He frowned. "What?"
"You can't promise that,” she said.
"I can promise I'll fight for you to be able to make your own decisions,” he insisted.
She searched his face and then slowly nodded. "I believe you." The words settled somewhere deep inside him. She believed him—not because he'd asked her to, but because maybe he'd earned it. “So, if I decide that I want both you and Dante, you’d help me fight for that to happen?” she asked.
Before he had a chance to answer, the front door creaked open again. Dante stepped outside carrying three mugs of hot chocolate. "I figured neither of you was sleeping."
Lark smiled. "You know me too well."
"I've had three years to practice." He handed them each a mug before sitting on the porch step below them. No one spoke.
Lark looked between the two men. "I think that we need to finish our conversation,” she said. Rocco glanced at Dante, and he could almost read the man’s mind with just one look. "You said you weren't going to make me choose."
"We meant it," Dante answered immediately.
Rocco nodded. "I'll never ask that of you."
She lowered her eyes to the steaming mug in her hands. "I've never been in love before, so I don't know what it's supposed to feel like." She looked first at Dante. "When I'm with you, I feel safe." Then she turned toward Rocco. "And when I'm with you, I feel free." Rocco's heart forgot how to beat. "I don't know if that makes any sense."
"It does," Dante said quietly. "It makes perfect sense."
Tears gathered in her eyes. "I don't want to lose either of you." Neither man spoke, and she laughed nervously. "I know how crazy that sounds."
"It doesn't.” Rocco surprised himself with how quickly the words came.
She looked at him. "It doesn't?"
He shook his head. "I've been trying to convince myself that what I feel for you is something I'd get over."
"And?" she asked.
"I was lying to myself,” he admitted. The confession felt strangely freeing. "I care about you." He smiled sadly at her. "More than I should."
Lark's eyes shimmered. Dante looked down at his mug before quietly speaking. "I've loved you for years." She looked at himin surprise. "And now, I just wanted you to have the chance to live." Her hand found his, and then, after a hesitant moment, she reached for Rocco's with her other hand.
She looked down at their joined hands resting in her lap. "I don't want either of you to give up something because of me."
Rocco squeezed her fingers gently. "You're not something to divide."
Dante nodded. "Or something to win."
Lark looked between them. "So—” She took a deep breath and let it back out. "What happens now?" Rocco met Dante's eyes. Years of training had taught him how to read men. There wasn't competition there—only the same hope he felt himself. Dante gave the smallest nod, and Rocco understood.
He looked back at Lark. "Nothing happens unless you want it to."
She smiled through happy tears. "I want it too. I choose both of you.” His pulse quickened. The words hung in the cool mountain air. "I don't know what this relationship will look like." She laughed softly. "I don't know the rules."
Dante smiled. "Then we'll make our own."
"No secrets," Rocco said.
"No competition," Dante added.
Lark squeezed both their hands. "And no cages." A smile spread across all three of their faces. Rocco stood first, then offered her his hand, and she accepted it. Dante rose beside them, and for a moment they simply stood there, the three of them, hands linked beneath a sky full of stars.
Lark looked from one man to the other. "I've never had a family that felt like home before."
