Ben had already put his on. He came over and brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her. “I love this. I . . . thank you.”
“You’re welcome. If it hasn’t become apparent, I’m having a difficult time thinking about leaving both of you.”
Ben looked over at Alex, who nodded. “Alex and I are having the same problem. Actually, there’s something we both want to say to you. We wanted to wait until after Christmas, but maybe now is the right time.”
“Okay.” Her heart started pumping fast. She had no idea what was coming, but she took a deep breath.
Alex got up and sat next to her. He picked up her hand. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Tori. You’re the first person I want to see when I wake up in the morning.”
“And I want you in my bed every night,” Ben said. “You’re smart, beautiful, and I love making love to you. More importantly, you make me feel things I haven’t felt in a very long time. I’m in love with you, Victoria.”
Alex squeezed her hand. “I’m in love with you, too. When I get out of the water, you’re the face I look for in the crowd. You’re the one I want cheering me on.”
She couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t expected this. “You both love me?”
Alex smiled at her. “Yes. We do.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. She needed them to be sure.
“Of course we’re sure,” Alex said. “I’m sure. I don’t take this lightly, babe. Love is a big goddamn deal.”
“I was in love once,” Ben said. “A long time ago. It kicked my ass, so trust me, I know what it feels like. It’s painful as hell and the best damn thing in the world, both at the same time.”
Ben had nailed it. That’s exactly what it felt like.
Her heart was racing so fast she felt dizzy. “I’m in love with both of you. At first I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, how could I love two men? How could I love both of you? It happened so fast and I’ve been overanalyzing it to death over the past few days. But it’s there and it won’t go away and I don’t want it to. So here’s the fact. I love you both and there’s no explaining it. I don’t want to analyze it.”
She turned to Alex. “I love you, Alex.”
“I love you, Tori.” He kissed her, and she felt passion and love in his kiss.
Then she turned to Ben. “I love you, Ben.”
Ben cupped her face. “I love you, too, Victoria.”
He brushed his lips across hers, and her heart ached with the tenderness of his kiss.
This time, she didn’t try to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes. She let them fall down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry. I’m not normally the emotional type.”
“Be as emotional as you need to be,” Ben said. “This kind of thing doesn’t happen to us every day, either.”
She leaned back on the sofa and squeezed their hands. “The question is, now that we’re all in love, what the hell do we do about it? You two travel all the time. So do I. And we’ll never see each other.”
“We’ll make it work, Tori,” Alex said. “We get time off. We’re not constantly at surf events. And when we’re not, no matter where you are, we’ll come find you so we can all be together. Or if Ben’s busy and I’m available, I’ll see you. And if I’m not available but Ben is, he can see you.”
“Like Alex said, we’ll figure it out. If we want something badly enough, we’ll move mountains—or oceans—to make it work. And we want this. We all want this.”
She heaved a sigh. “Oh, God. Could we really? Would you really do that for me?”
Alex picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “Hell yes we would.”
Now that the emotions had settled, it was time to think logically. It couldn’t be just them moving mountains and oceans to get to her. “I’ve worked my ass off all these years to build my agency, to gain this measure of success. It’s time to start enjoying the fruits of my labor. I’ve thought about hiring another agent or two to help me handle the workload. Which would mean I could take a step back, let them handle the day-to-day and I could see the two of you more often.”
“I know we’d both love that, but it can’t just be on you to come to us,” Alex said. “I’ve been doing some thinking as well. I’m thirty-five and I can’t ride those monster tubes like the young guys forever. I’d like to go out while I’m on top. I haven’t even discussed this with Ben yet, but after this year’s competition I want to start transitioning more into managing and promotion and less into active surfing.”