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I reach across the table to take his hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze as he continues, speaking faster as he goes on.

“Now you guys are ready to leave the place you’ve lived for so long, just so I don’t feel like an outsider in your space, and I didn’t even have to ask. It feels too good to be true, and I’m kind of terrified because I think I’m in love with you both, and I’m worried that you’ll realize I’m not worth the effort.”

“Baby, no. You don’t need to worry about that,” Joey immediately acknowledges, a huge smile spreading across his face. “I love you, too. We want this. You. We want all of us together. I promise that even though it might seem like we’re moving fast, it’s only because we’re confident and we want to give this relationship our all.”

I nod in agreement, my cheeks hurting from how big my smile is at his confession. “I love you too, sweetheart. This isn’t just about you and us. It’ll be a lot to navigate. All three of us will have our own relationships, and the three of us will have a relationship as well. You and Joey will have moments together without me. You and I will have moments without Joey, and Joey and I will still have time together too. We’re not asking you to be absorbed into what we already have—we’re looking at this as building something new. Something that includes all of us equally.”

“And the vacation rule? That’s done?” Scotty checks.

“Completely done,” Joey confirms. “You’re not an exception on vacation. This is our life. We want to make this work with you every single day. A closed polyamorous relationship between the three of us.”

“We want to be committed to you. Exclusively,” I add so that there’s no question. “The three of us together. No more hookups with other people. We just need to know if you’re on the same page. If you want to keep your options open or if⁠—”

“No,” Scotty interrupts. “God, no. I don’t want anyone else. I just… I guess I didn’t think you’d want that. I thought maybe this would be more open or something.”

“Nope. We want you. Only you, Scotty. We’re all in,” Joey confirms.

Scotty takes a shaky breath. “Okay, radical honesty?” We both nod, and he slowly continues. “I want to be. I really do, but I’m scared I’ll always feel like the second choice. You two have such a deep foundation with so much history, marriage, and I don’t know how to not feel like the addition.”

The vulnerability in his voice makes my chest ache. I reach out and take his hand. “Scotty, listen to me. We don’t want you to feel that way, and we have no intention of treating you as less important than each other because we don’t see you as less than anything. We view this as a new start for all of us that we’ll all work through together. Do you want to marry us?”

His eyes snap to mine. “What?”

“I’m serious. Do you want to marry us? Because I’ll find a place that’ll do that. Or try my damndest. I don’t care if it’s not legally recognized everywhere. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I knew I wanted that with Joey after a couple of dates, and it never changed; I feel the same way about you. That’s how serious I am about this relationship.”

Scotty looks like he might cry, and Joey reaches out to take his other hand.

“Is marriage important to you? Will it bother you that Patrick and I have that legal recognition and you don’t? Because short of us divorcing, I’m not sure how⁠—”

“Oh god, no. Don’t get divorced,” Scotty dismisses quickly. “I’ve never actually cared that much about marriage, which makes me feel like a shitty gay because we fought so hard for these rights. But I’ve just wanted to feel like a priority, and honestly, I’ve never felt that more than I do right now.” He pauses, looking down at our joined hands. “I’m sorry I was pulling away. I’m definitely not used to this level of honesty, but I promise I’ll work on it.”

“That’s all we’re asking,” I assure him. “We’re all learning here. None of us have done this before.”

“The idea of moving to a new place together does help. It makes me feel less like I’m intruding, and that we’re starting fresh,” Scotty finally admits.

“Then we’ll move, because that’s what we want,” Joey assures him.

Scotty takes a deep breath, and I can see him gathering his courage. “Okay. Yes. To answer your questions, I want to be exclusive with you. I want to build a life with you. Both of you. It’s all I’ve been able to think about since you dropped me off the other day. I’m just terrified to want something so much; I don’t think I’ve ever actually wanted anything this badly. I’m probably going to need reassurance from time to time, but I’m in. I’m all in.”

The relief that floods through me is instantaneous. I stand up and pull Scotty into a tight hug, Joey quickly joins us, his arm around us both, and we stay like that, all wrapped up together for a long moment.

When we finally pull apart, Scotty’s smiling. “So, uh, what do we call each other?”

Joey answers before I can. “I like partners. It sounds more serious than boyfriends.”

“Partners works for me,” I agree.

“Yeah, I like that too. My partners,” he says, like he’s testing it out as he beams at us.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a text from Jace saying they’re here and asking if they’re okay to come in. For all of his claims that it’s his turn to meddle, he’s way nicer than I was when I found out he and Kieran reconnected. I give them the go-ahead and warn Scotty that they’re on the way up. “They’re great, and they know all about us. So it’ll be fine. Promise.”

Joey opens the door, and they’re standing there with rosy cheeks from the cold, holding a box of baked goods.

“This is Scotty,” Joey introduces when they step inside.

“Nice to meet you,” Jace says warmly, shaking Scotty’s hand. “This is my husband, Kieran.”

“We brought red velvet cupcakes,” Kieran announces.