my mate Sammy, 19. I was naturally shy and she had to give me a real push before I plucked up the courage to say hello to him.
Bubbly and confident, Jez made me feel at ease and soon we were chatting away about both being at college.
‘Let me take you out some time?' he grinned. ‘We can't have you studying too hard!' We soon became an item.
Jez, 20, was my first proper boyfriend and he really brought me out of myself, urging me to go clubbing with him and his mates. And just a month after he spoilt me rotten on my birthday, we moved in together.
We picked out a new bed and painted the walls together.
‘You're good for me,' he grinned, bouncing on our new bed. ‘I've never been so happy.'
In the month leading up to our first anniversary, I wondered what romantic surprise Jez had planned. But he seemed distant.
‘Hey you, fancy watching a DVD?' I said one night, snuggling up next to him on the sofa.
‘Er, no,' he mumbled, jumping up. ‘I'm going upstairs to read.'
Jez no longer invited me out when he went clubbing and our sex life stuttered to a halt. I even splashed out on saucy undies, but it was no good. ‘Night, hun,' he said one evening, flicking off his bedside light while I lay there like a lemon in a lacy black negligee and thong.
A month later, I was pottering around the kitchen when I noticed Jez had tears in his eyes. ‘We need to talk...' he hushed, taking a deep breath. My heart stopped. ‘For the last three months, I've been seeing someone else...' he started.
‘No!' I gasped. I remembered when we'd been dating just a few months, I confided to Jez I'd seen so many friends cheated on.
‘Don't be scared,' he'd insisted. ‘I'll never cheat on you.'
Now he'd broken his promise... and my heart.
‘Who is she?' I sobbed, shuddering at the thought of my Jez with some slapper.
‘Erm, it's not a she...' he stammered. For a minute,
I thought I'd misheard him and kept waiting for him to
correct himself. But he didn't.
‘It's a lad called Tommy,' he went on, as my heart broke.
‘You're gay?' I spat. ‘What was I, some sort of cover story?'
‘No!' he cried, taking my hand. ‘I'm bisexual.' I slumped in shock. ‘I've dated men and women but when you came along, I didn't want anyone else.'
Lip trembling, I listened as he babbled about meeting this Tommy three months before and falling for him. ‘I don't want to lose you, but I can't let Tommy go...' he trailed off.
‘So all this time you were sleeping with me, you were sleeping with him, too?' I raged.
‘No...' Jez insisted. ‘I didn't start sleeping with him until I stopped sleeping with you.'
I almost laughed. No wonder my naughty knickers had gone down like a wet weekend in Blackpool... he was batting for the other side!
‘Get out,' I spat. ‘I never want to see you again!'
Jez looked distraught as he walked away. As the door shut behind him, I crumpled into tears.
Humiliated, I didn't tell anyone. But everything reminded me of him - the matching red candles he'd bought us, the wallpaper we'd chosen together.
‘With him I felt complete,' I confided to my mum Angela, 43. ‘But he slept with a man!' she gasped. I knew she was right, but my heart and head were doing constant battle with each other.
In the end, I changed my mobile number. It was best
to remove all temptation.
Then, 11 months later, there was a knock at the door. I opened it and let out a little cry.
‘Jez!' I exclaimed. But then I noticed a bloke standing behind him. ‘This is Tommy...' Jez said sheepishly.
My cheeks flushed. ‘Come to rub my face in it have you?' I fumed, outraged,
as I gawped at the dark-haired bloke with tanned skin.
‘No, can we please talk?' he begged.
My head was screaming at me to say no, but my heart bulldozed all common sense out the way.
Next thing I knew, we were all sitting around my kitchen table.
‘I still love you,' Jez admitted.
‘He's been so depressed since you guys split,' Tommy piped up. ‘He wants you back.'
But there was more...
‘For Jez to be happy and our relationship to work, you need to be in his life,' Tommy insisted.
‘This is a joke, right?' I frowned. They shook their heads.
‘But I only want Jez!' I blurted.
‘You can have me,' he interrupted. ‘As long as I can
still see Tommy.' Were they mad?
‘You want me to share you with your man?' I spluttered. I wanted to tell them to stick their sick proposal, but life without Jez was rubbish. He was the love of my life.
‘We need to set up some ground rules,' I began. Jez's face lit up and in that moment, any doubts were pushed aside.
In those next few hours, we sat together thrashing out the details.
‘I want to see him Monday to Thursday,' I demanded. ‘On those days, I don't want you with us.'
‘The same goes on my days,' Tommy nodded in agreement.
The next day, Jez came to the flat. ‘I've missed you,' he said, nuzzling my neck.
Yes, it was worth knowing he wasn't completely mine to have him for those precious days.
Ten months on, our three-way love pact is still going strong. When it's handover time and Jez goes back to Tommy, I do feel jealous but at least I know he'll be back in a few days.
We all practice safe sex and tests have proven we're all clear.
Mum was bewildered when I told her about our arrangement - so were all of my mates.
Sure, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but for us, three's definitely the magic number!

Jez Garrett, 22, says: ‘I hope people believe me when I say I love them both equally.'

Tommy William, 21, says: ‘I'm happy because I didn't like the fact I was the cause of them splitting up in the first place.'


Jodie Craddick, 20, Bristol