How is it that some guys get lucky with women all the time? For Burt Olsen, luck has nothing to do with it. In The Floating Threesome he figured out a perfect way to persuade lots of women to have sex. We discover how it all concludes in Chapter 11.
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We stayed at Maddy's house the night before the cruise. I'd been living there for a few weeks, and Taylor wanted to be with us on the last day before we departed. We knew the boat. We knew each other. Soon we'd know how we'd get along during a lengthy trip on
Vanguard
. We loaded our luggage on the boat, then went back to Maddy's and ordered a pizza. It would be the last carry-out pizza we'd have for a while.
Our sponsors were paying for a big party to celebrate our departure. Several members of the media said they'd attend, including mainstream outlets with no connection to the sailing industry. Two of Miami's TV stations would be there. I'm convinced that a big part of the reason we were getting so much attention was because Maddy was involved.
The folks who cover sports liked the idea of an Olympian who retires from competition and becomes a sailor who wants to demonstrate how fast an advanced new catamaran could zip around the Caribbean. We took a lot of them on a pre-cruise media tour, and they all made sure they got lots of photos and video of Maddy controlling the boat from the captain's chair.
They took a lot of pictures of Taylor, too. They took a lot of pictures of the three of us together. Nobody came right out and asked if we were all romantically involved, but I could tell that Taylor had been correct. The notion that the
Vanguard
was a floating threesome did attract attention to the cruise.
"I've been thinking about our relationship," Taylor said after the pizza was gone.
"I'm clear about my feelings. I know I love you both. I know I want our romance to continue. But I don't think I'm ready to move in with you both.
"I worked really hard to get my apartment, and I don't want to give it up. Not yet. It's nice here in the suburbs, but I like living downtown. I've never lived with anybody but my parents. It feels like a very big step. I want to see how we get along during the cruise. Maybe I'll change my mind then, but at the moment I'd like things to remain the way they are now."
"You are welcome here any time," Maddy said. "Burt and I are very happy, but we'd be happier if you were here every night and every day."
"I feel the same," I said. For myself, I loved waking up next to Maddy. Every morning, I'd roll over in bed and see that lovely face smiling at me. She was a good influence. Maddy ate like an elite athlete, so I did too. She worked out every day, so I did too. We went to bed early and got up early. That night's pizza dinner was an indulgence we didn't make often.
"Now that you two have lived together for a while, how's it going?" Taylor asked.
"I love everything about it," I said. "It's like a honeymoon that never ends. We wish you were here with us all the time, but you come over often enough to keep that part of our relationship strong."
"I feel the same way, but I do have questions about it," Maddy said. "I've never even had a steady boyfriend, and you're the first woman I've been intimate with. Living here with Burt feels like I'm jumping ahead several steps. Most relationships take longer to get to where we are now.
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm more in love with you two or with the fact that I'm getting laid so often. It's wonderful having sex every single day. Wonderful. I had no idea how much I was missing all those years when I devoted every part of my life to competitions. It makes me feel so good that I wonder if that's the main reason I want this."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," I said.
"Men are dogs," Taylor said.
"I have lived with women before," I said. "I lived with my college girlfriend for more than a year. My ex-wife and I lived together for a little over three years. From what I remember, what I have here with Maddy is a lot better than either of those relationships. I feel completely comfortable with you, Maddy. I feel the same with you, too, Taylor. I feel sure I could spend the rest of my life with you."