I knew my place now. I knew it long before I accepted Grace. "Sit on the bed, Grace," I ordered. She quickly listened and sunk onto the mattress. Nix cocked an eyebrow at me and crossed his arms over his chest.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Taking charge. When you love someone, you step up when they are weak. Sometimes you have to do hard things until they find their place again. Right now, Grace needs reassurance. You're going to go over there and kiss her."
Nix's eyes widened, like he wasn't sure what he was hearing. This was very unlike me. I'd been pushing for exclusivity our entire relationship, but I saw things differently now. "What?" he asked.
"Please kiss me," Grace begged.
Nix gave me another look, and I nodded encouragingly. "I'm so sorry. I thought I was saving you both," he choked out. “I’m so sorry for those awful things I said. I don’t hate you. Either of you. I could never… I was just hurting so much. I felt like it was all my fault and—”
"I know," I replied. "Now go kiss Grace."
Nix shook his head and cautiously walked over to my best friend. It pained me to see Nix so uncertain, so cautious. This wasn't like him at all, but I knew it would take time for him to feel safe again, to feel like Nix again. A part of him died when the Ringleaders took him.
Now he would have to be reborn with the rest of us and pilgrimage this new normal with Grace and me by his side.
Grace tilted her head up to look at Nix. Her eyes were swimming with emotion as she took in his slumped shoulders and soft expression. "I'm so sorry, Grace," he whispered. "I never should have left. I was just trying to—"
"You heard Alessandro. Kiss me. Make me feel how real you are. I need to know you're going to stay."
Nix gently pushed her shoulders back, inching her deeper into the mattress so he could hover over her. I played with the waistband of my board shorts while watching them. Nix landed a sweet kiss on her cheek. Her jaw. Her chin. Her forehead. Her collarbone. Then finally, her soft, needy lips. She whimpered the moment their mouths connected. It felt like a devastating acceptance. "I'll never leave again," Nix promised between kisses.
"It's going to take me a while to believe that," she whispered back.
I made my way over to the bed and sat down next to them. Nix positioned himself to Grace's side, and they held each other tightly. His hand was threaded through her hair. The relief was evident on both of their faces.
"This is it. The three of us. There's no going back," I said. Nix turned to face me with tears running down his face. Grace draped her thin arm over his middle as I lay down to look at him. The three of us were comfortable on the mattress. It seemed fitting. Nix was between us, but also the person bonding Grace and me together. I stroked his cheek.
"Are you sure? You want this?" Nix asked. "How can I be deserving of this?"
Ah, there was the root of it all. It took me a long time to understand Nix, but this experience taught me a lot about the man I fell in love with. He wasn't searching for new love because he was bored and needy. He was looking because he didn't think he was deserving of anything real. It took two people to love Nix fully. And I now had someone worthy of sharing the job of loving him with.
"I'm positive. Grace is my Sunshine, Nix. She's the only person in this world I love enough to do this with. You need both of us. We all need each other. No more running when things get difficult. No more being the martyr. We do this together, or we don't do this at all. You understand that we love you for exactly who you are, or we stop this right now. We fucking love you. "
Grace kissed Nix's shoulder and eyed me. She had a small smile and nodded encouragingly. "It's true, you know," she whispered. "I love both of you. I want this, but don't ever make me go through the pain of abandonment again."
Nix shuddered. "I promise."
I grabbed his chin and kissed him softly. His lips parted on a sweet gasp, and I invaded his mouth with my tongue, lapping up his sweet taste as our lips clashed. Our kisses were wet with tears. Happy tears. Thankful tears. Tears of relief and need.
I could see Grace touching herself under the covers. No, I wanted her to feel everything. "Touch her," I growled while jerking his pants down. "Taste her," I demanded. Nix helped Grace out of her one-piece and tossed it on the floor. Grabbing her hips, he eased her onto his face, burying his lips into her slick pussy.
I watched in hungry fascination. Perhaps this was why Grace enjoyed watching so much. She rode his face with her head tossed back while twisting her nipples between her index finger and thumb. Her moans were a beautiful symphony. I positioned myself at Nix's cock and stared at the hard length pulsing in front of me. I licked my lips. "I love watching you ride his face, Grace," I rasped before licking the length of him. Nix
