"Can I ask you something?" I wasn't sure I was brave enough to get answers to the growing clamor of questions in my head. Especially not while staring into Vic's eyes—face—into Vic's face. We sat across from each other on tufted pillows.

The two of us had already discussed the aimless, the pointless, the banal, and the mundane in our private session. We had laughed and joked; we had even philosophized and bullshitted. I needed this last conversation to be meaningful.

We were on a miniature bridge that curved across sleek black sand. The rest of the wood-paneled floors of the Zen Garden had given way to this sable oasis. Textured boulders, potted bonsai, and tropical plants mimicked an artificial jungle springing from the smoothly raked silica. Seamless windows spanned the walls and enhanced the illusion of the room extending to the azure sky and ocean beyond.

Whoever had designed the space had done a superb job marrying manmade elements with nature, inviting us into a more serene dimension of heaven within our own floating paradise.

Then there were the singing bowls. I didn't know what was at play with the resonant hum flowing from the speakers. Some people theorized certain vibrations had tangible impacts on the human body. I understood how suggestibility worked.

But whichever mechanism was the culprit—healing magic or delusions—the so-called Sacral Chakra frequency was having the exact effect the technician had promised. My inhibitions were loosening . . . so I asked: "What happened between you and Lex?"

Vic shifted in their cross-legged position in front of me, cinnamon eyes dilating as a faint blush splotched their cheeks. "I don't know. I think you should ask her."

"I'm asking you," I murmured. "The thing is, I don't put stock in Samentha's act. Not even Aunt Mary's admission that my father actually was a rolling stone changes my mind. But my dad seems intent on seeing me settle down. Why? I don't know. Probably as a marker of what he considers being a real man.

"Now, you and I both know the chances of me falling into the role of serious boyfriend, fiancé or—heaven forbid—family man, are slim to none," I explained. "So, I want to explore what my other options are. I want to know if you need me to back off."

"Hey, I don't have a claim to stake, man. If you want to hook up with Lexie, go for it." Vic held up hands in the universal sign of indifference.

I sucked in a breath. "I'm asking if you need me to back off of you."

"Come again?" Vic laughed.

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming." I brandished a self-assured grin that ran counter to the butterflies in my stomach as I leaned closer. "We've been on this trip a grand total of two days, and the chemistry gets more palpable by the hour."

"Ah. This is the part where we say the quiet part out loud, right? There's chemistry. We're both attracted to Lexie." Vic hunched shoulders and grunted in amusement but didn't dare look up from the slats of the bridge. They traced the woodgrain ridges with antsy fingers, one arm hugged close to the torso. "What of it?"

Reaching out to lay a steadying hand on theirs, our eyes collided. "We're both attracted to Lexie," I replied, "and I'm attracted to you, and you're attracted to me. Can we say that quiet part out loud?"

"Dev, I—Where is this coming from?" Vic asked.

I had no idea. Not that I believed Samentha, but the fortuneteller had suggested this vacation was my last shot at figuring out love and romance. It seemed counterproductive for the universe to give me less than two weeks to find The One. It meant that being a happy couple was out of the cards for me.

Regardless, once I became an old fart, reminiscing about these good ole days, I didn't want the walk down memory lane to be a slog through shoulda-couldas. Nothing scared me more than the prospect of not living my life to the fullest.

"My core identity revolves around going after what I want," I tried to add context. "I don't need to find true love on this cruise. I want a good time, to win this prize money, and to make these two weeks as memorable as possible. Don't you?"

"From friends to lovers to ghosted. That's the pipeline," Vic countered.

"Well, you set unrealistic expectations, you get unrealistic results," I said. It was obvious they were speaking from personal experience with Lexie, but experience was honestly the best teacher. "None of us will be under the impression this is going somewhere."

"Excuse me for not realizing you've got this all figured out. Say it's that simple. Making the trip memorable means we, what? Fall into bed together, tangle up in a threesome?" Vic crossed their arms and narrowed their eyes, but my intuition told me I had them entertaining the thought.

"For these two weeks, yes." I sat back. "We go wherever this leads, but we don't have to commit to anything, really. Two weeks of whatever happens, happens."

Vic's flirtation with hypotheticals edged into cynicism. "You're out of your mind, bro. We might be able to keep things from getting complicated onboard, but when we get home, it'll be a different story. Mark my words."

They pushed to their feet and padded away from the Zen bridge to stare out the window. From hidden speakers around the serene room, the mallet circling the singing bowls hummed vibrant, sonorous notes. The music lacked a coherent melody, but its unstructured flow was the perfect accompaniment to the feng shui of the room. Added to it was the woodsy smell of incense.

The atmosphere had been designed to entice lovers to become more enmeshed in one another, and it was executed with panache. Even separating multiple partnerships into pairings for the bonding sessions was a smart move on the part of the organizers because it encouraged trust and intimacy. Although Vic and I weren't lovers (yet), it was working. I saw them let their guard down.

I allowed my attention to traverse the androgynous body standing artlessly sexy in that understated way. It wasn't curves that beckoned, it wasn't femininity that whispered in their movements. It wasn't even masculinity. Years of it catching me off guard had taught me not to try to put a finger on what it was about Vic that spoke to me. I just never could think straight anytime I looked at them. Neither womanly nor manly, somewhere along a gradient, they were a singularity.

Vic turned in profile. Sunlight bordered their silhouette like white gold. "I want to be real with you. Three years ago, Lexie ghosted me so hard I still have a poltergeist in my chest. The deeper I fell for her, the clearer it was that her parents had a stranglehold on her life choices. I can't live like that. I'm trying to escape my parents as it is."

I stretched my legs to cross them at the ankles. A casual move that channeled calm, although on the inside I felt anything but. Vic steepled their fingers and paced before the window, backlit to perfection by the Gaussian blur of ocean behind them. Lost in thought, their slender form moved adroitly forward and back. I rested my weight on the palms of my hands outstretched behind me to appreciate the view.

"You hit the nail on the head," I filled the silence. "Lexie defers to her folks because she's afraid of falling short of their expectations, but I don't think they realize how that's handicapping her. I wonder how much of her actions in ghosting you were rooted in not having a clue how to explore her evolving sexuality. She doesn't know she's allowed to have better than what her parents think is best for her."

"Parents always know best, right," Vic scoffed. "Except, Lexie understands social graces. She lives by them. Just a simple conversation would've gone a lot further with me than never calling me back or answering my calls. That was within her ability." Vic blinked rapidly and turned away. "Look, I don't want to get caught up in this game, Dev. I don't need anyone playing with my emotions like that again. I'd rather be self-sovereign."

"I hear you." I studied the black wavy sand in contemplation. I agreed, truthfully, that there was something inescapable about Lexie. Yet, I was trying to read between the lines to understand where Vic and I, at least, stood now that I had voiced the thought that I hadn't been able to get out of my head—now that I had admitted my desire for them. "What about us?" I slowly got to my feet and strolled toward them.

Vic raised a hand to my chest to pause my approach. "I value our friendship."

I tucked a finger beneath their chin to lift their face to mine. "I do, too. What does that mean in this case? Because fortunately—fortunately, from a friendship perspective—I can't promise you a serious or exclusive relationship, no matter how much I don't want to be a rolling stone." I thought about my dad. "So, you set the rules. You say when. You tell me what you want."

"Well, lucky for you—lucky, from a friendship perspective—I'm not looking for a relationship. That said, I'm trying to chart my own course, bear my own standard. The only way this might work is with no feelings involved, not even for pretend." Vic's face neared mine. "And we have to get Lexie's take because she deserves a say in this. Money is at stake."

Fingers clenched my shirt. The unplanned brush of our lips struck me speechless as their tongue curled into my mouth. I lightly placed my hands on the window to either side of them. However, our bodies touched, and what little restraint I had left flitted away. "No feelings," I managed to agree before I clutched their face and kissed them deeper.

We bumped against the glass, lust igniting. Vic's pelvis rocked against mine. I pinned them tighter and rubbed our throbbing sexes together. The heavy breathing whiffled into a moan. "I mean it, Dev," Vic gasped. "I know how you operate. You make people fall in love with you. Don't turn up the charm on me. Keep it strictly physical, and not a word of this after we reach the shore."

"Yes. Mm-hm."

"And no awkwardness if we end up having to be roommates for a while." Vic retracted to make sure I understood. I nodded hurriedly. "Good. If you manage to strike up something with Lexie too, I won't get in the way, but you have to tell her that we're. . ."

"We're what?" Aroused, I lifted them off the floor to pin them against the window. Their soft whimper of excitement turned me on. I rested them on the ridge of my erection while staring them in the eyes. "That we're fucking?" I whispered.

Vic coyly tucked their tongue in the corner of their mouth in that tantalizing way that always drove me wild as their sex stroked my dick. I wanted to consummate our agreement right then and there. "That whatever happens, happens," they murmured back. The loaded stare, the daring touch.

Suddenly, the polite voice of the singing bowls technician interrupted. "Thank you for choosing Three's Company. Your bonding session is now complete. Please exit the room so that it can be prepared for the next scheduled appointment."

With my eyes pinned on Vic, I backed away. "I can't believe you're open to this."

"I don't know which of us is more surprised," my friend chuckled. "But you might want to be careful what you wish for. Sex with me won't be straight sex, Devon."

"Is that a challenge?" I laughed as I grabbed their hand and led them from the room. The technician met us at the door and directed us to the showers in case we needed. I nodded my head in that direction, inviting Vic into the empty room with me.

They hopped onto the countertop by the sink and swung their legs. "Do you see that as a challenge? I'm only letting you know what you're in for when you get in bed with me."

Smiling, I narrowed my eyes in consideration. As I stepped into the shower to undress, handing my clothes past the shower curtain, Vic grabbed the ensemble and folded it beside them. I had never considered how a nonbinary sex partner might utilize their sex. Was it too soon to admit that I wasn't unwilling to let them test my boundaries? Dreamland would be different tonight, trying to imagine the ways.

I grazed my teeth across my lip, mouth seared by the furious kiss. Their delicious brand of pleasantness had just a moment ago imprinted into my memory forever. The smile on my lips widened further because—I didn't know how to take it—but this entire polyamorous situation was piquing my interest to the highest degree. That. . . that I could get serious about.