by Cassie Cole
“Stop smiling,” Max said as he took one of the bags Finn had been carrying.
“Why? It makes me happy that Kat can see how much stronger I am than you.”
“I’ve got you beat in cardio,” Max grumbled unhappily. Finn winked at me, and I giggled.
The Hotel Zelos was in an old brick building in the shopping district of San Francisco. When we got to our room, I realized that the addition of Finn complicated our sleeping arrangements: there were two queen beds in the room.
Neither of them acted like it was a problem, though, so I didn’t ask.
We spent an hour helping Max unpack his bike. I saw how it had fit so easily in the box: the handlebars had been taken off and turned sideways, making the entire thing flatter. I sat on the floor next to him and handed him tools while he fixed his wheels and tightened screws. When he was done, everything spun and turned with ease.
Then we took the bike to the race expo, which was on the north side of the city by Fisherman’s Wharf. There was a taped-off area with rows of bikes and duffel bags next to corresponding numbers. Max explained that it was the transition area for the triathlon, and that he would be leaving his gear here overnight. Then he checked-in with the race coordinator, who gave him a race packet with his bib and bike marker. Max piddled around in the transition area a bit longer, and then we went back to the hotel.
From there we walked four blocks to Chinatown, where we found a touristy noodle restaurant for dinner. Finn teased Max about the race while we waited for our food. Finn and I had beers, but Max was sticking to water.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how everything was still so normal. We hadn’t discussed things yet. And now the three of us were on an out-of-town vacation together, eating noodles on the Pacific coast. How long could we go on avoiding things?
Finally, after two beers, I worked up enough courage to blurt out, “What the hell is going on with us?”
They both looked at me. “You’re just gonna bring it up like that, huh?” Max asked.
“Well it hasn’t come up naturally, and neither of you seem interested in talking,” I replied. “I don’t know why you’re avoiding the topic, but I think it’s time that we hashed everything out.”
Max picked up his glass, shook the ice around, and then took a sip. “Do you know why we didn’t talk about it at the gym that night? When we first learned that we were both seeing you at the same time?”
“Why?” I asked nervously.
“Because we didn’t want to distract you from the points contest,” Max answered. “We knew that was important to you, so we decided to put it off. So, how about we put a pin in the conversation until tomorrow, after I’ve won my big race?”
I took a long pull of my beer, feeling foolish. “Sorry.”
“You mean after you get second place in your big race,” Finn joked. “That dude in the transition spot next to you looked fast.”
“Don’t make me smack you,” Max replied.
“You think they have a bookie around here?” Finn mused. “I’d definitely put fifty bucks on the other guy.”
“Now you’re just being annoying.”
I chuckled while they bantered back and forth, happy that they had changed the subject.
When we got back to the hotel, the issue of sleeping arrangements came to an unavoidable head. “Do you two mind sharing a bed?” Max asked. “I’ll sleep better before the race if I have this bed to myself.”
Finn and I shared a look. “Don’t mind at all,” I said.
It took me a while to fall asleep. I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling while listening to the two men breathe. Was this really happening? We were all just in the same room together, sleeping as if nothing was weird at all?
Finn rolled over and scooped a massive arm around my chest. He pulled me into a spooning position, protected in the concave curve of his muscular body. His breath was warm on my neck as he sighed.
I fell asleep easily after that.
Max was up early making breakfast in the room: oatmeal in the microwave, plus fried eggs and toast on a small hot plate he had brought. I took a shower first, then Finn after me. Then we gathered up the last few pieces of Max’s gear and left the hotel.
It was still dark when we reached Fisherman’s Wharf. In the distance to the north, Alcatraz was a dark splotch against the even darker background of the bay. Wind howled inland, blowing my hair all around. The bay was restless with whitecaps on the waves.
“You’re going to swim in that?” I asked.
Max smiled. “Nobody said it was easy. That’s why Alcatraz was so hard to escape from.”
We said our goodbyes, and then Max hopped on a boat with all the other athletes. I shivered in my coat as Finn and I watched them disappear into the distance. He wrapped an arm around me and held me against his body, which instantly made me feel warmer.
“I can’t handle waiting, Finn,” I said.
“Yeah, me too. But I’m sure Max will crush the race.”
I shook my head. “No, I mean everything between us. I’m sick of waiting to find out if you two never want to see me again. Are we okay? Are Max and I okay? Are all three of us okay?”
Finn pulled me into his arms and kissed me on the forehead. “You can relax. It’s not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal! Are you serious right now?”
A gunshot rang out, echoing across the bay. In the distance we could barely see tiny figures on Alcatraz Island diving into the water. The race had begun.
The current was indeed as strong as it looked. The athletes started off swimming straight toward the wharf, but were gently pushed sideways into the deeper part of the bay. As the swimmers spread out, they formed a long curve like a boomerang as they swam inland, realized they were drifting off course, and then hastily tried to readjust at the end.
Finn and I waited at the ramp where the swimmers would exit the water and run up to the transition area. The majority of the racers were clustered farther back, with six or seven far ahead of the pack. The crowd of onlookers cheered loudly as the first athlete climbed out of the water and jogged up the ramp, stripping his wet suit as he went.
I squinted at the figure as he passed. “Damnit. That’s not Max!”
Finn gazed out at the water. “Nope.”
The second person up the ramp wasn’t him either. Nor was the third, fourth, or fifth. Finally I recognized the sixth person up the ramp; his messy golden hair was obvious as he stripped off the hood of his wet suit.
“MAX!” Finn and I screamed at the same time. “YEAH MAX, NICE SWIM, GO GO GO!”
He blew me a kiss on his way by, but he looked tired.
“That’s not good,” I said grimly. “He needs to do well today to qualify for Kona.”
Finn patted me on the back. “Swimming is the weakest of Max’s three parts. He’ll make up for it on the bike.”
“I hope so.”
We watched him in the transition area. He ran to his bike, dropped to his butt, and stripped his wet suit the rest of the way off. Then he spent a few seconds lathering bodyglide onto his thighs to keep them from chafing. He quickly put on his cycling shoes and helmet, then ran his bike to the end of the transition area. As soon as he was out, he clipped his shoes into his pedals and went shooting off into the city.
“Come on, let’s jump on the Muni!” Finn said.
We spent the next two hours bouncing around the city to see Max at different parts of the race. The route didn’t go over the Golden Gate Bridge, but we did get to see him ride on the path underneath the bridge entrance. Then we visited the part of town with all the gay bars and drag shows. Men in long wigs and elaborate lace brassieres stood on the balconies and cheered on the racers, which was as much fun to watch for us as the race itself. After that, the route took the bikers south toward Mission District, then back up to the start.
By the time Max coasted into the transition area, he was in second place. There was only one athlete ahead of him.
&nb
sp; We screamed and cheered and jumped up and down as he changed into his running shoes, grabbed his water bottle, and jogged away.
“Go Max, go!”
The run was just over six miles. A 10K. Max cruised along the course, looking stronger and stronger each time we saw him. And every time he passed, he was even closer to the leader than before.
“Come on, Max,” I prayed as we went back to watch the finish. “Dig deep.”
Finn and I grabbed spots in the finisher’s chute, right up against the railing next to the giant inflatable archway. We still had a few minutes, if our math was right.
“How do you feel about Vinyl High?” Finn asked me.
I gazed up at him. “What do you mean?”
His angular face frowned with thought. “How do you feel about the big sale next week? Are you optimistic?”
It was the topic I had been avoiding for the last few days. Emotionally, I didn’t know if I could deal with thinking about it right now.
“I think so,” I replied. “I’m trying to be optimistic, because anything else will make me cry.”
Finn pulled me close to his body in a one-armed hug, and said nothing else.
Along with all the other spectators, we squinted into the distance, waiting. A cheer went up several blocks away, still out of sight. It grew louder, and then two people came sprinting around the corner.
Max and the other runner!
“MAX!” we screamed.
The two men looked neck-and-neck from a distance, but as they neared I saw that Max was one pace behind.
He was losing.
36
Katherine
Finn and I jumped up and down and waved our arms like maniacs as the two runners came down the finisher’s chute. That’s when Max kicked it into another gear. With his last burst of energy he passed the other racer, and then crossed the finish line.
Finn and I hugged each other and cheered. He did it! Max won!
“In first place in the twenty-twenty Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon, Maxwell Baker!” announced the man on the speakers.
“He did it,” Finn said, almost in disbelief. “The speedy fucker did it!”
We walked around the finisher’s chute and met Max near the medal station. He was shaking hands with the other runner, who didn’t seem upset. They were both all smiles.
“You’re going to Kona!” I said, throwing my arms around Max.
Max laughed and embraced me. “I probably smell awful.”
“Don’t care. Too proud. I didn’t think you were going to beat him there at the end.” I let go of Max and grimaced at the other racer. “Sorry, um, for your second place.”
The other guy shook his head. “Don’t be. There were two slots for Kona up for grabs in this race. That sprint down the finish was just for pride.” He patted Max on the back. “See you in Hawaii later this year.”
Then it was Finn’s turn to congratulate Max. “You didn’t lead for any of the race, bro. Just the last ten feet.”
“That’s the only part that matters,” Max said with a weary smile. “Thanks for cheering me on. Seeing you at the end gave me a burst of energy.”
“You’re just saying that,” Finn said.
“It’s true. Though I was talking more about Kat than you.”
“Dude!”
We stuck around for the award ceremony, then helped Max tear down his transition area and carry everything back to the hotel. Max soaked in the bathtub while Finn and I took a nap. Then we all got changed to go out.
“You look stunning,” Finn commented as I emerged from the bathroom. I was wearing a black cocktail dress that I hadn’t worn since college. It finally fit me again. Judging by how the boys were looking at me, it still hugged my curves in all the right ways.
“Oh, this old thing?”
Max and Finn both wore jeans, but the former had on a nice button-down shirt, and the latter wore a deep blue polo. We were the right mixture of dressy and casual for the semi-nice restaurant where we had reservations for an early dinner.
It was still only three in the afternoon, so we did a little sight-seeing. We took the cable car back down to Fisherman’s Wharf and took photos of the seals sunbathing on the rocks, tasted sourdough bread fresh from the bakery, and watched street performers at Ghirardelli Square. It was like going on a long afternoon date… with two boyfriends.
We immediately ordered drinks once we arrived at the restaurant—now that the race was over, Max was ready to toss back a few. We laughed and joked, in good spirits now that the race had been a success. I wondered what this dinner would have looked like if Max had failed to qualify for Kona.
“Alright,” Max finally said. “I guess we should talk about us, now.”
Finn flagged down the waiter. “I need two more beers for this.”
“Me too,” I said, even though my beer was still three-quarters full. “Let me just start by saying I never intended to date both of you at the same time. It just sort of happened that way. Finn and I agreed that we couldn’t date, and it was after that discussion that I started seeing you, Max.”
“That sounds like bullshit,” Finn replied. There was no anger in his words. Only skepticism. “You couldn’t date me because it would jeopardize my job. But then you turn around and start banging him?”
“He said he was leaving RMF to train full-time!” I protested. “He also didn’t have a problem with breaking the rules about trainers dating members. Whereas you were downright terrified of it.”
Finn held up his palms. “Alright, alright…”
I took a long pull of beer to regain my courage. “As I was saying, I entered into each relationship with good intentions. But then Finn and I started flirting more. Pushing the limits on what we could get away with. And then Finn came into the boxing gym one night and kissed me, and pulled me to the floor…”
“Hey hey hey,” Max cut in. “I don’t need all the details.”
I sighed. “Then I was seeing both of you. And it was so casual! None of us discussed whether we were exclusive. What we were doing was hardly dating, even. It was more of a physical relationship only. And the longer it went on, the more I knew I needed to make a decision and come clean, but it was easier to put off until it blew up in my face… And that’s how we got to this point. You two finding out on your own, because of course you would, it was dumb of me to think you would never talk to each other about that kind of thing.”
I took Max’s hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t reveal what Finn and I had done.” I turned to Finn and squeezed his huge palm. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Max. I hope you both can forgive me, now.”
The waiter returned with our beers. He started to ask if we were ready to order food, but then he seemed to realize that we were having a heavy conversation and bowed out from the table.
Max smiled at me. “Are you done?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. “I think so.”
Finn planted his elbows on the table and began cracking each of his massive knuckles, one at a time. It was a menacing gesture. The kind a mobster would do before intimidating somebody. Next to him, Max ran his hand through his short-cropped brown hair. The fatigue in his emerald eyes was distant, but it made him seem more relaxed. Like this wasn’t a big deal. That helped me relax before he spoke.
“Like we said before, Finn and I went out the night of the contest. We shared a few drinks.”
“More than a few,” Finn added.
“You framed the two relationships much in the same way we did,” Max went on. “Finn liked you, but it was mostly a physical thing at first. Not the kind of thing he could brag about in public—which was why he didn’t even tell me for a while. On my side of things, I knew I liked you from the beginning. But I was getting vibes from you that you weren’t looking for anything too serious. You were preoccupied with your store, and with your New Year’s resolution. You didn’t have time to date, let alone for a serious relationship. So we just fooled around every
now and then, working it into our schedules when we could.”
“What Max is trying to say is, you didn’t lead us on,” Finn said definitively. “Neither of us feel that way.”
Max nodded in agreement. “We wish you had been more honest with us, and it would have been nice to hear it from you rather than each other. But we’re not mad. That’s all in the past, now.”
“It helps that we’re already work buddies,” Finn explained. “We know each other, and get along. We were able to sit down, get drunk, and talk it out. If it was anyone else, things might have been different.”
“Getting drunk and talking it out was also how we came to another realization,” Max said. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his chest deflating underneath his button-down shirt. “We realized that neither of us wanted to just fool around with you. We both have strong feelings for you, Kat.”
“Can’t help it,” Finn said, spreading his arms wide. “There’s something about you, Kat.”
“And neither of us wants to bow out and let the other man have you.” Max took three long chugs from his beer, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “So we’ve decided not to.”
I blinked. “Decided not to what?”
“Not to let the other man have you all to himself,” Finn said with a grin. “We’ll both keep dating you.”
“We’ll share you,” Max said with a nod. “If you’re up for it, of course.”
I gawked at them. This was not how I expected the conversation to go. Instead of losing one—or two—of my boy-toys, I was keeping both of them?
“Share me?” I managed to say.
“We’ll keep doing what we’re doing,” Finn explained. “You and I see each other, and fool around and stuff. And you’ll also date Max, and brush his pretty hair, or whatever it is he does with his girlfriends.”
Max casually stuck up his middle finger.
“We won’t get in each other’s way, is what we’re saying. And we’ll keep doing that until it stops working out.”
I looked back and forth between them. I kept waiting for them to start laughing and insist it was all a big joke.
