California Dreamin' Pt. 08

"I found this lady in Lake Forest that will mix custom colors. I had to get like a dozen bottles."

"Quinn," Sloane choked out, "thank you. I'll never wear anything else." She lunged and pulled Quinn into a hug. "This blue one is pretty too. Is the color something special?"

"Kinda." Quinn shrugged and grinned nervously. "Neither of you recognize it?" We shook our heads. "It's Jack's blue eyes."

I sucked in a breath and grabbed the bottle. I couldn't say I'd stared at my own eyes very often. "You could match the color of my eyes from memory?" She gave a subtle nod. "Jesus, Quinn..." A lump caught in my throat and I pulled her to me again. Sloane was there in a heartbeat and we just held each other for a moment. I finally leaned back and unscrewed the top of the bottle. Without thinking, I brushed the blue polish onto the nail of my ring finger. The sky blue pigment had just a bit of shimmer to it.

"It's really pretty," said Sloane.

I blew on my finger and used my other hand to wipe at my eyes. "Well since we're all being sentimental and weepy, I'd better get this out of the way. Be right back."

I hopped up and trotted back to the bedroom, fishing the three small boxes from my suitcase. I checked the markings and put one in my pocket. They were waiting for me with expectant looks.

"They're the same, so open together, okay?"

They nodded. With a slow reveal, both girls took the small lids off their boxes. They gasped appropriately and carefully extracted the rings from the plush velvet inside. Holding the white gold bands in the air, they studied the design, a simple translucent band maybe an eighth of an inch wide that ran lengthwise around the middle of the band.

"Jack, these are beautiful..." said Sloane. She turned the ring over in her fingers.

"What's the stripe?" asked Quinn, holding the ring up closer to her face to study it. "There's... stuff inside it. Like little flecks."

I smiled nervously and took the third box from my pocket. Just like you practiced. I bit my lip and opened my box. They immediately noticed the addition of the third copy. "God, I hope this isn't too cheesy... but the stripe is epoxy resin. The little bits floating in it are paper." I waited a moment for it to sink in, but mostly for dramatic effect.

"Paper?" Sloane finally asked.

I stared at the floor before looking up at them again. "It's the paper from your flyer, one of the little slips you wrote your phone number on."

Her eyes went wide and she chewed her lip. "You saved it?" she finally choked out.

"Of course. If it wasn't for that piece of paper," I forced back a little warble in my throat. "If it wasn't for that piece of paper, we probably, well... definitely wouldn't be here right now."

The expressions dawning on their beautiful faces melted my heart. I'd known they'd love the rings and would probably get sappy on me, but wasn't prepared for how I'd react in the moment. My throat began to tighten.

"And you have one too..." said Quinn. Her bottom lip quivered a bit.

The silence in the room seemed to grow.

"Are these supposed to mean..." Sloane posed quietly, but trailed off.

"They don't have to mean anything. I just thought it was something we could share, something we had that was the same."

"What if we wanted them to mean something?" Quinn sniffed.

I glanced at Sloane, she was smiling and trying not to cry.

"I'm not opposed." In my imagination of this moment, I had assumed they'd put their rings on first, but I found myself reaching into the tiny box and pulling it out. I slipped the shiny band over the fingernail I'd just painted and down past the knuckle. I watched as they did the same.

"It fits perfectly," said Sloane, a few tears now dripping down her cheeks.

"I may have snooped through your jewelry boxes," I grinned, my own eyes now a little wet.

They lunged forward and embraced me. We locked arms over shoulders and sat there on the floor, in front of the giant Christmas tree. Fortunately, the sobbing didn't last too long. We finally pulled apart and stood.

Without any words, Quinn took out the pink nail polish. Neither of them had another color on at the moment, and each painted their ring finger like I had. We held our three hands out together and smiled. Sloane grabbed the phone and snapped a photo, the sparkling lights from the tree the blurry backdrop behind our hands. Two pink nails, one blue, three matching rings.

We lowered our arms and stared back and forth between each other as the pregnant pause grew.

"You gonna insta that?" I finally spoke.

Sloane shook her head. "Nah, I think this one is for just us. For now."

* * *

We spent the rest of Christmas day lounging around the cabin and eating. The surf and turf turned out fantastically, and we were all satisfied and full by the time it was dark.

The hot tub was well used that evening, as was the bed. After we'd showered, I requested to be in the middle of our activities. Not that I cared in the moment, but I was pretty proud of myself, that despite the fact that Quinn's large cock repeatedly plunged into my ass and Sloane's tight pussy gripped my shaft, I didn't cum first. Granted, I'd been rubbing Sloane's clit for a few minutes and technically, Quinn's tool erupted into my bowels only seconds before I emptied my load deep inside Sloane's body.

Even though I was a bit tender the next morning, we skied a good portion of the day. The next two, too. The last evening was bittersweet as we packed up and set an alarm for early the next morning to drive to the airport.

We stepped out of the sliding door at LAX and were hit with a warm, gentle breeze. Already, the snow and evergreens seemed a lifetime away. For me, this was still more like arriving at vacation, rather than leaving it. For so many reasons.

"Why don't I go get the car," said Quinn as we strolled down the sidewalk. "You guys watch the suitcases?"

I nodded. "Thanks, Q. We'll wait here."

She waved and took off. I wheeled our baggage back a bit and plopped down onto a bench. I turned to look at Sloane, she had a kind of wistful, faraway look on her face.

"You okay, baby? Bummed to be back home instead of skiing?"

She gazed at me and her expression brightened a bit.

"I'm good." Fiddling with the ring, she spun it a few times on her finger. "In fact, better than good." She sat on my lap and pulled my head to her chest. "It's just hard to believe..."

"What, specifically?" I asked sweetly.

"Six months ago, I was so lonely..." She let out a long sigh. "It got to the point where I didn't want to get out of bed some days. But now, I have you and Quinn, and everything just seems so..."

"Amazing, wonderful, perfect..." I offered.

"Yeah," she said softly, then kissed my forehead. "And, I have a feeling it's going to just keep getting better."

* * *

Thank you again, dear reader, for coming along on Jack, Sloane, and Quinn's journey to an unconventional kind of fulfillment, happiness, and love. I enjoyed telling their story, and may choose to pick it back up in the future. As always, I appreciate any comments or feedback on the story, public or private.