“Is anyone else in there?” Max demanded.
She shook her head and coughed. “No. No, I was the last one.”
I picked her up immediately, supporting her by the back and beneath her knees to cradle her close. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Exhaustion didn’t even begin to describe how tired I was. I felt it in my bones, in the very muscles of my heart. By the time I walked in through the apartment, I could feel all the grime clinging to my skin, sinking into my pores. Max, though he didn’t say anything, looked just as weary. And Alice –poor, sweet Alice– looked like she just wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep for a week.
We traversed the hall of our apartment together, too worn-out to exchange words. All three of us immediately made for the bathroom, shedding our clothes without distraction before stepping into the shower together. Max got the spray going, settling on something lukewarm –cold enough to cool our skin down, but hot enough to keep us from shivering. We each took turns beneath the shower head, allowing the rolling water to drip over our heads and soak into our flesh. Drained, we did nothing more than wash our hair and scrub down with some body wash. Max and I held onto Alice tight, helping her reach the spots on her back that she couldn’t quite get to.
Whenever I imagined a threesome in the shower, I always used to picture it with two girls and lots of bubbles and giggles all around. But there was nothing passionate here, nothing overly sexy about our situation. What we had instead was something caring, something gentle and kind. There was a love here, unspoken through words, made evident by soft touches and embraces alone. The three of us, we knew what we had. To hold Alice between us was more than acceptable. When I was with her, all of the bad things in the world didn’t matter to me anymore. As long as she was safe and happy, I’d be the happiest man on Earth.
We toweled off, slipped into some fresh pajamas, and curled up in my bed. This was all starting to feel wonderfully routine and domestic. I pulled the covers over us and settled down next to Alice, laying my sleepy head down on the pillow. Max, Alice, and I were squished together on the double-sized mattress, but I got the sense that none of us minded the lack of personal space.
Max peppered light kisses into the back of Alice’s neck while I kissed her forehead, the center of her eyelids, the tip of her nose, the corners of her lips. She combed her fingers through my hair and sighed contently, eyes fluttering closed as sleep dragged her under. “I love you both,” she whispered softly.
“We love you, too,” Max and I said in perfect unison.
We held her tight. I was worried that if I let her go, she’d disappear forever. I swore this was the last time I was ever going to see her in danger. I was going to make it my life’s mission to make sure she lived a happy, healthy life, free of stress and terrible distractions. I wanted to fill her days with reasons to smile, leave her absolutely no worries in the years to come. One look at Max and I could tell he was thinking the exact same thing.
Alice was ours to protect.
Ours to love.
13
Alice
It was a very rare occurrence to find both Max and Jeremy off work at the exact same time. I’d made plans around today, scheduling the Ikea order I’d placed to arrive when I knew they were home.
“Come on, boys!” I cheered from the top of the stairwell. “Only fifty-eight more steps to go!” I peered over the railing and watched them lift the heavy box, hilariously struggling to make it around corners.
“God, I love her,” Jeremy huffed.
“Are you telling me, or are you reminding yourself?” Max joked.
“Yes.”
They eventually managed to climb the rest of the stairs and bring the delivery into the apartment, sliding it the last couple of feet over the door’s threshold. They lay it down on the boxes flat side and groaned.
Jeremy clapped the non-existent dust of his hands. “Okay,” he wheezed, “will you tell me what you ordered, now?”
I closed the door and leaned against it, giggling. “So, I was thinking.”
“Mhmm?” Max grunted.
“Jeremy’s bed is kind of small.”
“I thought you liked spooning together.”
“I do, I swear. It’s just that you’ve complained about waking up with Max’s hands on your face. And Max doesn’t like it when you touch him with your feet. So…” I bent down and ripped the plastic wrapping off of the box, splitting the cardboard cover open to reveal its contents. “I ordered us a king-sized bed!”