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I stand from the sand and sweep the grains from my butt before noticing there’s already a cameraman on his way over to film us. We got a few minutes, though I’m sure our conversation was still recorded.
“You don’t know about us do you?” he asks, standing to meet my gaze. His biceps flex beside him and I can tell by the stance he’s on the verge of saying something that I wish these stupid camera people weren’t following us around for.
“Us?” I walk with Colin down the beach, trying to evade the oncoming paparazzi.
“Brad, Zane, and I… we were in a relationship with another woman a few years back.”
My brows narrow and my stomach clenches as I try to wrap my head around what he’s saying.Is this what Zane was talking about earlier?“What do you mean you were in a relationship with another woman? Like all three of you and one woman?”
Colin nods, his hand tucked into the pocket of his swim trucks as we walk.
The ease at which they both took me makes more sense now.
“How does that work exactly? Like you just traded nights?”
He shakes his head. “She was a lot older than me, Zane’s age actually. They started dating in high school. Brad and I met Mari at different points after she and Zane were married.”
“Married?Wait… what?”
“Married,” he repeats. “I was putting in a new kitchen for them and Mari and I hit it off. I dismissed it like you’re doing now until I couldn’t anymore. That’s when she approached me about the two of us. A couple of years later, she met Brad at the beach. He was blowing off some steam, and they got talking about sea glass or something.” Colin looks up and away before glancing back again. “It’s weird. It’s really fucking weird, but it worked for us.”
“What about Zane, though? I mean, he must have been heartbroken that the love of his life had fallen in love with two other men. I—”
“I thought the same thing. Fuck, I was nervous as hell to talk to him when we first met. The guy is intimidating.”
I look Colin up and down as though it’s funny he’s calling another man scary.
“He was unexpectedly open to everything. He always said he just wanted to see Mari happy.”
“But what about him? How does seeing your woman with another man make him happy, or any of you happy?”
He smiles toward me, his dark brown eyes instantly warming. “We all had the same goal, to do whatever we could for her. Mari was our queen, and she knew it. Seeing that woman happy and thriving was the best thing that ever happened to any of us. Also, it gave us a brotherhood that we didn’t have before.”
I know she’s passed because of my conversation with Zane earlier, but I give Colin a chance to tell me as well, hoping to be solace for him if he needs it.
“Where is she now?”
He sucks in a deep breath and looks down at the sand. “She passed away a few years ago… lymphoma. She told us all before she went that she wanted us to move on, but Zane just won’t.”
“So when we all just did stuff… was that like the first time sin—”
Colin nods. “I haven’t felt like this for anyone in years, Sara.” He turns toward me and pulls me into the thicket of trees, sheltering me from the cameraman who’s trotting behind. “I know Brad feels the same way. Whatever this is… it’s special. I don’t want to let it go.”
I narrow my eyes, my mind still not wrapping around what he’s saying. “I’m not polyamorous,” I say. “I don’t even know how to live like that. Besides, I don’t think Zane likes me very much right now.”
“What makes you think that?”
My eyes widen. “He pretty much said it at the tide pools. He knows I’m bad news, and he’s right.”
“You are not bad news,” Colin says, leaning into my lips. “You’re perfect.” He kisses me tenderly with his strong arm lingering on my cheek. “I’m not a big fate guy, but I think all of this was meant to happen.” His gaze is on mine and for a second, I let myself believe in what he’s saying. “Why don’t we go back to camp. It’ll be dark soon and we have to pull in the lines.”
“I don’t think I want to go,” I say, wrapping my arm around his shoulders. “I think I want to stay here all night with you under this canopy… or at least until that guy passes out.” I nod toward the cameraman who's keeping his distance, though I’m sure the lens is on full zoom.
Colin lifts his arm up behind me and holds his weight against the trunk of the tree. “Whatever you have to say, I’ve got you.” He says the words so confidently that I believe him.
“You say it with so much conviction I almost believe you,” I say, running my fingertip down over his chest. “I think that’s my downfall. I’m gullible.”
He tips my chin up and lands a kiss on the top of my head. “Believing people when they talk isn’t gullible, sweetheart. It’s faith, and I promise to always give you something to believe in.”
