“PEN...”

“No, it’s okay. I mean, it’s unexpected, but okay. And hot. But a little worrisome. But mostly hot. I mean, if we’re really a polyamorous triad, I don’t think it’s technically cheating as long as it’s one of us, but I’m still awkward enough to wonder if you guys are going to decide you don’t need me.”

I yank up my pants and pick her up easily, placing her on the counter while I stand between her legs. “I need to tell you something.”

“Are we already breaking up?”

“Are you going to listen?”

She nods and pushes the glasses back onto her nose. “Yes. Sorry. Carry on.”

Fletch opens the fridge and drinks orange juice right out of the container. Pen and I share a look of disgust. “I hate it when he does that,” she says.

“Yeah, me too.” I take her hands in mine. “Here is the thing I need to tell you.” Whoa, this is hard. Fresh off the hard come I just had, I thought I could do about anything, but the endorphins are wearing off and now I’m back to being a whiny little shit. “Okay. Fletch and I had a talk.”

She raises one brow. “You don’t generally conversate with your dick in his hand, but okay.”

“He’s my best friend, and he knew just the right way to say things.”

Fletch laughs and spits orange juice back into the carton.

“Gross. Fletcher!”

“Sorry.”

I bring her face back to mine and suddenly, it’s not scary at all. “I’m in love with you.”

“Like love-love?”

“Yeah, that kind.”

“And what does this have to do with the hand-jobs?”

“I’m I love with him, too.”

She smiles and the sun comes out and the band starts playing and shit have I got it bad.

“I want to make this relationship work. With both of you. And I’m really bad at this kind of stuff, so you’ll have to tell me when I’m doing it wrong, okay?”

“I don’t think you could be any worse at it than I am, but okay.” She closes her eyes. “You don’t even understand—at the beginning of semester, I didn’t think I would ever even go on a date with a boy, and just a few months later, I have the best ones ever made as my boyfriends. I mean, I couldn’t even say hello without it being awkward. I never thought I’d feel love much less be in love.” Her eyes pop open. “Oh my gosh, I almost forgot to say it. Shane, I love you too.”

Whoa. That feels...incredible. “Say it again.”

“I. Love. You.”

I touch her hair, because I can, and tenderly tuck it behind her ear. “Do you guys think we should just always do sexy time together all three to avoid any insecurity issues. Penelope, I don’t ever want to hurt you.”

“I don’t want to be insecure. If we all love each other, it would be hard and stupid to not show affection unless we are all home at the same time or whatever. We’re going to have to trust. I can try harder to do that.”

Fletch leans on the counter next to her. “We can make sure you always know how much you turn us on and how much we love you, and then it will never be a problem.”

She gets pink on her cheeks, and I’m feeling a round two coming on. And then it hits me how much has changed in the last couple of months. “You guys, are we really doing this?”

“It’s going to be weird sometimes. We have to really want to make this work or public opinion is going to get to us,” Penelope says.

Fletch cups my jaw. “We start by not pretending at parties or in public that Penelope and I are dating and you’re just our friend. I’m not excluding you like that anymore. It fucking hurt me to do it—I’m sure it felt worse for you.”

“You guys are going to be patient with me though, right? Never having a relationship before makes it tough—but realizing I’m bisexual too—I might backslide once in a while. Don’t let me slide too far.”

“I’ve never had a relationship before either,” Penelope says. “Finding out my two boyfriends are bisexual is actually the best thing that ever happened to me, I think.”

Fletch sees the nagging doubts in my eyes. “We’ll take it slow, man. We don’t have to rush into anything. We have time to get used to all the changes, let them happen naturally.”

“Yeah, okay. Slow, natural. We don’t need to add any new tricks to our sex life until we’re ready.”

“Agreed.”

“But you guys can kiss though, right? I really want to see you kissing.”

Fletch still has his hand on my jaw, so it doesn’t take much for him to capture my mouth under his and just fucking take my breath away.

“Open to me, baby,” he demands.

And so I do and he dives in, sucking my tongue like he’s been hungry for me forever. I lose myself in the kiss. I also start losing the parts of me that I’m better off without. I lose the doubt, and the fear, and the angst, and the drama. What he takes away, he replaces with more than I ever thought I’d have. Security, love, faith, hope. And a hard dick from making out with a dude.