A sense of something much bigger than myself overcame me as I stared at the sky. All the fantasies and stories I had invested in over the years were tingling at the edges of my memory, reminding me that the universe was filled with mysteries.
“Amazing,” I said.
And it was. Not just the location, although that was pretty cool. But it was amazing to me that these two guys had thought to bring me here. That they had cared enough not just to drive down to Portland, but to figure out something that would be special to me, the same way I loved to visit Rip at his tattoo shop or join them at the bar for a game of pool.
There were so many worlds out there, and with Rip and Mars, I felt like I was finally beginning to explore.
“There’s something else,” Rip said, reaching out and taking Mars’s hand, then pulling him into our embrace. Mars did that funny thing where he bumped his hip against Rip, then against me. “Something we’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?” I asked, barely managing to get the words out.
“You want to be our boyfriend, Clarkle?” Mars asked.
My heart jumped. “Your boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” Rip said, pulling me closer. “Our boyfriend.”
Just about anything could have happened then. Those UFOs could have returned to fill the sky or the Starship Enterprise could have appeared and tried to beam me up. But all I would have done was to hold onto Mars and Rip, clinging to their bodies, desperate to stay right where we were.
“Yeah,” I said. “I want to be your boyfriend.”
“Out of this world,” Mars answered.
I pressed my lips against Mars’s, then against Rip’s, and slowly, the three of us met in the middle, our tongues and lips swirling and dancing, hands everywhere at once.
“I love you,” I said, the words tumbling across my lips. “I love you both.” I hadn’t meant to say it, but suddenly, the words were in the air.
“I love you too, Clark,” Rip answered.
“Yeah, Clark,” Mars added. “I love you.”
Tears burned in the corner of my eyes, the words almost knocking me flat. “Good,” I said, tightening our embrace. “Good.”
We stayed like that, kissing beside the barn, until the chill in the air got to be too much. And then, we returned home.
Together.
