The file opens, and I realize I’m looking at a set of blueprints.
But it’s not like for a house, like we’d originally planned.
Blinking, I turn to look at them, “It looks like an old apartment building?”
Cole nods. “We were thinking about it. You like being in the city. Like seeing Julian. The commute from outside, like the community where Nico lives, it’s long. And even with an expedited build, it would take some time to finish that house.”
“Plus, this way,” Nico adds, “your family can come to visit and have their own places, like a hotel.”
“Julian could move in, have free rent. If you wanted,” Dane says.
I blink at the screen again, slowly realizing what they’re saying, turning to them. “So, instead of a house, we’d renovate this old apartment building? And use the other apartments for my family? Our friends?”
Nico nods, then points to the very top of the building, where there’s a pyramid of glass. “And your art studio, right up here.”
I stare at the little triangle, no more than a few renderings on the computer, and a happy sob lodges itself so firmly in my throat I have no choice but to let it out.
“She’s crying,” Cole says, in a tone a lot likeshe’s crashing! Code blue!
“Hey, it’s okay, we don’t have to—” Dane says, standing, putting his hands up.
“You guys are idiots,” Nico laughs, pulling me into his arms. I fold into him, and a second later, the other two-fold into the hug, too. It’s something we’ve been doing lately.
In the cocoon of us, Nico says, “Those are happy tears, aren’t they, sugar?”
I can’t talk, so I nod instead, and all three of them squeeze in tighter around me.
It’s not what I initially thought, not a house, but something better. Not conventional, not the obvious next choice.
But that makes it a lot like me and them, a lot like how my life has turned out with them.
Which means, of course, that I love it.
Chapter 49
Cole
I’ve never been the kind of man who enjoys physical touch.
Growing up, when family members expected hugs and kisses on the cheek, I shrank away from the expectation. The few relationships I’ve had over the years have shriveled when the women felt I didn’treallywant them that much. I never automatically reached for them, the small touches, hair brushing and hand holding they expected.
If Claire was here, she would be surprised to see me like this, engulfed in a hug with Lucy at the center. Consumed by breath and bodies. And, somehow, comfortable with it.
Or maybe she wouldn’t be surprised at all. Maybe my sister would have met Lucy for the first time and known in a way I didn’t. Not at first, not until she sat with me while I fixed the elevator, and I was able to talk to her so easily.
Lucy laughs at the center of our embrace, and it breaks us apart. We unravel and watch her as she shakes her head and wipes the happy tears away, shoulders rocking with the laughter.
“What?” Nico prompts, frowning aggressively. “What’s so funny?”
“I was just thinking—” she stops, shakes her head, looks up, gaze darting between the three of us like she always does. “That first day, after Dane interviewed me…”
Her gaze drifts to him, and I see them remembering together, a memory that’s only for them. And I don’t resent it—that’s part of this thing. That we get to have her together, and also apart from one another. Lucy and I have our own memories together, too.
“What about it?” Dane asks, and though he has his arms crossed, his mouth in a straight line, I can hear the curiosity in his voice. See the levity that nobody else would.
“I was walking out through the lobby.” Lucy backs up, plants her hands on the desk, hops up onto it. A thrill runs through me when she crosses her legs, and I don’t even have to glance at the other guys to know they like this, too. The mid-day sunshine streams through the windows, washing her golden, making her eyes sparkle and her hair glint.
“You were walking out through the lobby,” Nico prompts, when Lucy falls silent again, apparently caught up in her memory.
