I had surprised myself when I'd asked Ethan out after the handfasting—but I blamed Big Dick for showing me where the alcohol was. All I'd really needed was one glass of champagne and I was good to go. But it took me weeks to get the courage up to actually set up a date, always using soccer or work as an excuse. As the days before our date turned into hours, I nearly called it off a hundred times.

As soon as I sat across from him at the bar, I wondered why I'd been so nervous. Ethan was just as easy to talk to in a bar as he had been at the wedding. For once, I felt like it didn't matter what the hell the topic was; conversation just flowed.

And Ethan's scent—I wasn't a big scent guy. When you live in sweat all day, you kind of become immune to all that—but Ethan's scent... he smelled like Christmas. Cinnamon... and something else I couldn't define. Did that make him my present? I laughed, and he laughed back. I blushed a little, not exactly sure what he had said, too lost in my thoughts. It apparently hadn't been too awkward of a moment.

We started on our second round—Ethan's vodka soda and my lager. I'd learned early on that no matter how in shape I was, how "alpha" I presented, I was a motherfucking lightweight. And that had been kind of a problem in college. I learned I couldn't hold hard liquor at all. Not a drop. Thankfully, I knew enough beer snobs to know that sticking to the lighter stuff wasn't too big a deal, and I was able to wave away drink offers with a "quality" joke, falling into an easy pattern of banter with my teammates.

A fresh wave of Ethan's scent washed over me and I reeled. Was it the beer? I'd barely taken two sips of my second bottle, but I was already feeling it buzzing in my toes. I was a lightweight, yeah, but normally one beer didn't hit me like this.

Aw, fuck. I'd been so damned nervous about this whole date, I'd completely forgotten to eat. I looked down at my drink, shocked to see that in just the last few minutes of laughing and talking with Ethan, I'd nearly drained it. I was going to need some food soon.

The scent of bread—hot and fresh from the oven—reached my nose and I nearly growled in hunger. Then a hand landed on Ethan’s shoulder and I turned to see Larry, a tattooed, bearded alpha I'd met the same day I'd met Ethan. Damn, he was looking and smelling good. His biceps bulged under the edge of his simple black T-shirt. Damn. You'd think that having been an athlete my entire life, I'd be used to muscles... but my sports tended to develop lean and defined. Larry had bulk.

All thought of food slipped from my mind as Larry drew up a chair after Ethan re-introduced us. I downed the rest of my bottle without thinking. My stomach was clenching with an entirely different hunger now, shocking me.

When was the last time I'd felt this interested in anyone, let alone two men? And Larry was an alpha...

Of the two, Ethan was definitely right up my alley. Cheerful. Soft cheeks. Comfortable. Funny. Larry was... everything I'd never considered, and was now questioning myself why. He and Ethan had similar eyes, not in shape, but in kindness, in attention, in intensity...

An intensity that was directed at me as equally as it was directed at each other. The second beer was catching up to me—fast—warming me from the inside out. I was normally crap at interpreting subtext, but the looks Ethan was giving both of us were becoming less sub and more text. And what the hell. It had been a while. I was feeling up for anything. I really liked Ethan, and Larry seemed like a cool enough guy. Oh hell, I was feeling particularly introspective this evening. Thanks, beer. Larry was fucking hot as hell, and if I couldn't stop picturing him and Ethan together, well, who could blame me?

"I've worked a lot of jobs, but I've never worked in a bar," Ethan said with a significant look. "How about a tour?" Something brushed up and down my leg and I jumped, realizing it was Ethan's foot when he raised an eyebrow.

Oh. Oooh. "A tour sounds great," I added.

"So what do you think?" Ethan leaned over to Larry and put a hand on his shoulder. I pressed a hand to my eager erection at the sight of them getting closer. "You game?"

If I could pick up on the unspoken message, surely Larry wouldn't miss it. He seemed like he was pretty people savvy.

Larry blinked in confusion, though. "Game?"

“I was telling Ryan I thought maybe we should get a tour of this place.”

“A tour?”

“Yes, a tour," I said, feeling suddenly bold, but not able to finesse with the subtlety Ethan seemed to master. “You know, of any rooms that might be a little more private?”

The light sparked in Larry's eyes as he got on the same page as us. He held out his hands, and we followed him as he carried on the pretense of a tour before stopping at a storeroom. I was so nervous, yet so ready to start whatever was igniting between the three of us.

Ethan placed his hand on the storeroom door.

"Ethan?" Larry said, his eager tone turned to caution. "You aren't wearing a ring."

I glanced between the two of them, too aware there was something I was missing. Had Ethan been wearing a ring when I'd met him? I couldn't recall. Shit. Was I about to step into some kind of drama?

Before my brain could run too far away with me, Ethan said, "No, I'm not. It's final."

And then words were over as Larry kissed Ethan and we all tumbled into the storeroom.

It was hot. And dirty. And so very, very different from anything I'd ever done before. Even in college, my drunken hookups had been pretty vanilla. This... this was the kind of stuff other guys bragged about in the locker room. I'd never been the kiss and tell type, but if I had, this would have knocked every self-absorbed braggart's story out of the water. At the table, I had only been able to imagine Ethan and Larry touching, fucking each other, but it was a completely different story once we were in the storeroom. We moved like a well-trained team, hands, mouths, cocks. My eyes met Larry's as we fucked our omega's holes in perfect unity. We leaned over his body and kissed as I unloaded in Ethan's ass, careful to pull out before I locked inside him.

When everyone was sated, we dressed, we kissed, and then Ethan retired to the bathroom and I collapsed against the metal shelves.

"Fuuuuck," Larry said, and I agreed with him. Now that the heat of the moment was fading, so was my buzz, and I started to freak out about what had just happened. I hadn't invited Ethan for a date expecting him to put out. And he and Larry seemed to have some kind of history with that ring comment. Fuck. Had I gotten in the middle of something between them? Had they only invited me because it would have been rude to leave me behind?

My stomach started to churn. I had to get out of here. I didn't want the guys to feel awkward with me around, now that things were over. I'd best get out before they had to make excuses to get me to leave.

"I forgot... I've got a... I have to get home. Tell Ethan thanks for me?"

Larry tried to grab my shoulder. "Wait, Ryan—"

I dodged under his grip and flew out of the room, pulling out my phone to call a ride, but not stopping outside the bar. I kept walking down the block, stopping outside a convenience store to wait safely for the app to tell the driver where to find me. As soon as it said a driver was coming, I lost the war with my stomach and vomited into the street. I knew better than to drink on an empty stomach.

Once the heaves stopped, I ducked into the store and picked up a couple of protein bars to fill my stomach and some lemonade to cut the gross taste in my mouth. The sweetness of the bars didn't mix well with the lemonade, but between the two of them, I was feeling more like a human being by the time the car picked me up.

I couldn't stop playing the night over and over in my mind, starting to feel ashamed for the way I had lost myself in the moment. I should have stopped to clarify what was going on. I knew I was terrible at interpreting people's motives and desires. Dammit. Well, at least I wouldn't have to see either of them again if I'd fucked things up. I tried to clear my mind and let sleep wash away the angst burning in my chest.

My phone trilled an alert and lit up the room. I snatched it up, terrified but unable to keep myself from looking.

It was from Ryan, sent to me and an unknown number.

Thanks for an amazing night. Let’s do it again sometime. ;)

* * *

Two months later, I found myself looking at the message yet again, wishing I'd responded with something. Anything. I couldn't stop thinking about that night, but the next morning, I still hadn't been any clearer on how to respond, and the days turned into weeks and now it would just be too awkward. Right? I'd thought about showing up at Larry's a thousand times, but always chickened out. Had they seen each other since that night? Who was I kidding, they must have. They were probably glad they'd shaken off my dead weight. But fuck. We had moved well together. Even in my worst moments of anxiety, I couldn't forget the way Larry had kissed me with Ethan underneath us. That hadn't been just to make me feel good. That had been because he wanted to. And afterwards, Ethan had kissed us equally, given us both gentle smiles.

I rubbed my hands over my face. For fuck's sake. I was a grown-ass man. Why couldn't I just get my shit together?

Like I had so often the past few weeks, I gathered my stuff together and packed up to head to the park. I could easily utilize the school's fields, but I needed competition to clear my head. There were always a few people willing to play a pick up game or two at Paisely Park.

I drew my cap over my head as I made my way through the organized chaos of parents picking their kids up at the end of the school day. Normally, I'd wait until the craziness died down, but my very bones were jittery today. I needed to move.

I froze when a too-familiar voice called my name. I'd only been hearing that voice every night in my dreams. "Ryan! Wait up!"

I turned in shock to see Ethan, looking just as good as ever, approaching me with a smile. "What are you doing here?" I asked bluntly, wincing as his face fell.

"I was just picking Sam up for a sleep over," he answered, nodding to the two girls next to him. "It's on my way from picking Bella up from school, so it just makes a bit more sense than one of the guys making the drive during the abysmal traffic when I'm already doing it."

Kids. Right. What had I been thinking? That he was chasing me down? And was I a little disappointed that he hadn't been?

"Daddy, can we go now?" his blonde haired Bella whined.

"Just a minute, sweetie. You can get in the car, but don't dash out into the parking lot. Walk in the middle here between the cars where it’s safe."

Ethan kept a hawk's eye on the two girls until they were safely ensconced in his car, only a few down from where we stood.

"How have you been?" Ethan asked, once his attention turned back to me.

"Fine." Fuck. This was the kind of small talk I sucked at. Was I supposed to tell him the truth? That I was a mess thinking about him and Larry, and not sure how to approach them? Yeah, right.

"I was hoping I would hear from you after our last date," Ethan said tentatively.

"You were?" I was hesitant to hope.

Ethan smiled. "I meant what I said in my message. I'd love to do it again."

My heart simultaneously stopped and started beating a million miles a minute. My lips flapped as I tried to figure out what to say.

"If it wasn't your kind of thing," he continued, less confident, his voice wavering, "that's cool. It was good. I just wanted to say... thanks."

Ethan started to turn away and I desperately reached for his hand, catching his fingers in my own.

"No—I mean, yes. I really enjoyed it. I just... I was worried..."

The handsome omega turned back with a stronger smile. "Yeah, I get it. Would you... would you be up for another date? The three of us?"

I held back my groan of need like a champ. "Yes!" I nearly shouted. "I mean, yes, that would be great. I'd lucking fove that. I mean, I'd fucking love that. Shit." I reflexively glanced around to make sure there weren't any kids nearby. This guy was really throwing me off my game.

"Great. I'll text you later. This time... you'll answer it, right? If not, I know where you work." He winked and squeezed my hand before stepping away with a wave.

I waved after him, dazed, and stood there as he drove away, only returning to reality when a car beeped at me for blocking the way in the parking lot. I made my way to my own car and tried to calm my racing heart. I hadn't fucked things up like I'd thought. I still had a chance. And not just with one guy, but with two. Instead of heading to the park to work out my frustrations, I headed home, for the first time in weeks not afraid to be left alone with my thoughts.