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My throat feels tight in the best way. Scotty being here with us makes my heart even more full than I’d imagined possible. “Me too.”

We skate like that for another few minutes, close enough that our shoulders bump occasionally, taking in the cozy Christmas atmosphere, until Scotty suddenly pulls away with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“I think it’s time to see what you can really do,” Scotty starts, turning to Patrick. “You said you played hockey, right? Show off a little.”

Patrick laughs, shaking his head. “I’m rusty.”

“I don’t care. Impress us.”

“You heard the man,” I say, giving Patrick a gentle push.

Patrick rolls his eyes but skates away from us, picking up speed. He executes a smooth turn, then another, his movements more confident as he starts skating backward, smiling at us the whole time. Nothing too fancy, but enough to show he definitely knows what he’s doing.

Scotty leans closer to me as he grabs my hand. “Oof, is it getting hot out here or is it just me?”

“He’s a man of many talents,” I agree with a nod. “How lucky are we?”

Scotty’s cheeks heat, and he nods. “The luckiest.”

“So?” Patrick asks as he glides to a stop in front of us. “Impressed?”

Scotty pretends to consider it. “I suppose,” he answers with a teasing tone, and I smile at his playfulness.

Watching Scotty’s nervousness melt away is exactly what Patrick and I hoped for. Better, even. It feels so natural, so right. Just like spending time with him always has before we’d even considered opening our marriage and becoming a throuple.

Patrick’s cheeks are flushed from the cold, his eyes bright as he looks between us. Scotty’s still grinning, that teasing edge softened by genuine affection. And I take a moment to appreciate how happy I am here, with both of them, on a date that feels like the first of many.

“I think we’ve earned a break,” Patrick announces. “It’s almost time for our reservations, and I could definitely go for some mulled wine right about now.”

“That sounds perfect.” The cold is starting to seep through my jacket anyway, and the thought of warming up with something sweet and spiced sounds like the ideal way to continue this afternoon.

“I could also go for the hot tub when we get back. Or the sauna again,” Scotty adds.

“That can easily be arranged,” Patrick agrees.

We exit the rink and sit down on the bench to unlace our skates before dropping them off at the rental counter. Patrick leads the way across the street to the most picturesque outdoor bar with glowing firepits and lit-up dome igloos.

“This is beautiful,” Scotty grins, his eyes taking in the whole scene. The restaurant is like something out of a holiday movie. “You guys really outdid yourselves with this trip.”

“We reserved an igloo,” I inform him as Patrick checks us in.

The hostess leads us to an empty one near a fire pit, and we all head into the heated bubble. There’s a curved bench with thick cushions and blankets draped over the back that we settle into. Patrick scoots in first, Scotty in the middle, and I close him in.

A waiter appears at the entrance with limited Christmas menus, and we all order mulled wine and water to start. When she leaves, Scotty immediately reaches for one of the blankets and spreads it across all three of our laps. The waiter returns quickly with three steaming mugs, the scent of cinnamon and cloves filling our little dome as she takes our food order and lets us know it’ll be out shortly.

I wrap my hands around the warm ceramic and take a sip, savoring the taste as the spiced wine heats me from the inside out. Patrick and Scotty have also taken long sips and are sighing contentedly. This moment, with the three of us tucked together under a cozy blanket, the glow of the firepit just outside our igloo, and the taste of mulled wine on my tongue, feels almost surreal.

I’ve always felt so incredibly lucky that I married the most perfect man, but now I feel impossibly luckier that we—hopefully—get to have Scotty too.

This might just be a first date, but this incredible day has made the possibility feel so much more real, and I want it more than ever.

24

Itake another sip of the mulled wine and let the warmth spread through my chest. Though I’m not sure if it’s the drink or being sandwiched between Joey and Patrick like this. The heat from their bodies seeps through my clothes as their hands dance on my thighs under the blanket, both of them helping to warm me up. It’s such a small thing, but it makes my throat tight with emotion.

As much as I’m enjoying their attention and have been trying to live in the moment on this date, I haven’t been able to shake that nagging thought that we leave tomorrow. They’ve done such a fantastic job this week including me, and when it was just a fun vacation, it was easy to ignore the fact that they’re married and focus on what a great time we’ve all had.

But now that they’ve labeled this as a date and they’re talking about the three of us having an actual relationship, my gaze keeps catching on their wedding bands. I can’t ignore my concern that I won’t ever share the level of depth that Joey and Patrick have. They’ve been married for almost twenty years. Sure, we have our own history, plenty of hangouts, multiple incredibly hot nights exploring each other’s bodies, but even if they shared all their stories, I wasn’t a part of those moments with them. We went over ten years without even talking to each other—which I regret now more than anything because I’ve missed so much of their lives.