We clinked glasses and drank. The rum burned pleasantly on the way down, and the sweet mixer cut the harsh alcohol.
For a while, we just sat there, listening to the crackle of the fire and the waves hitting the shore. The sky deepened into velvet, and the stars were bright enough to make me wish I could bottle the view and send it to my future self. Proof that this entire trip and the time I shared with the guys had been real.
“This feels like that night on the Cape.” My voice was soft. “Before the Fourth of July party.”
Dylan smirked. “That was quite the holiday weekend.”
I turned my drink between my hands, watching the ice clink against the glass. “I didn’t plan for any of this with you two.”
“Is that good or bad?” Jase rested his hand on my thigh.
I took a deep breath. “It’s … terrifying, but being with you guys is also the only time I feel like I’m not playing a part and can just be me.”
Dylan slid his hand over mine, threading our fingers together, and suddenly, I was held together by their grips.
“You don’t have to perform with us,” Dylan said. “Not now. Not ever.”
“Even when things aren’t easy?” I asked, knowing that if we kept trying to see each other, the miles between us would only make it harder.
“Especially then,” Jase replied. “We’ll just make sure to feed you tacos until your mood improves.”
A laugh burst out of me. “That’s your emotional support plan? Tacos?”
“And orgasms,” Dylan added. “Don’t forget those.”
“It’s a vital part of the treatment plan,” Jase agreed.
I shook my head, blinking back the sting in my eyes. “You’re goofballs.”
“Yourgoofballs.” Dylan leaned in and kissed my cheek.
My heart fluttered. I stared into the fire, watching the orange and blue flames dance. “I don’t know what will happen after this week.” The words came out in a rush. “You two will be bouncingbetween Oregon and California, and I’ll go back to dividing my time between Boston and D.C. There’s press. Politics. Schedules. All the reasons this shouldn’t work.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Jase stated immediately.
People always wanted something from me, whether it was access, influence, or a boost to their careers. These two just wanted me, and I was desperately trying to hold on to it as long as I could.
A lump formed in my throat. “I hope we can.”
Dylan set his glass down and turned toward me, cupping my jaw in his hand. “I know we can.”
Then he kissed me.
Not the hungry, frantic kind of kiss we fell into when we were stripping each other’s clothes off, but something on a deeper emotional level.
I leaned into him, letting myself fall and feeling the prickle of his trimmed beard on my skin.
After a moment, Jase’s fingers brushed my chin, coaxing me to turn. His kiss followed, soft yet passionate. My head spun, and my heart thundered against my ribs.
When he finally pulled back, our foreheads rested together, and all three of us breathed the same salt-tinged air.
“I don’t know what this is going to look like,” I admitted, my voice shaky. “But I want it. I want both of you.”
“Good,” Dylan said. “Because you’re stuck with us now.”
“Forever.” At first, I thought Jase was teasing, but the look in his eyes told me otherwise.
The waves rolled in, the fire crackled, and I thought about how the scene looked. Just three people around a fire pit, under a sky full of stars, choosing each other even if it didn’t make sense to anyone else.
