Chapter 26

WE STOPPED IN YAKIMA for lunch and I filled the tank on general principles. I spent most of lunch staring at her breasts.

“Paint a picture; it lasts longer,” Kate said, blushing.

“I think I’ll do that,” I said.

It was obvious that we’d entered a new phase of our relationship. As we drove the last leg from Ellensburg to Seattle the conversation turned serious and I could tell Kate had something on her mind. I decided to prod her.

“Something’s bothering you, Kitten,” I said. “Are you sad to be leaving your family behind?”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“Um ... I thought I had it all figured out and under control,” she said after a while. “You know, dating my plus three. I was going to be one for all and you’d be all for one.”

This sounded like it could get sticky. If Kate had decided that she’d fallen for me, I wasn’t going to be able to continue. I loved Kate, but not at the expense of Melody and Lissa.

“Go on,” I prodded.

“You love Melody and Lissa, right?” I nodded. “But you love Melody. I can tell. You look at her like she’s the most important person in the world. When I see you with her, I think, ‘this is the world’s most perfect couple.’ And you are.”

“Yes, but...”

“Wait. The thing is, you love Lissa,” she continued. That’s what I was going to say, but it was important that Kate get this out. “You’re perfect together. I watch you playing racquetball and it’s like you’re one person. I catch a glimpse of you kissing out on the deck and I think what a perfect couple you are.”

Now I was beginning to see where this was going and I breathed just a little easier.

“I fell in love with the three of you together. I want to be with the three of you. But I’ve gradually become aware of something else. I love you, Tony. I think you are perfect for me. You make my heart beat in my throat. You turn my body to jelly when you touch me.”

“Kate...”

“Please let me finish before you say anything or I’ll never be able to get through it all,” she said. I nodded again. “I love Melody. Just holding her hand gives me such a feeling of peace and calm that tears run down my cheeks. When she kisses me, I want to eat her up. I want to plunge into her body and live in her heart. God I love her.”

I spared a quick glance at Kate and tears were running down her cheeks. I had to just focus on the road and let her continue. She hadn’t strung so many words together at one time without interruption with me since she told me the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. After she’d caught her breath, she went on.

“I love Lissa. Just looking at her breaks my heart. She is so beautiful and strong. She’s everything I want to be when I have children. She makes me want children. She touched me—touched my breasts—and I wanted to take off all my clothes and let her have me any way she wanted. I kissed her and she took me into herself like I was her soulmate. I love her so much I don’t know what to do with the love.”

Kate was panting and tears flowed freely. I pulled off the highway at Snoqualmie Pass and parked. As soon as I turned off the car, Kate launched herself over the console to be in my arms.

“Tony, I love you all. But I love each one of you. I didn’t know that was possible. Oh, I love you!”

That was it. The dam broke and Kate was sobbing in my arms as I stroked her hair and kissed her head. This was what was bothering her. She hadn’t chosen one of us; she’d chosen each of us and all of us together. Now I understood. I’d done the same thing.

“Kitten, I love Melody. I love Lissa. And I love you. And I love all three of you.”

“Tony,” she said after her tears subsided. “Could I stay the night with you tonight, like we did last night? Only with all y’all?”

I think I set a land speed record from the top of Snoqualmie Pass to our home on Queen Anne. Kate and I were giddy. We’d glance at each other and start giggling.

“Those two girls are going to be so surprised. You’ll be lucky to get any sleep tonight,” I said.

“Let’s not tell them until bedtime,” Kate giggled. “I’m going to get them all worked up.”

“Just come in and join us when we go to bed,” I laughed. “They’ll want to hear about what Sir Gawain did over the weekend.”

“Tony, I’m so excited. You’ll help ... help me ... not go too far, won’t you?” she asked.

“Even if I have to put a leash on them,” I said. “In fact, maybe I should try that anyway!”

We were laughing when we pulled into my driveway, but stopped as soon as I saw there were two other cars and a motorcycle in the drive. They were all pulled over to the left, so I could open the garage door and pull in.

“Who’s here?” I asked.

“That one is Wendy’s,” Kate said pointing. “I think the other is Sandra’s new car. I don’t know about the motorcycle.”

“That’s right. You’ve caught rides with both Wendy and Sandra before. See, that’s the problem with having a car. Mine’s the only one I see the inside of.”

“Hi loves! We’re home!” I called as we entered from the garage.

“Darling!” Melody screamed as she came running down the hall.

“Lover!” Lissa yelled as she followed. As soon as Melody’s lips were away from mine, they were on Kate’s and Lissa was kissing me.

“Tony!” Sandra called as she came pounding down the hall after Lissa, giggling like someone was tickling her with every step. She stood on tiptoe to give me a very polite but extremely nice kiss with her lips just barely parted and soft as the rest of her body. “See? I can learn,” she said and then went on to hug Kate.

“Artist-boy,” Wendy said as she came up to me a little more sedately. There was nothing particularly sedate about her kiss though. She progressed to Kate with just as warm a kiss.

“Breeder!” Amy said as she approached me. “You just get a cheek this time. I want a kiss from your other girlfriend there.” Her lips grazed my cheek and she descended on Kate with enthusiasm.

I almost lost it when I heard a voice singing, though.

“Tonight! Tonight, Won’t be just any night.”

“Allie!” The girl rushed down the hall and pretty much wrapped herself all around me. Anything Amy slighted me in her kiss, Allie made up for. I hadn’t seen her since Chicago and it was like no time had passed at all. When we parted, she gently kissed Kate on each cheek. “Hi, Kate. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Hi, Allison. Um ... Welcome back to Seattle.”

“Pogo!”

I snapped around in time to see Beth launch herself into my arms and land with her lips pressed to mine. I was breathless when she released me and turned to Kate.

“Hi, Kate. I’m Beth. We only met by...” She was cut off by Kate smashing her lips against my best friend’s. When they parted, it was Beth who was breathless. “Oh my,” she sighed.

“Okay, so you all got together to surprise us. Is this supposed to be another posing party? I’m not sure I’m up to it tonight.”

“We can make sure you’re ‘up to it’, Tony,” Allie said. “That’s never been a problem.

“But nobody planned it,” Amy said. “We just all showed up.”

“Well, we knew Beth was coming,” Melody corrected. “She called Lissa and me last week and asked if it was okay for her to come out for a few days.”

“I called Lissa this morning and asked if it was all right if I stopped by for a while today. It’s a holiday and the restaurant is closed,” Wendy said.

“Amy and I met up at the dorm and decided to just come over and surprise everyone.”

“Well, you sure surprised me,” I said. “Kate and I just got back from visiting her family down in Oregon.”

I could see Kate blushing.

“We know all about the plans,” Beth said. “Lissa warned me you wouldn’t be back until today, so I decided to fly in Saturday and see if I could fool around with your girlfriends!”

“I’m the one who screwed everything up—or saved their honor,” Allison said. “When I got out of camp, I went straight back to school. Started the 22nd of August. I never got a break, so I decided to just come to Seattle and surprise the people I love over the holiday weekend. I’ve got no classes on Tuesdays, so I fly back tomorrow.”

“You’re still sleeping with me tonight,” Beth grinned. “We’ll see whose honor gets saved.”

“Who’s on the motorcycle?” I asked.

“Like my new wheels?” Amy asked. “Take a look at what I got to go with them.” She shocked us all by pulling her shirt off one shoulder and down far enough to expose her breast just to show us the flaming wheel tattoo over her heart. “I’ve always loved motorcycles and decided to go get mine before I came back to school. The tat I got in LA.”