by Sloan Parker
He sighed. “Damn, you have the right touch.” His eyelids fell shut once more as I continued the massage, digging my fingers in deeper. His muscles were incredibly tight and stiff.
“You’re working too hard. You need to take some time off soon.”
He grunted, and I wasn’t sure if that was in agreement or not.
“Richard still at his meeting?” I asked.
“Yeah. Said he wouldn’t be too long.”
Richard had been putting in as many extra hours as Luke lately. He’d cut back on his investment business months ago and instead he’d been focusing nearly all his time on the renovations to a famous estate he’d purchased. The remodeling project had resulted in the Griff Harrison Community Center, which had officially opened a few weeks ago, but there were still a lot of details Richard wanted to make certain were handled correctly.
I dipped my head and kissed the spot where Luke’s neck met his shoulder, brushing my lips along his flesh to aid in easing his tension. “You never told me,” I said as I switched to his other side, offering another kiss. Then another. “How did things go with the new guy last week?”
He groaned again, this time the sound containing far more frustration. “He’s such a total dick. He thinks he’s the only one who knows anything about object-oriented programming.”
I straightened and kept my fingers moving over him. “I bet he’s just really nervous. I mean, this is his first job out of college, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a senior programmer. He might be trying to impress you, show you that he’s not as green as you think.”
Luke opened his eyes and tilted his head back to study me. “How do you always do that?”
“Do what?”
“See the good in people. See things from their perspective.”
“You don’t think it’s naive?”
“I guess it can be. But it seems way healthier than the alternative. I hadn’t thought about him being nervous. He just comes across as an arrogant jerk.”
I laughed. “I might not be right about him. I’m just saying give him a chance. He might actually be intimidated by you and even look up to you and that makes him overcompensate.”
“Maybe. I’ll keep that in mind.” He considered me again. His voice warmed as he said, “The world would be a hell of a lot better place if everyone thought the way you do, if everyone saw things the way you do.”
That meant a lot coming from him. He could be cynical sometimes, sarcastic about stuff like this. “Thanks.”
He closed his eyes as I worked the tension from his shoulders again. Another ten seconds of the massage, and his eyes shot open. “Wait.” He sat up with a start and turned to face me. “How’d the interview go?”
“Fantastic.”
“Yeah?” He got up from the chair and perched his ass on the desk beside his laptop, propping his feet on the seat of the chair. “What’d they say?”
Before I could reply, the front door opened downstairs.
Luke held up a hand. “Might as well hold that thought.”
I laughed. “Yeah.”
A few seconds later, Richard came barreling up the stairs. He didn’t hesitate at the office door. He came up behind me, wrapped his arms around my chest, and spoke against my ear. “How’d it go?”
I laughed more as I faced him. Leaning against Luke’s leg, I rested my forearm on his thigh. “It was great.”
“Yeah?”
“You should’ve seen it. The park and the center were both amazing. I really want to do my internship there even more now, but I won’t know anything for at least a week, maybe two. There are other people he’s meeting with.”
Richard caught my chin and lifted my head. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”
“Me too. I really want this to work out. And not just because I need an internship lined up before the fall semester. I just think it’s so neat how they’re helping all these animals that have no one else looking after them. I got to touch a fox today.”
Richard’s expression momentarily fell, but he dialed back the reaction and didn’t say anything. I knew this was hard for him. He thought working at a wildlife rehab center would be far riskier than the domesticated animal clinics where I’d also applied.
I tipped my head forward until he looked my way again. “It wasn’t dangerous. She was just a baby. I wore special gloves, and the rabies vaccine I had before is still good.”
He nodded.
Luke asked, “Was she hurt?”
“No. It was a litter of orphaned kits. They think the mom died. They’re about five weeks old.”
“How small?” he asked.
I showed him the size with my hands.
“Really? That’s so cool.”
“It was. I also got to help with some physical therapy on a northern saw-whet owl.”
Luke looked impressed. “An owl? Sweet.”
“She had a broken wing that had to be kept wrapped for weeks. Now she needs therapy so she can expand the wing all the way out again.”
“What happened to her?” Richard asked.
“They weren’t sure. Maybe hit by a car. A park ranger found her along one of the main roads through the park. Oh, and I also got to help the vet release a peregrine falcon back into the wild. You should’ve seen him fly off. I could feel the rush of freedom as he spread his wings. It was incredible.” I couldn’t hold back my excitement. My body vibrated with it.
Richard eyed me with a pleased expression. “I’m glad it went well.”
“He was just so cool. I really liked him, and I liked everything he had to say about the center and the job.”
“The falcon talked to you?” Luke teased.
I nudged him in the side. “No. Dr. Vega, the vet who runs the place. His name’s Alex. He’s smart and compassionate and he knows so much about caring for wildlife.” I shrugged, trying to play down my next words but knowing full well how they were going to sound. “He was really nice when I told him about the three of us.”
Luke straightened, his entire body tensing instantly. “You told him? About us?”
I nodded.
He kept gaping at me, then gestured between the three of us. “About… our relationship?”
I nodded again.
“Why?” He dropped his feet from the chair to the floor and folded his arms across his chest. “It’s no one’s business but ours.”
Luke had always been a private person. He’d spent years hiding from everyone, keeping secrets about nearly everything in his life. The fact that his initial instinct was still to hold back the truth about us made me uneasy. Especially about sharing with him what I’d hidden in the bottom drawer of our bathroom vanity. There was no way Luke was ever going to understand.
I opened my mouth to explain why I’d told Alex anything about us, but nothing came out. My chest grew heavy. I hadn’t had such a panicked reaction to what they’d think about me, or something I wanted, for such a long time. It felt like a piece of my old life prior to meeting them was slipping back into place, and that frightened me. Was I trying to force something that I should leave alone?
Without a word, Richard took my hand and led me to the couch on the opposite side of the office. He didn’t say anything as we sat beside each other. He just studied me with that customary thoughtful concern locked on his face.
I shook my head, wanting them to drop the whole thing, but instead I said, “I don’t want to lie to the people I work with.”
He laid a hand across the back of my neck. “I get that. But you’re not lying if you don’t tell people something like this. Especially people you work with. Not everyone is going to be as tolerant as we’d like or treat you with the respect you deserve. Luke was right. It really is none of their business.”
“But you tell everyone now.”
“I do. Because it didn’t feel right for me not to. We each have to make our own call on this. If you feel uneasy keeping our relationship to yourself at wor
k, then you did the right thing.”
“Did I?” I pointed to Luke, who was still leaning back against the desk with his arms braced across his chest, his lips pursed, brow furrowed. “I freaked him out again.”
Richard chuckled. “He’s just processing. Give him a minute. He hasn’t gone on a job interview since before he stopped hiding. It’s a new world for him.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I can hear you, you know? I’m not in a coma.” He breathed deep, then uncrossed his arms and came forward to kneel before me. “It’s not that I want to keep our relationship a secret from anyone. I just thought it was a weird thing to bring up at a first interview. What if the guy was an ass about it? What if he doesn’t want to give you the job because of this?”
“That’s just the thing. If he was a jerk about it, then I don’t want to work there.”
“That makes sense. But you need an internship for school, and you’ve got to get one this summer or you’ll never get enough hours in to graduate with your class next year. I don’t want people discriminating against you and fucking up your future over this, over us. I couldn’t stand that.” His jaw clenched.
“I’d rather go an extra semester, even an extra year, than work for someone like that.”
A slow smile formed at the corners of his lips. “I know you would.” He settled his hands on my thighs. “I’m glad you said something, then. And I’m glad he was cool with it.”
“Me too,” Richard added. “Sounds like the entire thing went really well.”
“Yeah.” My voice wavered with my next words. “My hopes are really up about this.”
Richard cupped my face in one hand and encouraged me to look his way. “I know.”
I leaned into his touch. “I just loved being there so much. It felt like such a good fit for me, and I’d get some really amazing experience. They had hawks and swans and red and gray squirrels and bats and turtles, and Alex has this really neat kid who helps out there.” I was rambling, but Luke and Richard were just grinning at me, so it was okay. “I think Alex and his family liked me.”
Luke ran his warm hands up my thighs. “Who wouldn’t?”
Richard stroked the back of my neck again. “Exactly.”
“See?” Luke pointed at me. “I told you there was a reason those other jobs didn’t work out. You’re meant to get this one.”
“Maybe.”
Richard slid his hand from my nape and let it fall to his lap. “It’s a long drive every day.”
“It only took forty-five minutes.”
“Each way. That’s a lot of time away from your schoolwork come this fall.”
“It’ll be worth it.”
He paused for several seconds. “You’ll be working around a lot of wild animals there.”
“Yeah.” I waited for him to press the issue of how much more unpredictable wildlife could be and the inherit risks in the job, but he didn’t say anything about that. He placed his hand on my thigh next to Luke’s. “I’m very proud of you, Matthew.”
“Ditto,” Luke added.
I laid a hand over both of theirs. “Thank you. For everything. I never could’ve—”
“Nope.” Luke shook his head. “You did this, kid. Not us.”
“He’s right.”
I smiled at them in thanks.
Richard gripped my thigh tighter. Those green eyes studied me, and he visibly swallowed as if he were struggling with something.
“What?” I asked.
“This morning in the bathroom and in the kitchen… That meant a lot to me.”
I nodded. “Me too.”
“Me three.”
We turned to Luke.
“What?” he asked, clearly baffled by us.
Richard’s brows rose. “We’re being serious here.”
“I know.” Luke tossed his head back and let out an exaggerated sigh. “God, you two are such drama queens. I really don’t know what to do with you sometimes.”
Richard snorted out a laugh. “You’re saying we’re the ones who bring all the drama into this relationship?”
“Oh, yeah, definitely. Before I met you two, my life was sailing along real calm and steady.” He made a slow sweeping gesture. “Not an ounce of drama.”
“No, just your psycho dad having you followed every second of your life, installing listening devices in your apartment, and then threatening the three of us before trying to kill you. No big deal.”
I burst out laughing. Richard turned to me. He ran his thumb over my lower lip, his complete focus on my mouth. “Luke thinks he’s hilarious. What are we going to do with him, Matthew?”
I wanted to make a joke of it because teasing Luke had become one of my favorite pastimes, but I needed something else right then. And with the way Richard watched me, touched me, heady anticipation rolling off him in waves, I got that he did too. So I simply said, “Love him forever.”
“Hell yeah, we will.” He kept tracing my lip with his thumb.
No one said another word for several breaths. Then Luke spoke, his tone carrying far more significance this time. “Tell him, Matthew.”
Richard’s eyes searched mine. “Tell me what?”
Chapter Five
I opened my mouth to answer him, but nothing came out. Kissing him, touching either of them, had always been the easy part for us. To know that had shifted to be one of the aspects of our relationship that we were struggling with—along with the fact that I was having trouble sharing how I felt with them—had my heart aching in a way I’d never known possible before.
I blurted out, “I want you to want me again.”
As soon as the words were past my lips, Richard’s face held the same stunned pain as the night I’d flinched from him. “I do, Matthew. God, so much.”
He slid forward along the couch, and I did the same. He enveloped me in his arms and kissed me with soft reverence and affection that immediately eased the ache in my heart.
I whispered against his lips, “Kiss me again. And again. And again.”
He did, his tongue repeatedly sweeping out to meet mine.
Clasping his head in both hands, I relished the slow, sensual, passionate kiss like it was the first time.
He smelled of his usual cologne, a sharp, woodsy scent that sent me back to that first night he’d sat at our table in the Haven. I breathed in the scent, letting it wash over me as the kiss became something far more intense.
With his arms circling my waist, he drew me closer, kissed me deeper. An urgent, restless need built in his touch that I hadn’t felt in months. I wanted more of that fervent contact. So much more. I wound my arms around him and brought our lips together again, offering him the same passion and desire he was showing me.
His hands settled at my lower back, and he hauled me against him. Then he swept his warm lips down the side of my neck, pausing at the base of my throat. “I love you, Matthew.” His voice was raw with emotion. “I love you so damn much.” He held me tighter, burying his face in the crook of my neck. His shoulders shook, and his next breath hitched around a strangled, hoarse cry.
“Richard?” I’d never seen or felt him this vulnerable. Not even the night we thought Luke had gone to the Haven to be with another man.
When he still said nothing, just kept a tight hold on me, I laid a hand at the back of his head and looked Luke’s way. He was eyeing Richard with a mix of concern and panic. Then he met my stare, and the panic vanished. He mouthed: Talk to him.
I ran my fingers through the back of Richard’s hair as I whispered, “Do you know how sorry I am?”
He lifted his head. His eyes were moist with unshed tears, making the green of his irises darker, almost emerald. “God, I am too.”
“I wish I could take back that night.”
“I know. I know you do, but you don’t have to. We’ve talked about it. Everything’s okay.”
“It doesn’t feel okay.”
“It is.” Despite those two words, he shook his head. “It’s killing me to t
hink you don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“I want to be with you. More than you’ll ever know.”
“Then what’s wrong? Why are you still hesitating?”
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped short. So very unlike him. He tried again. “I’m afraid.”
“You won’t hurt me.” I held his face until he looked me in the eyes again. “You won’t hurt me. And I promise I’ll be honest with you. Always.”
He lowered his gaze as if thinking that through. Then he exhaled a long breath. “You’re right. I won’t hurt you. And I trust you. Completely.” He tugged me forward again.
With the press of his mouth to mine, I tried to let the worry and fear drain away. We’d been good at this part. We could be again.
I pushed my weight against him until he lay on his back on the couch. I straddled him, and we continued with those amazing kisses. Long, slow, deep meetings of our mouths that brought to life a desire I’d only ever known with him and Luke. Arousal grew heavy in every part of me. I slid my groin along his body, needing to feel that sexual, lustful connection between us.
With sudden urgency, he thrust up under me.
Yes! There it was. That primal need I’d been dying to feel from him. I matched it with my own movements over him.
When I thought I might explode from that contact alone, he encouraged me to sit up. He unbuttoned my dress shirt and jerked it off and onto the floor, then followed with my undershirt. I did the same for him. As soon as his torso was bare, he lay back down and swept his palms along my body from my lower abs up over my pecs, taking his time, loving me with that sweet simple stroke of hands over flesh. When he made the trip back down my body, he undid my belt buckle, then the front of my pants. He threw the fabric open as if he couldn’t wait another second to feel more of my skin. But he must’ve also felt the same about kissing me. He gave up on the pants and flung back into the kiss, tugging me even closer this time.
Luke chuckled. “Come here, kid.” He hauled me off the couch.
“No.” Richard sat up in a rush. “Come back.” He grabbed my hand and tried to pull me back down to him.