by Liz Meldon
He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs to the brim, and held the air for four counts. As his ears popped and the elevator shot up to the top floor, he continued doing it, over and over again, until things inside of his chest settled somewhat. When the doors finally whooshed open, granting him direct access to his suite, Cole was only slightly less clammy—and the voices had been subdued to a dull, whispery roar.
He stepped into a two-storey suite, pitch-black save for the green, red, and blue dots of light from the various electronics scattered around the foyer. Twin winding stairwells ahead led to the second floor, a landing between them with an ivory and gold railing, the color scheme carrying up from the lobby. Straight ahead were the first-floor eat-in kitchen and living room areas, plus the balcony. Cole wondered if he could even make it up to his bedroom without collapsing.
“Fuck me.” He groped around in the darkness for a light switch. He could have sworn he’d left everything on this morning, and the cleaning staff hadn’t once adjusted any of the suite settings in three weeks. Mind you, all the blaring lights probably hadn’t been good for his state of mind either. After leaving the chaos of the city behind, he should have opted for soothing, natural lighting. Maybe he could put in a request…
“Ah, there you are, you bugger,” he grumbled when he finally found the switch, which was in a row of a dozen other switches—more buttons than a fucking airplane dashboard. Seconds later, all the foyer’s many pod lights came to life above him—including the line along the floor on either side of the elevator—the sudden rush of light like an assault.
“Surprise!”
Cole whirled around, dropping his laptop carrier bag with a heavy thud, at the sight of Finn and Skye standing in his lobby, champagne flutes in hand—and a banner hanging from the railing above.
CONGRATULATIONS, DADDY!
“We made it on the plane ride over here,” Skye said as Cole continued to stare at the bright, glittery letters, each one surrounded by hearts. It was clearly Skye’s writing—and it said daddy. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to both of his people, standing across the foyer, dressed to the nines. Finn in one of his favourite black suits, a half-pink, half-blue bow tie around his neck. Skye, looking beautiful in a floor-length red dress, nipped at the waist, with fluttery short sleeves. Makeup. Her hair tossed up in an elegant updo, coppery curls cascading down her neck. No shoes, he noticed when she padded toward him, her feet bare but her toenails painted to match her dress.
She stopped within a foot of him, then offered a champagne flute.
“We shouldn’t have told you over a video call,” she told him softly, her extended arm hanging between them, the liquid bubbling within the glass. “I’m sorry. I should have realized it would upset you, learning about it but not being there… I was just excited and I wanted you to know.”
He cautiously accepted the flute when she nibbled her lower lip, his hand trembling.
“It’s nonalcoholic,” Finn commented as he strolled toward them. “You know, since we’re all on the same team here. She can’t drink, we can’t drink—apparently.”
“No sushi either.” Skye pointed between them, eyes narrowed. “I think that’s gonna be the hard one…”
Cole closed his mouth and swallowed hard when he realized he’d just been staring mutely. His eyes wandered up to the banner again, then down to Skye.
“I’m so sorry.” He barely heard the words despite uttering them himself, a whirlwind of emotion battering him hard. Frowning, Skye handed her glass to Finn, and before Cole knew it, she was holding him, drawing him into her arms and squeezing tight. Ashamed, he clenched his eyes shut, the levies finally bursting, and buried his face against her neck.
She hushed him sweetly, rubbing his back, and when he tried to pull away, she wouldn’t let him.
“Skye, I’m so happy about this,” he said, hoping he sounded reassuring even as the words clawed up his tight throat. “I responded poorly. I’m, I’m elated. I just…”
“Forgiven,” she whispered, “and forgotten. I love you.”
Gaze blurred with tears, he hugged her back with everything he had, nonalcoholic champagne threatening to slosh over the edges of the glass. With Skye in his arms again, all the weight he’d been carrying lifted in an instant. The ruthlessly tight knots that had been twisting and twisting and twisting finally loosened, and as he eased away from her, he still couldn’t fathom what he had done to deserve such a perfect pair of partners in this life—but he had to learn to stop questioning it.
“Thank you,” he said, looking to Finn as he wiped under his eyes, “for bringing her here. For being here.”
When that one text message had said they would see each other soon, this was the last thing Cole had ever expected.
“It seemed like the right thing to do,” his friend insisted with a trademark grin, rocking back and forth in his leather-tipped shoes, hands in his pockets. “Besides, it didn’t feel proper, the two of us celebrating without you. We thought it best to bring the party here.”
“I don’t think you know just how much I needed you,” Cole managed, then downed half his drink—only to remember it was nonalcoholic. But Finn was right. If Skye couldn’t drink, then neither could they. The gravity of it all, of having a baby with the woman he loved, hit him like a freight train, and Finn had to reach out to steady him when his knees gave way ever so slightly. Skye wrapped an arm around him, giggling.
“Come on, there’s no booze in there—”
He caught her supple lips in a kiss, lingering there for shorter than he wanted to before resting his forehead against hers. “You’re pregnant.”
“Thirty thousand tests can’t lie,” she joked, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright. “We’re having a baby…”
Teary-eyed again, he engulfed her in a hug, only then realizing she was also shaking. When he spied Finn hovering over her shoulder, he grabbed the man’s sleeve and dragged him in too, all three holding one another, supporting one another.
Loving one another.
They stayed like that a long while, Skye sandwiched in the middle, until she finally wriggled out and skipped back to the stairwell. As she grabbed the bottle of faux bubbly, Cole nudged Finn and held the man’s gaze. He owed him—big time.
“Honestly. I’m so sorry. Thank you for being here.”
“Where else would we be?” Finn murmured, smirking when Skye joined them moments later to refill Cole’s glass.
“A toast,” she insisted, taking her flute back from Finn. Their glasses clinked together, and she laughed, looking effortlessly vibrant—and totally in love. “To having a baby girl… Because I seriously can’t put up with another boy in this household.”
“To our baby girl,” Finn agreed, his eyes watery.
Cole nodded and lifted his glass a little higher. “To our family.”
Fun Facts and Future Tidbits
At the beginning of the trilogy, Skye was twenty-nine, Cole was thirty, and Finn was thirty-five.
After agreeing to start seeing both Finn and Cole, Skye had to figure out how to juggle three relationships: one with Cole, who she had been partially involved with for four years already; another with Finn, as they were essentially just starting to date; and a third between all three of them. It was a bit hectic at first, but over time the playing field evened out, and Skye felt as though she had one relationship consisting of two men.
Finn tends to assume the role of caregiver. As the eldest in the group, and the oldest sibling in his own family, he generally takes command of stressful situations—but that can sometimes mean his feelings sit on the backburner. Skye and Cole are getting more adept at managing a crisis, along with noticing when Finn isn’t being heard. It’s a process.
Finn is an extrovert. Cole is an introvert. Skye straddles the line between the two.
Cole’s idea of a great Saturday night is all three of them at home, in their comfy clothes, making dinner together after some mind-blowing afternoon sex. They’d then spend the evening
snuggled up on the couch watching movies.
Finn’s idea of a great Saturday night is either a sex marathon, or treating his two favourite people to some exclusive restaurant or club, where they have a private booth or room to themselves—just in case things get interesting.
Skye’s idea of a great Saturday night is being with both her boys. Period.
Cole has been clinically diagnosed with anxiety and takes medication to help manage it. Finn was unaware of that for the duration of their friendship until the events of the trilogy. Both Skye and Finn help Cole manage when he needs them, but it has been a learning curve for everyone.
Everybody fights in a relationship, Cole, Finn, and Skye included. Cole tends to bottle things up and explode. Finn and Skye are more argumentative in the heat of the moment, though that tends to resolve the issue faster.
Finn is the only one with parents who are still married. Skye’s mother died of cancer when she was nineteen and her dad bailed on her long before that. She has no interest in reaching out to him. Cole’s mother lives in a cute cottage in the English countryside, and his father died of a heart attack in his teens. The trio alternate Christmases between Finn and Cole’s family, though try to see both if possible.
In the bedroom, Cole is a dominant, Skye is generally submissive, though she prefers being a bratty submissive when she can, and Finn alternates between the two. The three maintain separate bedrooms to give one another space when necessary, although every house they own has one bedroom with a bed big enough to fit everyone. Skye prefers sleeping with Cole if all three aren’t sleeping together, but only because he doesn’t complain about her bed-hogging. Finn never lets her hear the end of it.
While both Cole and Skye are heterosexual, Finn would classify himself as bisexual.
They go on to have two children. Mallory, known as Mal to friends and family, takes after her mother with her red hair, though she has Cole’s eyes. Sahil, two years younger than his sister, is the spitting image of Finn. Both children call Finn and Cole dad. Mallory goes through a wild-child period, which lasts into her late twenties before she settles down, working in fashion, while Sahil follows in Cole’s footsteps with university, post-graduate degrees, and a career in tech.
Ozzy lives to the ripe old age of nineteen, and prefers Finn to Cole. Mason, in contrast, passes at age twelve and is obsessed with Cole. Skye is the ruling authority over both, however. The family goes on to adopt more pets after, and Finn eventually sponsors the opening of a big cat sanctuary in northern California. The sanctuary’s first lion cubs are honorarily named Cole and Finn, and a snow leopard rescue is named Skye.
Finn also has Rai’s Sweets chocolate products named after Cole, Skye, and both their kids. After his father passes, he takes over the company and moves its headquarters to LA to be close to the family.
Skye ends up working remotely from home maintaining a popular museum’s website, blog, and event coverage, with a little help from Cole with the technical things, until both kids are in high school. Afterward, she invests her time in charities, preferring the freedom to be with her family when she wants.
Cole’s mother is very supportive of the trio’s arrangement. Finn’s family remain iffy but are generally accepting.
Skye doesn’t legally marry either Finn or Cole. They do have a private ceremony where they exchange rings on their five-year anniversary. In their eyes, they’re married—and live a long, happy life before retiring together on the Caribbean island of Bequia.
Thanks for reading!
Thank you so much for reading! You’re awesome. Seriously. Go treat yo’ self for being such a fabulous human being.
If you enjoyed the ALL IN trilogy and want to support Liz in some small way, please consider leaving a review at the retailer of your choice, including Goodreads. Reviews help indie authors thrive. I also use reviews as a way to gauge what series to work on next. If contemporary erotic romance is your thing, let me know!
Best wishes,
Liz
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About the Author
Liz is a Canadian author who grew up in the Middle East. She has a degree in Bioarchaeology from Western University, and when she isn't writing about her own snarky characters, she is ghostwriting romance novels, loitering on social media, or taking care of her many animals.
As a freelance ghostwriter, she has written over a dozen books ranging from romance to horror, full-length to novella-sized. A handful are currently on the market, and she stalks their "authors" with fiendish delight. She loves writing realistic characters in fantastical settings.
More from Liz Meldon:
Erotic Short Shorts – an Erotic Short Story Series
Happy Hour (2016)
Holiday Hell (2017)
Bliss (2018)
All In Trilogy – a Contemporary Erotic Romance Trilogy (2017)
Finn (#1)
Cole (#2)
Skye (#3)
All In Trilogy: Book Bundle + Bonus Content
Lovers and Liars: Immortal Wars – a fantasy and paranormal romance series based in the Lovers and Liars Universe
Court of the Phantom Queen (2017) – Book #1 (fantasy romance, novella)
Apollo’s Priestess (2017) – Book #2 (shifter paranormal romance, novella)
To the North (TBD) – Book #3 (fantasy romance, novella)
Lovers and Liars – a Paranormal Romance Serial
Manhattan (2014) – Book #1 (FREE)
Vancouver (2015) – Book #2
Westwick College (2016) – Book #3
Tuskin Island (TBD) – Book #4
Games We Play – a (Vampire/Hunter) Paranormal Romance Duology
The Fool (2015) – Prologue
The King (2016) – Book #1
The Queen (TBD) – Book #2
It Begins Here: An Anthology (2015)
It Ends Here: An Anthology (2016)