Page 109 of Sharing Shadow Secrets
Kyle is so much more than a booty call.
“Maybe tennis, then dinner,” I suggest.
“I’d like that.” He kisses me again, slow and full.
I dig my fingers into his roots, keeping his face close to mine. When my cock starts to feel uncomfortable in my pants, I pull back, needing to calm down. “I’m pretty flexible next week …”
“I make my own schedule, so whenever works best for you.”
“Maybe I’ll take a half day on Friday,” I murmur, then kiss him again.
“I like that idea,” Kyle says between kisses until he rests his head on the brick wall. “As part of your debrief with Taylor,” he says, gently trailing his fingers up the sleeves of my jacket, “I’dlike for you to also decide when all three of us can go out again too.”
My heart and my brain both love that idea. “Deal.”
79
One month later
Saturday, December 6th
Sipping my candy cane mocktail at High Five, I can barely believe how much my life has changed since July. Brandon and Kyle are seated on either side of me at the tall boy table in the Christmas-themed pop up, all of us in ugly sweaters we thrifted near Kyle’s place. Brandon’s has little llamas in Santa hats, Kyle’s has Santa riding a unicorn, and mine saysSleigh All Dayin sparkly red letters.
We blend right into the loud decorations and louder crowd. Tinsel and lights hang from the ceiling, and I’m happy numerous media outlets have included High Five as one of the best places to get in the Christmas spirit this season. We weren’t planning on making the weekends ticketed events, but with the demand, we had to.
Right now, I’m not tasked with thinking about logistics or taking photos and videos for social media. My new employee, Heidi, is doing all of that. Tonight, I’m just here as a guest withmy boyfriends. Enjoying a weekend away from Chicago and a weekend together.
My boyfriends.
I take another sip of my drink, still wrapping my head around the fact that I have two boyfriends. We made it official two weeks ago after our first group date. They wanted to teach me to play pickleball. After endless innuendo about balls, I just went for it and asked them.
Brandon squeezes my hand. “You good?” he asks softly.
I nod, smiling so wide my cheeks hurt. “Yeah.” I glance at the gift bags tucked between us. “I want you two to open mine first.”
They exchange a playful, curious look. It’s one I’ve come to recognize as theirs, and seeing it always makes my chest ache in the best way.
I slide the plaid bags to them, and they dig into the tissue paper.
Inside are matching two-toned bracelets: three interlocked bangles fused into one—fluid, minimal, both masculine and feminine. The silver bands representing them. The gold one me.
Kyle holds his up, turning it in the light. “It matches the one you’re wearing,” he says, glancing at my wrist. Then he squints at me. “I thought we were doing small gifts.”
“Well,” I say, unable to stop smiling, thinking about how much I love having both of them in my life. “My business is booming. I wanted to spoil you. And I thought we could all wear them every day—to show our commitment.”
“I love when she’s territorial,” Kyle teases, locking eyes with him.
Brandon fastens his bracelet and leans in to kiss my temple. “I love when she looks this happy.”
“I love when you two talk about me like I’m not right here,” I say, giggling.
“Thank you,” Kyle says, tugging back my sleeve and kissing my bracelet. “Now open mine next.”
He gestures to the small box with a sparkly “T” sticker. Brandon slides the “B”-tagged box closer to him.
Inside mine is a key.
“So you can come to my place whenever,” Kyle says, a little shyly. His apartment is old school—you still need a physical key to get in. Brandon’s and mine both use codes.
