Page 83 of Saving Sparrow (Slow Burns & Tragic Beginnings #2)

Then

We were going to have a huge ceremony, but spontaneously decided to keep it intimate with just the three of us. We’d be our own officiants, especially since the ceremony wouldn’t be legally binding. It would only be honored by us and the few people who truly cared for us.

Quentin paced near the staircase landing. “What’s taking him so long?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of making a grand entrance, star QB?” I lit the final candle, forming an aisle into our living room.

“It’ll be dark by the time he gets down here,” Quentin complained. We were having a sunset ceremony at our home overlooking the ocean.

I grinned, fixing his tie. “Why are you so nervous? This is the easy part.” We’d gone through a good deal over the years.

Like Quentin sustaining an injury that nearly threatened his NFL career, and learning about the mental health struggles that had kept his mother away for most of his life, among other things.

“If it were up to me, we would’ve done this a long time ago,” he muttered.

“Well, what took you so long to ask?”

“ Growth, ” he said wryly. “Someone convinced me we needed it.” He sighed. “What if I haven’t grown enough? What if I’m not a good husband?”

“They don’t make ’em any better than you, Quentin. Instead of choosing to enter the draft, you finished out your senior year so we could all stay together. We’re here now when we should be on a flight to Charlotte for your sports profile, er, photo… thingy.”

“Do you even know what I do for a living?” he deadpanned.

I laughed. “Yes, I do. The point is, we’re standing here waiting for our groom to come down because you couldn’t wait another second longer to marry us and wanted to do it in our home.”

“And now we’re catching the red-eye,” he groaned.

“Which will leave you cranky because you hate traveling so late. We’re important to you. More important than football.” I shook my head. “How insane is that?”

“It’s not insane at all. It’s grown-man shit.” He puffed his chest out.

“ Exactly. You have to grow to be grown, Q.”

“Thanks, Guelly.” He leaned in to kiss me, but Elliott’s voice at the top of the landing stopped him.

“Oh no, you don’t… No kissing before the vows.” Elliott wore a body-hugging white dress, the matching gloves reaching his elbows.

“Fuck me, pretty girl. Can we skip to the part where I help you out of that dress?”

Elliott chuckled, gathering up the train and descending.

“You look beautiful, Ellie.”

He blushed, looping his arms through ours. We walked him down our makeshift aisle of flower petals and candles, with classical music playing in the background. We formed a tight circle in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, joining hands. Tears welled in Elliott’s eyes.

“I can’t believe I get to marry you two,” he said. “Dammit, my makeup.” He blinked them away as Quentin and I kissed him on the cheek.

I took a deep breath, getting things started. “You were my everything from the day we met,” I said to Quentin. “Brother, friend, and eventually lover. I always felt safe with you, even when life got tough. You were possessive, jealous, territorial—”

“All the things you loved.” Quentin winked.

“All the things you still are,” Elliott added.

Quentin shrugged. “I don’t like to share my things.”

“You’ve gotten better,” I said. “You’ve grown.”

Quentin nodded, his smile shaky. “I try. For both of you, I try.”

“You do more than try, you succeed.” I looked into Elliott’s eyes next.

“You were shy, timid, and in need of love and affection. You made us feel important, needed… And you played football with Quentin, taking the heat off me.” We all laughed, Elliott no longer caring about his makeup as his first tear fell.

“You’re the sweetest, most gentle person I know, Ellie.

I promise to always be loyal, reliable, and present for both of you through good times and bad.

I don’t need a legal document to know we belong to each other.

” I shook my head. “The vows we’re making now will bind our hearts and will be long-lasting.

We’re in charge of making them real—of keeping them real, because we’ve already been living by them.

I promise to love you both forever, to fight for our love every day, and to never give up on it. Never. ”

“Fuck.” Quentin sniffed. “How the heck are we supposed to compete with the English graduate?”

I shrugged, grinning. “Go with your gut.”

Elliott went next, dabbing at the corners of his eyes.

“You two scared me when we first met. You were so close… I didn’t understand it, couldn’t recognize what it was because I’d never known love.

” His voice broke. “Your love was gentle,” he said to me, then glanced at the ocean.

“Soft waves of reassurance and understanding. You were easy to gravitate toward.” He gave Quentin a wry grin.

“You were a storm. A heavy wind blasting against me until I let you in. You love just as aggressively as you protect. I feel safe with you, Q. Nothing can hurt me as long as I have you.”

“Damn straight, pretty girl.”

“We’ll never catch our flight if we can’t stop laughing and crying.” I wiped away Quentin’s tears, then mine.

“We’ve got plenty of time,” Elliott said.

“This isn’t real until we consummate it.” Quentin wiggled his brows. “That’s gonna take some time.”

Elliott flushed but pushed on. “I promise to choose you both, every day, in the quiet and in the chaos. To be your home, your partner, your safe place. I promise to continue loving you, not just when it’s easy,” he finished. We looked at Quentin.

“You two were always much better at this,” he whispered. We’d agreed not to write our vows, to speak from the heart. “Fuck, this is hard.”

“That’s because you’re trying to make it pretty,” I said. “Give us the Q special. The unfiltered version.”

Quentin smiled, squeezing our hands. “You asked for it.”

“We’ve been warned,” Elliott said.

Quentin cleared his throat, starting with Elliott.

“I felt threatened by you when we first met because I knew Guelly was more your type. I mean, not in that way, but just as a person, you know? You were so… delicate. You spoke in almost a whisper—when you spoke at all. I’d always been rough around the edges.

A battering ram. I could tell it scared you.

But more than feeling jealous, I wanted to protect you.

I’m nothing if I can’t protect both of you.

” His voice went hoarse. “ Nothing. I’m literally no one if I can’t keep you two safe. ”

“You’re everything ,” I told him.

Quentin gave me a placating nod. “That first day when you fell asleep in our room, and we ended up sleeping beside you… I felt something new in my heart. I felt you.”

Elliott’s eyes filled with tears again. “And you say you’re not good at this.”

Quentin chuckled. “And then you played football with me.”

“You made me fall in love with the game.” Elliott was still his number one fan.

“And you…” Quentin addressed me now. “I loved you hard. I still love you hard. You were my sun, moon, and stars from the beginning.” He’d made a habit of calling me all three over the years.

“You accepted me for who I was, never tried to change or tame me—much. You saved me from myself all the time, talked me down from my childish tantrums, and helped me grow into a man.” He kissed the backs of our hands.

“I promise to protect you both, to lay down my life for yours, to keep loving you more than I fucking love myself. If my dick isn’t in one—or both—of you, it’ll be in my pants.

Unless I’m showering or changing or, well, you get what I mean.

I’ll never cheat. I’ll never let anyone or anything come between us. Not even football.”

We turned to the small table I’d set up for our ceremonial rituals. We each lit a single candle, using them to light the unity candle together. “This symbolizes our continued union,” I said.

Next, we each poured sand into a single container, representing the continued blending of our lives. Last, we exchanged rings.

“This bond will never be broken,” I whispered, removing Elliott’s glove to slip his ring onto his finger.

He picked up Quentin’s ring, reaching for his hand. “Nothing or no one will break us apart.”

“And if they try, I’ll fucking break them ,” Quentin vowed, securing the final ring onto my finger.

“It’s just us here,” I said to them both. “Forever.”

Quentin scooped Elliott into his arms, pulling a surprised yelp from him. “Let’s go, Guelly.” He headed for the stairs.

“Wait!” Elliott laughed. “We have to take photos.”

“Shit, I forgot. My mom will kill me.” Quentin set him down while I adjusted the camera on the tripod and set the timer. We took a ton of group photos and some individual ones, too.

“Okay, that’s it.” Quentin hefted Elliott over his shoulder.

“Wait! We have to open the gifts.” He reached toward the wrapped items on the foyer table.

“We’ll take them with us to the airport.” I raced up the stairs behind them.

We were exhilarated and out of breath by the time Quentin set Elliott on his feet inside our bedroom. Quentin and I crowded him, ready to tear through the fabric of the dress.

“Wait,” he said. Quentin and I groaned. “We forgot to kiss. The ceremony isn’t complete without the first kiss.”

“Now that I can get on board with,” Quentin said.

We were fumbling tongues and hands, taking turns kissing each other while stripping out of our clothes. I was down to my trousers by the time Elliott’s dress slipped from his shoulders to pool at his feet.

“Fuck me,” I breathed, taking a page from Quentin’s book. Elliott backed away as we gaped at the lacy bra and garter belt he wore, the clips holding up his stockings. He’d decided to ditch the panties.

He climbed onto the bed, getting onto his hands and knees, revealing the butt plug nestled in his hole. Quentin grabbed my arm for support.

“I want both of you,” Elliott looked over his shoulder, “at the same time.”

We’d done this before, but it usually took lots of preparation. I wasn’t expecting this treat tonight. Quentin and I removed the last of our clothing, stroking our hard cocks as we approached the bed. I removed the plug, lube leaking onto Elliott’s inner thighs.

“You used the big one.” Quentin’s voice sounded strained.

“I knew we’d be short on time. I wanted to be sure I was ready.”

Quentin slipped three fingers inside Elliott’s slick hole with ease. “Oh, you’re ready, pretty girl.”

Elliott whimpered, backing onto them. Quentin inserted a fourth while I got the lube.

“You want it slow?” I asked, getting my dick nice and wet.

“At first, then I… Unngh.” Elliott’s words cut off as Quentin finger-fucked him.

“Then what?” I passed Quentin the lube.

“T-then… I w-want you to fuck me like you’re desperate for me.”

“That we are, pretty girl… That we are… Let me see you ride Guelly’s cock for a little bit first.”

I sat at the foot of the bed, reclining while Elliott straddled me. I held my dick at the base so he could lower onto it, his gasp of pleasure filling the silence.

I gripped his waist, thrusting up with every slow roll of his hips. Quentin watched, standing between my spread legs.

“Ready for me?”

“Yes,” both Elliott and I hissed. Quentin folded himself over Elliott’s back, planting a fist in the mattress beside me. Elliott’s jaw went slack as Quentin slowly worked himself in.

My eyes rolled back at the feel of his cock sliding against mine, the space inside Elliott growing hotter and tighter.

“You okay?” I bit out, feeling close to orgasm already.

“Y-yes,” Elliott panted, and we all moaned when Quentin started to move.

A while later, we all came with cries filled with passion and love. Elliott’s cum painted my chest, while my and Quentin’s cum filled his hole. Things didn’t end there. We made love for hours, until the very last second, our hands, mouths, and cocks never leaving each other.

We’d spent too much time in bed and had less than two hours to make our flight. We raced out of the house and into Quentin’s truck, laughing as we sped down the street. About fifteen minutes into the drive, Elliott remembered our wedding gifts on the foyer table.

“We have to go back for them,” he said. “We can make up the time, traffic’s light.”

Quentin couldn’t deny him, so we circled back to our home—and discovered two armed men inside.