Two months later…

“I don’t know why I let you both talk me into this.” Stephen hesitated before walking through the front door of Fight It Out.

“You know why.” Tyler reached for his hand to tug him forward.

Tyler and I waited for two months. We didn’t bother Stephen. Badger him. Nothing. His therapist was adamant he needed time to recover. Then we started to see life come back into his eyes, especially on the night he insisted we have sex. That was the night I knew it was time to change things up in our lives.

“I hate getting hit.” He cringed. “The thought of Zoe getting punched makes me nauseous.”

“Which is why we have the perfect plan.” I grabbed his other hand and continued tugging him farther into the gym.

“You both better not put me in that ring.” He stopped suddenly, causing my body to fall back against him.

“No,” I said and turned his head in the opposite direction. “That.” Malik was talking to a group of women for the new self-defense class.

“What is that?” He stood and watched for a moment. I noticed his eyes were facing in the direction of Malik.

“Well, that is Malik.” I turned his head toward the women. “They are here for the new self-defense class that just started.”

“And he’ll be teaching?”

I looked over at Tyler. “Should we be jealous?”

“I was wondering the same thing.”

“What?” Stephen turned around. “Oh heavens no.” He leaned forward. “If we were home, I would grab you both and kiss you senseless. But seriously, he’s handsome.”

Stephen wasn’t wrong; Malik was easy on the eyes. He had this beard that was almost all gray. The damn thing distracted me every time I had to talk to him. “He’s not wrong.” I looked over at Tyler and shrugged my shoulders. “But Stephen”—I waved my hand in front of his face—“I want you to learn how to defend yourself. If we are here with you every week, will you join?”

“Will he be teaching every class?” Stephen glanced between us.

I tickled his side. “Be good.”

“Hey there,” Malik said and walked over. “You must be Stephen. I’ve heard so much about you.” He held out his hand for a greeting.

“The very one,” Stephen said and shook his hand. “I hope all good things?”

“Only good. Are you joining the class? Tonight is the first of the six-week session.”

I watched Stephen turn back toward us and then follow Malik to the mat. He seemed hesitant to follow Malik back to where the women were huddled together. I wondered if being in a class with all women was awkward. Then he finally walked over and sat down beside a few of the women and immediately made them laugh.

It wasn’t the women.

When Malik asked Stephen to help with demonstrating a move, Stephen recoiled. I was glad I never left the bench. The moment I saw him step away, I ran over. “Let me show you,” I said and threw a punch in Malik’s direction. The hit was light and was only meant to show the impact of the move.

“Can I just watch for now?” Stephen sat back down. I watched as a woman touched his leg and smiled. Everyone in the class understood his apprehension. He was in the right place for sure. Tyler and I believed he just needed the support system, to be around people who had experienced some of the same type of trauma.

The class lasted for an hour. I had promised to stay for the whole class, but I received a call halfway through. On my way back, I noticed Tyler sitting next to Stephen on the bench. The class had ended. When I was in earshot, I heard Stephen say, “You promised to stay here the whole time.”

“That was my fault.” I sat down on the floor in front of them. “I got a call. It was my mom.”

“Is she okay?” Tyler looked worried.

“Yeah, the movers have left and they are all on the way here.” My parents decided about two weeks ago they wanted to live closer to me. They actually said they wanted to live closer to all three of us. After what happened, they made it clear being far away was out of the question. Since I had no desire to move back home, I thought the idea was brilliant. “What happened?” I touched Stephen’s leg.

“Just memories.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m being ridiculous.”

“No, that’s where you’re wrong.” I stood up and sat down beside him on the little bench. “I should’ve told you I was stepping away. I’m sorry.”

He rested his head on my shoulder. “I’ll be happy when I feel safe away from you two.”

“Don’t rush it.” Tyler finally grabbed his hand and held it between his own. “This shit takes time.”

I realized we all three were basically snuggled tightly together in the center of the gym. If there was any question about the three of us, we had just made it obvious with our public display of affection. I glanced toward the front counter where most of the employees and fighters seemed to congregate. There were five people looking our way, and I could see their mouths moving like they were whispering. Instead of moving, I just rolled my eyes and snuggled closer to Stephen.

“If I promise to not leave for real next time, will you come back?” I turned my body to make us eye-to-eye.

“How did you like the class?” Malik walked up and stood in front of us.

“Um, it was good.” Stephen tried to sound confident but I could tell otherwise.

Malik stood there for a moment but didn’t say anything else. “Well, I hope to see you next week.” Then he finally turned and walked away.

“Want to go home?” I whispered.

“No,” Stephen said and stood up. “Hold on.”

I watched as he headed over to where Malik was preparing to do some free weight workout. “What do you think he’s doing?” I glanced toward Tyler.

“I have no idea.”

“Hey.” I slid my body closer to him. “Think you’re ready to have dinner together out in public?”

“We’ve had dinner at a restaurant together.”

“I mean, as a couple.”

“Oh.” He sat there for a moment and didn’t say a word. Right as I was about to be the voice of reason, he turned toward me. “Should I retire from fighting?”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“It’s not really anyone’s business what you do behind closed doors.”

“I know, but we both know how homophobic men can be.”

“Yeah, I do. I also know it’s a bunch of bullshit.”

He lightly laughed. “Well, that’s true.” Tyler reached for my hand. “I would rather share my relationship with you both than deal with shitty attitudes before every fight.”

“So you’re in this for the long haul for sure?”

He scowled. “Did you doubt me?”

“Or me?” Stephen squatted down in front of us.

“No, I—” Before they could say a word I raised my hand for them to wait. “I left home because of my shitty decisions. My ability to rush into a relationship could win awards.” I brushed a strand of hair way from Stephen’s forehead. “How we rushed our relationship worried me a little. Full-disclosure, I didn’t think this would ever happen between us.”

“What happened, Zoe?” Stephen said and moved closer to me.

I laughed and closed my eyes. “Of course you would say that.”

“Say what?”

“Fine. I never thought falling in love with you both was in the cards. That all seemed impossible.” I cleared my throat. “This type of relationship always felt like it only happened in fiction books.”

“Fiction books just proved it’s possible,” Tyler said and reached for Stephen’s hand. “Listen, what happened years ago, let’s leave it all there. Let’s just enjoy what we have now.”

“And ignore those that will judge us and spew hate our way.” I stood up.

“Where are you going?” Stephen stood, too.

“Home.” I leaned up on my tip-toes and kissed Stephen. “We have some things to discuss further.”

“I need to work on my public display of affection fears, but yes, let’s say fuck it to hate.” Tyler stood and squeezed my hand. “Be patient with me, please.” Then he pointed his index finger in my direction. “We need to go home and discuss this L word you finally dropped. I want to hear it a few more times.”

“We’ll see about that,” I teased and turned to run toward the front door. “Hey, Charlie, see you tomorrow.” I waved and quickly made my way out of the gym toward our SUV. Both men were fast on my heels. The moment I reached the vehicle, warm arms wrapped around my body. I let out a yelp as Tyler turned my body to face him. “You’re needy.”

“Say it.” He pushed his body up against mine.

“Say what?” I struggled to keep my composure and placed my hands on his shoulders for support.

“Zoe,” Stephen said on a breath into my ear and pushed against my side.

“Fuck.” I could feel the outline of their erections and found it difficult to think.

“We can get in the SUV after you say it.”

I was starting to look forward to Tyler’s bossy side. “This demanding shit is fast becoming my favorite thing.”

“Yeah, I really could get used to it, too.”

I noticed Tyler scowl. “We are not going to introduce dominate behavior in the bedroom.”

“Why not?” I purred and moved my body up and down enjoying the feel of them on me.

“Zoe, I mean it.” Tyler sighed. “Fucking say it or we’re going to let the whole world know in a matter of seconds we’re all three together.”

“Oh, what do you plan to do, tough guy?” I moved my hand down and cupped his erection.

“I will throw you in the backseat and fuck you in this parking lot.”

As much as that sounded tempting, I knew he would regret that decision. I also knew he was a man of his word. After almost a minute, I leaned up on tip-toes and wrapped my hand around the back of their necks. “I love you both. Is that what you wanted?”

“Fuck.” Tyler leaned forward and captured my lips. His kiss felt greedy, demanding, and forever. “I really wish I could take you both to the back of the vehicle.”

“Be good.” I ran my fingers though his hair. “You can do anything you want to me for the next twenty-four hours.”

“To us,” Stephen added.

I could see the pained expression on his face as he pushed away. “Get in. I don’t plan to abide by the speed limit,” he said and quickly walked around to the driver’s side.

We were finding the new normal. If this was it, I knew we had just successfully experienced public display of affection. I didn’t plan to tell my men, but Malik and several others had exited the gym and were currently staring at us. I was enjoying this new normal.