by Aidan Wayne
“Um.” Skye swallowed. “Linda, that’s not…”
Linda looked at him and softened. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just trying to understand. Russell adores you. But you were all set to date Brent without him, before he said anything. I love Russell. I don’t want him to get hurt. And I don’t want you to get hurt either.”
“Yeah,” Skye said quietly. “Yeah, I get it. But it’s still–it’s really new, Linda. We’re all sort of playing it by ear. And I would be the first person to stop things if I thought it wasn’t going to work. They were the ones who had to convince me.”
Linda looked at him carefully, before she nodded. “Okay.” She patted him on the back. “I’ll wait to interrogate your corporate lawyer until you guys have an idea of what’s even going to happen. No reason to threaten him. Yet.”
“Thanks, Linda,” Skye said, relieved.
Linda smiled hesitantly at him, and Skye felt worlds better.
***
Skye was nervously excited when he left backstage with Russell to meet Brent, who was there and waiting. And torn, because he wanted to kiss Brent hello but also wasn’t sure if he should yet, not with everyone around and Russell right next to him.
“Hey,” he said, squaring his shoulders and walking up to Brent, Russell shadowing him.
“Hey yourself,” Brent smiled. “You both ready?”
“Sure. Starved.”
Skye adjusted his bag’s strap. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Great.” Brent squeezed Skye’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, uh…” Skye looked back to Linda, who was waiting for him to introduce her. “I want you to meet someone.”
“Alright.” Linda stepped forward, and Brent smiled at her. “Hi,” he said, holding out a hand. “Linda Stawski, right?”
“Uh, yeah,” Linda said, taken aback. “You know who I am?”
Brent shrugged. “I like the show a lot and I’ve seen it a few times. It’s given me some opportunity to place some of the main characters out of makeup.”
“Oh. Well.” Linda shook his hand, which was still outstretched. “Nice to meet you.” She cleared her throat and added, “Skye’s one of my best friends. I want him treated right. Russell too.”
Brent smiled at her. “So do I. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Russell grinned. “Linda, you didn’t threaten me.”
Linda scowled at him. “That’s because I think you’re in for just as much of a…” she took a breath and looked at all three of them. “Just don’t mess this up for yourselves, okay?” Then she quickly spun on her heel and took off in the other direction.
“I like her,” Brent told them as he led the way down the street.
“Yeah, Linda’s great,” from Russell. “She’s someone who definitely knows her own mind.”
“She wasn’t super happy when I told her I was dating two people,” Skye said, eyes on the ground.
Russell slung an arm around his shoulders and squeezed. “She’s looking out for both of us. I told you, she’ll come around.”
“I hope so.”
“Here we are,” Brent said, stopping in front of–
“We are not eating at Gabriel Kreuther,” Skye gasped.
“Oh.” Brent frowned. “You don’t like it? I made reservations but we can always–”
“What? No! What? I–Brent.”
“Think Skye might be a little taken aback by the place,” Russell snickered.
Brent rolled his eyes. “Please. Skye, it’s no big deal. My treat, remember?”
“I am wearing jeans.”
“So?”
Skye opened and closed his mouth. “Russell!”
Russell laughed. “I’m wearing jeans too. You’ll still be the hottest person in there.”
“If it really bothers you, we can go somewhere else,” Brent said. “But I thought you might like it. They’ve got a Chef’s Menu Carte Blanche.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means the chef chooses his or her own special menu for the table,” Brent explained. “So you don’t get a menu or have to pick what you’re going to eat yourself.”
Skye inhaled sharply. “Oh,” he said quietly. “I–wow. Um. Okay, yeah.”
“Convinced?” Russell asked, smiling at him.
“Maybe.” Two on one, Skye was quickly realizing, was absolutely not fair.
But he was liking it so far.
***
Skye didn’t want to say goodbye to Brent or Russell just yet, after dinner was over. But it was late and he knew they both had to be exhausted.
“What’s on your mind?” Russell asked him, as they were leaving the restaurant.
“Nothing. It’s late. I don’t want to keep you.”
Brent chuckled. “Meaning you do, but feel guilty about saying so?”
Skye flushed. “You’re probably wiped,” he said. “I don’t even want to know what time you had to get up this morning for work.”
Brent grinned. “Will it make you feel better if I promise to sleep in tomorrow?”
“Can you?”
“One of the perks of being higher up on the food chain. Obviously client meetings and appointments play a role in what I do and when, but I can make my own hours. Sometimes that means working until three in the morning, sometimes it means getting to the office at half past ten.”
“Oh.” Skye guessed that Brent tended to do more of the former, over the latter. “Still.”
“Can’t blame him for wanting to spend more time with you,” Russell put in.
“Oh.” Skye said again. “Well. Um. In that case, do you want to come back to my place for a little bit?” And say proper goodnights.
“I’d like that a lot,” Russell smiled.
“Me too,” Brent said. Skye beamed.
The trip back to Skye’s place didn’t take too long, and soon enough he was unlocking his front door, kicking off his shoes, and dropping his bag.
“I’m kind of glad tomorrow is a dark day,” he said, flinging himself down onto his folded-out bed. “The last few days have been pretty hectic.”
Russell took a seat next to him and started to work on his neck. “Yeah, you’ve had a wild ride.”
Skye hummed at the sensation of Russell’s hand on him, inordinately pleased when Brent took a seat on his other side and pressed in close. He sighed and sagged against them, worn but happy.
“This is really nice,” he said muzzily.
“I’m glad,” Brent murmured. “Are you tired? Do you want to lie down?”
Skye shook his head. He was tired, but he wasn’t ready for the evening to end and for them to leave. Instead he turned to Brent. “Can I kiss you?”
Brent reached up to cup Skye’s face. “I’d like that very much.”
The kiss was sleepy and slow, both of them taking their time with each other. All through it, Russell was a warm hand just resting on the back of Skye’s neck. It was the perfect sensation of closed in and cared for.
Brent bit at Skye’s bottom lip and sucked it into his mouth, and Skye moaned, letting himself be pulled forward. He dimly registered Russell’s hand moving down to his side and curling around his waist, and then Russell was kissing the back of his neck. Skye gasped into Brent’s mouth, arching up when Russell’s fingers carefully wormed their way underneath Skye’s T.
“Skye?” Russell asked, “That okay?”
“Y-yeah,” Skye said shakily, “Yeah I-I like it. I–” he gasped again, this time for Brent’s hand joining Russell’s underneath his shirt, stroking over the planes of Skye’s stomach.
“Good?” Brent asked, nipping at Skye’s lip again.
Skye swallowed and nodded, shuddering when Russell’s teeth closed around his earlobe and tugged gently. Their hands were roaming now, moving over his body underneath his shirt, up and down his back, skating over his sides, dipping to the curve of his hip. Overwhelmed, Skye squeezed his eyes shut and just let himself feel.
Then he was be
ing shifted, Brent helping to maneuver him into Russell’s lap.
“Hey,” Russell whispered, smiling at him, before moving in for more kisses.
Skye clutched at Russell’s shoulders and whimpered into his mouth as Brent pulled at the collar of Skye’s T-shirt and mouthed at the side of his neck. “W-wait,” he managed.
Both Russell and Brent froze against him and immediately pulled away.
“Skye?” Russell asked, concern written all over his face.”What’s wrong?”
Skye shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong I–I just thought–” it was so stupid that this was what got him blushing considering what was going on but “–I thought that maybe I could take off my shirt?”
“Yeah,” Russell breathed. “Yeah, okay.”
Skye wasn’t normally one to feel self-conscious about undressing in front of others. He was a stage actor; he was in and out of dress all the time around a variety of people. Russell included. But this felt different. Both of them looking at him, attention rapt… it felt different. Like he was being cherished.
He dropped his shirt to the floor and they both leaned in again, peppering his skin with kisses and roaming their hands over his body. It felt so good he could hardly stand it.
“Here,” Brent said. “Move back?” Skye nodded and let them maneuver him until he was pressed up against Russell, back to chest, Brent sliding forward to kiss him again. Skye curled his hands around Brent’s back and held on tight, breath hitching as Russell licked and sucked on his neck, paid attention to the spot underneath his left ear.
He lost time as they worked him over, blinking blearily when Brent pulled away.
“I should probably go,” he murmured.
Right. Right, Brent had to work in the morning. Skye had no idea what time it was, but he knew it was late. “Okay,” he said, starting to move. “Here, let me–”
Brent put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see myself out. You have a good night.” He grinned. “Have fun with Russell.”
Russell huffed a laugh, a breathy exhale over Skye’s shoulder. “Have a good night, man.”
“You too. Both of you.”
“Brent,” Skye said, as Brent put on his shoes. “Text me when you get home, okay?”
Brent nodded. “Of course. I’ll see you soon. We’ll make some more plans later.”
“Good night.”
Brent smiled at them both, waved, and closed the door quietly behind him.
“I’ve got to get up anyway,” Skye told Russell apologetically. “Have to throw the deadbolt.”
“No worries.” Russell smiled at him. “Am I staying, then?”
Skye smiled shyly back. “If you want to.”
“I really, really do.”
It was in a daze that Skye locked up. When he turned to shuffle back to bed, it was just in time to see Russell, now shirtless himself, step out of his jeans and fold them up, setting them on the floor. He glanced back up, caught Skye’s eye, and smiled, warm and welcoming.
“Coming back to bed?”
Skye swallowed, a little unable to believe this was his life now. “Yeah.”
They didn’t go straight to sleep, instead spending more time learning each other’s mouths. When Skye’s phone beeped he drew away to check the message from Brent. Home safe. Sleep well. I know I will.
He set his phone on the arm of his couch bed, and then Russell tugged him back down before wrapping around him and pulling him close.
Tucked up against each other under the covers, Russell pressed a kiss to Skye’s temple. “Sleep well, Skye.”
“You too.”
***
Waking up with Russell gave Skye the feeling of deja vu, but better because this time Russell’s sleepy, slow smile and good morning kisses were totally meant and completely intentional.
“Morning,” Skye said when they parted.
“Hey,” Russell breathed, before leaning down for another long, slow kiss. They moved with each other, and ended up with Skye on his back, Russell bracketing him with his arms.
“I still can’t believe I get to have this,” Russell murmured, staring down at Skye in wonder.
Skye squirmed. He really wasn’t that special. He was not complaining in the least, but he didn’t get what Russell saw in him at all. But he did know one thing for sure: “You’re amazing. And–and if I make you happy, then I’m going to give you all that I can.”
Something in Skye sang to see Russell look so pleased at his words, and he eagerly opened up for more kisses as Russell leaned down to take his mouth.
An insistent buzzing from the nightstand had them both looking up.
“My phone,” Russell said apologetically. “We can ignore it.”
“No, it’s okay. It might be something important.” Skye always had to check his phone at every opportunity, worried about missing something.
Russell nodded and rolled off of him, Skye immediately missing his warmth.
“What?” he asked, after whatever Brent saw on his screen set him chuckling.
“It’s from Brent. He wants me to deliver a message.”
Skye yawned and sat up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Brent said, coming back to cup Skye’s face. “This is it.”
Apparently Brent wanted to kiss Skye good morning too.
Chapter 9
When they finally made it out of bed, Skye gave Russell the shower first while he went about folding up his bed and getting his apartment morning ready. After Russell was done, he hopped in himself, soaping up and rinsing off quickly, turning the water cold to get other thoughts off his mind. Not while Russell was in his apartment.
He walked out in his towel to get changed, only to find his apartment empty. Trying not to panic, he realized that his phone was flashing with a new message.
Took your key and went to get breakfast Russell had sent him. Be back soon.
Skye smiled down at his phone and went to turn on his music to start his morning warm-up.
***
Even though it was a dark day, both Russell and Skye still had responsibilities. Russell left to go back to his own place and change, and to work on a wig commission for a client. Skye had a few students scheduled, and more practice to get in besides, so he left for his studio. Not before exchanging more kisses, until Skye had to regretfully kick Russell out so they didn’t spend the entire day making out on Skye’s couch.
When he was finished at the studio he went back to his place to gather up laundry. Dark days were his best time to do it, because it meant he actually had a block of time to sit and wait. He texted Brent again to update him about what he was doing once he got to the laundromat, since Brent had said he’d love texts to look forward to and read in between work.
Exciting life, Skye tapped out. After this I’m probably going grocery shopping. He didn’t have a lot of storage space for food, and his fridge was a half-size, so he had to go shopping often because he couldn’t buy much to keep at home at any one time. It was also a reason he ate out so much. Like most other typical New Yorkers, probably.
A few minutes later he got, Daily life is just as important as show business, right? Besides, with the right company... I’d love to be grocery shopping with you right now. It’d just be nice to see you again so soon.
I know you’re busy, Skye replied. But I want to see you too. What works best for you?
Considering both our schedules, I’d love to make walking in a park or lunch together a regular thing.
Skye smiled at his phone. I’d really like that.
I can’t get away this afternoon, but I was thinking... it’s a dark day for you, so you won’t be out late at a show, right?
Right. I don’t have any crazy nighttime plans.
Would you like to spend the night at my place? If it’s not too soon.
Followed immediately by:
Russell could come too, if it’d make you feel safer.
Skye read the messages again, and then again. Same thing: Brent was inviting him
over to his place to spend the night.
Skye actually wanted to. He was pretty sure he’d like that. Would enjoy seeing where Brent lived and learning more about him. Would enjoy seeing Brent again period. Not to mention that Russell knew Brent and trusted him. So going to Brent’s place—Skye wasn’t worried. If Brent didn’t think it was too soon, Skye shouldn’t either. Right?
I’d like to spend the night.
Great! Want to do dinner, and then head over to my place after?
Yeah, okay. He could just bring a small overnight bag that wasn’t too obtrusive. Where do you live, anyway?
I’m in the Eugene over on 31st. It’s really not all that far from you. My office is a little farther away, but I can meet you somewhere in the area for dinner and then we can go to my place from there.
Skye blanched. The Eugene was a shiny new apartment complex that had gone up pretty recently. It was huge, decked out, and ridiculously lush.
His machine finished, and Skye took a break to transfer his clothes over to a dryer and then took out his phone again. And to try to come to terms with the fact that Linda had mean it when she said corporate lawyers were an elite group. That certainly helped to explain how Brent was willing and able to see live theatre as often as he liked. And the restaurants he picked.
Okay, he typed out, glad a text wouldn’t pick up how nervous he felt, Sure, that sounds like a plan.
Do you have a preference of where to go?
Or maybe just something you’re in the mood for eating?
A thousand different possibilities ran through Skye’s brain and he willed himself to calm down. No pressure. Brent hadn’t even asked him to make a choice, just wanted an opinion. Skye could give him that much. He could.
Would you be okay with sushi?
Sushi sounds great. Do you want to do Koi Bryant Park again?
Okay. Okay, that would be fine. And Skye could even actually dress the part and not make Brent look bad. Sure.
I mean yes, please, that sounds good.
Awesome. I’ll make the reservations. Would 8pm work? I’ll probably be in the office pretty late today, but if that’s not a good time I could try for earlier.