“Do you remember when I asked you for dating advice?” Gunner said. “You told me I had to figure out something that would be special for me and for Malcolm.”
“I remember.”
“We talked about it all week,” Malcolm said, getting more excited as we walked further down the trail. “We threw around a million ideas—"
I stopped in my tracks, and they came to a halt with me. “You’re taking me on a date?”
“What?” Gunner asked. “You think we’re good enough for a fuck, but you can’t go on a date with us?”
I chuckled. From the looks in their eyes, there was no use in arguing. “Okay, okay,” I said. “Go on.”
“Our first kiss was in a park,” Gunner continued. “Not this one, but a small one across town.”
“There’s a sentimental connection,” Malcolm added.
“Better than that, though, we kept trying to figure out—what’s something that would make you happy? Something that would be actually special for you?”
As we turned a corner in the trail, I stopped in my tracks. Spread out before me was a large, open expanse of green. Behind it, I could see the Puget Sound and its crystal blue water. And filling that open space were giant hunks of metal in every color, twisted into abstract shapes, towering figures, and bright, three-dimensional frames.
“There’s an outdoor sculpture show in town!” Malcolm said brightly, squeezing my hand. “We get a list of all the cultural activities at the library, and when I saw it listed for this week, I knew it was right for you.”
I stood stock-still, staring over the shapes. Some children ran through the sculptures, tumbling on the lawn and laughing as they played beneath the figures. Couples walked around, holding hands and gazing up, and a few birds perched on a gigantic wooden horse.
“It’s amazing,” I said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Fuck yeah,” Gunner said quietly. “I knew it was a good idea.”
The guys released my hand and my arm and took a step back. We gazed over the sculptures together, but even with such great art in front of me, all I could think about was them.
They had found this for me. I had stormed away after discovering the cash Gunner stole, deciding my time with the two guys must come to an end. But they hadn’t given up, and they hadn’t stopped seeing me the same way they had always seen me. They just tried to think of a way to make it better and to show me that they cared.
That was what a man of integrity would do. He wouldn’t give up once he knew what he wanted and what was right.
I placed a hand on Malcolm’s cheek and the other on Gunner’s. I studied their faces for a moment. Neither of them looked away, and neither of them blinked.
I leaned down, and in a moment, our mouths met in a warm, slow kiss. Gunner nibbled on Malcolm’s lip while I ran my thumb across his cheek. All three of our tongues met, swirling and caressing in the space between our lips. I tasted Malcolm, and I tasted Gunner, and I felt the heat of three men, together.
“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
Gunner grabbed my elbow, pulling me forward. “The metal sculptures are in the back. I came to check it out yesterday. There’s a big fucking hunk of steel I think you’ll love.”
I laughed, throwing my arm over Malcolm’s shoulder as we headed forward. “You should tell Lilith about this, too,” I said. “She’d eat it right up.”
“He did,” Malcolm said. “I think Gunner might be obsessed with Lilith, actually.”
“Duh,” Gunner said, “she’s one of the biggest badasses I’ve ever met. Who wouldn’t be obsessed with her?”
“The job is going well, then?” I asked. “You’re settling in and keeping your nose clean?”
“It’s good,” Gunner answered. “I’m not so sure I want to tend bar for the rest of my life anymore, but I’ll be glad to have the work until I figure out something different for myself.”
We stopped under a spiral of metal, shooting straight into the sky from a thick wooden base. Malcolm turned to me, the metal reflecting in his glasses. “Does this mean you’re not mad at us about the money?”
I considered my words carefully, the wind whipping off the Puget Sound and blowing across the park. “I’m not mad,” I said. “I was pretty furious with myself for a while, but I don’t hold anything against you.”
“Why were you mad at yourself?” Gunner asked, perplexed.
I licked the back of my teeth, trying to think of a way to explain. “At my age, I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons and made a lot of mistakes. If I’m going to spend time with you, that means I’m responsible to pass some of those lessons on and save you from making some of those mistakes. I brought you on that job because I was excited—about you, about sticking it to my uncle, and about running another job. But the second I let my own excitement come before your safety, I was in the wrong.”
