Our Love Story

Each of them.

But I’m realizing that is what love is.

It is giving yourself space to expand beyond what you thought possible.

A heart is just like water when it heats up, it expands. The same is true with love.

I gave myself over to it, to hot as hell passion, and found out that my fire for these men allowed my heart to grow.

Expand beyond what I thought was possible.

“What are you doing, slowpoke?” Noah asks, sticking his head into the guest room.

I pull the zipper on my suitcase, finally done with the packing. The suitcase is just one of the many things they have bought for me. The most decadent being the -new wardrobe. They said it was about time I had proper clothing... and not just the random stuff I’ve been borrowing from the old pool house.

After confessing our love, and deciding I would be staying, for now, I thought about getting my clothes that were in a storage unit. I had packed everything away after college, before coming on the trip with Jordan, not quite sure where I’d be going next.

But nothing I owned was beach attire, and that is pretty much all I need for the foreseeable future. So, sandals, sundresses, bikinis, and shorts are pretty much everything I now own.

“I’m ready,” I tell him, leaning in for a kiss. His mouth is as warm as the sunshine. “Are you guys?”

Noah nods taking the suitcase from me and heading down the stairs. I follow him, taking one last look at the guest room that offered me so much rest over the last few weeks.

Once I’m in the kitchen, I see all the guys’ gear in a pile. Surfboards and video equipment. Laptop cases and duffle bags crammed with ropes and carabineers. Their gear for their adventures all packed up.

“It’s crazy to think I’m the light packer out of you guys.” I tease.

“You’re just getting started, I bet after we take you on a few more shopping sprees you’ll be able to hang with us,” Ethan says, smirking, then slapping my ass playfully as he throws a duffel bag over his shoulder to load up the van taking us to the airport.

Ever since we slept together, Ethan has come more and more out of his protective shell. I love seeing this open, easy going side of him.

“Hey, we wanted to show you something,” Enzo says. “It’s important.”

I frown. “What?”

“A little present, that’s all,” Mason tells me.

I raise my eyebrows, not having any idea what this might be. But then Ethan pulls out his laptop and pulls up a video player.

“First, champagne,” Enzo says, pulling out a bottle from the fridge and popping the cork.

I look at Enzo in surprise as he grabs five champagne flutes and fills them.

“Really, you boys will have this sugary drink with me?” I’ve been teasing them mercilessly for never having cheat days.

They say my cunt is sweet enough, which of course makes me blush wildly. But not-so-secretly, I love the sentiment.

“Yes, Chloe,” Noah says handing me my glass, his eyes twinkling. “You’re a very bad influence.”

Mason laughs. “Yeah, Chloe is really corrupting us.”

I grin, raising my flute. “So what are we toasting to?”

“We’re toasting you,” Ethan says stoically.

“Me?”

The four of them nod. “Yes, Chloe,” Mason says. “You’re the most incredible woman we’ve ever known.”

“And we wanted to thank you for taking a chance on all of us,” Enzo adds.

“You said you have had a lifetime of bad memories, but we wanted you to know that is no longer true, Chloe,” Ethan says. “Now there are plenty of good ones, too.”

He presses play on the computer and what comes next brings tears to my eyes, almost immediately.

The song in the background is Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”. The lyrics and melody are romantic and sweet, but that’s not what takes my breath away.

It’s the video montage the guys have made that has me in a puddle of tears.

It captures our time in Jamaica.

Me standing up on the surfboard for the first time, catching a wave, with Mason cheering me on. There is footage of Enzo and me skydiving, the gorgeous island around us. It shows me as I swung from the rope, into the pool of water under the waterfall after the hike with Noah.

There is Ethan and me wrapped in one another’s arms, out at the airport, the morning after they saved me. He is holding me so tightly, swearing he will never let me go.

There are snippets of Mason making us dinner. All of us smiling around the table as he offers a toast in my honor. In another, Noah wrestles me in the sand, we push one another into the waves playfully.

Clips of Enzo pulling me into his arms and slow dancing on the deck. There is footage of Noah and me on the couch, he’s trying to me how to navigate the PlayStation controllers, me failing miserably, but him cheering me on.