Groggy, waking up in a tangle of bodies, my first impulse was to reach for my clothes and blurt a hasty excuse for why I needed to bounce. Late for work. Late for class. Late for football practice. But then the events from the night before hit me, and I froze. I wasn't on campus. This hadn't been a casual one-night stand with a random. I didn't want to leave.

I had slept with Lexie and Vic. Tropic sunlight slanted through the balcony door, illuminating two familiar faces on each shoulder. I was further brought to reality by the sensual feel of the cruise line sheets. Yet, the fabric was no softer than the arms and legs intertwined with mine. And the contrasting skin tones against my brown complexion looked so damn good to me.

A searing blush spread across my face as the magnitude of what we had done sank in. Did I want to interrogate what it meant regarding my sexuality? Shaking my head with a nervous grin, I inhaled the woodsy spa scent that always clung to the air and exhaled with a peaceful resolve that there was no going back. Slender fingers rested on my chest. Curly pubic hair pressed against my thigh. We had—what—nine more days to revel in the taste and texture of this fake relationship?

Lexie's doe-like eyes blinked open, catching the smile flitting across my lips. I tried to ignore the way her return smile made my heart race.

"You good?" I asked quietly, arching a brow.

She nodded with a sexy roll of her body up to a seated position. Naturally, my gaze devoured every inch of her exposed skin, and I still felt hungry for more. "Better than good," she purred. "As much as I'd love to stay on demon time, we can't lay around all day. We have our group session instead of one-on-ones this morning."

Her honeyed voice stirred Vic, who reached for their phone on the nightstand and glanced at the hour. "We're late for breakfast," Vic yawned.

Lex replied, "Yeah, we should start getting ready."

"Ever on task, Drill Sergeant," I chuckled.

"Don't act like you don't like it."

Lexie giggled, climbing from the bed. A frisson of uneasiness threatened to dampen the lighthearted vibe in the room. It was just that her self-assured offhand remark made me wonder if the sex had changed her mind about keeping things uncomplicated. Of course, I liked her legendary ability to take-charge and flawlessly run a scene, but did I like it enough to be comfortable with her knowing how much I liked it?

Vic caught my eye as I tossed aside the comforter with a bit more force than necessary. Their expression was quizzical, which felt intrusive. I didn't want them questioning my reactions. I didn't want my emotions on display, period. I forced a laugh and said to Lexie, "Nah, I like my freedom more. Don't worry about bossing me around. You just keep doing that thing you did with your tongue last night."

The moment the words left my mouth, I realized how uncharacteristically ugly of me it was to say something like that to her. It was as if I was trying to put her in her place as nothing better than a good lay, all because I was afraid to catch feelings. I didn't brave a peek across the room to where she was searching for something to wear, but I sensed her affronted glare in my direction.

Lexie strolled toward me with more nonchalance than a veritable goddess could put into her step, I imagined. She placed her elegant hands on her very naked hips and pinned me with a seductive smile that said without words that she could and would order me around as much as she wanted.

"Let's get one thing straight, Mr. Bentley." She squared her shoulders, upping the ante. "I'm the person who set the terms of our situationship, here. I'm the one who had the balls that neither of you had to ask for what I really wanted. As a result, when we win this competition, it'll be because I'm boss enough to handle the pressure. Not because of that thing I did with my tongue last night. Are we clear?"

I wanted to wither into the floor. Or get on my knees and let her take her domination act as far as it could go. That rush of adrenaline—racing heart, sweaty palms—energy kicked in again. It didn't help that Vic gave a cheeky round of applause as they rose from the bed and headed to the bathroom with a snorted laugh, drawing my attention. The nubile, gender-neutral body added to the confusing push and pull going on inside of me.

Meanwhile, the inclination to explain myself to the angry woman standing in front of me died on my tongue. "We're, uh, clear," I murmured. It wasn't her I had to worry about getting the wrong impression. If I was honest with myself, I was the only idiot walking around with my chest puffed out, protesting too much and too obviously. A dead giveaway that I had enjoyed the sex way beyond whatever I had anticipated.

Lexie's stern face softened, and she tossed her head with a smile. "Now, get dressed. Today, we're supposed to meet with somebody who will take us through our past lives, and I'm dying to see what they have to say."

She meandered back to her luggage to rifle through her clothes. Naturally, I watched her cute derriere sway like an island breeze, luring me deeper into infatuation with her. Maybe last night hadn't been such a good idea. Had I talked myself in over my head?

***

I knew a few things about past life regression. For people who believed in reincarnation, there was this idea that with enlightenment or through the help of a skilled hypnotist, one could access memories from their past lives to make sense of any confusing situations being experienced in the present.

A heavy dose of skepticism followed me through the bustling corridors as I strode behind Lexie and Vic. I was inherently curious about different spiritual and religious belief systems from around the world, but I didn't have a particular set of tenets to call my own. I dabbled in philosophy, mythology, and occultism as more of an observant bystander than someone with a serious desire to incorporate the rituals and practices that interested me. Yoga and meditation, mindfulness, that was where my engagement ended.

However, walking with Lexie and Vic, watching the two of them vibe better than they had at any other point on the trip, it occurred to me that the Three's Company Cruise was exposing me to new ways of thinking and, perhaps, believing. The fortune teller had been off the mark on tons of things. The astrology reading had seemed to be pulled from thin air, same as Samentha's other ramblings.

On the other hand, I was beginning to think there might be a connection between Lexie, Vic, and I, and that the three of us linking up together on this cruise was more than coincidence. Samentha had guessed that I was the one with too much wind in my sails to anchor in place, Lexie was in need of making some clear choices of her own, and Vic desperately craved an escape from everyone's expectations of them.

Even if Samentha's disjointed advice was confusing, there seemed no denying that each of our existential issues were being confronted here. Not to mention, the stakes were high, given the amount of money on the line. Either we would figure things out and leave better than we arrived, or sleeping together had ruined any chances of us making progress on what we each truly wanted on a soul level—irrespective of what we were searching for romantically.

"Did you hear what I said?" Vic cut into my introspection.

"Sorry, what?" I forced myself to end that train of thought.

Vic tucked an arm through mine and drew me closer. Such a little, but intimate thing. I felt the heat rise up my neck, but I didn't pull away. "I was talking about how Socrates assumed that reincarnation truly exists."

"'I am confident that there truly is such a thing as living again, that the living spring from the dead, and that the souls of the dead are in existence,'" I quoted. Lexie studied me with pleasure in her eyes.

"You're full of surprises," she admitted. "I thought I had gotten to know you over the past year at school together, but I had no idea that you were as expansive as you are."

"Hey, you heard Samentha. It's that Sagittarius Sun sign," Vic teased.

Lex poked their side. "Don't get me started on you."

"You could've gotten to know me better. You avoided me," Vic pointed out, dragging her in for a quick buss of the lips. The chemistry between them bumped up another notch if that was possible. Anyone seeing us would be a billion percent sure that we were a happily in love triad. It was a reminder that we were in this—going this far, doing this much—strictly to collect our prize and move on with our destinies after this.

Once we reached the room where our group session would take place, I settled my wandering mind and took in the sumptuous space (per the usual for Three's company). We were met at the door by a robed African gentleman with a delicious accent and a melodic voice.

"Recline, rest, get comfortable," he urged. "I'm Simico, and I'll be your guide as we journey deep, deep into the past to find answers to the questions you seek about the You that you are now."

"Mysterious," Vic whispered.

Lexie's eyes sparkled as she took a seat on one of the four divans positioned in a semi-circle around a comfortable chair that our hypnotist, Simico, took. "Have you ever been hypnotized?" he asked.

"Never," I admitted. "There used to be this show on television that I'd watch about people remembering their past lives, but they were always young kids. Seemed like by the time they became adults, they'd forget."

"Indeed, children are often wise enough to know what not to discount of what adults write off as mere imagination. The main thing I'd like you to know about today's session is that, even under hypnosis, you will be in full control of yourself. Neither I nor anyone can make you do anything now or in the future that you do not want to do. You will be in a relaxed state, but you will be aware."

"So, what's the recording apparatus for?" Vic asked shrewdly.

Simico grinned and nodded toward the high-tech microphone wired to a computer on a small table near his seat. "Sometimes my clients remember quite vividly the things they have said under hypnosis, but sometimes they only remember vague impressions of the feelings that accompanied their past lives. Much like waking from a dream that you can't describe.

"I will be recording our session," he went on, "for your later dissection, as this souvenir is a part of your all-inclusive experience. However, before you go, we will review the audio together so that I can help you to determine if anything that you remembered of your past life settles what you are wondering about in this one. Does that sound good to you?"

"I can't wait," Lexie confessed.

"Wonderful! Please get comfortable. Before we begin, what is it about this lifetime that puzzles you the most."

Vic opened their mouth to speak, but I interjected with what had been puzzling me all morning. "What's our connection?" I asked. Eyeing my friend, I apologized for cutting them off. However, Vic raised their hands and nodded.

"No, that's a good question," said Vic. "Did the three of us know each other in a past life, and if so, what was our dynamic?"

"If you knew each other in a past life," Simico said slowly as he steepled his fingers, "and you are fortunate enough to recall that particular lifetime in which you knew each other—which is rare—then, regardless of how differently you may appear, you will recognize each others' souls. I assume you want to know if you are soulmates."

"Tuh!" Lexie scoffed. "I don't believe in soulmates."

"You don't have to," he said good-naturedly. She glanced at him, as if expecting him to say more, but he shrugged his shoulders. Simple as that. Some things didn't require belief, I agreed. I also gathered that he could see as plainly as anyone that Lexie was a hopeless romantic who, nine times out of ten, totally believed in soulmates.

Getting settled, I reclined and took down the cashmere throw resting on the back of the divan to place it over my legs. The room was dark and chilly, but in a great way for sleep. It wasn't long before Simico's quite soothing voice began guiding us deeper into a fantasy forest. I immediately noted the similarities to guided meditations found anywhere on YouTube. The tingle of anticipation at potentially having a unique experience fizzled out.

Yes, I could picture the trees. Yes, I heard the babbling brook. Yes, I felt safe and sleepy. Yes, yes, yes, I was aware of the effort being invested into dazzling us, and a more suggestible mind might have been hooked, but...

Each quiet breath began weighting my body and bones and thoughts and fears and assumptions until I reached a shining door through which, I was told, I could step into a past I couldn't yet access. Rolling my eyes behind my closed eyelids, I envisioned my hand closing around a brass doorknob to an ornately carved door as tall as the towering trees around me. I pushed the door inward in my imagination and stepped into astounding light.

"Who are you?" a voice asked.

"Jonathan Lassiter," I knew. I just knew. "I'm forty-six years old."

Beside me, simultaneously, Vic uttered in a voice that was . . . different, heavier than the one I was used to: "Ram. Ram Mahajan, first born son of Patel Mahajan, twenty-four years old. It's my wedding day." The voice broke. "A-arranged by my parents."

Lexie croaked in fluid, silky French, "Je m'appelle Pierre Marcel Laurent Dubois. Mon Dieu. I'm in prison. I killed someone. It was the wrong decision. Oh, my God! It was the wrong decision!" Sobs rent the room, but I was elsewhere. Distant.

"Where are you, Jonathan Lassiter?" that guiding voice asked quietly.

"With the Master and Mr. Rinks, headin' down to the French Quarter. Riverboat came in today."

"The riverboat?" my guide asked.

I nodded, licking my lips as I looked around at New Orleans, 1825. "Yes, sir. Master Tate and Mr. Rinks both real keen to gamble. I'm s'posed to be mindin' the luggage, but I'm . . . I'm lookin' for somebody, sir."

"Who, Jonathan? Who are you looking for?"

I swallowed thickly as a feeling of trepidation welled up within me. I was afraid to say it. Saying it, thinking it, could get me killed. My tongue barely moved as I whispered the words, "The . . . the abolitionist, sir. For to get my freedom."