Page 59 of Nailing Studs

“I don’t know what to say,” I whispered to Logan. “I just—”

He pressed a kiss to my lips and then pulled me in tight. After a moment I heard Taylor clear his throat.

“Last but not least,” he said, holding out his hand to me. “Close your eyes.”

I took his hand in mine and followed behind him as he led me. “Where are we going?”

“Into the past,” was all he said. Then he stopped me, and whispered, “Open up.”

I slowly opened my eyes and tears immediately welled up. We were in the sun room, and…

“You found it,” I whispered. I fell to my knees by an antique wooden coffee table sitting in the center of the room. I ran my fingers along the leg and found my initials from so long ago.

I cried in joy as Logan, Taylor, and Dom all gathered around me on the floor.

“How did you—how—”

“Lots of calls, lots of estate sale searching, lots of dead ends, and one lucky break,” Taylor explained softly. “But, Kayla, I would have searched to the ends of the earth to find it for you. We all would have. I want you to know that.”

I kissed each in turn and wiped at my wet eyes. “What does all this mean?” I asked shakily, nerves jangling.

“These gifts—they are your past, your present, and your future. The coffee table, the oven, the Historic Site Certificate,” Logan said. “And Kayla, we want to be your past, your present, your future. Your everything. All three of us.”

“But…but…we have to sell the house. Even with tax breaks, I know I won’t be able to afford to live in Tabitha’s house. And I need to pay you guys what I owe you.” I gestured to Taylor and Dom, “I have to do that. You two have put so much of your own money into the renovations already.” Tears choked me, but I pressed on, appreciative of how patiently the men were waiting for me to finish. “I’d planned to tell you all tonight that we have to set a date for the sale. And as soon as Tabitha’s house sells, I’ll have to move.”

The three men glanced at each other, then Taylor said quietly, “We know. But we also know that in today’s market, selling will take a couple of months at least, and we still have about a month’s worth of work left on this place. So we’re looking at us all being together here, in this place, for three, four more months. We know you may need to leave Fosterman when this house sells. But who knows what can happen in three months? And just because you leave Fosterman, it doesn't necessarily mean what we have has to end.”

“Exactly,” Dom said, interrupting, his voice low and full of emotion. “Time has a habit of changing everything.”

Logan cleared his throat. “So for now…”

I looked from Logan to Taylor to Dom. “What exactly are you saying?” I whispered.

It was Dom who took my hand and said the words. “We want to be with you. Even after you sell the house, even if you have to leave Fosterman, we want to be with you. As a…well…a unit, I guess.”

“The four of us…all four of us?”

“If you don’t think you can handle it, then you can choose one of us,” Dom nuzzled his nose into my neck. “Though I’m pretty sure I know who you’d choose,” he taunted for the benefit of the other guys, who rolled their eyes.

“Cocky,” I scolded him in a choked, laughing voice, and even though I wanted him so badly, even though I felt drawn to Dominic so deeply that something elemental in me reacted to being this close to him, I knew I could never choose between the three of them.

I needed them all—Dominic’s rough edges yet hidden sweetness, Taylor’s cocky sex appeal, and Logan’s dominating sophistication that hid a kinky side. They all enhanced my life. “I could never choose between you guys,” I admitted.

“You don’t have to,” Taylor assured me. “We’ve been with women one-on-one, and we’ve been with women with other guys, some relationships more serious than others, but nothing we’ve ever experienced has been like what we have with you. We want to keep it, Kayla. Let’s see where this takes us.”

I hitched a breath, incredulous. Was he saying what I thought he was saying, or was I hearing what I wanted to hear?

“You get what you need from each of us,” Logan added, “and we get to give it to you. We get to be with you, but we get some independence, too. We need to be able to have our own lives, and it really helps when you have two other guys to pick up the slack with that relationship. That way, we all get to give you the best of us but we never have to let you down.”

“And that’s just how it would work, going forward?” I asked. “Sounds good in theory, but…”

“It works, Kayla. With the right group of people, and we have the right group of people. We know where you’ll live after selling the house is uncertain, but we’re willing to take that gamble. See where this goes. All you have to do is say yes.” Dom leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. Then he stepped aside and Taylor and then Logan each moved in for a kiss. When Logan pulled back, I was breathless and smiling. There was nothing more to think about. I really did want this. I didn’t know how it’d all pan out in the future, but for now, this was what I wanted.

“Yes,” I said. Smiling, I said it again. “Yes.”

22

Kayla

---