Stephen did leave Tyler’s place and I went with him. Tyler seemed surprised when I followed behind Stephen holding his hand. Before we left, I told Tyler Lucky and Sammy ate at six every evening. Then I blew him a kiss and disappeared.

I noticed Charlie standing behind Tyler as I turned to leave. Her eyes were the size of saucers. She sent me a text later, but I turned my phone off. I was still trying to process everything. Not only had I fallen for two men. I fell for two men that had never shared their true feelings in public. I was finding that difficult to process.

Stephen seemed fine with me being at his place. Actually he was more affectionate than I was used to, but it made me feel good. I napped on his couch with my head resting on his lap. I’m not sure how long I slept, but when I woke up, warm hands were moving up and down the inside of my thigh.

I stretched and lifted my head. “Hey.” With every movement he made, I could feel my body slowly waking up. “Whatchya doing?” I smiled and sat up.

“I don’t know really,” he admitted and brushed his index finger down the side of my face. “You mumble in your sleep.”

“I most certainly do not.” I was holding back a giggle. My mom and dad loved to tell me stories of when I would sleep walk.

“You do”—he tickled my side—“and I find it rather sexy.”

“Sexy, huh?” I moved over onto his lap. “Well, when you put it that way.”

“You’re not surprised?”

“No. I’m just thankful I didn’t do one of my classic sleepwalking episodes.”

“Oh shit, I look forward to seeing that someday.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but his voice trailed off. His use of someday probably threw him off just as much as it did me. “I mean.”

“Hey.” I placed my finger over his lips. “It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry you had to get in the middle of this mess.”

“What mess? I don’t see any mess here. Plus, this is the only place I want to be.”

Stephen wrapped his hand around the back of my neck. “I thought you were scared of me?”

“I had a brief moment of insanity.”

He burst out laughing. “Ah, is that what it’s called?”

I leaned forward and kissed his lips. “I miss Tyler.”

“You miss having four hands touching you.”

“Oh, that’s probably true.” I placed my forehead against his. “Can I make this right? Let me get in the middle of it all.”

“Tyler’s afraid. I get it, trust me.” Stephen placed his hands on either side of my face. “We can’t magically take his emotions away.”

“Let’s try.”

He lightly kissed me. “You try. I don’t think I have any more left in me, Zo.”

I wanted to understand how he felt, but more than anything I wanted to fix this.

But could it be fixed?

I moved my hands down and fisted them around the hem of his shirt. As I lifted the shirt up over his head, I heard him sigh. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve never been with just a woman before.” He lifted my shirt up and threw it behind me. “Two people, one of them was a woman. Two men. That’s it.”

“Why are you okay with me being here right now?”

“I don’t have an answer for that question at the moment,” he said and reached around to unfasten my bra.

I tried to move off his lap, but he held me in place. “I don’t want to upset you, Stephen.”

“You’re not.” He cupped his hands around my breasts and squeezed. “I’m discovering something about myself with you.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” I moved off his lap to remove my leggings and quickly hopped back on.

“I thought I only could love men.” He reached behind and grabbed something from his back pocket. “Tyler begged me to meet you.” He held the condom up. “I was afraid at first.”

“Afraid of what?” I unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans.

“Hurting you.”

His words caught me off guard. “Is that why you acted like a creeper that first time I met you?”

“Well, I didn’t think I was being a creeper.” He burst out laughing.

“Oh, you were.” I reached down in between us and rolled the condom in place.

“Clearly, because you went radio silent on Tyler for days.”

“My moment of insanity remember.” Without thinking or saying a word, I leaned up and slid over him. “I was fucking insane, because I could have missed out on this.”

He lifted me up high enough to where he almost slipped out, and then he pushed me back down so hard and fast. “Zoe.”

“What?” I said and placed my hands on his shoulders.

“I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“I’m sorry for freaking out,” I said and bent my head to kiss him. We moved at a faster pace, letting all the unknown disappear between us. “Harder, Stephen.” He did exactly as I begged.

A few minutes later, we both screamed our pleasure together and fell into each other’s arms. “Don’t you dare move,” he demanded.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Somehow, I convinced Stephen to take me to Noir Nightclub. He definitely didn’t seem into socializing. I, on the other hand, was looking forward to dancing with him.

“They’re playing my song,” I said and hopped off the barstool. “Dance with me?” I reached for his hand.

“You go. I’m going to finish this drink.” He looked so sad sitting there with his head bent facing the martini.

I leaned over and kissed him quickly on the cheek. Then I turned and started to dance my way over to the dance floor. There was a group of women all huddled together and seemed to be having the time of their lives. Before I attempted to interrupt the women, I looked back and waved to Stephen. He flashed his heart-stopping smile.

“Room for one more?” I yelled over the music. All the women at the same time moved back to give me room.

One woman leaned over and yelled, “Your boyfriend should join us.”

“He may later.” I winked and grabbed her hand to twirl her in place.

I wasn’t sure how long I spent with the women. I know there were about five songs that passed during the time I lost myself in the music. “I need to get a drink,” I said to them in between songs. “Thanks for letting me join.” Suddenly I realized it had been forever and Stephen was all alone at the bar. When I turned to go seek him out, I noticed the end of the bar where he had been sitting was now filled with two couples chatting it up.

I ran over and got the bartender’s attention. He knew me by now, which was a sure sign I came to this nightclub way too much. “Hey, did the guy who was here just a few minutes ago leave me a message or anything?”

“Nope,” the guy said and shrugged his shoulders. “His drink was empty and his seat was, too.”

“Thanks,” I said and leaned my back against the bar. My mind started to play out the worst-case scenarios. To clear my thoughts of the negative, I ran over to the men’s restroom. I thought about asking someone to go in and check to see if Stephen was in there. Instead of relying on anyone, I decided to get the answer myself.

Without thinking it through another minute, I pushed open the door that had a big sign indicating it was for only men. “Stephen, you in here?” I called out while ignoring the snuggle fest currently taking place on the couch in the corner.

“Hey, you know you’re in the wrong restroom,” some guy harped as he stepped away from a urinal.

“No shit, Sherlock,” I said and walked to end of the bathroom. Stephen wasn’t in there.

I ran out to the parking lot looking for his car. It was exactly where he left it. Now I felt worried. I pulled my phone out and noticed a text from Tyler. Instead of replying, I quickly called him.

“There you are.” Tyler sighed into the phone.

“Have you talked to Stephen?”

“No. Why?”

“Ty, I can’t find him anywhere.”

“What do you mean you can’t find him anywhere? Where are you?”

I leaned against the brick wall by the entrance to the building and watched several people walk in and out of the nightclub. “Noir. I begged him to go, because I’m an idiot and thought it would lift his spirits.”

“Stay put. I’ll be right there.”

Where else could I go? “I’m standing outside.”

“Go inside and wait for me by the bar. It’s safer there,” Tyler said. I could hear through the phone he was breathing heavily, like he had been running. “It’s going to be okay, Zoe.”

“I hope you’re right.”