Buying Her Time (Price of Love 3)

“Never mind the courts. It’ll be spiritually legit!” Linda said. And right she is. Today, Linda is wearing lots of flowing linen and she looks as friendly-fierce as ever.

She gives me a reassuring glance as I step forward between Hale and Flint, and the ceremony begins.

I am so happy that everything feels a little blurry at the edges. Like a dream. Or a wish. Or both.

Linda says just the right things in just the right way. She’s good at this, negotiating this unconventionality, and she makes even our most conventional guests feel right at home. Because just as she says, it’s all very simple.

“We are gathered here today because of love.”

Flint and Hale squeeze my hands and I squeeze back. So much love. So much that it makes me shiver. This is all I’ve ever wanted. All I’ll ever need.

First, it’s time for the rings. Mine first, then theirs. They’re all platinum, and mine is made of both of theirs, to symbolize that I belong to them, now and always.

Soon enough, it’s time for the ribbons. We decided on this, ribbons, because it’s the old-fashioned way, the simple way. The best way to bind the three of us in a ceremony that is ours alone.

Elana hands the three loose ribbons to Linda. Red for me, black for Hale, and dark gray for Flint. She smooths them in the beach wind and holds them up for everybody to see. Then she binds them in a knot at one end. This she offers to Elana, to double check, and Elana nods at her, beaming.

“Perfect,” Elana says softly, barely louder than the breeze.

“Isabel, please put your left hand forward.”

This is it. I inhale, smiling at her, blinking back tears.

“Hale, please put your left hand underneath Isabel’s. And Flint, please put your left hand over hers.”

They do as they’re told, for once, and just as we rehearsed. I feel the warmth and strength of their palms against mine and I savor this moment, sink right into it. Because I know I will remember this instant, every day of my life.

She places the knotted end of the ribbon between my thumb and forefinger, and then gently, carefully, winds the length of the ribbons around our hands and wrists.

I glance at Flint and Hale, both focused and serious, but as their eyes meet mine, their expressions soften, welcoming me in. Welcoming me home.

Linda now wraps the last bit of ribbon around our three wrists and binds it off in a knot.

“Hale, Isabel, and Flint,” she starts, and I hear a quiver in her voice and look up to see her eyes misty. Wonders will never cease. “I now pronounce you bound together for life.”

Our guests erupt in cheers and then my guys come in for a kiss. Stubble on both cheeks. Smiling against my smiling. Warm lips, soft touches. And so much love that it takes my breath away.

CHAPTER 13

Chapter 13

Hale

Five Years Later

The audience at the Michigan Humane Society gala erupts in applause as Isabel, Flint, and I stand up to be recognized as the top donors to the charity for the fifth year running. Isabel looks fucking radiant tonight, in a deep-purple sequined floor-length gown that we had custom made for her. Around her neck is a double solitaire that we got her for our fifth anniversary, which also just happens to be today.

It’s been five years. And every day is better than the last.

The audience quiets down and we return to sitting. The dress hugs Isabel’s curves just right, and I adjust my napkin to hide my growing hard on.

“Christ that fucking dress,” Flint mutters, moving the tablecloth. “Every day you seem to get more beautiful, baby girl.”

She laughs a little, and it makes her tits jiggle like crème fucking brûlée.

But her attention isn’t here with us, not really. It’s all the way across the room, where our two boys are playing with the charity puppies.

“Look,” she whispers, wiggling her eyebrows.

Both Flint and I look over immediately and there they are. Julian, who came nine months after the wedding, is getting close to five. He’s got my eyes, and my temperament. But Bryce, who’s almost three, is all Flint. Furious sweetness right to his core.

Life is good for us. So fucking good. Flint’s time with the Lions has been good, but he took a hard hit last year which rang his bell pretty good. After long discussions with neurologists about concussions and repetitive head injuries common for football players, he’s retiring next year to come work with me, in a business that isn’t so hard on his body and mind. And my businesses are better than ever, because for the first time in my life, I’m truly happy. And have been for five years and change.

Thanks to her.

And as for her, she’s finished school, and is slowly but surely becoming one of the top architects in the area. Every day, and in every single way, both in the bedroom and out of it, she makes us both so fucking proud.