Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90475 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Chase blows on his nails. “I live with a couple word nerds. Gotta hold my own.”
I squeeze his arm, gleeful. “And you did.”
We enter the park and head to the tents, where the guys from the two teams are gathered for the kickoff event for the Hockey Hotties calendar. It’s a bark in the park for rescue pups, with dog treats, toys, pools, and jumps. As we walk up the grassy hill, I’ve got Chase’s hand in one of mine, Ryker’s hand in the other. Some of the athletes stare at us. Then, most of the athletes.
I squeeze both their hands, but they don’t seem worried. Just ready. Like me. When we reach the Sea Dogs’ tent, Chase holds up my hand, joined with his, and says, “This is my girlfriend, Trina.”
Right next to that tent is the one for the Avengers. “And this is my girlfriend, Trina,” Ryker adds. “Got it?”
There’s silence for several weighty seconds as gears turn in heads. Then Erik draws a triangle in the air. “Like a three-way?”
“And you can count,” Chase says as Ledger pushes past the guys and joins us, gesturing to Chase as he talks to me. “So glad this guy listened to my advice.”
I smile. “Is that so?”
“Yeah. I told him to get the girl,” he says, a little cocky, a little proud. His smile disappears, and he delivers a scathing look to Ryker. “But this changes nothing. We’re still going to destroy you when we play you.” Ledger turns back to Chase. “Right?”
Chase scoffs. “Like we’d do anything else.”
Ryker just rolls his eyes. “I’d like to see that happen.”
Dev, the goalie from Ryker’s team, heads over, stopping to give the three of us a long, appraising look. “So it’s two rivals sharing a woman?”
Ryker and Chase make a show of pretending to think on the question and then they nod.
Dev cackles, then thrusts his arms skyward under the San Francisco sun. “Dude, thank god for the two of you, because we will never have to deal with the press again with what you guys are gonna have to handle.”
All the hockey guys at the park crack up. “Talk about taking one for the team,” Ledger puts in.
“Yeah, that’s why I did it,” Chase says dryly.
Their teammates give them hell the whole afternoon. I never knew there were so many sandwich jokes. Meatball ones too. Then, Erik ups the ante asking if I’m the marshmallow between the graham crackers and the chocolate bar.
“I do like s’mores,” I say, and he laughs, but some of their teammates are quieter. Some say nothing. Some just give us curious looks.
Maybe this is just the way it goes, but I want to make sure my guys are good with everything.
Concerned, I pull them aside under a tree. “Is this okay? Does it bother you that some are looking at us funny?”
Chase shakes his head. “No. We did what we needed to do. We told them. It’s not a secret. We can finally be ourselves.”
I relax some. We were never hiding because of worries over his teammates, or honestly even the press. We were secretive because we didn’t want to look like a pair when we’re three of a kind.
“And the rest is out of our hands. Can’t please everyone,” Ryker seconds, then presses a reassuring kiss to my cheek.
“But what about the press?” I ask, because their teammates think that’ll be a field day.
“That is definitely out of our hands,” Chase says, and it’s clear the comment comes from experience. “But we’ll handle it.”
“You’re worth it,” Ryker adds.
I breathe a deeper sigh of relief. Whatever comes next I can handle. I did the hard thing—I told my family. That was always my biggest concern.
Beyond that, I’m lucky to work in a field that embraces love, in all its shapes, sizes and forms, including unconventional arrangements. The women and men I interact with don’t judge who you love.
Soon, some of them will be here—part of my found family and I can’t wait to share some of my love story with them.
But first, I have one more thing to say to my boyfriends. “I love you two,” I say, and the worries fade away even more.
A little later, Aubrey joins me at the launch. Ivy and Katie are here too, along with some of my friends from book club. Nacho’s parked at my feet in the grass, rolling on his back, showing off for the ladies as they ask me lots of questions.
Unlike my mother, they have no qualms about asking the at the same time question.
But I don’t kiss and tell. I just give a coy shrug and they move onto other queries.
“Do you always go out together?” Kimora asks.
“We’re figuring that out, but no, not always. Sometimes I hang out with Chase. Sometimes Ryker. And sometimes it’s the three of us.”