On The Same Page Ch. 12

Note: Thank you all for staying with the story so far and staying so engaged! I hope you continue following the story and finding it compelling! I have so much more story left to tell! As always, constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged! I hope you enjoy the next chapter of On The Same Page!

Chapter 12: Consequences

Robbie's POV

I woke up on the cold concrete slab they called a bed with my feet dangling off the end. For a few seconds, I didn't know where the hell I was. Then my back reminded me.

The lumpy, one-inch-thick pad beneath me might've technically qualified as a mattress, but whoever made that determination clearly hadn't tried sleeping on the damn thing at six-foot-five. Every muscle in my back protested as I pushed myself upright. Then my head started throbbing. I reached up carefully and felt the knot where the bottle had caught me the night before.

Feeling the lump brought everything back into clear focus. I was in jail. I sat there for a moment, elbows resting on my knees, staring at the cinder-block wall across from me. Somewhere on the other side of the wall was Ricky.

That bothered me more than the headache. More than the concrete bed. More than the fact that Tristin and his fucking entourage had attacked us and somehow we'd ended up in handcuffs. Ricky didn't have to stay. He could've gotten out of there. Instead, he'd refused to leave me standing there alone. And now my brother was sitting in a jail cell because of me.

Logically, I knew this wasn't going to stick. There were cameras. Kat and Cassie had seen what happened. Tristin and his buddies could tell the cops whatever bullshit version of the story they wanted, but eventually somebody was going to watch that footage. Knowing that didn't make sitting in a cell any less infuriating.

We'd been arrested sometime around four that morning. Ricky and I had both been read our rights, and for once in my life I'd been smart enough to shut the hell up. We'd asked for attorneys and were told we'd be able to make calls in the morning.

Well, it was morning, and I wanted my fucking phone call. I looked up at the clock. Its glowing red numbers seemed rudely bright, along with the fluorescent lights. The clock read 9:37. My heart sank. Kat would be waking up soon if she hadn't already and would start freaking out because I wasn't there. I had to get word to her. I was sure she would panic immediately.

Right around then, I heard a loud buzz go off, followed by a heavy door opening. Then an obnoxiously loud voice rang out, saying, "Robert and Richard Stockton, step forward to your cell door and present your hands for restraints. Your lawyer is here."

This immediately confused me because I hadn't gotten to call Saul. I wondered if Kat was already up and had called him for me. That sounded like her. In any case, I did as I was told. I stepped to the cell door, faced away and put my hands behind my back. Once the cuffs were on, they opened the cell door, and I was escorted to one of those jail conference rooms, Ricky right behind me. A few minutes later, the door opened and my lawyer walked through, but it definitely wasn't who I expected it to be.

Sebastian Bancroft came walking in and sat down across from us. For several seconds, neither Ricky nor I said anything.

Sebastian looked considerably better than either of us did. Dark suit. White shirt. Tie perfectly in place. Hair combed neatly back. If he'd been dragged out of bed at some ungodly hour because his son had managed to turn a corporate Christmas party into a criminal case, he certainly didn't look like it.

I looked at Ricky. Ricky looked at me. Then we both looked back at Sebastian.

"What the actual fuck?" we both said in unison.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

"Good morning to you gentlemen as well."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm your attorney."

That did not clear anything up.

"You're Tristin's dad."

"I am aware of that."

"And you're our attorney?"

"Yes."

I stared at him.

"How?"

Sebastian set a leather briefcase on the table.

"I'm not sure which part of that question you'd like me to answer first."

"How about all of it?"

"Fair enough."

He opened the briefcase and removed a folder.

"I received a call early this morning informing me that Tristin had been taken to the emergency room with a concussion. Shortly afterward, I learned that one of the gentlemen with him had been admitted with a dislocated jaw."

Ricky winced slightly.

"Shit."

Sebastian looked at him.

"I take it that was you?"

"Possibly."

"Richard, as your attorney, there is privilege between us. It stays between us."

"In that case, yeah. That was me."

I almost laughed. Sebastian didn't.

"Tristin has a concussion?" I said.

"Yes."

My stomach twisted slightly.

"Is he okay?"

Sebastian's expression softened just a little.

"He will be. The doctors are keeping him for observation, but there is presently no indication of a more serious injury."

"Good."

I meant it. I hated the motherfucker at the moment, but I didn't want to permanently hurt him. Sebastian studied me for a second before continuing.

"Once I knew what had happened to Tristin and where it happened, it wasn't particularly difficult to put the pieces together. Especially after last night."

He leaned back in his chair.

"I saw the tension between you two at The Bowery. I knew my son was intoxicated, angry and humiliated when he left. Then, several hours later, I learned that he had suffered a concussion and that both of you had been arrested at The Bowery."

His mouth tightened.

"I know my son."

There was something painful about the way he said it.

"So, you went to Kat?" I asked.

"I did."

My chest tightened immediately.

"She knows?"

"Yes."

"Fuck."

"She was already awake when I arrived."

"Is she okay?"

"She was extremely concerned about you."

"Yeah, I bet."

"She also seemed prepared to come down here herself and begin dismantling the police department brick by brick."

That sounded like Kat.

I smiled despite myself.

"Yeah."

"Cassie was also considerably vocal about it."

"That also sounds right."

Sebastian almost smiled.

"Once I explained what I suspected had happened, they took me to The Bowery. Your security system recorded the entire incident from several angles."

That made some of the pressure in my chest disappear.

"I fucking told them there were cameras."

"I know. I read the arrest report."

"Then why the hell are we still in here?"

"Because police officers responding to a scene at four in the morning found two injured men and several witnesses telling them you attacked first. They made an arrest based on the information they had at the time. That does not mean the prosecutor will proceed once presented with better evidence."

That was a far calmer explanation than the one I had for it. Ricky leaned forward as much as the cuffs allowed.

"What does the footage show?"

Sebastian looked directly at him.

"Exactly what you told the police happened."

Neither of us said anything.

"Tristin and the other men approached you. You attempted to disengage several times. Tristin struck Robbie in the back of the head with a tequila bottle. After that, Tristin charged Robbie, and another man struck you before either of you used force."

Ricky sat back.

"Good."

Sebastian looked at him.

"Very good."

I rubbed my cuffed hands together.

"So, what happens now?"

"I've already provided a copy of the footage to the prosecutor's office. I also spoke with the assistant district attorney handling the initial review."

"You work fast."

"When someone I know screws up, I like to correct it as quickly as possible."

Ricky looked at him.

"Jesus Christ, how much is this gonna cost?"

"Nothing."

Ricky blinked.

"What?"

"I'm representing both of you pro bono."

I stared at him.

"No."

Sebastian looked at me.

"No?"

"I can pay you."

"I'm sure you can."

"So, bill me."

"No."

"Sebastian..."

"Robbie."

Something in his tone shut me up.

"My son assaulted your fiancée last night. Then, rather than accepting the consequences of his behavior, he apparently gathered several friends, waited outside her business for you and your brother, struck you in the head with a bottle and attacked you. Sexual assault, assault and battery, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal conspiracy to commit assault, and more are potentially all crimes my son committed against you."

He paused.

"I am not going to send you an invoice for helping clean up the consequences of my son's behavior."

"That wasn't your fault."

"No. It wasn't."

He said it without hesitation.

"But I am still his father."

I understood that more than I wanted to. Sebastian closed the folder.

"More importantly, Katarina would never forgive me if I allowed her fiancé to sit in jail longer than necessary."

"Probably not."

"Definitely not."

Ricky leaned back.

"So, you're really representing the guys who knocked your son and his friend out?"

Sebastian looked at him.

"I am representing two men who appear, based upon extremely clear video evidence, to have defended themselves after being attacked."

That distinction mattered to him.

"And Tristin?" I asked.

Something shifted in his expression.

"I am his father."

He paused.

"I am not his attorney."

There it was. I didn't know why, but hearing him say it made me feel bad for him. Sebastian checked his watch.

"We have a meeting with the assistant district attorney in approximately fifteen minutes."

I looked around the tiny room.

"We?"

"All three of us."

"How the hell did you arrange that already?"

Sebastian gave me the faintest smile.

"I've been practicing law for forty-two years, Robert. Occasionally, that becomes useful."

Ricky snorted.

"Rich people shit."

Sebastian looked at him.

"Close. Lawyer shit."

That got an actual laugh out of me. For the first time since I'd woken up, I felt like maybe this nightmare was finally starting to end. Sebastian spent the next several minutes walking us through exactly what he wanted from us, which mostly amounted to keeping our mouths shut unless somebody asked us a direct question. Apparently, he had already watched the footage enough times that he knew the entire fight better than I did.

He asked about the bottle hitting my head. Whether I had lost consciousness. Whether I had been medically examined after the arrest.

I hadn't.

That visibly annoyed him. He asked Ricky about the punch he took before hitting the other guy. Ricky confirmed what happened. Sebastian made a note. Then he looked at both of us.

"One more thing."

"What?"

"Do not exaggerate anything."

I frowned.

"We don't need to."

"Exactly."

He tapped the folder.

"The video is exceptionally favorable to you. Let it be favorable to you. Do not speculate about what Tristin intended. Do not tell anyone what you think the other men would have done. Describe what happened and nothing more."

"Got it."

Ricky nodded.

Sebastian looked at me.

"And Robert?"

"Yeah?"

"Do not make jokes."

Ricky immediately started laughing. I stared at Sebastian.

"I know when to be serious."

Ricky laughed harder.

"Shut up, Dick."

Sebastian sighed.

"This is going to be a long morning."

It actually wasn't. About fifteen minutes later, we were escorted out of the holding area and into another conference room. This one was slightly nicer, which mostly meant the chairs looked like they had been purchased sometime during my lifetime. The cuffs came off before we went inside. That alone improved my mood considerably.

A woman was already sitting at the table when we entered. She looked to be somewhere in her forties, dressed in a dark pantsuit with a laptop open in front of her. A uniformed officer stood near the door. Sebastian introduced her as Assistant District Attorney Mercer. She shook Sebastian's hand, then looked at Ricky and me.

"Robert, Richard," Mercer said as she shook our hands before she sat down.

"I've reviewed the video Mr. Bancroft provided this morning."

Straight to it. I liked her already. She turned the laptop slightly.

"I've also reviewed the initial incident reports and statements taken at the scene."

Her expression told me those two things did not match particularly well.

"The video substantially contradicts the witness statements alleging that you initiated the confrontation."

Ricky glanced at me. I kept my mouth shut. Kat would have been proud.

Mercer continued.

"The footage shows a group of eight individuals remaining in the parking lot after the event. It shows them approaching you as you walk toward your vehicles. It shows what appears to be a verbal confrontation. It also shows both of you attempting to leave more than once."

She clicked something on the laptop.

"And it clearly shows Mr. Bancroft striking Robbie in the back of the head with a bottle immediately before the physical altercation."

I felt my jaw tighten just watching the frozen image on her screen. There it was. Tristin behind me. Bottle raised. Me walking away. There wasn't much ambiguity. Mercer moved the video forward.

"After being struck, you turn around. Mr. Bancroft removes his coat and subsequently advances toward you."

"Charges against my clients?" Sebastian asked.

Mercer looked at him.

"The Commonwealth will not be pursuing charges against either of them based on the evidence presently available."

I stared at her.

"That's it?"

Sebastian glanced at me. Apparently, that had counted as speaking unnecessarily. Mercer didn't seem bothered.

"As far as the charges stemming from last night are concerned, yes. They're being released."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Ricky leaned back and rubbed both hands over his face.

"Thank fuck."

Sebastian closed his eyes briefly.

"What?" Ricky asked.

"Nothing."

Mercer almost smiled. Then her expression became serious again.

"There is another matter."

I already knew. Sebastian did too.

"Tristin," he said.

Mercer nodded.

"The footage presents probable cause for several charges against your son."

The room became very still. For the first time since Sebastian walked into the jail, he didn't look like a lawyer. He looked like a father. It only lasted a second.

"What charges are you contemplating?"

Mercer explained that the final charging decisions would be made after the investigation was completed, including interviews, medical records and review of the full footage. But the bottle strike was clear, as was Tristin's role in initiating the physical confrontation. The statements given by him and the other men would also need to be revisited in light of what the video showed.

Then she said the part that seemed to hurt Sebastian the most.

"When your son is medically cleared, he will be taken into custody."

Sebastian nodded slowly.

"I understand."

"I wanted you to hear that from me before it happened."

"I appreciate the courtesy."

"Also, Mr. Bancroft, because Tristin is a licensed attorney, I have an ethical obligation to report his behavior to the disciplinary council."

Sebastian nodded, deep in thought. There was no argument. No threat to make a phone call. No Bancroft name being thrown around. No implied request for special treatment. Just a father sitting there accepting that his son had fucked up badly enough that he couldn't protect him from what came next. Mercer looked toward Ricky and me.

"Detectives may need additional statements from both of you as the investigation continues. Mr. Bancroft can coordinate that with our office."

Sebastian nodded.

"They will cooperate."

"Good."

She looked at me.

"I also strongly recommend that you have the head injury evaluated if that hasn't already been done."

Sebastian immediately looked at me.

"I'm fine."

"That was not the question," he said.

"It's a bump."

"You were struck in the head with a glass bottle."

"I've had worse."

Ricky sighed.

The meeting ended a few minutes later. There was still paperwork. Of course there was fucking paperwork. There was always paperwork. Sebastian handled most of it while Ricky and I waited. Eventually, our property was returned. Wallets. Keys. Phones. My phone was dead, naturally, because apparently the universe wanted one last little fuck you before letting me leave. They gave us back our coats. Then, finally, someone opened a door and told us we were free to go.

Walking through that door felt better than it probably should have. Ricky stretched his arms above his head.

"Freedom."

"Dude, we were in jail for like six hours."

"Longest six hours of my life."

"You were in the Marines."

"Exactly. I have experience with unnecessary confinement."

I laughed. Sebastian walked behind us.

"Gentlemen."

We both looked back.

"Before we go out there."

"What?"

He looked at me.

"Katarina is worried."

My smile disappeared.

"How worried?"

Sebastian considered that.

"Enough that I would professionally advise against attempting humor immediately."

"Fuck..."

Ricky grinned.

"You're so screwed."

"You were arrested too, asshole."

"Evan's out there," Sebastian said.

His grin disappeared.

"Fuck."

I smiled.

"Ha ha! Bitch."

Sebastian shook his head and pushed open the final door. The police station lobby was brighter than I expected. It hurt my eyes.

Kat was already on her feet. Cassie stood beside her. Evan was there too, hands shoved into his coat pockets, looking like he hadn't slept at all.

Kat looked exhausted. Her hair was pulled back. She had on the same pajamas she'd apparently thrown on during the night, although now she had a coat wrapped around herself. There was no makeup. Her eyes looked tired and slightly swollen. I saw the red rims of her eyes and knew she had been crying.

And she was the most beautiful thing I had ever fucking seen. For half a second, she just stared at me. Then she moved. I barely had time to open my arms before she crashed into me. I wrapped them around her immediately.

"Hey, babe."

She buried her face against my chest.

I felt her arms tighten around me.

"You fucking asshole."

I kissed the top of her head.

"I missed you too, babe."

She pulled back and looked at me.

Her eyes immediately went to the side of my head. Kat reached up carefully and touched near the knot. I winced before I could stop myself.

Her eyes narrowed.

"You're going to the hospital."

"Kat, I'm fi--"

"Don't you dare finish that statement. You're going to the fucking hospital."

"Yes, ma'am."

That seemed to satisfy her. Then she hugged me again. This one was different. Slower. I closed my eyes and held her. Last night she'd been the one standing in my arms trying to come down from what Tristin had done to her.

Now it was me. Across the lobby, Evan had reached Ricky. He didn't say anything at first either. He just wrapped Ricky in a hug. Ricky looked surprised for about half a second before hugging him back. It was nice to see him more comfortable with public affection with Evan.

Cassie stood between all of us with her arms crossed.

"You two are fucking idiots."

Ricky looked over Evan's shoulder.

"We got attacked."

"I know."

"Then how are we idiots?"

"Because you're you."

"That seems unfair."

"It isn't."

I laughed.

Kat finally pulled away enough to look at me again.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

I looked at her. Really looked at her.

"Yeah, babe. Really."

She nodded. I kissed her softly, her lips tasting like heaven in the moment.

Then I looked past her toward Sebastian. He was standing several feet away, giving us space, the practiced attorney.

For a man whose son was sitting in a hospital with a concussion and was about to be arrested the second he was discharged, he had spent his entire morning making sure Ricky and I got out of jail.

"Sebastian."

He looked at me.

"Thank you."

He nodded once.

"You're welcome."

Kat walked over and hugged him. That surprised him. For just a second, his arms stayed at his sides. Then he hugged her back.

"I'm sorry, Katarina," he said quietly.

"I know."

When they separated, Sebastian looked toward Ricky and me.

"This situation is not over. The district attorney's office will be in contact. So will I."

"We understand."

His eyes settled on me.

"And get your head examined."

"I will."

Kat answered at exactly the same time.

"He will."

Sebastian almost smiled.

"I suspected as much."

Then he left. I watched him walk through the doors and disappear outside. I had no idea what was going to happen with Tristin. I didn't know what charges he would face, what would happen with his career or what any of this would do to his relationship with his father. For once, none of that was my problem. Kat took my hand. I pulled Cassie into a side hug. Ricky had Evan, so we all went to leave.

Before anything else, Kat took me to the ER, thankfully not the same one Tristin was at. The doctor checked me out and told me I may have had a low-grade concussion but nothing he felt compelled to keep me for or was overly concerned about. We were in and out reasonably quickly, as far as those things went. After that, we stopped for lunch at one of our favorite burger joints. Both women kept asking me about what happened, but upon me retelling the story exactly how they saw it on the video for the eighth time, they finally accepted it and dropped it.

When we got home, Lady pounced on me as if I had been gone for years. I gave her an obnoxious amount of pets before heading upstairs and taking a shower. I hadn't expected any company in the shower, which was a mistake. Kat slipped in as I let the water pour down on me from the oversized rainfall showerhead. I felt her naked form press into mine from behind as she wrapped her arms around me.

"Mmmm, and to what do I owe this surprise?" I asked.

"Most men can't wait to get some after they've been locked up," she said playfully.

"Babe, I was only in for like..." I started before turning and looking at her.

Seeing her flirtatious smile and her striking naked form removed all other thoughts from my head. With any objections or other thoughts erased, we proceeded to enjoy that shower incredibly thoroughly. Afterwards, despite it being the middle of the afternoon, I could not hold my eyes open. While we were watching Christmas movies on the couch, sleep took me hard.

I woke up several hours later to the smell of dinner being cooked. I sat myself up in the corner of the sectional. Kat noticed I was awake first and came and crawled on top of my lap, cuddling into me. As she was cuddled into my chest, arms wrapped around me, she looked up at me.

"My love?"

"Yes, babe?"

"You scared me so bad. Waking up and you not being here at all, anywhere, it scared me so much."

I winced at the thought. "I know, babe. I'm sorry."

"My head went to some really dark places, baby."

I heard her voice crack slightly. I could tell she was fighting back tears.

"Even the thought of you being in some hospital alone... Or worse..."

I kissed the top of her head. Cassie had come and sat down on the other side of the sectional.

"And Cassie was freaking out and crying just as bad as I was. I couldn't even comprehend you not being here anymore, and Cassie kept saying, 'We are losing him this way,' and then Sebastian showed up."

I looked over at Cassie, who was trying to look away so I couldn't see her eyes. I reached my arm out toward her and motioned her over as well. She hesitated at first and then came and found the free spot on my chest as I draped my arm over her shoulders and pulled them both into a hug.

"Neither of you are getting rid of me that easy, okay? I'm still here, and I am so sorry you ended up scared like that."

We embraced like that for a while until they had to go finish getting dinner ready. Cassie looked at me before getting up and said, "Don't do that to us again, okay?"

I nodded before I was surprised when she leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. Then she got up. I was a little flustered when Kat said, "She's right. It was awful. I can't handle that again, my love."

She then kissed me on the lips as well. Softer and more intimately, though. Kat's kiss was obviously nothing new, but Cassie's had caught me off guard. She had given me pecks on the lips before, platonically, but something felt different about this one. I chalked it up to the emotions of the day running so high and tried forgetting about it.

The next couple days were thankfully a lot less eventful. My head stopped hurting, the swelling went down and Kat eventually stopped asking me if I was dizzy every twenty minutes. The situation with Tristin was still going on in the background, but Sebastian handled anything that involved Ricky or me. As far as I was concerned, I was more than happy to let the lawyers do lawyer shit.

I had other things to worry about anyway. Christmas was less than two weeks away, wrestling was in full swing, the semester was winding down and The Bowery was busier than ever. Apparently, opening a bookstore shortly before Christmas was either brilliant business planning or completely fucking insane. Based on how exhausted Kat and Cassie looked most nights, I was leaning toward both.

Then their buyer had a baby. Technically, his wife had the baby. When I pointed that out to Kat, she informed me that wasn't the point. The point was that the guy who normally handled buying trips for The Bowery had understandably decided being home with his wife and newborn daughter was slightly more important than traveling around looking at books.

I couldn't really argue with that. Unfortunately, there was a buying trip already scheduled that Kat and Cassie didn't want to cancel. I understood almost none of how that side of the business worked. There were publishers, distributors, independent presses and apparently an entire world behind how books ended up on shelves that I'd never thought about.

Kat decided she would go herself. Cassie offered, but somebody needed to stay behind and run The Bowery during one of the busiest weeks they'd had since opening. Kat also knew more about what their buyer had been looking for, so it made sense.

She would be gone for two nights. I wasn't exactly thrilled. Not because I didn't trust her to travel alone or because I couldn't survive forty-eight hours without my fiancée. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Probably.

I just liked having her around. There was one advantage, though. I had some Christmas shopping to do. I'd already bought Kat a few things, but there was one gift I'd been thinking about for a while. Something I wanted to get right.

I had my mind set on getting her a blue diamond necklace. It wasn't only supposed to be a Christmas present. I wanted it to be her something blue for the wedding. Something she could wear when she married me and then keep wearing afterward. Maybe someday, it would become one of those pieces of jewelry that was passed down from generation to generation.

My knowledge of jewelry was basically nonexistent. That was the problem. I hadn't even bought Kat's engagement ring. I'd gone to Frank and Jane for their blessing fully expecting that ring shopping would be my next problem, and instead Jane had handed me a family heirloom that had been passed down for generations. It was perfect, and all I'd really had to do was be smart enough to recognize that. So, walking into a jeweler and actually choosing something myself? I was completely out of my depth.

Normally, I would've asked Kat. That presented an obvious problem. Which left exactly one person. So, I headed to the bookstore to talk to her. I found Cassie upstairs at The Bowery after work one afternoon. She was sitting behind the desk in their office, staring at a laptop with the expression of somebody contemplating whether throwing it through the window would constitute a legitimate business expense.

"Busy?"

"Yes."

"Cool. I need a favor."

She looked up at me.

"Then why did you ask if I was busy?"

"Because it's polite."

"But you were just going to ask anyway."

"The nuances of polite society are tricky to navigate."

She leaned back.

"What do you need?"

"I need you to go shopping with me."

She stared at me.

"For what?"

"Kat's Christmas present."

"No."

"Cass."

"Nope."

"You don't even know what I'm buying."

"So, I'm just your emergency Kat consultant now?"

"I mean, kinda. I just need some help with the details. I already know what I'm getting."

That got her attention.

"What?"

"A necklace."

She waited.

"With a blue diamond."

Her eyebrows went up.

"Okay."

"It's also gonna be her something blue."

Cassie's entire expression changed.

"Awww, Robbie."

"What?"

"That's actually really sweet."

"Oh, thank you."

"I didn't know you had it in you."

"Seriously..."

She laughed.

"So why do you need me?"

"Because I know what I want to buy. I don't know what Kat will actually like."

"That's a pretty important distinction."

"Exactly."

Cassie looked at her laptop, then back at me.

"When?"

"Tomorrow after I get out of school. It's the last day before winter break, so we won't have to rush back."

"I have a bookstore to run."

"You have managers."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Kat put you up to this?"

"Kat doesn't know I'm buying her a diamond necklace, so that would be a pretty fucking elaborate setup."

"Fair."

"Come on. She's out of town. This is literally the perfect time."

Cassie sighed dramatically.

"Fine."

"Yes! Thanks, Cassie!"

"But if you try buying something hideous because the salesperson tells you it's expensive, I'm stopping you."

"That's specifically why you're coming."

The next afternoon, I picked her up at The Bowery.

I'd expected her to still be working when I arrived, and she didn't disappoint. I had to stand in her office doorway wearing my coat for nearly five minutes before she finally closed her laptop.

"You are incredibly annoying."

"I've been told."

"Frequently?"

"Constantly, mostly by you."

She grabbed her coat.

We headed toward one of the better-known jewelers in the area. It was the kind of place where everything inside was beautifully lit and nothing had a price tag large enough to read from a safe distance. I'd called ahead, which turned out to be one of my smarter decisions. They knew what I was looking for and had several pieces ready for us to see. The woman helping us placed the first necklace on the counter.

I stared at it. Cassie stared at it.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"No."

I looked at her.

"That fast?"

"Absolutely."

"Why?"

"Kat would hate that."

I looked back at the necklace. It looked nice to me.

"How?"

"It's too much."

"It's a diamond necklace."

"That doesn't mean it has to look like she's attending the fucking coronation."

The saleswoman tried very hard not to laugh. I pointed toward Cassie.

"See? This is why I brought her."

The next one was better. Cassie still didn't like it. The third apparently made the diamond look too small. The fourth had too much going on around it. The fifth looked like something Kat's mother would buy her, which apparently was completely different from something Kat would buy herself.

I didn't understand that distinction. Cassie assured me it was extremely important. Then the saleswoman brought out another. This one was simpler. A delicate white-gold chain with a blue diamond set into a small pendant. There were a few tiny white diamonds around it, enough to catch the light without overwhelming the blue stone.

Cassie stopped talking. That got my attention.

"That one. That is the one, Cassie."

She leaned closer.

"Hmmm. 'Atta boy."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely."

I looked at it again. I could picture it on Kat. That was what did it for me. Not the price. Not whatever the woman was explaining about the stone. I pictured Kat wearing it with her wedding dress.

"That's the one."

Cassie smiled.

"You didn't even ask how much it costs."

"I don't want to."

"You probably should."

"I feel like knowing is just going to make Saul appear out of nowhere and slap me, even though he insists I don't need to run every purchase by him."

That made her laugh hard enough that the saleswoman finally gave up pretending she wasn't listening.

I bought it. While the paperwork was being handled and the necklace packaged, Cassie wandered toward another display. I finished signing something and looked over. She was staring through the glass. Not intensely. Just looking. I walked over.

"What're you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"I'm browsing."

I followed her eyes toward a display of bracelets.

"You like that?"

She immediately stepped away.

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Whatever you're thinking."

"I wasn't thinking anything."

"Robbie."

"What?"

"You just bought your fiancée a blue diamond. You are not buying me jewelry."

"I didn't say I was."

"You were about to."

"I was asking what you were looking at."

She gave me a look.

"Dangerous question coming from you."

I laughed.

"Fine."

We left a few minutes later with Kat's necklace safely hidden inside a bag that I guarded like it contained nuclear launch codes. Neither of us was ready to head back. It wasn't something we discussed. We just got into my truck, and when I asked if she was hungry, she said yes. So, we got dinner. Nothing fancy. Just a little restaurant not far from the jeweler. We sat across from each other in a booth, ordered drinks and spent the first ten minutes talking about Kat. What she'd think of the necklace. Whether she'd cry. Whether she'd figure out what I intended it for before I explained it.

Eventually, we ran out of Kat-related conversation. And something strange happened. Nothing really changed. There wasn't an awkward silence. There wasn't that moment where we realized the person connecting us wasn't there and suddenly had nothing to talk about. We just kept talking. Cassie asked about wrestling. Not the accident. Not my knee. The coaching. I told her about some of the kids. The ones who drove me fucking insane. The ones who were starting to get it. The couple I worried about because I recognized too much of myself in them.

She listened intently. Then we talked about The Bowery. Then we got onto music. That turned into an argument. Not a real one or anything. Her taste was just terrible. She maintained mine was worse. She was obviously wrong because there is no world where that bubblegum pop crap she listens to is better than nu-metal. By the time our food came, we'd moved on to movies, where our tastes were a little more lined up with '90s comedies. Then we shifted to embarrassing shit we'd done in college before they transferred to Michigan. Then stories about Kat that I absolutely intended to use against her later. At some point, I realized we'd been sitting there for almost two hours.

That surprised me. I spent plenty of time with Cassie. She practically lived with us. Technically, she lived in the pool house, but that distinction had become increasingly meaningless. But Kat was usually there. This was different. I'd never really thought about what Cassie and I were like without Kat. Apparently, we got along pretty fucking well.

"You ready?" I asked after paying.

"Probably. I should get back."

"To the store?"

"Where else?"

"Home."

She looked at me.

"You know, that place where we live?"

"I'm aware of what home means."

"Just checking."

She rolled her eyes. When we stepped outside, it had started snowing. Not heavily. Just enough that the flakes caught the streetlights on the way down. Cassie shoved her hands into her coat pockets.

"God, it's cold."

"You live in Pennsylvania."

"Thank you, Robbie. I hadn't noticed."

"I'm here to help."

She bumped her shoulder against my arm as we walked. It didn't mean anything. Neither did the fact that I bumped her back. By the time we got to my truck, we were both laughing about something stupid she'd said. Or I'd said. I honestly couldn't remember. I opened her door. Cassie stopped and looked at me.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"You opened my door for me."

"I open Kat's door all the time."

"I'm not Kat."

"I am indeed aware of that."

She stared at me for another second.

"I did get raised with some manners."

Cassie smiled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She climbed in, and I walked around the truck without giving it another thought. On the drive back, she controlled the music, which was a mistake I immediately regretted. We argued about that most of the way home. When we reached The Bowery, I expected her to get out. Instead, she looked at the time.

"Fuck."

"What?"

"It's almost nine."

"Yes. That's generally how clocks work."

"Shut up."

"You don't have to go back inside."

"I have stuff to do."

"You always have stuff to do."

"So?"

"So, Kat left me specific instructions to make sure you didn't work yourself to death."

Cassie turned toward me.

"She did not."

"She absolutely did."

"What exactly did she say?"

I thought about it.

"Something along the lines of, Robbie, you're incredibly handsome and extremely sexually gifted, as well as the most handsome man I have ever seen, and I desperately need your help. Please make sure my beautiful best friend doesn't overwork herself while I'm gone."

Cassie stared at me.

"That's definitely exactly what she said, eh, Robbie?"

"Pretty much verbatim. Weird, I know, but hey. I have to honor her wishes."

She laughed. Then she looked through the windshield at The Bowery.

"I suppose I could go home."

"Attagirl."

"Don't be an ass about it."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

She didn't go back inside. Instead, she came home with me. We ended up in the kitchen wrapping Kat's presents. Or more accurately, Cassie wrapped Kat's presents while I attempted to wrap them and was repeatedly informed I was doing it wrong.

"I don't understand why this matters," I said.

"Because you're terrible at it."

"She's going to tear the paper off."

"That doesn't mean it should look like a toddler wrapped it."

I held up my present.

"This is functional."

"This is a cry for help."

"You're a fucking snob."

"Give it to me."

"No."

"Robbie."

"I can wrap my own presents."

"You very clearly cannot."

She reached for it. I pulled it away.

"Fuck off."

"Give me the box."

"Get your own box."

She reached farther across the island.

I moved it behind my back.

"Are you twelve?"

"You're the one trying to steal my shit, woman."

"I'm trying to save Christmas."

Eventually, she came around the island after me. I held the box above my head. That was admittedly unfair.

"Oh, fuck you."

"Come get it."

"You're six-foot-five!"

"Sounds like a you problem."

She smacked me in the chest. I laughed. Then she started laughing. And for some reason, neither of us could stop. It was stupid. Completely fucking stupid. Eventually, I surrendered the box.

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"Christmas Tsar over here."

"Somebody has to maintain standards."

She went back to wrapping. I poured us each another drink and turned the Christmas music up. For the next hour, that was all we did. Wrapped presents. Talked shit. Sang badly. Argued over music. Hid Kat's necklace somewhere she wouldn't accidentally find it. It was easy. That was the only word for it. Easy. Eventually, Cassie looked at the clock and groaned.

"I should go to bed."

"Probably."

She gathered her things and went to the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she turned around.

"I had fun today."

"Yeah." I smiled. "Me too."

"Thanks for dinner."

"Thanks for stopping me from buying Kat royal jewelry, as you called it."

"She would've murdered you."

"See? You saved my life."

"Again."

She smiled.

"Night, Robbie."

"Night, Cass."

She stepped outside and started toward the pool house. I locked the door behind her, cleaned up the wrapping paper and headed upstairs. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the day. I bought my fiancée a Christmas present. Cassie helped. We ate dinner. We wrapped presents. That was it. But lying in bed later, the house felt unusually quiet. I missed Kat. That wasn't surprising. Sleeping without her fucking sucked.

What surprised me was that for most of the afternoon, I hadn't really noticed she was gone. Not because I hadn't thought about her. Hell, half the day had revolved around finding the perfect gift for her. I just hadn't been lonely. Cassie was good company. I smiled to myself. Then I rolled over, grabbed Kat's pillow and tried to get some sleep.

The other thing that got my attention was what happened the next day. Perhaps I didn't notice this as much when it was the three of us, but when it was just me in the house, I noticed how easily Cassie just came in and hung out. She had her own space that she could have hung out in. I had built it for her to have her own autonomy and feel like she had something that was hers, but when given the choice, she chose to come hang out in the house with me.

I didn't really think anything of Cassie coming into the kitchen with Lady that morning. What did catch my attention was looking down and realizing there were already two mugs of coffee sitting on the counter. I'd made hers without thinking. Breakfast too, apparently. Two plates. Two mugs. Like that was just what I did now. I wasn't sure when that had happened. I decided not to overthink it and handed her the coffee. Given that it was my first day of winter break, I was still in my PJ pants and a beater while she was already dressed to go to work after breakfast. When she went to leave, she gave me a quick peck on the cheek and left, leaving Lady and me to just hang out. Which we did. Just the two of us until Kat got home that afternoon.

Kat's POV

I hated leaving. Not traveling. I actually liked traveling. I liked hotels, I liked getting out of town for a couple days and I even liked airports when they weren't actively trying to ruin my life. What I hated was leaving Robbie and leaving now. Less than two weeks before Christmas was not exactly when the owner of a brand-new bookstore wanted to disappear for two nights. Unfortunately, babies had notoriously poor respect for business schedules.

Our buyer's wife had gone into labor several days earlier than expected, and while he had initially offered to still make the trip, Cassie and I had both immediately told him absolutely not. The Bowery was important. Meeting with publishers was important. His wife and newborn daughter were considerably more important.

That left me. Cassie could have handled the trip just as easily as I could, but one of us needed to stay at The Bowery. Between Christmas shoppers, holiday events and people apparently deciding that books made excellent last-minute gifts, the store had been insane. Cassie had also become incredibly good at keeping the business side running without me hovering over her shoulder.

So, I packed a bag. Robbie drove me to the airport that morning despite my insistence that I was perfectly capable of getting myself there. Robbie told me that he knew I was capable, but he wanted to in order to reduce the time we would be apart. As cheesy as he could be, I loved it when he said stuff like that.

Apparently, being struck in the head with a tequila bottle and spending six hours in jail had not diminished his need to take care of everyone around him. I tried not to think too hard about that.

"You have everything?" he asked for the fifth time as he pulled my suitcase out of the back of the truck.

"Yes, baby. You don't need to go full Dad mode here."

"Laptop?"

"Yes."

"Chargers?"

"Yes."

"Phone?"

I held it up.

"Wallet?"

I stared at him.

He smiled.

"Just making sure."

"You realize I existed for twenty-one years before you started supervising me, right?"

"I've seen the results."

"Baby!"

He pulled me against him. There it was. That stupid feeling I got every time his arms wrapped around me. I rested my head against his chest for a moment, listening to his heartbeat. I knew he was okay. The ER had cleared him. His headache was gone. The swelling had mostly disappeared. I still didn't particularly want to leave him. The morning I woke up and realized he wasn't home had scared me more than I wanted to admit. For those first few minutes, before Sebastian showed up and before I knew where Robbie was, my mind had gone places I never wanted it to go again.

Now I was willingly getting on a plane and leaving him for two nights. Apparently, anxiety didn't give a shit about logic.

"You sure you're okay?" I asked.

He looked down at me.

"Babe."

"What?"

"You've asked me that like twelve times."

"I have not."

"You have."

"Maybe you keep giving suspicious answers."

"My head doesn't hurt. I'm not dizzy. I'm not nauseous. My vision is fine. I know what year it is and who the president is. It's been days now, babe."

I narrowed my eyes.

"What's my middle name?"

His smile widened.

"Nice try."

I smacked his chest. He laughed and kissed me.

"I'm okay, baby."

"I know."

"Then stop worrying."

"No."

"Fair enough."

I kissed him again.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

"And don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"That's a very broad restriction."

"Robbie..."

"I'll be good."

"That somehow worries me more."

He grinned.

"Go. You're going to miss your flight."

I reluctantly let him go and grabbed my suitcase.

"Oh, and keep an eye on Cassie."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because she thinks sleeping is something that happens to other people when I'm not there to make her leave the bookstore."

"I'll make sure she doesn't work herself to death."

"Thank you."

I kissed him one last time before heading inside. I didn't know it then, but leaving the two of them alone was going to give me something completely different to think about.

The trip was legitimate. That probably sounds like a strange thing to clarify, but considering I had another reason for wanting to make it, I felt slightly guilty about how conveniently everything had worked out.

My first meeting that afternoon was with one of the larger publishers The Bowery had started doing business with shortly before we opened. Not directly with some CEO sitting in a giant office deciding which books Americans were allowed to read next, which was roughly how Robbie imagined publishing worked.

I met with their regional sales representative and an account manager who handled independent bookstores. Most of the actual ordering could obviously be done electronically. The point of the meeting wasn't for me to physically point at books and tell them how many I wanted. It was about everything coming next. Their spring catalog was enormous. New releases. Paperback editions of books that had done well in hardcover. Debuts they were pushing heavily. Established authors with releases they expected to be huge. Special editions. Children's books. Romance. Fantasy. Mystery. History. Cookbooks. Enough different categories that my notes started looking mildly insane.

They walked me through what they expected to perform well nationally, and I tried filtering that through what I already knew about our customers. That was the part I actually enjoyed. The Bowery was still new enough that every bit of sales data felt useful. I knew what sections people lingered in. I knew which books we kept having to reorder. I knew our romance section was performing considerably better than our original projections and that Cassie was never going to let me forget she'd predicted that. I knew our children's section got destroyed every Saturday morning. I knew our history section had a smaller audience, but those customers tended to buy several books at once.

Apparently, owning a bookstore meant developing strong opinions about shelf space. Six months ago, I would have found that ridiculous. Now I could argue for twenty minutes about it. We went through projected releases for the first quarter, discussed initial quantities, return terms, promotional materials and several author events their regional publicity team was trying to schedule. That caught my attention.

"You'd actually consider The Bowery for a tour stop?" I asked.

The representative looked surprised by the question.

"Absolutely."

That felt good. Really good. The Bowery had existed as an idea between Cassie and me for so long that there were still moments where I expected somebody to remind me we were pretending. Instead, I was sitting across from representatives of a major publisher discussing whether nationally published authors might hold signings in our bookstore. I immediately started taking more notes.

By the time the meeting ended, we'd tentatively committed to a considerably larger spring order than I had expected and had two possible author appearances for Cassie and me to follow up on. I texted her before I'd even made it out of the building.

Kat: Two potential author events. Don't freak out.

My phone rang approximately four seconds later.

I answered.

"Seriously?" Cassie said excitedly.

"Hello to you too."

"Kat."

I laughed.

"Yes. Seriously. Nothing confirmed yet."

"Who?"

I told her.

"Holy shit."

"That's approximately what I said internally while pretending to be a professional adult."

"When do you get back?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"We need to go over this immediately."

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do."

"Cass."

"What?"

"Go home tonight."

Silence.

"Cassie."

"I heard you."

"Robbie has instructions."

"Oh, fuck you."

I laughed.

"Love you too."

I hung up before she could argue.

The rest of the afternoon was more of the same. Meetings, catalogs, notes and more information about publishing schedules than I thought my brain could hold. By the time I got to my hotel that evening, I was exhausted. I ordered room service, took a shower and climbed into bed wearing one of Robbie's old T-shirts I'd stolen so long ago that neither of us bothered pretending it belonged to him anymore.

Then I made the mistake of video calling home. Robbie answered from the kitchen.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hi, baby."

His face filled most of the screen for a second before he apparently remembered how phones worked.

"Where are you?"

"Just settling into bed here at the hotel."

"How'd everything go?"

"Really well."

I told him about the meetings. He listened even though I knew most of the details meant absolutely nothing to him. That was one of the things I loved about him. Robbie didn't have to care about publishing contracts to care that I cared about publishing contracts. Then I heard Cassie somewhere behind him.

"Is that Kat?"

"No, I'm FaceTiming my side piece right in front of you."

"Fuck you, Robbie."

"Well, don't ask dumb questions."

I smiled.

"Hi, Cass!"

She appeared over his shoulder.

"Hey, girl."

"You left work?"

She looked offended.

"Eventually."

"What time?"

Cassie looked at Robbie. Robbie looked at Cassie. That told me everything.

"Seriously?"

"I got her out," Robbie said.

"I put up a good fight, but--" Cassie added.

"I still got you out, and that's what counts."

"It does," I agreed.

Cassie disappeared from view again.

"Traitor."

Robbie smiled.

"She's been insulting my music for the last twenty minutes."

"Because your music sucks," Cassie yelled.

"You listen to bubblegum bullshit!"

"It's called having taste!"

I started laughing. Apparently, they'd been getting along just fine. We talked another twenty minutes before I finally let them go. Robbie told me he loved me. Cassie yelled that she loved me from somewhere off camera. Then the call ended. The hotel room became very quiet.

For a while, I just lay there staring at the ceiling. I wondered what they were doing. Probably arguing based on what I just saw. The thought made me smile. Then, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, my brain supplied a different image.

Cassie and Robbie. Alone. Not arguing. I knew exactly what Robbie looked like when he wanted someone. I'd seen that look directed at me more times than I could count. I'd seen it directed at Cassie too. I had literally seen him inside her, from multiple angles in different positions. Hell, I'd encouraged it. I'd watched them together. More than once. That wasn't new.

What was new was imagining them together when I wasn't there. No me between them. No shared experience. No threesome. Just Cassie and Robbie. My best friend and my fiancé. Alone. With decidedly less clothes than they were wearing during the call. I felt like the thought should have bothered me, but it didn't.

I frowned. That was... interesting. I tried the thought again, which was probably a completely normal and sane thing to do. Robbie kissing Cassie. Nothing. Well, not nothing. I knew exactly what Cassie looked like when Robbie kissed her, and the memory still managed to stir something decidedly and deliciously inappropriate in my stomach.

But jealousy? No. Possessiveness? No. Insecurity? No.

That was strange. I had been jealous before. Not often with Robbie because he'd never given me much reason to be, but I wasn't somehow immune to it. I'd seen women look at him. I wasn't blind.

My fiancé was six-foot-five, muscular, handsome, funny, ridiculously charming, just the right amount of protective and somehow completely oblivious half the time to how attractive women found him. I'd watched women flirt with him right in front of me.

Sometimes it was funny. Sometimes it wasn't. And imagining Robbie actually sleeping with some random woman? Yeah... No. Absolutely fucking not. The idea made something ugly twist in my stomach almost immediately.

So why didn't the same thing happen when I thought of him hooking up with Cassie?

I rolled onto my side. Maybe because we'd already done it. That was the obvious answer. Cassie had already slept with Robbie. I'd watched her do things with him that should've answered the jealousy question years ago. Except that wasn't quite the same.

Every time we'd done anything together, it had been the three of us together. That distinction had mattered from the beginning. I had been the one who first brought up a threesome. I had been the one who told Robbie I wanted the experience of watching him with another woman while knowing he was mine and would come back to me. When we'd finally asked Cassie, I had made it very clear that Robbie and I were getting married and that we weren't asking her to become part of our relationship.

At the time, I had meant every word. I still did. Didn't I?

I stared at the empty half of the bed. That question annoyed me enough that I immediately pushed it away. Robbie was my fiancé. In a few months, he would be my husband. Cassie was my best friend. Nothing about that had changed.

Except... I pictured them downstairs in our kitchen. Cassie probably sitting at the island while Robbie annoyed the shit out of her. Lady somewhere underfoot. Both of them laughing about music or food or whatever stupid subject they'd decided to talk about while just enjoying each other's company. Then the vision shifted to them in a passionate embrace, kissing deeply, hands exploring.

And instead of feeling threatened by it, I felt... Comforted. That was the word. I liked knowing they had each other while I was gone. That was somehow even stranger than the sexual thought. I trusted Cassie completely. That had always been the reason she was the one person I could imagine sharing Robbie with. She'd even made us promise before anything ever happened that our boundaries and friendship would still matter afterward.

And Robbie... God. That man had made me convince him repeatedly that the threesome was something I wanted because he'd been more worried about me regretting it than getting to live out every college guy's fantasy. I trusted him too. Completely. Maybe that was all this was. Trust. I could leave town knowing the two people I loved most were together and not spend the entire night worrying about either one. The two people I loved most. I caught the wording only after I'd thought it.

I loved Cassie. Of course I fucking loved Cassie. She was my best friend. That wasn't exactly a revelation. I picked up my phone and checked the time. Then I opened my messages. There was already a picture from Robbie.

Cassie was sitting at the kitchen island glaring directly at the camera while wrapping what looked like a Christmas present. Robbie had apparently taken the picture at exactly the moment she'd realized what he was doing.

Robbie: Your friend is mean.

Another message appeared.

Cassie: YOUR FIANCÉ IS A CHILD.

Then:

Robbie: She's abusing me.

I laughed out loud in the empty hotel room.

Kat: Try to survive until I get home.

Cassie's reply came first.

Cassie: No promises.

I set my phone down, and for some reason I was still smiling. I decided that whatever weird little thought experiment my brain had decided to conduct that night didn't need an answer.

They were Robbie and Cassie. I trusted them. That was enough. At least, that was what I told myself.

The next morning was the part of the trip I hadn't told either of them about. Well, technically I hadn't lied.

I really did have another business meeting that afternoon. I really was there for The Bowery. Everything I'd told Robbie and Cassie about the trip was true. I had simply arranged one additional appointment while I happened to be away. Robbie was an absolute nightmare to shop for. Not because he was picky. The opposite. Ask him what he wanted for Christmas and he'd shrug and tell me he didn't need anything. Very helpful.

He had money now, which made the problem worse. Anything practical he wanted, he could buy himself. Clothes weren't special enough. Electronics felt lazy. Wrestling stuff was too obvious. I wanted something that was him. History was the answer.

Robbie could lose hours reading about history. Not the sanitized version where everything was reduced to dates and famous names, either. He loved the human parts. Letters. Journals. Firsthand accounts. The little details that reminded you history had happened to actual people who woke up every morning having no idea they were living through something that would eventually end up in textbooks. So, I'd contacted a reputable antiquarian bookseller and manuscript dealer before the trip.

They had something I wanted to see. The shop was considerably smaller than I expected. Quiet, warm and filled with the particular smell of old paper that immediately made me think of Henderson's. The dealer led me into a private viewing room and returned carrying a custom archival box.

"This is the collection I mentioned."

He set it down carefully. I suddenly became nervous. Inside were four small leather-bound journals. They weren't pretty. That was the first thing I noticed. The leather was worn. The edges were scuffed. One had a stain along the bottom that I decided I probably didn't want identified.

But they were real. The dealer put on gloves before carefully opening the first. The handwriting was faded but surprisingly readable.

Lt. Nathaniel Fredrick Whitaker.

I read the name twice.

According to the documentation accompanying the collection, Whitaker had been a young infantry lieutenant when the Civil War began. He had enlisted in 1861 and survived through the end of the war in 1865. The four journals covered most of that period.

Not every day. Not every battle. Just one man's life. Marches. Weather. Food. Letters from home. Men under his command. Fear. Boredom. Death. Small moments of humor written in places where humor probably shouldn't have existed. He wasn't famous. That made me like them more. Robbie didn't need something that had belonged to Grant or Lincoln hanging on his wall so he could tell people how much it cost.

This was history in somebody's handwriting. A normal man who had lived through something extraordinary and written it down because, at the time, he had no way of knowing anyone would care a century and a half later. Robbie would care. I knew that immediately.

"What's the provenance?" I asked.

The dealer walked me through it. Family ownership for generations. Estate transfer. Authentication of the paper, ink and bindings. Military records corroborating Whitaker's service and several people and locations mentioned in the journals. The set came with the supporting documentation and conservation recommendations.

Then he told me the price. I tried very hard not to react. Apparently, old paper was fucking expensive. Still, it was within the amount I'd decided I was willing to spend. More importantly, I could already picture them in Robbie's office.

Not all four displayed permanently. The dealer explained that prolonged light exposure wasn't ideal. Instead, he showed me an archival display case designed to hold one opened volume safely, with the others stored in their protective enclosure. Robbie could rotate them occasionally if he wanted. That made the decision for me.

"I'll take them."

The dealer smiled.

"I suspected you might."

"Was I that obvious?"

"You've been smiling since I opened the box."

Shit. I hadn't realized. I looked back down at the faded handwriting.

"It's for my fiancé."

"A historian?"

"High school English teacher with a fondness for history."

The dealer smiled.

"Even better."

I got everything wrapped up and handled the extra documentation of the sale in order to preserve the chain of custody for provenance. We packed the cases and the journals separately and securely for transport. I hadn't considered how much more difficult it would be to travel with the heavier display case containers, but I would manage.

When I got to the airport the following morning, I unloaded the cases onto a cart to allow me to haul them to the counter where I could check them on the way home. I had them marked fragile and priority to be safe. I then checked in for my flight and made my way through the airport.

I was waiting at my terminal when I noticed it was snowing outside. Not hard enough to be a blizzard, but hard enough that I knew a delay was coming. Sure enough, it did. My flight home ended up delayed by the weather, which left me with almost two hours to kill at the airport. After twenty minutes of sitting at the gate, I decided there wasn't enough patience in the world for that and found a bar instead.

I had barely gotten halfway through my first glass of wine when the man sitting two stools down moved into the empty seat beside me. He was handsome. Probably mid-thirties, dark hair, tailored coat, expensive watch. The polished corporate type. Nothing like Robbie, but attractive in his own right.

"Please tell me you're not actually working," he said, glancing at my phone.

"Trying not to."

"Good. Because I was going to offer to buy you another drink, and I'd hate to interrupt something important."

I smiled despite myself. "That your usual opening?"

"No. Usually I'm much smoother."

I laughed. He was charming. I had to give him that.

"I'm Daniel."

"Kat."

We talked for a few minutes. He was confident, funny and made absolutely no attempt to hide the fact that he was flirting with me. Eventually, his eyes dropped to my left hand.

"That's unfortunate."

I glanced at my engagement ring. "I happen to disagree. I find it quite fortunate."

"I figured." He smiled. "Any chance engaged doesn't mean completely unavailable?"

"Really?" I snorted. "None."

"Worth asking."

"Was it?"

"You laughed twice. I'm counting that as a partial victory."

I shook my head, smiling. "You're persistent."

"I prefer optimistic."

"Then let me save you some optimism, Daniel. I'm very happily engaged, and I'm not interested in anyone else."

That finally seemed to get through.

"Lucky guy."

"Very."

He raised his glass in surrender. "Can't fault me for trying."

"Maybe a little. A ring should be a stop sign, not an obstacle."

He laughed, wished me a safe flight and eventually returned to his original seat. I took another sip of wine. The strange thing was, he really had been attractive. Charming too. Before Robbie, I probably would've flirted right back. Now there hadn't even been a temptation. I loved Robbie. I wanted Robbie. Robbie wanted me. That was it. Neither of us wanted other people. Which made what I'd thought about Robbie and Cassie the night before considerably harder to explain. Because apparently Cassie wasn't registering in my head as other people anymore. And I had absolutely no fucking idea what to do with that.

By the time I got home the following afternoon, I was completely done with traveling. Robbie was waiting for me at the airport. When we got home, Lady was waiting eagerly for me too. The second I got through the door, she came charging toward me like I'd returned from a six-month deployment instead of a two-night business trip.

"Oh my God! Hi, Lady!"

I dropped down to pet her, which resulted in an immediate assault of tail wagging and affection.

"Yeah, yeah. I missed you too."

"I'm standing right here," Robbie said.

I looked up. He was leaning against the doorway, smiling.

"She's cuter."

"That's fucked up."

"And she doesn't argue with me."

Lady barked.

Robbie pointed at her.

"See? She absolutely does."

I laughed and stood. Then I was in his arms. Home. It was ridiculous how quickly my entire body relaxed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him differently than I did at the airport.

"Hi, baby."

"Hey, beautiful."

"I missed you."

"Missed you too."

I kissed him again. Longer.

When we finally separated, Cassie came walking in from the kitchen.

"Are you two finished?"

"No," I said.

"Not remotely," Robbie added.

"Gross."

I released him and went straight to her. Cassie opened her arms, and I hugged her tightly.

"I missed you too, girl."

"Yeah, yeah."

She squeezed me harder than her dismissive tone suggested.

I pulled back and looked between them.

"So?"

"So what?" Robbie asked.

"You two survive without me?"

Cassie and Robbie looked at each other. Something about that tiny glance caught my attention. Nothing suspicious. Nothing guilty. If anything, it was comfortable. Familiar.

"We managed," Cassie said.

"Barely," Robbie added.

Cassie rolled her eyes.

I smiled. For a second, that strange thought from the hotel came back. Robbie and Cassie. Alone. Except now it wasn't sexual. It was just the two of them standing in our kitchen looking completely at ease with each other. And once again, I didn't feel jealous. I felt happy. I wasn't sure what the hell that meant. So naturally, I ignored it. I had Christmas presents to hide. Looking at them, though, I decided that would be entirely too hard, so I asked Cassie if she could keep them in her place until I could wrap them. She agreed.

Later that night, Cassie said good night, and she took Lady back to the pool house with her. Robbie was lying on the couch, half watching some random Christmas movie. I loved how sexy he managed to look while not even trying. I bit my lip as I looked at him from the kitchen. I decided I needed him right then and there. I smirked slightly as I silently bent down and slid off my leggings and panties, kicking them to the side. I had already taken my bra off ages ago, so now I was standing there wearing only one of his old T-shirts.

I walked up next to the couch and took the remote and turned off the TV. The living room was now only lit by a combination of Christmas lights, the fireplace and some light coming from the kitchen lights that I left on. He looked up at me and immediately recognized the look on my face.

"Can I help you, my love?" he asked quietly.

"I'm having a craving for dessert before we go to bed..."

"Oh? And can I help you find the particular dessert you're looking for?"

I sank to my knees as my hand reached for his semi-hard cock. "I believe you can..."

With that, I didn't wait for a response or for permission. I slid his sweats down and immediately leaned forward, taking his hardening cock into my mouth. Immediately, I began to enjoy the flavor of his cock as I swirled my tongue around the head. I began working my mouth down his cock slowly, my tongue licking the sensitive underside of his shaft. He moaned loudly as my mouth worked his cock. I moaned as I felt his hand gripping my ass as I sucked him. I had built up a steady rhythm, bobbing my head up and down on his thick rod. That rhythm was thrown off momentarily when I felt his fingers slide into me as I continued working his shaft. I moaned around his cock as he slid in one finger and then a second and slowly began fingering me. I pulled my mouth from his cock just long enough to slide the shirt off and throw it to the side. Then I took him back into my mouth hungrily. We were both moaning loudly as we pleasured each other.

He had my pussy so wet from fingering me, and his cock had a thick coating of saliva over it when I finally stopped sucking him and stood up. Before I straddled him, I took his hand and brought it to my mouth. I could smell my pussy on his fingers as I took them into my mouth and tasted my pussy as I licked my arousal from his wet fingers.

I straddled him on the couch. I felt his slick cock at my glistening entrance. I was so wet for him already. I reached down and guided him into my pussy as I sank down slowly. I moaned loudly as I felt his cock stretch my pussy. I felt a jolt of pleasure shoot through my body as his cock hit the most sensitive spot inside me. I began riding him with slow, hard strokes up and down his length. Every time, I would lift almost completely off his dick before plunging it back inside of me. It felt so good. I don't know what caused me to look toward the kitchen at that moment, but when I did, I froze as I saw Cassie standing there, frozen with her hand reaching toward a light switch.

As our eyes met, she said, "Oh fuck, I'm so sorry. I thought you guys just left a light on again. I was just gonna..."

"It's okay, Cass."

"I'm just gonna..."

"No! Don't go!" I said, the words leaving my mouth before I could stop them.

I wasn't sure if it was all the thoughts flooding my mind about the two of them lately or just our sexual history, but the thought of her watching me fuck my fiancé had me so turned on in the moment. Not even her participating, just having her watch sounded sexy as hell.

"Obviously, you guys are busy. I don't want to interrupt..."

"I want you to watch."

"Ummm, are you guys sure?" Cassie asked.

I looked down at Robbie, who gave me a brief look before smirking and nodding. I looked back at Cassie and nodded.

She hesitated momentarily. I began riding Robbie slowly again as Cassie made her way into the great room.

"It's really okay if I just watch?"

I nodded.

"Am I allowed to get more comfortable?"

I nodded again.

"Am I allowed to enjoy myself over here?" she asked as she sat in the chair across from the sectional where Robbie and I kept fucking.

"Whatever you're comfortable with, as long as you're watching," I moaned as I started riding Robbie's dick again.

I leaned down to allow Robbie better access to my tits. He immediately began sucking on my nipples as I kept sliding up and down his shaft. I began to moan louder. Cassie sitting there watching made the experience so much more intense. At first, she just watched us with rapt attention. Slowly, her hands started to make their way to her breasts as she massaged them as we continued.

When Robbie and I switched positions so he was on top, Cassie took her top off. Her fingers circled her nipples as she groped her own tits. Robbie sank his cock deep inside me and kept fucking me hard as I watched Cassie's hand disappear under her boyshorts. I could see her fingers working her pussy.

"That's it, baby. Fuck me hard, just like that, baby! Your cock feels so fucking good, baby! I love how your cock feels in my pussy!" I moaned as Robbie fucked me harder and harder.

The intensity of how hard he was fucking me, coupled with watching my best friend sit back and finger herself while it happened, pushed me over the edge. I began coming hard. My back arched off the couch, my legs clamped around Robbie as an intense orgasm washed over me. My moans filled the room as I lost the ability to form words. My nails dug into Robbie's back as my body tensed up through the intense waves of pure pleasure. Robbie did his best to keep going until my legs clamped around him too tight.

When I finally came down from my orgasm, we turned to look at Cassie. She was now as naked as I was, her legs on either armrest of the recliner as her fingers slowly worked her soaking pussy. "Can he take you from behind?" she asked hesitantly.

I smiled and nodded. Robbie did the same. Robbie's cock was absolutely coated with a slick layer of my arousal as he withdrew from my dripping wet pussy. I got up on all fours, trying to angle myself so she would have the best view. Robbie slid back inside me effortlessly, drawing another long, guttural moan from me as he did. It didn't take long for him to be slamming his cock in and out of me as hard as he could, fucking me hard and rough, my favorite in this position. I arched my back obscenely as I laid my chest flat against the couch, giving him the best angle to pound my G-spot. When I did, we heard Cassie say, "Holy fuck, that's hot!"

One of Robbie's hands stayed on my hip, the other pressed to the back of my neck, holding me firmly but not hurting me. He knew I liked to be handled rough when he fucked me like this. "Oh fuck yes! Pound that pussy, baby! Fuck my pussy harder! Use this pussy, baby!" I moaned.

"Fuck! You take my cock like such a good girl, babe! You like it when I pound this pussy! You like having this pussy filled with my cock, babe?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Fuck me hard! I want your cum! Fill me up, baby! Give me your cum!"

Begging for his cum did it every time. He couldn't resist.

"Cum inside me, baby! I want you to fill this pussy with your cum!"

That pushed him over the edge. I felt him slam his cock all the way into my pussy and erupt. My loud moans filled the entire room as Robbie emptied his load into me. Now, though, they were accompanied by Cassie's moans. I heard the sound of her fingers working in and out of her literally dripping-wet pussy. After one final twitch of his cock, Robbie finally collapsed back, leaving all three of us to catch our breath.

We all looked at each other, all of us comfortable with our present state of nudity. "Well... that was, uh..." Robbie started.

"This isn't what I was going for when I came in! I honestly thought you left a light on."

"We know, Cass. Obviously, it's okay."

"So, where did this come from? I mean, I know all three of us have had fun together, but why did you just want her to watch all of a sudden?" Robbie asked.

"I have no idea. It just sounded so hot in the moment."

"It was! It was so fucking hot. Way better than the porn I was watching in my room."

That got us all laughing. Cassie started getting dressed again to walk back to her pool house. Before she left, as I lay against Robbie's chest, I said, "Maybe next time I can be the one to sit back and just watch while you two have fun."

Cassie stopped and looked at me and then at Robbie. "I mean, I would be open to the idea. If that's what you really want."

I looked at Robbie, and he just said, "At this point, I'm open to anything as long as we are all on the same page."

They both looked at me then. I just smiled and said, "We'll talk about it."

And we left it at that. Cassie went back to her place. Robbie and I went to bed. We definitely had a few more rounds before we finally went to sleep. We were both too wound up to go to bed when we got upstairs. The next morning came and nothing was weird. No big deal was made. A few knowing smiles between us, perhaps. Robbie made us breakfast, and all three of us ate before Cassie and I finally left for the bookstore together. Nothing got weird at work either. Which was very important to us.

The days between getting home and Christmas disappeared. Owning a bookstore during Christmas was fucking insane. It felt like every person in Pennsylvania remembered at exactly the same time that books existed. The Bowery was packed.

Cassie and I spent most days bouncing between the office, sales floor and event space while our staff tried to keep shelves stocked faster than customers emptied them. My publisher meetings had given us plenty to work on after New Year's, but for the moment, our primary business strategy was apparently survive December.

Christmas morning was wonderfully uneventful. No hospitals. No police stations. No lawyers showing up unexpectedly at the house. Just the three of us sitting around the living room in pajamas with coffee, Lady investigating every piece of wrapping paper that hit the floor like she had been appointed Christmas morning quality-control inspector.

I'd been waiting to give Robbie his present.

"Mine first," I said, reaching for the rectangular package I'd hidden as best I could behind the tree.

Robbie took it from me and raised an eyebrow.

"This is heavy."

"Just open it."

He tore through the paper and opened the box beneath it. The smart-ass comment I expected never came. Inside were several leather-bound journals, carefully preserved and authenticated, along with the display case. Robbie stared at them. Then at me. Then back at them.

"Kat..."

"I found them while I was gone."

His head snapped toward me.

"Your buying trip?"

"I did actually have a buying trip." I smiled. "I may have also arranged to meet with an antiquarian dealer while I was there."

He put on one of the white cloth gloves and carefully picked up one of the journals like he was afraid breathing too hard might damage it.

"These are real?"

"Authenticated. He enlisted in 1861 and survived the war. Those are his original journals."

"Holy shit."

The absolute wonder on his face made every dollar worth it.

"I thought they could go in your office."

He looked at me again, and whatever he was about to say seemed to disappear. Instead, he set the journal down carefully, leaned over and pulled me into his arms.

"This might be the coolest fucking thing anyone has ever bought me."

I laughed against his chest.

"Merry Christmas, my love."

He kissed me.

"Merry Christmas, babe."

I pointed to Cassie and said, "You're next!"

I handed Cassie her present. Hers wasn't nearly as historically significant, but I'd spent almost as much time choosing it: a beautiful leather satchel she'd stared at every single time we passed it in one of the shops downtown but refused to buy because, according to her, she already had a perfectly functional bag.

She pulled it from the box and immediately glared at me.

"You didn't."

"I did."

"Kat, this thing is ridiculously expensive."

"And?"

"And I specifically didn't buy it because it was ridiculously expensive."

"Which is why I bought it."

She stared at me for a second before her expression softened.

"I fucking hate you."

"No, you don't."

"No." She leaned over and hugged me. "I really don't."

Cassie had apparently decided retaliation was necessary. She gave me a beautiful first-edition copy of one of my favorite novels for my office at The Bowery, then handed Robbie a box containing several books detailing the many battles of the Civil War. Watching his face light up made her look entirely too pleased with herself. Eventually, Robbie disappeared upstairs.

When he came back, he was carrying two small wrapped boxes. One considerably smaller than the other. He handed me the small one.

"Your turn."

I narrowed my eyes.

"You already gave me presents."

"Not this one."

I peeled away the paper and found a jewelry box underneath.

I looked at him.

"Robbie..."

"Open it."

I did.

For a moment, I just stared. A delicate white-gold necklace rested inside, a brilliant blue diamond at its center surrounded by tiny white diamonds.

"Oh my God."

My hand went immediately to my mouth.

Robbie smiled.

"Merry Christmas, babe."

"Robbie, this is..."

"Your something blue."

That did it. My eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Awwwww, baby!"

His smile widened.

"I thought you could wear it at the wedding. Then after. Maybe someday we give it to our daughter or granddaughter or something."

"Oh my God, Robbie! That's so sweet!"

By then, I was full-on crying. Cassie laughed from beside me.

"That went about how I expected."

My head turned.

"You knew?"

She immediately realized her mistake.

"Shit."

"You knew!"

"I helped him pick it out!"

I looked between them.

"You two went jewelry shopping together?"

Robbie shrugged.

"I needed somebody who knew what you liked."

Something about that made my chest ache in the best possible way. I kissed him, then reached across and pulled Cassie into the hug too.

"I love you both."

"Love you too," Cassie murmured.

Robbie kissed the side of my head.

"Love you, babe."

Eventually, Robbie reached for the other package and handed it to Cassie.

She blinked.

"What is this?"

"Your present."

"You already got me something."

"That was from both of us. This one's from me."

Cassie looked at me. I shrugged. I genuinely didn't know. She opened it and found a beautiful leather-bound journal inside, her initials embossed into the cover. For once, Cassie didn't immediately have something smart to say.

"You're always writing shit down at the store," Robbie said. "Ideas, orders, stuff you want to change. Half the time it's on random pieces of paper you lose five minutes later."

"I really do!" she said, laughing.

She ran her fingers over her initials.

"So I figured you deserved somewhere permanent to put the important stuff."

Cassie looked up at him. Her expression softened.

"Thank you, Robbie."

"Of course."

She leaned over and hugged him. It lasted only a couple seconds longer than any other hug between them would have. Probably nothing anyone else would've noticed. But I did. And strangely, it didn't bother me at all.

I just smiled and reached over to scratch Lady behind the ears while she attempted to climb into the discarded wrapping paper. Christmas morning with my fiancé, my best friend and her dog. Six months before the wedding. For the first time in weeks, there wasn't anything complicated about it. It just felt like home.

We had opted to keep our Christmas small this year with the wedding coming up, so we spent the rest of the day sporadically on video calls with family. Later in the morning, Ricky and Evan came by as well. We had a delicious Christmas dinner courtesy of Ricky and Evan, who insisted on serving smoked brisket for everyone. Apparently, Evan had a gift for barbecue.

We had the store on reduced hours between Christmas and New Year's to allow everyone time with family and whatnot. Wedding planning wasn't slowing down either. At that point, we still had almost six months until the wedding, which sounded like plenty of time until you were actually planning one.

The winter passed faster than I expected, and by early spring, those six months had somehow become three.

Three months sounded like plenty of time until you were planning a wedding. Then three months sounded like tomorrow.

One of the things we couldn't put off any longer was another fitting. Mom met Cassie and me at the bridal boutique.

Our relationship had changed so much that sometimes I forgot how impossible that sentence would have sounded a couple years earlier. There had been a time when having my mother involved in something as personal as my wedding dress would have made every muscle in my body tense. Now I was genuinely glad when she walked through the door.

"Sorry I'm late," Mom said as she walked into the bridal salon.

"You're four minutes early," I said.

Mom looked at her watch.

"Yes, and what did your father always say about punctuality?"

"If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time..."

"You're late," Mom and I said in unison.

Cassie laughed.

"That was low-key impressive."

Mom and I laughed too. God, that still felt good. Not strange anymore. Just good. The consultant took Cassie first while they finished preparing my dress.

Her maid-of-honor dress had already been selected. This fitting was mostly about making sure the alterations were falling correctly and identifying whatever still needed adjusting.

Cassie stepped out a few minutes later. I smiled immediately.

The dress was a floor-length, deep burgundy gown, fitted through the waist and hips with delicate black lace framing the neckline and trailing down the bodice. A high slit revealed another panel of black lace underneath, giving the elegant dress just a hint of something sexier but still elegant. The way it fit her curves was absolutely amazing.

"Oh, Cass!"

She looked at herself in the mirror.

"What?"

"You look so beautiful."

Her expression softened.

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

Mom stood beside me.

"You really do, Cassandra."

Cassie turned slightly, looking at the dress from another angle.

I'd seen her in it before. Obviously. But something about seeing her standing there while the wedding was suddenly so close hit differently. My best friend was going to be standing beside me when I married Robbie. There had never been anyone else I wanted there. Cassie caught me staring.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

I smiled.

"Nothing."

"Kat."

"I was just thinking."

"Uh-oh."

"Fuck you."

Mom sighed.

"Such elegant young women."

Cassie smiled at her through the mirror.

"You love us."

"I do."

The simplicity of Mom's answer quieted both of us. Cassie looked down for a second. I knew Mom had meant it. Cassie had become part of everything. The bookstore. The house. Christmas. The wedding. Our family.

Maybe that was why my thoughts at the hotel hadn't bothered me. She wasn't some woman standing outside my relationship trying to get in. Cassie was already inside nearly every other part of my life. I didn't finish that thought, though. That was a thought for later.

The consultant returned and rescued me from having to. Then it was my turn. I'd already seen the dress. I'd already worn the dress. It shouldn't have been emotional anymore.

Apparently, wedding dresses didn't work like that. I stepped out and onto the platform. I stood in front of the mirror in my dress, the ivory lace hugging every curve before flaring out just above my knees and flowing into a long train behind me. The thin straps and plunging neckline showed more skin than your traditional wedding dress, but somehow, it still felt elegant. More importantly, it felt like me.

Mom went completely silent. Cassie's mouth fell open.

"What?"

Neither answered.

"Guys?"

Mom's eyes filled immediately.

"Oh, Mom."

"Don't," she said.

"You're crying."

"I am not."

"You very clearly are."

Cassie pointed.

"Definitely crying."

"Neither of you are helping."

All three of us were tearing up now. The wedding had felt like something so far off, something nebulous, something eventual. Now it was real. Not some abstract event several months away. I could see it now. I could see myself walking toward Robbie. I could see him standing there waiting for me. Rosa beside him. Ricky nearby. Cassie beside me. Mom watching.

Three months. Holy shit. I was actually getting married. Mom came up behind me and gently touched my arm.

"You're so incredibly beautiful, sweetheart."

That got me.

"Thanks, Mom."

She looked at me through the mirror.

"You're so happy."

It wasn't a question.

I smiled.

"I really am, Mom."

Mom laughed through whatever tears she was still pretending not to have.

"I'm glad."

That got me too. Because there had been a time when Mom had wanted a very different future for me. There had been a time when I thought repairing our relationship meant figuring out how to forgive everything that had happened. Somewhere along the way, we'd done something better. We'd built something new.

I reached for her hand. She took it. Cassie stepped up on my other side. For a moment, the three of us just looked into the mirror.

"You know Robbie's going to cry, right?" Cassie said.

I laughed.

"He is not."

"Bullshit."

Mom smiled.

"He's going to cry."

"Mom!"

"He loves you."

"I know that."

"Then he's going to cry."

I looked at myself again. At the dress. At Mom beside me. At Cassie on the other side. Maybe they were right. And suddenly, I desperately wanted to see it.

Then the last stretch of planning. Then the wedding. Then Robbie would be my husband. The thought still gave me butterflies. What I didn't understand yet was that somewhere during all that planning, the picture I'd always carried of what our life after the wedding would look like had already started changing. Not dramatically. Not enough for me to notice. Just enough that whenever I pictured home now, there were almost always three coffee mugs in the kitchen. And I hadn't even realized I was doing it.

Three months. That was the part I couldn't get out of my head after the fitting. Three months until I married Robbie.

It was strange how differently time worked when you were planning a wedding. When we'd booked June 16th, it had felt impossibly far away. There had been an entire year between us and that date. Plenty of time to figure everything out.

Then suddenly, we were talking about June, and June was coming really fast. The next couple months became less about planning our wedding and more about finishing it.

There was a difference. We weren't choosing things anymore. We were confirming them.

Final guest count. Final menu. Final flowers. Final timeline. Final transportation arrangements. Final song selections. Final seating chart, which deserved its own special place in hell.

There were phone calls with the venue, emails from our wedding planner, appointments with vendors and more documents requiring my approval than I had signed when Cassie and I opened The Bowery.

My dress went through its final alterations. Robbie's suit came in. Our rings were ready. The honeymoon was completely booked.

The Bowery kept me busy enough that I didn't have time to obsess over every wedding detail even if I'd wanted to. By spring, Cassie and I had finally settled into something resembling an actual rhythm there. We weren't scrambling to solve a new catastrophe every day anymore. We had managers we trusted. Employees who knew what they were doing. Regular customers. Events booked months in advance.

It finally felt less like we were trying to keep our dream alive and more like we were actually running a successful business. That also meant Cassie and I occasionally had lives again. Occasionally.

The bachelor and bachelorette parties happened somewhere in the middle of all of it. Cassie took responsibility for mine with the kind of enthusiasm that should have concerned me considerably more than it did. Rosa helped, which did concern me, because putting those two women in charge of the same evening felt like the social equivalent of mixing household chemicals and hoping nothing exploded.

It was fun. It was loud. There was entirely too much alcohol. There were portions of the evening that I had already informed several people were never to be discussed in Robbie's presence, not because I'd done anything wrong, but because some things were simply better left between women. Actually, most things on a four-day weekend trip to Miami for a bachelorette party should be left between women.

Robbie's bachelor party was considerably less mysterious than he apparently thought it was. Ricky couldn't keep his mouth shut, Rosa knew everything anyway as she was his Best Person, as he called her, and Robbie was terrible at hiding anything from me. He came home hungover, exhausted and wearing a T-shirt I had never seen before from Vegas.

I decided not to ask. Mostly because I wasn't entirely sure I wanted the answer. Then life went back to normal. Or whatever normal had become for us.

That was when I started noticing Robbie and Cassie. Not in the way I had noticed them before. There had always been something there physically. Pretending otherwise would have been ridiculous after everything the three of us had already done together. This was different. It was little stuff. Stupid stuff. The kind of things nobody would notice unless they knew both of them as well as I did. None of it bad or nefarious. It all made me smile.

Cassie started texting Robbie directly when she knew I was busy at The Bowery.

Sometimes it was practical. Can you grab dog food on the way home? Kat left her charger at the house again. Do we have anything planned for dinner? Other times, it was just them talking about stuff like normal close friends do.

Somehow, they'd developed their own relationship while I wasn't paying attention. Not a romantic relationship. At least I didn't think it was. It was friendship. Real friendship. The kind that existed even when I wasn't standing between them.

I liked that more than I expected.

One Saturday afternoon, I came home from The Bowery and found Robbie in the garage working on his Hellcat while Cassie sat on the workbench talking to him. I don't even remember what they were talking about. That wasn't what caught my attention. It was how completely normal they looked.

Cassie was swinging one leg absentmindedly while she talked. Robbie was half listening while he worked, occasionally looking up to respond. Lady was stretched out on the concrete between them.

Neither of them noticed me standing there at first. Then Cassie saw me.

"Hey! There she is."

Robbie looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, babe."

That was it.

Nothing suspicious. Nothing awkward. Nothing they needed to stop doing because I'd appeared. And for some reason, that made me smile. They weren't getting along because of me anymore. They just got along.

By May, the countdown changed again. Months became weeks. People started asking me whether I was nervous.

I wasn't. That surprised some of them. Apparently, brides were supposed to spend the last month before their wedding oscillating between overwhelming joy and complete emotional collapse. I mostly wanted June 16th to hurry up. I wanted to marry my man!

There wasn't anything left for me to question about that. If anything, watching our lives settle into place over those last few months had made me more certain.

The house felt like home. The Bowery felt stable. Mom and I were still figuring out whatever our relationship was going to become, but we were figuring it out. Robbie loved teaching. I loved what Cassie and I had built. Nobody was recovering from a catastrophe.

We were just living. And somehow, Cassie had become woven through almost all of it. That probably should have been more complicated than it felt. It wasn't, though.

About a month before the wedding, we had one of those unexpectedly warm nights where it felt like summer had decided to show up early.

Cassie and I had gotten home from The Bowery around eight. Robbie had grilled steaks out back, and we'd eaten by the pool with music playing quietly from the outdoor speakers.

None of us had anywhere to be. Nobody was coming over. There was nothing left on my wedding list that couldn't wait until tomorrow. So, we opened a bottle of wine. Then another. Not enough that any of us were drunk. Enough that nobody seemed particularly interested in going inside. At some point, Cassie disappeared into the pool house and came back wearing her swimsuit.

I stared at her.

"What?"

"Well! You certainly came out prepared!"

"I'm going swimming. You have a pool. That's generally how pools work."

Robbie laughed.

Cassie pointed at him.

"Don't encourage her."

"I didn't say anything."

"You laughed."

"Laughter is innocent."

I snorted.

"You have literally never been innocent."

Cassie laughed.

"See? She knows."

Robbie looked between us.

"I feel attacked in my own home."

"Our home," I corrected automatically.

I replayed what I'd said. Our home. I smiled. When we'd first moved in, Cassie had been so careful about calling the pool house hers and the main house ours. Like there was some invisible property line running through the backyard that she wasn't supposed to cross unless invited.

"Then defend your home, Stockton."

She jumped into the pool. Water exploded over the edge. Robbie flinched as it splashed across his legs.

"Oh, you're gonna regret that."

Cassie surfaced laughing and pushed her wet hair out of her face.

"Big talk from dry land."

Robbie set his beer down. I grabbed his arm before he could stand.

"No."

He looked at me.

"She challenged me."

"And I know exactly how this ends. You throw her into the deep end, a war begins, and somehow, I end up soaking wet."

From the pool, Cassie called, "He's scared."

Robbie's head snapped toward her. I sighed.

"For fuck's sake."

He pulled his shirt over his head. Cassie's attention immediately shifted. It wasn't subtle. Her eyes traveled over him for maybe half a second too long before she caught herself and looked away. That was interesting. Not surprising. Definitely interesting. Robbie kicked off his shoes.

"Last chance to apologize."

Cassie backed away from the edge.

"For what?"

He jumped in. Cassie shrieked as the splash hit her directly in the face.

I couldn't help but laugh. I nearly spilled my wine.

"You asshole!"

"You started this, woman!"

She launched herself at him. Robbie caught her around the waist before she could dunk him, and for a few seconds they wrestled around like children while Cassie tried unsuccessfully to shove his head underwater. I watched them laughing together. This was a different side of Cassie, the side where her guard was completely down, a side usually saved for the people closest to Cassie. A side I counted myself lucky enough to have seen. That was almost what made it stand out.

A few months ago, I wasn't sure Cassie would have touched Robbie without immediately wondering whether she'd crossed some invisible boundary. Robbie probably would have worried about the same thing. Now neither of them thought twice about it. They were truly comfortable with each other. I liked that. Maybe more than I realized.

Cassie finally escaped him and pointed at me.

"Get your ass in here."

"I'm perfectly happy right here."

"Kat."

"No."

She looked at Robbie. I saw the agreement happen between them without a single word.

"Oh, fuck both of you."

Robbie put both hands up.

"I haven't done anything."

"You're thinking about it."

"Am I not allowed to think in my own backyard?"

"Not with her helping you."

Cassie smiled at me from the water. That did absolutely nothing to improve my confidence in either of them. I set my wine down and pointed between them.

"I will go put a swimsuit on. If either of you comes out of that pool before I get back, there will be consequences."

"That feels unnecessarily threatening," Robbie said.

"Good."

I heard them laughing as I went inside. By the time I came back, they had apparently moved on to arguing about whether Cassie had actually managed to dunk him.

"Your entire head went under," she insisted.

"You, ma'am, are delusional. Besides, proof or it didn't happen."

"That's a convenient fucking way out of admitting I got you."

"Would you prefer an inconvenient one?"

I stepped down into the shallow end.

"Please tell me this hasn't been the conversation the entire time I was gone."

"He's a sore loser," Cassie said.

Robbie looked at me.

"I'm being bullied."

"You seem to be surviving."

He reached for my hand and drew me toward him. I went willingly, although I kept one hand braced against his chest.

"If you dunk me, I'm changing the locks."

"I was going to kiss you."

"Okay, but I'm watching you."

He leaned in and kissed me gently. One of those kisses that was so small yet filled with so much love. There was something about the way he looked at me that always let me know I came first in his life. Cassie made an obnoxious noise behind us.

"You're the one who wanted me in here," I reminded her when we separated.

"And somehow I've made things worse for myself."

"You could stop watching," Robbie suggested.

"You could stop making out in the middle of the fucking pool."

He grinned at her. She tried to hold her expression and failed.

We stayed in the water for a while. Cassie and I eventually teamed up against him, mostly because listening to him insist he was winning had become unbearable. Lady paced along the edge, deeply concerned about why her people were making so much noise somewhere she wasn't willing to follow.

By the time we called a truce, the sun had dropped behind the house and the air had started losing some of its warmth. Cassie folded her arms.

"Hot tub?"

"Best thing you've said all night," Robbie told her.

"I said your steaks were good."

"Correction, second-best thing you've said all night."

We made our way around to the raised hot tub. I settled into the warm water with a sigh while Robbie went to grab our drinks and towels. The pool lights had come on, and water spilled over the stone beside us into the pool below. We watched Robbie walking back, the lights putting in some extra work as they lit up his chiseled physique and almost made it seem like he was walking back in slow motion.

As Cassie went to lay her head back, she leaned over and whispered, "Good God, you know you're basically marrying Reacher if he was a teacher, right?"

"I do know that. Lucky for us."

"I'm definitely not complaining, girl."

Robbie returned, setting the towels within reach before passing us our drinks. He lowered himself into the water beside me, stretching one arm along the edge behind my shoulders. For several minutes, nobody said much. The music was still playing quietly from the patio. As different as all of our tastes were, we all appreciated the general vibe of the modern reggae music he had playing. It set the laid-back mood exceptionally well. Lady circled one of the loungers three times before deciding it met her standards and climbing onto it.

I watched her settle in.

"She has a bed out here."

"Several," Cassie said.

"Bought by a man with absolutely no self-control," I added.

Robbie looked offended.

"She likes options."

"She likes whatever somebody else is sitting on," Cassie said. "Wonder where she learned that."

He looked at her.

"You took my seat last night."

"You got up."

"To get you a damn drink."

"And I appreciated it. I just also appreciated how warm the spot was when you got up."

I laughed into my wine. They'd had this exact argument in the living room, although last night it had ended with Cassie refusing to move her legs and Robbie sitting down anyway. She'd spent the rest of the movie with her feet in his lap while insisting he was crowding her.

"You're spoiled," he told her.

"You're largely responsible for that."

He considered it.

"My generosity has created a monster."

There was something about how easily he admitted it that made her smile. She glanced down at her drink, then back at him.

"You did make a pretty good dinner, though."

"Careful now. That's twice you've complimented me."

"Don't make me regret it."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

For once, he left it there. Cassie's smile stayed a moment longer before she took a sip of wine. I realized I was watching them again. Robbie noticed first.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Cassie lifted her head.

"That wasn't a nothing look."

"Apparently, I'm not allowed to look at people now."

"You're allowed," Robbie said. "You just look like you're thinking about something."

I ran my thumb along the stem of my glass.

"I like this."

Cassie glanced around us.

"The hot tub?"

"Well, yes. Obviously." I smiled. "But I meant you two."

Neither answered immediately.

"Getting along," I added. "Having your own stupid arguments. Hanging out when I'm at work. It's nice."

Robbie looked across at her.

"I've been trying to get rid of her. She keeps showing up."

"You texted me yesterday asking when I was coming home."

"I was making dinner."

"You'd already asked Kat."

He opened his mouth, then closed it. Cassie smiled into her glass.

"That's what I thought."

I laughed, but the exchange stayed with me. He could have made another joke. Instead, he gave her a small, conceding nod, and she looked entirely too pleased about it. I set my glass on the stone behind me. There had been plenty of opportunities to bring this up over the last few months. I'd thought about it while we made breakfast. While Cassie and I drove to work. In bed with Robbie after another evening spent watching all three of us fit together so easily. Every time, I'd decided to wait until I knew exactly how to say it.

Apparently, the perfect opening was going to involve a hot tub and wine, which made more sense the more I thought about it.

"Do you guys remember what I said before Christmas?"

Robbie looked down at me.

"You're going to have to narrow that down, babe."

"The night in the living room. When Cassie came back to turn the light off..."

Cassie went still for a second.

"Oh..."

Robbie's expression changed too. The humor stayed, but his attention settled fully on me.

"Yes, my love," he said. "I remember."

"I said maybe next time I could watch you two."

Cassie nodded slowly.

"And then you said we'd talk about it."

"We never really did."

"No," Robbie said.

I looked between them.

"I think I'd like to..."

Neither immediately filled the silence. I appreciated that, although it gave me plenty of time to wonder why the hell I was suddenly nervous. We'd had much more awkward conversations than this. We'd certainly done things that should have made talking about it easier.

Robbie's hand rested lightly against my thigh.

"Okay, babe. Talk to us."

I took a breath.

"I meant it when I said it. And I've kept thinking about it since then."

Cassie glanced at him before looking back at me.

"I wasn't sure whether you'd changed your mind."

"Why?"

"Because you didn't bring it up again." She shrugged a little. "I wasn't going to start pestering you about it. If I am being honest, I've thought about it since, but it's not exactly easy to tell your best friend you want to fuck her fiancé, even if it was her idea."

"Yeah, while we are being honest, I am kind of in the same boat. I thought about it, but you're the love of my life, babe, so it's not like I was going to come to you and just ask if you remembered the time you mentioned me fucking your best friend right after she watched us hook up," Robbie said.

That made sense. Of course it did. They'd both left it with me because I'd been the one who said we should talk.

"You both make good points, and I definitely appreciate you respecting all the boundaries we've set. That means a lot to me. Seriously. Having said that, I definitely haven't changed my mind."

Cassie's eyes stayed on mine.

"So you'd want to sit back and just watch? The whole time?"

"I think I would, yes." I paused. "I know I've watched you together before. But I've always been part of what we were doing too. It was always the three of us. I know there is a difference between a threesome and just watching. I'm curious about letting the two of you have that time together while I'm there."

Robbie nodded, thinking about it.

"Would you feel left out?"

"I wouldn't be leaving the room, baby."

"I know. That's not quite what I'm asking."

I looked at him. He was being serious, so I gave the question more than the quick answer I'd been ready with.

"When I picture it, I don't," I said. "If that changes, I'll tell you."

"Okay."

I touched his hand.

"I don't want you spending the entire time worrying that I secretly hate something I asked for."

His mouth lifted slightly.

"You know me pretty well."

"I do, baby. That's part of why we are getting married."

Cassie laughed quietly. The sound helped. I looked over at her.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Would you want to?"

She glanced down at the water before answering.

"Yes."

The directness caught me more than the answer did.

"Okay."

"I said I was interested when you brought it up. I still am." Her gaze moved briefly to Robbie. "I just want to understand what you're asking."

"What I said. You and Robbie together, with me watching."

"And afterward?"

I thought about that.

"Afterward, we see how we feel about it. Like we did the first time."

Cassie nodded, but there was still something on her face.

"What?" I asked.

She rubbed her palms over her knees beneath the water.

"Kat, you guys are getting married next month."

"I am very aware. There are approximately forty emails on my phone reminding me."

She smiled briefly.

"I know. I just..." She looked between us. "I like how things are here. Coming over for dinner. Annoying you both. Having somewhere I actually want to come home to. That matters to me."

My chest tightened a little.

"It matters to us too."

"I know it does. I'm saying I wouldn't want to start wondering whether hanging out with him by myself was going to feel different afterward. Whether we'd made something easy into something we had to be careful about."

Robbie leaned forward slightly.

"I'd still want you to come hang out with me, Cass. I don't see that changing any time soon."

She looked at him. He shrugged.

"Even when you talk through every fucking movie."

"You put on movies I've already seen."

"Because you pick them."

She laughed, then looked down with a small shake of her head. I reached across the water for her hand.

"I like that you two are close. I don't want you second-guessing every text or every time you're in the garage together because we decided to try this."

"Okay."

"And I don't want you doing this just because I asked."

Cassie looked at me, then at Robbie.

"I think we established a long time ago that I find him attractive."

"Always nice to hear it again," he said.

"Don't ruin the moment."

"Sorry."

But when she looked back at him, she didn't immediately turn it into another joke.

"I would want to," she told him.

He met her eyes.

"So would I, as long as we are all on the same page, just like I said before."

There it was. A simple exchange, and somehow I was very glad I'd stopped talking long enough to let them have it. Cassie squeezed my hand once before letting go.

"I do have a question."

"Okay."

"Why bring it up tonight?"

I glanced toward the pool. The water had settled now, the lights shifting across the bottom.

"Watching you two have fun, I guess."

Robbie raised an eyebrow.

"She was trying to drown me."

"And you seemed very upset about it."

Cassie smiled. I looked back at her.

"You're comfortable with each other. I like seeing that. And I realized I was sitting there thinking about this again when I could just ask you."

There was more to it than that. The hotel room. Christmas morning. All those little moments I'd kept noticing and then telling myself didn't need examining. I hadn't worked out what all of them meant. But I knew what I wanted to ask tonight, and I'd finally managed to say it.

Robbie brushed his thumb over my thigh.

"I'm glad you did."

I leaned against him for a moment, then sat up enough to look at both of them.

"Same rule as always, though. If anybody gets uncomfortable, we stop."

"Of course," Cassie said.

"Any of us," Robbie added.

I nodded.

"And I might decide I want to join you after all."

Cassie's expression relaxed into something much more familiar.

"I think we could probably accommodate that."

"Very generous of you."

"I try."

Robbie looked at her.

"Since when?"

She nudged his leg with her foot beneath the water.

"You were doing so well."

"I got nervous."

That caught both of us.

"Really?" I asked.

He gave me a look.

"Babe, I'm sitting here with two women I care about, trying to make sure I understand what everybody wants. Yeah, a little."

I kissed his cheek.

"You can tell us what you want too."

"I did." He glanced at Cassie again. "I meant it."

Her smile softened.

"Okay."

I settled back beside him, feeling considerably less tangled up than I had ten minutes earlier. We hadn't figured out every possible thing that could happen. I didn't think we needed to. We'd talked, and nobody had needed to guess at what anybody else was offering. After a moment, Cassie reached for her drink.

"So we're actually going to try this?"

"I'd like to," I said.

Robbie nodded.

"Me too."

"Okay." She looked between us, then smiled. "Me too."

I let out a breath and laughed a little.

"That was considerably harder to bring up than it sounded in my head."

"You did start by telling us you liked that we argue," Robbie said.

"I was working my way toward a point."

"Scenic route," Cassie added.

I looked at her.

"You could be supportive."

"I'm being extremely supportive."

Robbie laughed, and she grinned at him. This time, she held his gaze for a moment before looking back at me. I smiled at her. Then she stretched her legs out, bumped his knee again, and told him to move because he was taking up half the fucking hot tub. He moved. Complained about it, obviously, but moved. I stayed tucked beside him while they negotiated an amount of space that apparently required input from both sides. Lady snored from the lounger. The music kept playing.

When Cassie finally settled, she left her foot resting against his leg. Neither of them made a joke about it. I reached for my wine and stayed right where I was. For a while, I didn't say anything.

I wasn't even sure what had changed in my head. Ten minutes ago, we'd been talking about sex. About letting Robbie and Cassie be together while I watched. We'd talked about making sure nobody felt left out, about stopping if anybody became uncomfortable, about making sure this didn't fuck up what we already had.

All the same things we'd talked about the first time. Except they weren't the same things anymore. The first time we'd had that conversation, I'd been terrified of exactly what was happening now.

I'd told Cassie that Robbie and I weren't looking for somebody to add to our relationship. I'd told her he was my fiancé, she was my best friend, and those things mattered more to me than whatever sexual curiosity I wanted to explore. I'd meant it. Back then.

I looked across the hot tub at Cassie. Her foot was still against Robbie's leg. His hand was resting on my thigh. Neither meant anything by itself. Except I couldn't stop thinking about the hundreds of other little things I'd noticed over the last several months.

Robbie making her coffee without asking. Cassie coming into the house in the morning even when I wasn't there. The two of them going shopping together for my necklace. Robbie buying her a Christmas present of his own. Cassie sitting in the garage while he worked on his car. Her texting him instead of me sometimes. Him asking when she was coming home. The way she'd panicked when he'd disappeared that night in December. The way Robbie had just told her that he wouldn't want things to change just because the two of them slept together without me being involved.

None of those things had anything to do with sex. That was the part I couldn't ignore anymore. I set my wine behind me.

"I think we should talk about something else first."

Robbie's attention shifted immediately to me. Cassie looked over too. I took a breath.

"I think we should talk about what we're all feeling."

Neither of them spoke. I looked between them.

"Because we all know this isn't just my fiancé and me experimenting with my best friend anymore."

The silence that followed was different from the one before it. Cassie's foot slowly started to move away from Robbie's leg. I reached across and touched her knee.

"Don't."

She stopped.

"You don't have to move away from him because I said it out loud."

Cassie's eyes met mine. I could see the uncertainty there. Not fear exactly. Something more vulnerable than that. Robbie's hand shifted on my thigh.

"Babe, what are you saying?"

I turned toward him.

"I don't entirely know yet."

His brow furrowed slightly.

"I've been thinking about this for months. Since that buying trip before Christmas, actually. I just didn't understand what I was thinking about."

Neither interrupted me.

"I remember sitting alone in that hotel room imagining you two together. Not with me. Just you and Cassie. And I kept waiting for it to bother me."

I looked at him.

"It didn't."

His expression softened.

"I know we've already talked about that."

"Not all of it."

I glanced at Cassie.

"I tried imagining you with somebody else. Some random woman. Hated it immediately. I didn't even have to think about it. Then that guy hit on me at the airport the next day, and I realized I didn't want anybody else either. There wasn't even a temptation or a thought about it."

Robbie's eyes stayed on mine.

"But Cassie was different. And I couldn't understand why."

Cassie swallowed. I looked directly at her.

"Then I realized you don't feel like 'somebody else' to me anymore."

Her expression changed.

"Kat..."

"I don't mean sexually." I paused. "Or, obviously, not only sexually."

I reached for her hand beneath the water. She let me take it.

"You've been my best friend for years. I have loved you for years. That's never been confusing to me."

I looked down at our hands.

"What's confusing is that somewhere along the way, I don't think 'best friend' explains it anymore."

Cassie stared at me. I could feel my heart beating harder now than it had when I'd brought up the idea of watching them.

"I don't know when that happened. I don't know if there was some specific moment where one kind of love became something else. Maybe there wasn't. Maybe it just changed slowly enough that I didn't notice."

My throat tightened.

"But when I picture my life now, you're in it."

Cassie's fingers tightened around mine.

"Not living twenty minutes away. Not somebody we see on weekends. Not somebody who eventually finds somebody and moves out and starts a completely separate life that we visit sometimes."

I shook my head.

"You're just there."

My eyes started burning slightly.

"Three coffee cups in the kitchen. You and me going to The Bowery. You walking into the house without knocking. You stealing his seat. Lady sleeping wherever the hell she wants. The three of us eating dinner. All of it."

Cassie's eyes were shining now too.

"That scares the shit out of me a little," I admitted. "Because that wasn't the plan."

I looked at Robbie.

"You were the plan."

His expression softened immediately.

"You still are, baby."

I moved closer to him.

"I love you. I'm marrying you next month. I want to marry you just as much right now as I did when you proposed to me. Nothing about this makes me question that. Nothing about this takes anything away from what you and I have."

"I know."

"Baby, I need you to really know that."

He brought my hand to his lips and kissed it.

"I do."

I believed him. Then I looked between him and Cassie.

"But I think we've been so worried about protecting what you and I have that none of us have acknowledged that something else grew beside it."

Cassie's eyes dropped. Robbie was quiet. I watched him for several seconds.

"Baby."

His eyes met mine.

"You love her."

He didn't answer immediately. Cassie went completely still. Robbie looked at her, then back at me.

"Of course I love Cassie."

"I know."

"No." He shook his head slightly. "I mean, she's like family to me. She's one of my closest friends. Of course I love her."

"I know."

I let that sit for a moment.

"Is that all it is?" I asked.

He opened his mouth. Nothing came out. I didn't push him. I didn't need to. Robbie looked across the water at Cassie. For once, she didn't look away. I watched something pass between them that I couldn't name. Not attraction. We'd crossed that bridge a long fucking time ago. This was quieter. He looked down at the water.

"I... don't know."

"That's okay."

"No, I mean..." He stopped and rubbed his thumb slowly against my hand. "I've never let myself think about it like that."

"Why?"

His answer came immediately.

"Because you are the woman I love. I'm marrying you."

There wasn't any uncertainty in it.

"I know."

"And she's your best friend."

"I know that too."

"And from the beginning, we said this wasn't that."

There it was. I nodded.

"We did."

Cassie finally spoke.

"That mattered."

Her voice was quiet. I looked at her.

"It still matters."

"Does it?"

"Yes. Just differently, I think."

Cassie looked confused. I turned toward her as much as I could.

"We made those boundaries because we loved each other and didn't want anybody getting hurt. We weren't wrong to make them. They were right for us then."

I squeezed her hand.

"But pretending nothing has changed just because we agreed it wouldn't change isn't a boundary. At some point, that's just us refusing to be honest with each other."

Cassie looked down at our hands.

"I've tried really fucking hard not to cross that line, Kat."

"I know you have."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"I would never..."

"I know, Cass."

She stopped. I moved closer and brought our joined hands against my chest.

"I have never once thought you were trying to take Robbie from me."

Her eyes filled with tears.

"Not once, not even for a second."

A tear escaped before she could stop it. She wiped it away with her free hand.

"I don't want to take anything from you."

"You haven't."

I glanced at Robbie.

"And neither has he."

I looked back at her.

"That's what I'm trying to say. This doesn't feel like I'm losing something. It doesn't feel like I am sharing him."

My voice caught slightly.

"It feels like we found something."

Cassie's eyes closed for a second. When she opened them again, she looked at Robbie. He was watching her.

"Cass," he said softly.

She looked at him. His expression was different now. I'd seen Robbie look at Cassie a thousand times. I'd seen him attracted to her. I'd seen him amused by her, annoyed with her, protective of her. I'd never seen him allow himself to look at her like this.

"I think Kat's right."

Cassie's breath caught slightly. Robbie looked at me briefly before returning his attention to her.

"I don't know when it happened either."

She didn't say anything.

"I know I care about you. A lot. I know I worry about you. I know I love having you around even when Kat isn't home. I know the house feels different when neither of you are there."

My chest tightened.

"And when Kat was gone before Christmas..."

He paused.

"I had fun with you. Not because I was waiting for Kat to come home. Not because you were keeping me company until she did. I just wanted to spend time with you."

Cassie's eyes were wet now.

"So did I."

Robbie nodded.

"I know."

He took a breath.

"And if I'm being completely honest, the idea of you eventually not being here..." He shook his head. "It really sucks. I don't like it."

Cassie's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Neither do I."

There it was. Nobody had convinced anybody of anything. We were just finally admitting it. Robbie looked at her for another moment.

"I love you, Cass."

Her face crumpled slightly. He continued before she could answer.

"I don't know exactly what kind of label I'm supposed to put on that yet. But I know it's not just because you're Kat's best friend. And it's not just because we've slept together."

Cassie wiped another tear from her cheek.

"I love you too."

Robbie's eyes closed briefly. When he opened them, she added quietly,

"And that's been scaring the shit out of me."

I squeezed her hand.

"Why?"

She looked at me like the answer should have been obvious.

"Because you two are getting married."

Her voice cracked.

"Because you're my best friend, Kat. Because he's the love of your life. Because I live twenty yards from your back door and work with you every day and somehow this became the first place I've ever had where I feel like I actually belong."

She took a shaky breath.

"I didn't want to be the thing that fucked that up."

"You aren't."

"How could I know that?"

"You couldn't."

That stopped her.

"Because I didn't know what I was feeling either."

I shifted closer to her.

"But I do now."

Cassie stared at me. I suddenly understood that saying the next part scared me more than anything I'd said about Robbie.

Because loving Robbie was easy to define.

I'd been in love with him since I was a teenager.

Cassie was different.

She had been my person in an entirely different way for years. She'd been the one who stayed. The one who knew every ugly thing about me. The one who'd watched me rebuild myself. The one who'd moved across the country with me and built a dream beside me.

I had loved her long before I ever wondered whether I was in love with her. Maybe that was why it had taken me so long to recognize the difference.

"I love you, Cass."

She gave me a tiny, emotional smile.

"I know."

"No."

Her smile disappeared.

"I mean I love you."

I didn't need to say anything else. Her lips parted slightly.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

A tear rolled down her cheek. I reached up and wiped it away.

"I don't know when it changed. I don't know whether I can even point to where friendship ends and whatever this is begins. Maybe I don't need to."

Cassie shook her head slowly.

"I don't know either."

"Do you feel it?"

She looked at me for a long time.

"Yes."

The word came out almost silently. Then again, stronger.

"Yes."

I felt tears spill over my own cheeks. Cassie moved toward me and wrapped her arms around me. I held her. There was nothing sexual about it. That somehow made it feel more intimate than almost anything we'd ever done.

"I love you," she whispered against me. "And I don't know when that changed either."

I closed my eyes.

"Okay."

She pulled back enough to look at me.

"Okay?"

I nodded.

"Okay."

I kissed her. Softly. Nothing hungry. Nothing like the kisses we'd shared when the three of us were together before. This wasn't foreplay. It was simply a kiss. When I pulled away, Cassie stayed close enough that our foreheads touched for a moment. Then I felt Robbie's hand against my back. I turned toward him. He looked emotional himself, although he was doing a considerably better job hiding it than either of us.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you too, babe."

I kissed him. That felt different too. Not because anything between us had changed. Because it hadn't. That realization mattered. I still felt exactly what I'd always felt when I kissed Robbie. The certainty. The familiarity. The stupid little flutter that somehow still happened after everything we'd been through. Cassie didn't diminish any of it. She couldn't. What I felt for her existed beside it. When I pulled away, Robbie rested his forehead against mine.

"You're still marrying me, right?"

There was no humor in the question. Just vulnerability, like he just needed to hear me say it. I touched his face.

"Absolutely."

He nodded.

"You're the man I want to marry. You're the man I've wanted to marry since the second we found each other again. That hasn't changed."

I looked toward Cassie.

"But I don't think loving you means there isn't room for me to love her too."

Robbie looked at Cassie.

"No," he said quietly. "I don't think it does."

Cassie wiped at her face.

"But you two are getting married."

"Yes," I said.

"I need that to be okay, if that makes sense."

"I think it does."

"I don't want this to turn into pretending your relationship isn't different from mine."

That landed harder than I expected. Robbie answered before I could.

"It is different."

Cassie looked at him.

"Kat and I have history you and I don't have. We're getting married. We chose that before any of this happened."

He paused.

"But different doesn't have to mean less important."

Cassie's eyes softened. I nodded.

"And I'm not interested in turning this into some competition where everybody has to prove they love everybody exactly the same amount in exactly the same way."

I looked between them.

"I don't think that's possible anyway."

"No," Cassie whispered.

"I want to marry Robbie. I want that relationship. And I want whatever this is with you."

I squeezed her hand.

"And if you and Robbie want something that's yours too, which it feels to me like you guys do, I want that too."

Cassie looked toward him.

"So what does that make us?"

I thought about it.

"I don't know."

For once, not knowing didn't bother me.

"A throuple, I guess, is the term. A closed relationship between the three of us. Whatever word we eventually decide fits."

Robbie nodded slowly.

"The three of us."

"The three of us," I repeated.

Cassie took a breath.

"Only us?"

I understood exactly what she was asking.

"For me, yes."

Robbie nodded.

"Me too."

Cassie looked at both of us.

"Me too."

Something inside me relaxed. Not because we'd established a rule. Because we'd finally said what I think all three of us already wanted.

"This doesn't mean we stop talking," I said. "If something feels wrong, we say it. If somebody feels left out, we say it. If jealousy shows up, we don't pretend it didn't because we think we're supposed to be good at this."

Robbie nodded.

"And nobody gets pushed into anything because the other two want it."

"Exactly."

Cassie's thumb brushed over the back of my hand.

"And I still get my own space."

"Of course."

"I mean emotionally too."

I nodded.

"You don't stop being Cassie because you're with us."

Her expression softened.

"And you two don't stop being you because I'm here."

I looked at Robbie.

"No."

He squeezed my thigh.

"Never."

That was important. This wasn't the three of us melting into one relationship where nothing belonged to any two people anymore. Robbie and I were still Robbie and me. Cassie and I had something that belonged to us. Robbie and Cassie were apparently going to find out what belonged to them. And then there was all three of us. For some reason, that made more sense to me than trying to force everything into one shape.

Cassie was quiet for a moment.

"Do... do we tell people?"

The question surprised me. I looked at Robbie. He looked at me.

"Not yet," I said.

Cassie nodded almost immediately.

"Okay."

"Not because I'm ashamed of this."

"I know."

"I just don't want everyone else's opinions getting into this before we've even figured out what it is ourselves."

Robbie nodded.

"I agree."

Cassie looked relieved.

"So, this stays here."

"For now," I said.

"Just us," Robbie added.

"Just us," Cassie repeated.

The words settled over us. I thought they would make everything feel complicated. Instead, for the first time in months, things felt strangely simple. I loved Robbie. Robbie loved me. I loved Cassie. Cassie loved me. And whether either of them had intended for it to happen or not, Robbie and Cassie loved each other too. None of those things canceled out any of the others. They simply existed.

I looked at Cassie, then at Robbie.

"There is one other thing."

Both of them waited.

"We were having a different conversation before I derailed it."

Cassie's eyes held mine.

"About me and Robbie."

I nodded.

"Yeah."

I looked between them.

"And after everything we just said, I actually want to change something."

Robbie's brow furrowed slightly.

"If the two of you would rather your first time together be just yours, I understand."

Cassie stared at me.

"I mean it. Twenty minutes ago, we were talking about me watching because that was something I wanted to experience. But this isn't just a fantasy anymore. Not after this conversation."

I glanced down at their joined hands.

"If you want that first time to belong to the two of you, it should, and that's okay with me."

Robbie was quiet for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"I don't think I want you somewhere else."

I looked at him.

"Not the first time."

Cassie nodded.

"Neither do I."

Something in my chest loosened. Cassie squeezed Robbie's hand before looking at me.

"I think I'd actually feel better with you there."

"Why?"

"Because this is new for all three of us." She paused. "I feel like having you there for our first time like that would make it feel more like a step we were all taking together. If you weren't there, I would be worrying if you were really okay with it."

Robbie nodded.

"Exactly."

He reached for my hand.

"I want to know you're okay. Not because I think you're going to freak out, but because this is the first time we're crossing that particular line, and I would feel better with all of us there to make sure we are all good every step of the way."

Cassie's eyes moved between us.

"And I want to be able to look over and see that we're actively still good."

That got me. I brought her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles.

"We're still us."

"I know." She gave my hand a squeeze. "But I'd still rather have you there."

I nodded.

"Then I'm there."

We sat with that for a few seconds before Cassie drew in a breath.

"Can I ask the harder question?"

"Please."

She looked at me.

"If it goes well... well, we should probably talk about boundaries for sex. No, for intimacy moving forward."

There was no hesitation in her voice, but there was caution.

I thought about it before answering. Not because the answer scared me. Because I wanted to make sure it was mine.

"I think that's a good idea. I think we need to be sure we can all freely express affection between each other. No guilt or anything."

Robbie watched me carefully.

"I know I keep saying this, but as long as we are on the same page and we are all cool, for lack of a better word."

"Yeah."

I looked between them.

"If we're actually doing this, if we're saying the three of us are together, then I don't think it works if Robbie and I are allowed to have a relationship when Cassie isn't in the room, but you two aren't."

Cassie's expression softened.

"And the same goes for you and me," I told her.

She nodded slowly.

"If we're together, we're together. That doesn't mean every kiss has to involve all three of us. It doesn't mean every date has to be the three of us. And it definitely doesn't mean nobody can have sex unless it's a threesome."

Robbie rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand.

"So, we're not making rules about who can do what with whom."

"Not like that."

I thought for a second.

"I think the boundary is simpler. Nothing outside the three of us. Inside this relationship, we trust each other."

Cassie nodded.

"And nobody gets excluded all the time."

"Absolutely," I said. "There's a difference between two of us having a night together and one of us constantly feeling like the third wheel in my own relationship."

"Same for any of us," Robbie said.

"Exactly."

Cassie looked at me.

"And if something does bother somebody?"

"We say it."

"Before it turns into resentment," Robbie added.

I nodded.

"And nobody gets punished for feeling jealous or insecure. We talk about it and figure out what we need."

Cassie was quiet for a moment.

"So you and Robbie can still be Robbie and Kat."

"Yes."

"You and I can still be us."

"Definitely."

She looked at Robbie.

"And whatever you and I are becoming gets to be ours too."

Robbie squeezed her hand.

"I'd like that."

Then I looked at both of them.

"And sometimes it's all three of us."

Cassie's eyes met mine.

"Three relationships inside one."

I thought about that. Then smiled softly.

"Four, technically."

Robbie looked at me.

I touched his hand, then Cassie's.

"You and me. Me and Cassie. You and Cassie."

I intertwined my fingers with theirs.

"And us."

Nobody spoke for a moment. We didn't need to. For the first time, it didn't feel like we were trying to write rules for something dangerous. We were figuring out how to take care of something we wanted to keep. Cassie finally looked at Robbie.

"So... for the first time with Robbie and me?"

He looked at me, then back at her.

"You're still willing to watch?"

I nodded.

"Yes, baby. I would still like to watch."

Cassie squeezed both our hands.

"And after that, we figure it out as we go."

"Together," Robbie said.

"Together," I agreed.

My fiancé. My best friend. And now, something more.

In a month, I was still going to walk down an aisle and marry the man I'd loved since I was seventeen. Nothing about that had changed. Our life had simply gotten bigger. Even though none of us saw this coming, it made me feel better that we would be figuring it out together.