“You wanna say that shit again?” He cocks an eyebrow at me.
“What?” I pretend not to know what he’s talking about. Levi shifts, sliding in between my legs, but I keep my eyes trained on Zeke’s challenging stare. “That I’m sing—” Levi’s mouth shuts me up before I can get the rest of the words out. Who am I kidding? Two can’t play this game. I’ll always give in when they have their hands on me.
I open my mouth, letting Zeke’s tongue slip in as Levi removes my robe. We all win really. Because this isn’t a game. It’s the three of us.
Epilogue
Levi
I wake up the morning of my wedding before dawn. Even though my season ended in January with a win at the National Championship, my body thinks it should still be training. I debate trying to convince myself to go back to sleep, but small, muted clinks in the kitchen have me searching for a shirt and sweats.
I tiptoe out of the bedroom, leaving my brother face down in his bed. His long legs dangle off the ends and the blankets are mostly on the floor. He had a hard time getting to sleep with Livvie tucked into her childhood bedroom next door.
Our moms separated us the minute we arrived home. Mama Moore declared that until we were married, there was no sleeping in the same bed. She also wanted us to wait until Livvie graduated, but we all put our foot down. Some things weren’t negotiable and finally being a unit was one of them.
In the kitchen, Mom is rolling out dough. A vague memory of her announcing that she was going to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast skips through my mind. I go over and give her a back hug.
“What are you doing up?” She says, patting my hand with her wrist. Her fingers are all full of flour and dough.
“I run every morning before practice. It’s good for my cardiovascular system.” I pinch off a piece of dough and pop it into my mouth. “Plus, you know,” I give her a wink and lean back against the counter, “it’s my wedding day.”
A smile tips up the corners of her lips. “So it is. I can’t believe my boys are getting married.”
I sneak another piece of dough. “You’re finally getting that daughter you always wanted.”
Mom slaps my hand lightly. “Go grease the cookie sheet over there before you eat all of this,” she orders. “And yes, I’m thrilled about Livvie being my daughter. I’ve always thought of her as mine,” Mom confides as if we all didn’t know this already.
I find a stick of butter next to the cookie sheet and unwrap the top and get to work. “No one would’ve guessed that by the way you bought her gifts nearly every week.”
“As if the two of you weren’t always egging me on,” Mom retorts.
I say nothing because we are guilty as charged. “Everything else ready?”
“Yes. Although, we won’t have as many people as I expected. A few decided not to come at the last minute.”
That was my dad’s side of the family. Dad’s mother thinks that homosexuality is a sin and women belong in the kitchen. No doubt she thinks the union between Zeke and Livvie and I is abomination. “I’d rather have no people than one’s who are going to make Livvie feel bad.”
“I agree, dear.” She sprinkles cinnamon and sugar on the flattened dough and then rolls the whole thing into a tight tube. “I just hate that you have to deal with this.” She saws at the dough. I reach out and liberate the knife before she mutilates the cinnamon rolls. Gently, I push her aside and slice the dough log into smaller circles.
“It’s okay. We know that not everyone’s open-minded, but surprisingly a lot are.” My teammates on the Leopards have been mostly supportive but that may be because I’m the best pass rusher in the nation and none of them want to piss me off.
We both load up the greased cookie sheet. “I worry about you, Levi. You more than your brother. I know that this ceremony is for all three of you, but only one is legally bound to Olivia.”
“I know.”
“You’re not demanding enough.”
I hold back a smile. If she knew what I did in the bedroom, she wouldn’t say that.
“If it’s something I want, I’m asking for it, but she’s going to have my name, will be wearing my jersey, will be wearing my rock,” we got her a three stone engagement ring to represent all of us, “and will be calling my name out—“
“Leviticus!”
“—when she gets mad.” I blink innocently. “What did you think I was going to say? Gosh, Mom, get your head out of the gutter.” As she sputters, I stick the rolls inside the oven. I set the timer and turn back. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got this all figured out. It’s easier for Zeke to be the one married to Livvie. I’m in the public eye and if she were married to me, there’d be a lot of gossip and shit. We’re protecting her this way. Besides, I don’t care about what’s on a piece of paper. I know what’s in Livvie’s heart.”