Chapter 26
Stan
The Disney cruise cabin is so aggressively wholesome.
Oceanview room. Super polished wood. Plush bedding. Mickey-themed throw pillows. The damn works.
Which is ironic, because in this bed, we are absolutely anything but wholesome.
Em’s on top of me, her knees on either side of my hips, and her mouth doing things to mine that makes my thoughts evaporate.
I’ve got one hand at her waist and the other in her hair, tugging her into me ‘cause I honestly can’t get enough of her.
Her glasses are off—set on the nightstand like they’re waiting for her to go back to being responsible, which is not happening on my birthday—and her hair’s a little mussed, cheeks warm, lips soft. I’m losing my damn mind about it.
Across the bed, Lix is leaned back against the headboard like he’s watching TV, except the TV is me getting kissed stupid.
And he’s eating devil’s food cake.
My devil’s food cake.
My birthday cake that got delivered with a little Mickey plaque and a candle that smelled like vanilla.
Again, I’m anything but.
I break from Em’s moaning mouth to glare at him. “So you’re really doing this right now, Ocean Eyes?”
Lix lifts a brow, chewing slow. “Doing what?”
“Eating cake,” I say, pointing like a prosecutor. “While we could both be eating out our girlfriend’s cake right the fuck now.”
Em’s lips brush my jaw as she smiles. “Technically, we’re kissing at the moment, and the three of us have tried to do that altogether, but it didn’t work efficiently.”
“Thank you for the clarification, doc,” I murmur, still staring at Lix. “My point stands.”
He shrugs. “It’s just cake.”
“It’s my cake.”
“You said I could have some,” he says, voice so low but also so annoying that it makes me want to tackle him.
“I said you could have some,” I repeat. “Not all of it. You’re eating it so fast. Slow the hell down.”
Em’s hand slides down my chest, like she’s trying to redirect my attention back to the important part—taking care of her while she’s so round at six months that all we wanna do is spoil her.
She kisses me again, so hungry that I forget my own name.
And for a few seconds, everything is perfect. Ocean outside. Disney nonsense inside. My favorite people in my bed. Em’s mouth on mine. My hand on her waist. Lix watching like he’s enjoying the show more than the cake.
Then Lix makes a sound. Not a laugh. Not a smug little hum. A wrong sound.
Em pulls back at the same time I do.
I look over, and Lix is wincing, blue eyes wide and goddamn startled.
His fork drops onto the sheets. He coughs hard and then hits his chest like he’s trying to punch his own lungs out.
My body goes cold and hot in a split second.
“Oh, no,” I say, moving to get to him. “Nope! Absolutely not.”
Lix coughs again, so much harsher. He slams his fist to his chest like he can brute-force the problem.
Em is off me, sitting upright, voice crisp as she puts on her glasses to see. “Lix, are you asphyxiating?”
He nods. I don’t even know how to spell the word she just said, let alone know what the hell it means that fast.
But fuck it, I’m scootin’ behind him, dragging him forward off the headboard like I’m repositioning an overly pretty mannequin in my arms.
“Hey, Ocean Eyes,” I hiss, “the only thing you’re choking on is my dick, and you damn well won’t die on my birthday.”
Lix tries to glare at me, but it’s hard to be intimidating when you’re choking and half-naked in a Disney cruise bed.
Em’s voice is so even, compared to the panic hitting me like a drum. “Stan,” she says. “Heimlich.”
“I’m on it,” I say, hands hovering for half a sec ‘cause adrenaline’s screaming and also because I’m very aware that I’ve already watched him almost die once and I’m not doing that again, not ever, not—
“Make a fist with one hand,” Em instructs, like she’s teaching a class. “Grab it with the other.”
I do what the sexy doctor says.
“Place your hands below the ribcage,” she continues. “Pull inward and upward on the diaphragm to force air out of the lungs to expel the blockage. Repeat up to five times.”
“Doc,” I snap, my voice doing that too-loud thing it does when I’m scared. “I’m doing this until it’s out, not just five fucking times.”
“I was merely stating instructions, Stan,” she says, calm as hell, eyes locked on Lix. “Now do as you were told.”
God, she’s hot.
Wrong time to be hard, hot rod!
I lock my arms around Lix from behind, breathe in hard, and pull in and up.
Once.
Lix coughs, still stuck.
Twice.
He grunts and jerks forward.
“C’mon, Ocean Eyes,” I mutter, teeth gritting. “Spit it out. Don’t make me write your obituary on a Disney notepad. I will embarrass you so hard in your eulogy.”
Em’s hand rests lightly at Lix’s shoulder, soothing him. “Again.”
Third thrust.
Lix jerks forward again, coughing violently, and something small and shiny shoots out of his mouth.
Guess the third time’s the charm.
The shiny, tiny thing arcs through the air like a little comet. And lands perfectly down the front of Em’s low-cut top, perfectly placed between her big tits, and resting right on top of her round belly.
She’s so pretty, it’s crazy how fast I forget that Lix almost choked to death in my arms.
Lix keels over, hands on his knees, catching his breath. Then, because he’s Lix, he looks up at me with that irritatingly pretty face and rasps, “You were squeezing too hard.”
I raise a brow, smirking. “Never heard you whinin’ like that when it’s my ass squeezing your dick.”
He groans, shoving me with surprising strength that makes me stumble sideways.
God, him in a gym while taking Kys for months has made him so much more muscular, and my cock has incredibly dirty thoughts about it.
Can’t even hide how hard I got from all this. I’m butt naked, watching Lix crawl over to Em, checking on her, while she does the same to him.
I jump in and join them, rubbing her big round bump, and kissing her hair.
Em looks down at her chest.
And then she giggles when she sees the shiny little thing between her perfect tits I wanna suffocate in.
But she makes another short, happy sound that makes my brain glitch because why is she giggling right now, when my dick’s begging for attention?
Oh, wait, right.
She reaches in carefully and plucks the shiny thing from her cleavage like she’s retrieving a lab sample.
She lifts it in her fingers, held up between the three of us.
It’s a ring.
Pure gold. Simple but stunning. With three tiny diamond studs on it, catching the cabin light to throw it back like each gem’s showing off for us.
Once I saw it at a jewelry store, I knew I had to come back and steal it. Then I learned I needed ring sizes, so I asked Kaye and Elle for help, to find a way to super secretly get my loves’ ring sizes.
Today, though, as much as it’s about pleasuring Em, and celebrating me, it’s also making sure my favorite frowny guy gets all the love he deserves, so…
“Hey, Lix,” I whisper, turning to him.
He takes his time before looking at me, his blue eyes drifting back to the ring in Em’s hand.
Em watches him with that calm, small smile she gets when she knows exactly what’s coming but wants to see how we’ll get there.
She fixes her glasses, the ring balanced in her other hand.
I take both of Lix’s hands in mine, thumbs brushing over his tense knuckles, and grin a little because holy shit, I get to finally do this.
“Okay,” I say stuff that spills out my mouth. “I’m about to get real for a minute, and I promise I’ll keep it mostly appropriate, babe.”
His mouth twitches into a smile. “I’m listening, Stan.”
“Nice,” I say. “So the first time I saw you—helmet on, that night in September—I genuinely thought I lost it all. Like the universe was testing me to see how hard I could fall on my ass in one evening.”
He snorts, all silent, but his eyes stay on mine.
“Then you lifted your visor,” I keep going. “I looked into your ocean blue eyes, and it felt like there was still something left out there for me.”
I squeeze his hands, grinning bigger.
“Turns out there were two somethings. Two someones who make me feel like I’m someone worth doing life with.”
I glance at Em, who lifts her brows at me like she’s both amused and obviously aware of how bad I’ve got it for her too.
“And honestly, babes? You two have been spoiling the hell outta me. Still do, to this day. Probably forever, really.”
I look back at Lix, laughing breathlessly like I’m about to choke now. From tears, maybe. But I still got a speech to give.
“Both of you make me so goddamn greedy. You make me want more from life, more memories together, more ridiculous moments like choking on cake in a Disney cruise cabin where Mickey Mouse is definitely judging us for doing dirty stuff on this ship.”
They laugh at my stupid joke like I’m not some big dummy that just got lucky, getting to love them like this. And have them love me back? Fucking cherry on top.
I take a deep breath, glancing between them. “When I look at both of you, I see my partners. Not just for life, but for fucking ever.”
A frown pulls down my lips when I’m a second away from crying. My hands grip Lix’s a bit harder than I mean to.
“But here’s the thing…”
I nod at Em, who fixes her glasses and states facts I can’t say without crying right this second. “Polyamorous marriages are illegal,” she says for me, like she can read my mind.
We’re soulmates, the three of us, I tell ya.
Sighing, I throw my head back before facing them both with a pissed-off smile. “Tragic but true. But what is legal is marrying you first, Lix, and then we’ll find a way to get Em.”
Em shrugs and giggles while watching for Lix’s reaction. I do too, but all he’s doing is listening.
“So, yeah, legal stuff aside.” I angle my head, sounding hopeful and unapologetic when I ask the prettiest man in the world the most important question that’ll ever come outta me. “Lix, will you marry me?
And god, whatever his answer is, I already feel like the luckiest bastard on the planet. But all he’s doing is looking, like the man glitched out of life.