Maverick
The fire pit popped softly beside us, the night warm, still, and laced with that quiet that only settles in when the one person who fills a room with light is away.
Knox and I were outside in the backyard, bourbon in hand, bare feet on the cool stone patio.
The breeze carried the scent of citrus and honeysuckle, but the air between us was thick with something heavier than the usual camaraderie.
He noticed it, too, kept watching me like he was waiting for me to drop whatever was weighing down my spirit.
I cleared my throat and stared into the fire. “You ever love someone so much it messes with your whole damn chemistry?”
Knox glanced at me, gold fangs flashing with a crooked smile, “Every day of my life.”
I nodded slowly, “I want to marry her.”
His eyebrows arched, caught mid-sip. He lowered his glass, eyes on me like I’d just rewritten gravity.
“Ajaih?” he said, voice steady but curious.
I nodded, “Yeah. Been thinking about it for a while. Didn’t say anything ‘cause I wasn’t sure how to even bring it up. Didn’t want you to think I was trying to... I don’t know, claim her in some traditional-ass way.”
He leaned back in the chair, eyes fixed on the fire, then over to me, “I’ve been thinking about it too.”
That made me sit up straighter, “Wait, what?”
Knox let out a laugh and ran a hand over his beard. “Swear on everything. I’ve been looking at rings on nights she falls asleep across my chest. Planning out shit in my head. Wondering how to ask someone to spend forever with you when you’re already sharing it with your other soulmate.”
We both laughed, not the surface-level kind, but that deep-in-the-gut kind that comes when you realize you're living something wild and beautiful.
I shook my head, grinning. “So what now? Double proposal? You pop the question mid-flight, and I do it on the landing?”
He cracked up, “She’d kill us.”
“She’d ugly cry first,” I said, laughing, “Then kill us.”
We sat in shared laughter, bourbon warming our chests, until the fire crackled again and the silence returned, this time one that said we were bonded in comfort.
“You ever think about the fact that this, us, this trio may not ever be legal in the eyes of the law?” I said, quieter now.
Knox shrugged. “The law’s never been good at understanding love in all its forms. Doesn’t mean what we have isn’t real.”
“So what?” I asked, “We do our own thing? Commitment ceremony? Vows? Rings?”
Knox tapped his glass to mine, “Our way.”
That hit something deep. I stared at the fire again, imagining Ajaih in white. Not traditional white—but something bold, powerful, sensual. Regal. Us standing beside her, not behind or in front, but beside her. Equal.
“She deserves everything,” I said.
Knox nodded, “And then some.”
I looked over at him, heart full, “What if she says no?”
“She chooses us every day. She’s already said yes,” Knox replied, “But we’ll ask her anyway. Even get her father’s blessing, do it properly. With the weight and the joy and the forever it deserves.”
I grinned, a soft, genuine smile spreading across my face. “I love you, Knox.”
Knox didn’t flinch. “Love you, too. Like soul deep.”
We clinked glasses again.
In the distance, my phone buzzed. A photo from Ajaih: her standing on stage, aviation badge clipped to her blazer, a caption that read, “About to fly this panel like a boss. Miss y’all.”
Knox leaned over and smiled at the screen.
“She’s gonna make history. And we’ll be the men at her back, cheering her on.”
“Always,” I whispered.
And beneath the stars, with the fire low and the future glowing in our chests, we began dreaming up the moment we'd ask the woman who changed everything to say yes, twice.
We were gathered in the private dining room of Olive she’s the pulse of this relationship, the heartbeat that has given us a new lease on life, both together and individually.
She inspires us to push through the pain to find purpose, and we want to honor her with something real, something permanent.
Not just love in private, but a declaration in front of the people she loves. ”
Yanna’s eyes sparkled. “Well, it’s about damn time. Count me in!” Excitement radiated from her body.
Dro rubbed his beard. “You do realize you’re asking a retired gangster how to help plan a polyamorous proposal to his daughter?”
We all laughed, but Dro’s eyes softened as he leaned back.
“But,” he added, “My babygirl loves you both like her next breath, so if you’re ready to do this right, shit, count me in.”
Since the dinner at Yanna and Caleb’s, Dro and I had gotten close, and we bonded over football, cigars, and fly fishing.
I could see where Ajaih got her kind heart and gentle spirit from because Dro was laid back and kind unless provoked, I’m sure.
I even shared with him my tumultuous past with my parents and the progress we’d been making in therapy, and his reply was, “I’m glad they came around.
Ain’t no way I’d miss out on a chance to have a son like you, especially over something not my business. ”
Knox smiled, “We want your blessing, we also want you and Yanna’s help planning it.
Something unforgettable. Intimate, emotional, and romantic as hell.
We want her doing her ugly cry by the time she says yes,” we all chuckled because ugly cry Ajaih was a different beast, but beautiful even when snotting and sniffling.
Yanna leaned in. “You thinking public or private?”
I exhaled, “Private with close family and friends, but beautiful, something worthy of her.”
Dro nodded, “You know what she loves: oceans, flights, roses, stars, history, and y’all. Start there.”
With the blessings of the people that she loved the most checked off our list, we could start the planning to turn this unexpected love into the Yes Blueprint.