Speaking of the taxi, here it is now. Big black SUV. Perfect. I hop in.
“Where ya headed, pop?” the driver asks me. I grin. He’s practically a boy, gotta be his first job out of high school. Townie, too. Good for him, I hope he crushes it.
“Out to the Common,” I say, thinking about the townhouse. “Northeast.”
“You got it,” he says, and we start to roll off.
The air conditioner is perfect, cool, crisp, feels wonderful on my face, but as we pass by the towering buildings of downtown, my smile slowly begins to fade.
What if I’m imposing, stopping by like this?
I was just there yesterday, and I didn’t ask ahead of time to hop on over. Cate keeps telling me I don’t need to ask permission anymore, but I still feel bad for the times I barged in on her in the past, and I don’t want to fuck this up.
“Hey kid,” I say, reaching into my suit coat and peeling a fifty-dollar bill out of my money clip. “Change of plans, sorry about that. Take me on over to Back Bay, I’ll comp you the lost time.”
“Damn, pop,” he says, grabbing the bill. I can see him beaming in the rearview mirror. “Thanks! No prob, on the way.”
Sure, my throat’s a little tight with disappointment, but it’s better this way. I don’t want to push, or overstay my welcome. Cate and Dylan have been living in that place without any incidents together. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been really enjoying our thing, but I don’t know if it’s gonna last. I still can’t break that habit of being ready for a thing to disappear from my life.
Once a townie, always a townie, I guess.
Things are good now, but the two of them are probably better off there without me right now. Honestly, there’s no telling that either of them are as into this arrangement as I am. It’s sex. Yeah, good, mind-blowing, amazing sex, but still… just sex.
Sex with friends.
Two very close friends.
But… there’s a reason they call it the third wheel, right? And the last thing I need to do is get in the way of their feelings.
Then again, maybe I’m overthinking it?
I stifle a sigh, staring blindly out the window. I just don’t know. I guess it’s not always just sex. Like I said, the dinners are wonderful, and we’ve done a lot of talking about Cate’s decor ideas for the townhouse. I’m still not quite convinced that keeping the townhouse is the best move, but we’ve all reached a sort of unspoken understanding for now. Keeps the boat steady. And anyway, Cate’s design decisions are amazing; they’ve really started to grow on me. If we end up selling after all, the market value ought to go up like crazy based on her taste alone.
I’m so dug into these thoughts that I barely hear the kid asking me a question from the front seat.
“Say again, kid?”
“I said, that’s a lotta smoke up the way, pop. Looks like someone fell asleep with a lit cigarette. My old man did that all the time, dunno how we managed to keep the house from burning down.”
But I stopped listening about halfway through, rolling down the window on the passenger side and looking out. That looks awfully close to my building.
“Keep on goin’, kid,” I tell him, frowning.
“You got it,” he says, but then I hear the sirens approaching behind us. The kid pulls the car to the shoulder, honking the horn at the folks in front of him to let him in.
I watch as the fire trucks start zooming past us, weaving through the tight spaces like they must have done a million times before.
“Kid, there’s another fifty in it for you if you tail ’em,” I say, starting to feel worried now.
Please don’t be my building.
Please just be the shitty one next to it.
“Yep yep,” the kid says, and swerves the car into traffic the moment the last fire truck gets an inch past us.
I’m thrown to the other side of the car, but I don’t care, as long as he gets us there fast. And he does; kid’s amazing, gotta admit. He stays hard on the tail of the last fire truck, aggressively blocking anyone from cutting him off. As we get closer and closer, passing rows of buildings and alleys, it’s looking more and more likely that my wish isn’t going to come true. My heart slowly sinks with every block that goes by.
It feels like a million years, but we finally get there. My gut clenches. It’s my building, and it’s bad.
A brigade of fire trucks is surrounding the place, and there are paramedics, cops, and firefighters everywhere, along with a healthy crowd of rubberneckers that keep getting pushed out of the way. Of all the fucking luck. But of course. Of fucking course. Hadn’t I just been thinking how good things were going? Jinxed it.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fucking fuck.
I swipe at my face, tearing a few bills out of my clip and throwing them up to the front seat.
He turns to face me. “You want—”
“I’m out here, kid,” I say, and a second later, I fling the door open and hit the ground running, briefcase in one hand and my money clip in the other. I use my briefcase as a wedge, digging my way into the surrounding crowd until I can finally push through to the inner circle. “Hey!” I shout, running smack into an officer.
“Get back, pal,” he shouts right back at me, looking at me like I’m the asshole interfering with him doing his job.
“That’s my place,” I grit out, brushing him aside. I only get a few yards before he grabs me again and holds me in place.
“Sir, you can’t do that,” he says, raising his voice to be heard, but without the underlying asshole in his tone now. He’s got an arm firmly around my neck, and gestures with the other one. “It’s full up with smoke!”
“It’s my place!” I yell again, struggling to break free of his iron grip.
“I don’t wanna have to hurt you,” he yells back, tightening his grip. “But going in there will hurt you. You’re acting crazy. Stay back.”
Finally, I can’t fight against it any longer; I’m getting nowhere. I fall still and hold my hands up.
“Alright. Fuck. I’m done,” I say, and he lets me go.
I take only a single step forward, staring up at the building. The fire might not have started on my floor, but it was definitely on my floor now. I can see the flames licking out of the sides of where my windows once were.
“No,” I mutter, dropping everything I’m carrying and bringing my hands up to my head, tearing at my hair. “It’s everything.”
“Sir, is anyone else in there?” the officer asks, looking concerned.
“It’s everything!” I shout. “It’s my life! My art, my files, my computer, all my pictures! My suits! My thousand-fucking-dollar suits!”
Everything that meant I’d made it. Everything I’d worked for.
All I had.
“Loved ones, sir,” he shouts, trying to be heard over the roar of the fire and the crazy scene around us.
I almost don’t understand the question at first, staring up at the building. But a moment later I do, and my thoughts shift to Cate and Dylan, my heart freezing in my chest. No question: if either of them were in the building, I’d run in past a million officers.
I’d fight and die for either of them.
For both of them.
“Oh my God,” I whisper, my hands dropping to my sides.
The officer looks at my expression, horrified. “Sir? Anyone? Is that a yes?”
I can’t even hear him. The thought of the two of them in that building, it’s just… it’d be my entire life.
Gone.
I love them.
I love each of them, and I love them together. Cate, Dylan, the both of them. They’re my whole goddamn heart, every last bit of it. Hadn’t they both tried to tell me, in different ways? Why hadn’t I seen it?
Because on top of the crashing knowledge, I’ve got something else. This isn’t new. I think I’ve always felt like this.
Why couldn’t I ever give Cate a chance when we were kids?
Why did I e
xplode on Dylan when I saw him with another guy?
If there’s one sure bet in my life, it’s that I push away the people that I love. Everyone except Sully, but that man just didn’t take no for an answer, so I really had no choice on that one. But I did it with Cate and Dylan both, and I pushed so hard because… because I felt too much. I’ve always felt too much for them.
It’s terrifying.
I take in a deep, deep breath, and shakily sigh it out as the force of my epiphany courses through my body. Not even close to as terrifying as the thought of them in that flaming building. No, I’m done being scared. Fuck that. They’re not in there, and I’m in love with them.
I’m blessed.
Cate and Dylan, and the people they’ve grown into since the last time I saw them. I want to be with them forever. I can’t imagine life without them.
“Sir,” the officer shouts again, shaking my arm, and I turn to face him, grinning from ear to ear.
“No,” I tell him, elated, and the officer looks confused. I continue, “Nothing I love is up there. Not a single damn thing. Just stuff. The people I love are far away, where it’s safe.”
The officer stares at me like I’m a crazy person, and I probably am, but I can barely hear what he’s saying to me, because all of my attention immediately jolts at the sound of Cate’s voice, and again with Dylan’s right behind it.
“Jack.” It’s Cate, and I can hear it now in her voice. It’s not just my imagination, and now that I’m not trying to talk myself out of it, it’s plain as day. She cares about me, too. “Jack, are you all right?”
“God, Jack,” Dylan’s saying, talking over her as they both rush toward me. “We were worried sick about you.”
I feel as though I’ve been struck by lightning. How could I have been so foolish? Of course those two want me. They’ve made it so crystal clear at every passing opportunity, and the only thing that keeps getting in my way is me.
Before I can say anything, the two of them plow into me, both wrapping their arms around me in a huge hug.
I laugh. Hard. Bending over, wheezing-for-breath hard, if they hadn’t been holding me up. Because right now? Losing all the things I own? It might be the happiest I’ve ever been.
Nah, no “might” about it.
It is.
“Are you hurt?” Cate asks, her hands all over me as a look of concern grows on her face. She thinks I’m losing it.
“No, no, I’m fine,” I say, still grinning like a fool.
“Thank God,” Dylan says, his arms still tight around me from the other side. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
I feel a shudder go through Cate’s body, and she adds a heartfelt, “Me, neither.”
The officer who’d stopped me earlier is waving at us to get back, clear the way, and this time, I don’t put up a fight. The only place I want to be is wherever these two are. And then it hits me. They’re here. Why? How? It’s like they materialized out of thin air, just when I needed them most.
My life just doesn’t work that way.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, stumbling to a standstill just outside the ring of gawkers. I look back and forth between them, dumbstruck. This just ain’t the kind of luck I normally have.
Cate’s eyes well up. “We were doing some painting at the townhouse—”
“Yeah, and the fire popped up on the news,” Dylan interrupts. “We recognized your building right away.”
Cate looks up at it, raging like an inferno. “We got here as fast as we could,” she whispers, turning back to me. “I’m so sorry, Jack.”
I grin. And then I’m laughing again. I don’t even recognize myself right now, but that’s okay. I see the moment they get it. These two, I tell you, they know me so well. I guess, in some ways, better than I do myself.
“Nothing I need is up there,” I say, spelling it out as I tug them back against my sides, where they belong. “It’s okay. What say we go home?”
Dylan’s face splits into this heart-stopping smile. He’s just… lit up, and hot on its heels, Cate’s beaming at me, too.
Yeah, no two ways about it. Happiest day of my life.
21
Dylan
“I thought maybe we’d just skip right to dessert, if that’s okay with you two,” I say, carrying a tray of homemade pound cake and a carafe full of strawberry puree.
“Oh my God, Dylan,” Cate exclaims, eyes rolling back in anticipation.
I grin. I love that she’s stopped fighting good food and just lets herself enjoy it now.
“When the hell do you find time to do this stuff?” Jack asks. He looks comfortable, and I’m so happy for that. He’s doing remarkably well for someone who just lost his home.
No.
Whose house just burned down.
And now I can feel my cheeks start to hurt, my grin’s so big. Hearing him call this place, our place, “home” meant everything.
“I love watching the two of you eat my food,” I tell them sincerely, setting the tray down along with the cake. “Serve yourselves. Whipped cream?”
“Please,” Jack says, his eyes lighting up the way they used to when we were kids.
Cate just nods her head in excitement, and the look of anticipation on her face is sensual. Decadent. God, of course I like cooking for them. Their appreciation for it is like a drug I’ve become addicted to. I fetch the bowl of fresh whipped cream from the counter while they start prepping their own cakes, and put it down between us, taking the open seat between them at the head of the table.
It’s quiet for a while as we all polish off the cakes. And not to put too fine of a point on it, but even I have to admit that I really knocked this one out of the park. Got the balance of sweet to sour just right with the puree.
“This was exactly the thing I needed,” Jack says, putting his fork down after he’s made sure to chase every crumb, every dollop of whipped cream off his plate. “Dylan, you’re something else.”
And I’m smiling again, loving the fact that I got to take care of him a little. That I put that look on his face.
“Jack, are you sure you’re okay?” Cate asks, reaching for his hand. There’s a note of concern in her voice, and I get it. That fire scared us both. Badly. “I mean, you just lost everything—”
He laughs again, squeezing her hand before dropping it so he can reach into the nearly empty bowl of whipped cream and scrape the sides, getting it all on his index finger. I relax, because there isn’t a shade of concern in his voice.
“’Course I’m okay,” he says, waggling his index finger across the table at her. “I’m here, ain’t I? With you?”
He winks, then tries to smear some whipped cream on her.
“Stop that!” Cate squeaks, pushing her chair back, laughing. “I’ve had to get paint out of my clothes all week from the house painting, I don’t need to add whipped cream to my collection of stains.”
“Aw,” Jack teases, “Duchess don’t want even a little bitty taste?”
Cate narrows her eyes in good humor, then stands up, leaning over the table to take his finger in her mouth, sucking the cream right off. And that shuts Jack right up. Makes my pants suddenly feel a little tight, too, even though I can’t help but laugh at the scene. It’s so good to see them joking around so easily with each other.
Jack’s happy.
They both are.
And what that does to me… it’s all I need.
It’s probably the first time I’ve ever seen them this completely casual and playful around each other outside of the bedroom. They’re at peace and lighthearted, and it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted for the two of them. I have it all under one roof now, and I throw a smile up toward the ceiling. I think Sully would have been very, very happy with all of this.
“Jack!” Cate shrieks, as Jack rounds the table and grabs her up in his arms, spinning her around. The two of them laughing together is the happiest sound I’ve ever heard in my life.
“Alright, you two. It’s late, and we have a very early day tomorrow if we want to get the house painting finished up,” I remind them, my lips twitching.
“Aw, come on,” Cate whines, pouting.
“Yeah, buzzkill,” Jack says jokingly. “Don’t you wanna have a little fun with us?”
“If we have any fun at all,” I say, over-exaggerating the mock-stern tone of voice, “It’s going to be from the comfort of that big fat bed of ours. I don’t know about you two, but I’m fried.”
And right on cue, I let out a big, stretchy yawn to prove it.
Jack’s grin falters for a moment. “Hey, guys. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you opening the house up to me. I know I haven’t made this very easy.”
Cate shakes her head and gives him a gentle punch on the arm. “Don’t you get it yet?” she asks with a smile, and looks over to me. “One of these days, we’re really going to have to convince him that he belongs with us.”
I step over to Jack and drape an arm lazily over his shoulder, smiling. “Yeah,” I say to Cate, but keep looking at Jack. “We’ll get through to him eventually.”
Jack reaches up, and I think for a split second that he’s going to push my hand away, but instead I feel his fingers wrapping gently around my wrist, guiding my arm over his shoulder like teenagers at a movie.
“Hey, I’m a smart guy,” he says, and what I hear in his voice… damn. He winks at me. “I’ll get it sooner or later.”
And oh, shit. I’m thinking sooner might be now.
He grins, pointing upstairs with a cocky glint in his eye. “What do you two say: slumber party?”
Cate bites her lip, and I can see the telltale flush creeping over her cheekbones and the way her gorgeous breasts start rising and falling faster as she gets excited.
“Oh, can we please?” she asks, her voice coming out so breathy and eager that Jack and I groan as one.
Jack starts regaling Cate with stories about the two of us as we head up the stairs.
“Y’know, you missed out on a lot only being here during the summers, Duchess,” he says. “Dylan and I spent a lot of time together, year-round. Sleepovers, campouts, you name it.”
Mine: MMF Bisexual Menage Romance Page 24