“Go ahead.” Gavin’s voice was still strained. “I can barely lift my fingers, much less get all the way to the bathroom.”
Ace made a sound that seemed to indicate he wasn’t planning to move anytime soon either.
***
A few moments later buzzing interrupted Gavin’s dozing. He grunted and rolled over, reaching for his phone, which lay on the nightstand. But it wasn’t the one ringing. “Ace, is that you?”
“Goddammit, I don’t want to move.” But he slid from the bed, picked up his pants, and dug in the pockets for his phone. “No, it’s not mine either.”
“Must be J’s, then.”
The buzzing stopped, but it started again almost immediately.
“Shit!” Gavin said. “Remember how J let a friend know where he was? Do you think he forgot to text them again?” After looking around, he found J’s phone lying on the dresser. But by the time he picked it up, the ringing had stopped.
Ace’s phone buzzed a few seconds later. “What the fuck?”
“Answer it,” Gavin demanded.
“Hello, this is Ace.”
Gavin watched as Ace frowned. “Slow down. He’s fine. He’s just in the shower.”
More silence. More frowning.
“I’m walking to the bathroom now, and he just turned the water off, so you’re in luck.”
Ace knocked on the bathroom door. “Jonathan. Your friend…um…” Ace appeared to be listening for a moment. “Maggie is on the phone.”
“Fuck!” Jonathan yelled. “I forgot to text her.”
“Yeah, you did.”
Jonathan opened the door to take the phone. Seeing him there with a towel wrapped around his waist and water running down his chest made Gavin want to start the night all over again. Damn, he had it bad.
When Jonathan had closed the bathroom door again, taking Ace’s phone with him, Gavin pulled Ace to him. “Please tell me we can have him over again.”
Ace grinned. “I’d already planned to ask him.”
“Seriously? But you never want seconds.”
Ace shrugged. “I do this time. Tonight was…”
“Yeah.” They both laughed.
Jonathan stepped out of the bathroom a few moments later, dressed once again. He returned Ace’s phone with a sheepish look on his face. “Sorry about that. I promised her I’d text, and—”
Ace held up a hand. “No problem. She was looking out for you. We get that.”
Jonathan nodded, his cheeks adorably pink. “So…um… This was great and all.” He bit his lip and looked everywhere but at Gavin and Ace.
“Come back next Saturday,” Ace suggested.
Jonathan’s eyes grew wide and uncertain. “I’m not sure if…”
They both nodded, but Jonathan still didn’t answer.
“Do you want to fuck us again?”
Gavin winced. Ace always did get right to the point.
“Yeah, I do.”
“So…”
“I kinda had the impression this was a one-off.”
“For us, it usually would be,” Gavin said. “But tonight was rather exceptional.”
Jonathan’s cheeks grew ever pinker. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Are you sure you have to leave now?”
Ace snorted. “I told you he has no patience.”
Jonathan laughed. “Just think of all the fantasizing you’ll get to do between now and next Saturday.”
“So that’s a yes?” Ace asked.
“It is. I’m not sure I could say no to the two of you.”
“Really?” Gavin couldn’t say no to him either, but he hadn’t expected Jonathan to feel that strongly.
“Yeah.” Jonathan looked right at Gavin, and Gavin fought the urge to squirm.
Ace grinned. “That’s good, because there are a hell of a lot of things I’d like you to say yes to.”
“Like what?”
“Like tying you up, watching you spank Gavin, watching Gavin eat your ass, or—”
Jonathan groaned. “No more, or I might not be able to leave.”
“I don’t think we’d mind too much.”
Jonathan smiled. “I do have one other idea.”
“What?” Ace asked.
“What if we tied Gavin up again, but this time I fucked you?”
Gavin sucked in his breath. That would be the hottest thing ever.
Ace licked his lips. “That could be arranged.”
“So you do switch?”
“Not often, but yeah, I do.”
Jonathan sighed. “Damn, this just gets better.”
“See why you need to come back?”
Gavin was distracted as they walked Jonathan to the door. He was unnerved by how invested he was in this… He couldn’t call it a relationship, could he? Not yet, anyway. They’d been with Jonathan one night, one fucking amazing night, but Gavin was already desperate for more. Jonathan fit with them so well, in bed and out. He couldn’t help wondering…
No, it was way too early for that.
CHAPTER FIVE
Jonathan collapsed against the mattress. “Oh my God, that was incredible.”
Ace laughed as he sucked the rest of Gavin’s come from his fingers.
“You guys, I’m broken,” Gavin protested.
Ace slapped his thigh. “Then we’ll have to put you back together, because that is not going to be the last time tonight.”
“What?” Gavin’s eyes widened. “We’ve already come twice. How old do you think I am?”
“Older than you look, so I won’t tell Jonathan.” Ace winked, and Jonathan felt color rise in his cheeks as he wondered for the gazillionth time what he was doing continuing this “relationship” with them. They all had such a great rapport, and the sex was off-the-charts amazing. But falling for a committed couple would suck, and despite only seeing them a handful of times over the last two weeks, he could already feel it happening.
“Actually, I should probably get going.”
“Really?” Ace raised a brow as if he knew Jonathan was chickening out.
“I was hoping you’d stay the night,” Gavin said.
“You were?” Jonathan hadn’t thought they’d want to wake up with him.
“I was hoping you would too,” Ace said. “Or that you’d at least come back tomorrow.”
“Oh, I…”
Gavin laid a hand on his arm. “This chemistry…it isn’t like any other threesome we’ve had.”
Ace nodded. “We don’t usually go for a second round, much less find every excuse we can to get to see someone.”
“You don’t?” Jonathan knew he sounded like an idiot parroting back their words, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
“No, I rarely see the men I date on my own more than a few times, and we’ve never had more than a one-night stand with a third partner.”
“But you want that with me?” Obviously they did, since he’d spent several nights with them already, but he couldn’t quite believe they felt as intensely as he did.
“Yes!” they answered simultaneously.
“All right, then. I’ll stay.” And risk his heart being crushed whenever they decided they’d had enough.
“Let’s curl up on the couch and watch a Christmas special,” Gavin suggested.
“So we’re allowed to watch them now?” Jonathan asked as Ace offered him a pair of sweats.
“Of course,” Gavin said. “It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We’re officially in the Christmas season.”
They all pulled on sweats and T-shirts. Then Gavin gestured toward the den. “Go on, pick one out. I’ve got a whole shelf of holiday DVDs.” Jonathan couldn’t help but laugh. Gavin’s Christmas obsession was adorable.
Other than exclaiming over the beautiful glass ornaments on the tree in the entryway, he hadn’t stopped to pay attention to the decorations when he’d arrived. None of them had been able to wait long to get their hands on each other.
As he crossed the den, he reali
zed there was a second Christmas tree there, smaller, with less ostentatious decorations than the other.
“Gavin’s had some of those ornaments since he was a kid,” Ace said.
“Cool.” Jonathan stepped closer and saw that most of the ornaments looked handmade. “Did you make these yourself?”
“Most of them,” Gavin said.
Realizing Gavin was right behind him, Jonathan turned, and they watched each other. Jonathan longed to pull Gavin into a kiss. He longed for it so badly that he didn’t, because he knew it wouldn’t be like the desperate, lust-fueled kisses they’d shared earlier. It would be deeply intimate, more a baring of his soul. He glanced away and saw that the entire room was ringed with small colored lights. Several of the shelves had figurines from various Christmas specials: the Grinch, Frosty, Hermey the elf who wants to be a dentist, and Snoopy’s dog house with Christmas lights on it.
He examined a shelf filled with Christmas DVDs. “You must have every Christmas special in existence.”
Gavin laughed. “Not quite, but I’m sure we will eventually.”
Jonathan considered the collection. “How am I supposed to choose from all these?”
“What’s your favorite?” Ace asked.
“It’s hard to say. I always loved Rudolph as a kid, but Santa is such an asshole in it.”
Gavin sighed. “I know, but I still love it even if I shouldn’t. Ace and I enjoy laughing at all the ridiculous things in it. We treat it like an episode of MST3K.”
Ace snorted. “He’s probably not old enough to know what that means.”
“I managed to pick up that knowledge along with some other historical tidbits, and that sounds great. Let’s watch Rudolph.”
“Perfect,” Gavin said.
Jonathan glanced at him, and Gavin’s soft smile did something unsettling to his insides.
“You want a pizza?” Ace asked.
Jonathan laughed. “Is that an actual question?”
Ace grinned. “No, but this is. What top—”
“Oh God,” Gavin groaned.
“What toppings do you like?”
Jonathan looked back and forth between them. “I take it you two don’t agree on that subject.”
“We’ve accepted each other’s failings,” Gavin said. “But it would be lovely to have a tiebreaker.”
Jonathan chewed his lower lip. “I’m feeling a lot of pressure here.”
“Don’t,” Ace insisted. “Just forget about us and order exactly what you’d want if it was all for you.”
“Ham and pineapple?” He gave a sheepish grin, knowing at least one of them would think his answer was wrong.
“Yes!” Gavin pumped his fist in the air.
Ace rolled his eyes.
“Sorry,” Jonathan said, patting his arm.
“At least I get to see him happy as a five-year-old on his birthday.”
“That you do.” Jonathan thought that more than compensated.
“After all that fucking, we’re going to need more than one pizza anyway. So I’ll get my meat lovers, and you two can have a pineapple-infested yuck fest.”
Jonathan grinned. “I’m a meat lover too, you know.”
“Damn right you are,” Ace said with a smirk.
“Settle down, boys, or we’ll never get started with Rudolph.”
Ace raised his brows. “Would that be so bad?”
“Yes,” Gavin insisted. “I’m fucking starving. If you want more from me, you have to feed me first.”
“You want a beer?” Ace asked Jonathan after he placed their pizza order.
“Maybe. What kind do you have?”
“Wait, are you a beer snob?”
“Um…” Was that something he should admit?
“Could he possibly be that perfect?” Gavin asked, looking at Ace.
“We can dream.”
“Yes! I mean…um…I like good beer.”
Ace smiled at him. “Tell me what you prefer. We have a large selection.”
“Dark beers: bourbon barrel ales, winter spice, that kind of thing. This is the best time of year for drinking.”
Ace smirked at Gavin. “I win this one.” He jerked his thumb toward Gavin. “He’s one of those the-hoppier-the-better kind of guys.”
Jonathan grimaced. “I can’t stand beers that smell like floral perfume.”
Ace laughed. “You know what? You are perfect.”
***
A little while later, they were settled on the couch in front of the TV. Jonathan was starting on his second piece of pizza and drinking an amazing local bourbon barrel ale. Burl Ives’s voice filled the room as Sam the Snowman slid through the drifts during the intro to Rudolph.
Jonathan glanced at Ace, who smiled back and patted Jonathan’s thigh. “You okay?”
“Very much so.”
He winked. “Good.”
Jonathan looked at Gavin. He was engrossed in his pizza and movie. He looked so much more relaxed than he had when they’d first met. Ace was right—he quickly shed the stuck-up businessman facade in private.
Jonathan hoped they were joking about thinking he was perfect. He wasn’t, far from it actually, and the way everything worked so well among them seemed too good to be true.
By the time Santa and his reindeer landed on the Island of Misfit Toys, they’d finished most of the pizza. Jonathan was feeling a buzz from his very high gravity beer, and all he wanted to do was curl up between the two of them and fall asleep, though if Ace and Gavin had the energy for more sex, they could easily convince him to go along with that. One kiss would be all it would take. They were both such amazing lovers, considerate and inventive.
As the last of the credits rolled by, Gavin turned the TV off, sat up straighter on the couch, and opened his arms. “Come here,” he said, far more commanding than he usually was with Jonathan.
Jonathan liked it. He was in the mood to be held. As he snuggled into Gavin’s arms, Ace scooted over until he was pressed against Jonathan’s side.
Gavin sighed. “This feels perfect.”
“Are you telling me I’m not going to get my round three?” Ace asked.
“Um…maybe,” Gavin said.
“Ah.”
“You sound really broken up about that,” Jonathan said.
“Well, this feels so damn good, and I’m sleepy now, since you two wore me out.”
“Oh, we wore you out, did we?”
Ace snorted. “Damn right. You’re a lot to handle.”
None of them spoke for a while. Jonathan simply reveled in the warmth of being held by Gavin as Ace stroked his back.
“I like this—spending time together not in bed,” Ace said. “Gavin, I was thinking. You know how we have that extra ticket for A Christmas Carol?”
“You mean because your mom can’t go?” Gavin asked.
“Right. So…”
Gavin frowned, and then his eyes widened. “Oh, right. J…do you want to go with us? We have tickets for a matinee two weeks from tomorrow.”
“Go out? To a play?”
Ace chuckled. “Yes, it’s not that difficult of a concept.”
“The three of us?”
“It doesn’t have to be like a date if you don’t want that,” Gavin said.
“No, it’s not that, but I…”
“No pressure,” Ace said. “It was just a thought. We like spending time with you, so—”
“I’d love to go,” Jonathan blurted out.
Please don’t let me regret this. But he would. Because the more time he spent with them, the more he was going to want them. And now he was trying to convince himself they wanted him too, as more than just a fuck buddy.
So ask them.
No, he wasn’t ready to know the answer.
Jonathan sat up and stretched. He tried to keep his voice casual. “If we run into someone you know…?”
Ace sighed. “We have a lot of friends who know we see other people, but not everyone does.”
“That’s c
ool. So I’m a friend who wanted the ticket.”
Gavin reached for him. “J, if that bothers you—”
“Nah, it doesn’t bother me. I just wanted to know.”
It bothered him.
Say something.
No, I’m going to ride this out as long as it’s fun for them.
CHAPTER SIX
On the day of the play, Jonathan looked at his reflection for what felt like the hundredth time. Despite spending several amazing nights with Ace and Gavin over the last few weeks, he was still nervous about impressing them. Was he too dressed up for a play? Not dressed up enough? He was sure there would be people there in jeans and T-shirts. It was just the community theater, after all, but what would Ace and Gavin wear? Gavin seemed like the kind of man who dressed up more often than not.
Except when he was in his own kitchen, eating ice cream. Just the memory of the three of them sitting there naked, talking animatedly about bread and pastries, and eating ice cream was enough to turn Jonathan on. There hadn’t even been anything sexual about that moment until… Well, until there was.
Damn, he enjoyed Ace and Gavin so much, and his crush hadn’t waned at all in the weeks they’d been together. Surely, it would burn itself out soon, though, probably by Christmas when they’d be all caught up in whatever holiday plans they had. Maybe then he’d forget…
How could he ever forget something that felt as powerful as the last time they’d been together? He’d never felt like that. Not just the sex—and it had been phenomenal—but every moment he was with them felt…right.
But Ace and Gavin might forget him because they already had each other. They already had something phenomenal every day. Being with him was like the whipped cream on top of their sundae…or something like that. Was ice cream always going to make him horny now? Damn Ace and Gavin and their post-sex ice-cream fests.
He sighed as he reconsidered the indigo button-up. Maybe he should cancel their date.
It’s not a date.
He glanced at the wrapped packages he’d placed by the door. Why the hell had he bought them Christmas presents? Because he wanted to, because they both seemed to love Christmas so much.
When he’d stopped at Downtown Books and Java after work one day—he hadn’t been there in ages until Ace had suggested it as a meeting place, and now he was a regular again—he’d seen a cookbook of German holiday sweets and known Ace would love it. Then he’d needed something for Gavin, so he’d gone in the kitschy gift shop next door and found him a Yukon Cornelius ornament.
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