Page 58
Story: Phoenix Rising
I nodded, agreeing to have the same and B fetched three glasses with ice and water, taking them out to the living room before we each grabbed our plates, mixed the amount of dressing we wanted before I sliced the warm bread.
We settled on the couch, and before long, were watching an obscure game playthrough about a diver who fishes during the day and helps run a sushi place at night. Immersed in the storyline, we smiled when Sunshine gushed as he spotted a cat in the game. Both Stella and Ruby glanced up from their spots on the bed and looked put out.
“You girls know I love you the most. I can coo at an animated kitty if I want to.”
His answer brought a smile to my face as B laughed.
The contentment I felt after we finished dinner and settled on the couch took me a little by surprise. While I wasn’t able to remember a time without B in my life, since we were so young when our lives intertwined with friendship, I enjoyed thinking back to the start of our genuine relationship with Phoenix.
The temperature dropped, and I grabbed a throw to drape over all of us.
“I like this,” Sunshine said.
B lifted his head from the younger man’s neck and asked, “What? Sitting on the couch after gorging ourselves on Luka’s delicious salad… wait, I said that aloud, and it sounds so dirty. Okay, I made myself shiver, but I’m sticking with it. Is that what you mean, Petal?”
He nodded as he giggled at B’s outrageous words.
“That, and how sometimes fate works when you least expect it. Or maybe it’s not fate, but enormous luck. The probability all three of us were going to meet, and fall for each other, is astronomical.
“I guess there is one thing in my life I can thank Hale for. When he demanded you have your meeting at the bakery, you spotted me and waited until I was ready. Although it wasn’t his intention. But him inviting you to the bakery for that meeting is the greatest gift he could have given me. All of us, to be honest.”
B found that sentiment hilarious because he cackled as he held his stomach, shaking his head at the irony.
“I’d forgotten Hale was the one who suggested your bakery. But in all honesty, while I’m grateful that he pointed us in your direction, I’m proud of us for recognizing the fact there was an overwhelming attraction we shared instead of continuing to ignore it for three more months,” B said as he wiped the moisture from his eyes.
I shook my head. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. We can sit and talk, or have the hottest sex I’ve ever experienced in my life, and there’s still this palpable connection I have to both of you. And since we’ve integrated our lives together with ease, I also want to experience the world with both of you. We’re all older and established, so we don’t have to work ourselves intoa coma because we’ve put in so much to get to where we are in life.”
Sunshine perked up and beamed at me. “Travel with both of you? That would be a dream come true. Poppy fields in the Netherlands or South Korea in the winter; anywhere sounds perfect.”
“B and I have scheduled all our projects for the next few years at least, and we could promote Drew and train him on how to run the business, so when the time comes, he’d be the go-to person. He already understands the business inside and out. And you, Sunshine, now have Charlotte and Matthew, and Arthur is the perfect manager. Just don’t tell him I said that.”
Both Sunshine and I glanced at B, and he smiled. “New Zealand would be my dream vacation. I’ve heard how gorgeous the country is, but you have to see it to believe it. Also, I would love it if we rented a lakeside house in Finland, alone in the middle of the forest.”
Sunshine sat up in stunned wonder. “We’re… making plans for our future.”
B and I exchanged a confused look before he said, “Yes. When you find yourself in a committed relationship?—”
Tears formed and tumbled down our man’s cheeks and we both leapt into action, cuddling him in between us.
“Whatever it is, Sunshine, we can fix it.” I promised as I rubbed my hand up and down his back as he leaned his forehead against my chest and sobbed.
B begged while running his fingers through the soft blond hair, “Oh, no, Petal, don’t cry. It breaks my heart. I need to fix this. Tell me what to do so I can fix it. Please?”
“No…” Sunshine gasped out. “These aren’t sad tears, I swear. I spent so long. So, so long, being alone and thinking I would always be. But you two, who I love with a fierceness I can’t explain, are thinking about what will come next, and it felt asthough I stepped off a cliff. It’s an exhilarating feeling knowing we have a future full of adventures and promises.”
“Happy tears still suck,” B pouted.
As I glanced back and forth between the two men who held my heart, I vowed to protect our love with the fierceness it deserved and bask in the contentment of being loved by these two men.
CHAPTER 19
BURTON
As I woke,I let out a contented sigh when a flutter of lips moved along my shoulders and up to nibble on my ear.
“Oh, I think he’s awake,” Luka grumbled.
Happy to have both of them in bed with me instead of their normal ritual of leaving me behind to inhale their coffee at the break of dawn, I encouraged whoever was exploring me with a grateful moan as I worked to get my eyelids to cooperate and open.
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