Whatever it was Rhian wanted to tell him was obviously still on Rhian’s mind, though he made no indication he was ready to say anything. He did, however, become increasingly quiet as the last of the food disappeared from their plates.
Henri broke first.
“Come on, kid. You can tell me anything. I’m not going to judge you.”
Rhian stared at him, blank faced, as if this wasn’t the reason Henri was here in the first place.
Henri backpedaled. “Or not. It’s okay, either way.”
“No, I want to tell you something,” Rhian said suddenly.
Henri sat back and waited.
“I’m in love with, and in a relationship with, both Garrick and Savannah, and I live here with them, so that’s why the apartment is empty.”
For a long moment, Henri just digested that, because he’d thought he was pretty clever and had figured some shit out, but he hadn’t seen that one coming at all. Damn it, he was sort of disappointed in himself. Because now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense.
He finally spoke when it looked as though Rhian was going to expire from nerves, and Garrick and Savannah were both staring at him as if they could will him, with the power of their minds alone, to be decent about this.
There wasn’t any need for that, of course.
Henri smiled, pitying the terror on Rhian’s face. “Relax, Rhian. It’s cool. Good for you—all three of you.” He nodded to Savannah and Garrick, who positively beamed back at him.
“Yeah?” Rhian said, still uncertain.
“Yeah, kid. Come on. What kind of asshole do you think I am?”
“No, I don’t—I wouldn’t have told you if I thought that.”
Holy shit, the kid was still wound tight about it, though. “I get it. This can’t be easy to keep under wraps.”
Rhian shrugged, and his lovers frowned. “Only family knows, really. A few close friends,” Rhian admitted.
That sounded rough, but Henri was also flattered. “Thank you for trusting me, then,” he said. He made sure they understood he speaking to all three of them. “Are you going to tell anyone else?”
Rhian caught his eyes and Henri knew they were thinking about the same two idiots. Rhian looked so painfully uncertain.
Henri sighed. “Are you worried they’ll judge you or some shit, or are you worried they’ll tell someone they shouldn’t?”
Rhian shrugged. “Maybe a little of the first, and a bit more of the second.”
“The first is bullshit,” Henri said firmly. “I mean really, they have no room to judge, since it’s blatantly obvious to everyone but the two of them that they’re pining for each other.”
Garrick snorted. “How does someone not know they are pining for someone?”
“I don’t know, but those two are totally pulling it off,” Savannah confirmed.
Henri laughed, delighted to know that he and Rhian weren’t the only ones suffering.
“And the second thing?” Rhian asked, worrying his lower lip with his teeth.
“Tell them they can’t tell anyone and they won’t. You know they won’t.”
Rhian sat and thought about that. Henri turned to Savannah. “What do you think?”
“About telling Noel and Jean-Michel? I feel better knowing you trust them with it.”
“Good. Because let’s be real—if they tell anyone, it’s your ass as much or more than Rhian’s.” Savannah nodded. She looked grateful that he’d understood that. He turned back to Rhian. “Tell the boys that. Remind them it’s not just about you. They’ll get it. They won’t do anything to hurt Savannah.”
“They won’t?” Garrick asked curiously.
“Nah. They love her.”
A twinkle entered Garrick’s eyes. “Do they, now?”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “Not like that, you idiot. And god help me if they did. Like I don’t have my hands full with the two of you.”
“She’s right. It’s not that kind of love,” Henri reassured Garrick. “They think of her as sort of the team mom.”
“They what?” Savannah asked, outraged.
“Haven’t you ever noticed they’re always coming to you for advice? Or sitting around your office making a nuisance of themselves when they’ve had a hard loss?”
“Well, yes,” Savannah said slowly. “But I just thought they needed their trainer.”
“Do you think the trainer out in LA helps the boys choose their Christmas gifts for their wives and mothers?”
“Well—but—”
“Or maybe the guy in New York has spent a two-hour long flight quizzing the rookie from Quebec City on English verb conjugation?” Henri laughed at the resignation settling over Savannah. “They spend more time with you in your room or office than they do in the locker room,” he told her.
Savannah’s shoulders slumped. “I thought they’d just sort of followed Rhian.”
Rhian bit his lip, but failed to stifle his laughter. “Actually, most of the time, I was just following them.”
“Oh, my god.” Savannah pointed an accusatory finger at Rhian. “You knew! Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“What? That two of my closest friends think of my girlfriend like a surrogate mother?”
“Yes!” Savannah said, indignant.
“Are you kidding? I never said anything because I wanted to get laid again. Like, ever.”
Garrick laughed, loud and bright. Savannah rolled her eyes, but grudgingly nodded as if to say Rhian had a fair point.
Henri grinned, pleased to have material to tease Savannah with, who he was feeling much closer to than he had in all the time they’d been working together. He’d always assumed she held herself a little apart from the rest of the team outside of work hours because it was the safest route to protect her professional reputation, but now he knew it was even more complicated than that.
He was happy to have been allowed through at least some of those carefully constructed walls.
These three were a nice…well, not a couple. Thruple? Threesome? Whatever. They made a nice relationship unit, and he’d be happy to spend time with them outside of work.
Savannah walked Henri to the door, smiling as he chirped the boys for their “disgustingly domestic display” while they bickered over who should do the dishes. They were both claiming they should be the one, which was the opposite of what most people had to deal with. Savannah was pretty sure some of her girlfriends would kill for this problem.
“You have a nice family here,” Henri said when they reached the foyer and relative quiet.
“Thank you.”
She was surprised when Henri leaned in and kissed each of her cheeks once. When he stepped back, he said, “I hope that’s okay. I figure we aren’t just coworkers anymore, what with me knowing all your secrets.”
“Well, not all of them,” she said with a sly smile and a waggle of her eyebrows.
Henri threw back his head and hooted with laughter.
She recognized that this wasn’t something she would ever have dared say to or in front of the guys at work—to Henri’s point. Having a woman traveling with the team, one who was constantly in and out of the locker room, climbing all over them in her office, yelling at them in the gym, and on the bench for games, meant that it was easiest if she didn’t ever let them see her flirt or dole out an innuendo, let alone laugh about or talk about anything sexual.
It meant, though, that most of her colleagues had little to no idea who she really was. It was nice, now, to have an exception. She was getting a small taste of what Rhian must have been feeling and felt both guilty for not having realized, and relieved to have someone like Henri in both of their lives.
Rhian was right. This was definitely better.
Still, there had to be rules.
“No kissing at the office,” Savannah said mock-sternly as she helped Henri with his coat.
“I would never,” Henri said, far more seriously. “I don’t know how you put up with the shit you do al
ready. I can promise you, I will never do anything that would make that worse for you.”
“Thanks,” Savannah said. “I have to be honest, I didn’t think anyone but Rhian really saw it.”
“I see it. I’ve seen it. I’ve even thought about offering my help if you needed it, but I suspected that might land me a nice bald patch on my thigh.”
Savannah’s cheeks warmed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said as innocently as she could manage.
Henri chuckled. “You do what you have to. Though, now that I’ve mentioned the offer, you should know it stands. If there is ever anything I can do for you, or for you and Rhian, you just let me know.”
“Thanks, Henri,” Savannah said, her mind already working on a few ideas. “I may take you up on that.”
She waited at the door until Henri was in his car, then waved as he pulled away from the curb.
Smiling, she went back toward the kitchen, wondering why the arguing had stopped and the water wasn’t running. She found her boys standing in the middle of the kitchen, kissing.
“And people wonder why I worry about leaving you alone. The dishes will never get done,” she said teasingly.
Rhian grinned at her over his shoulder. “Sorry. We were celebrating.” He reached out for her hand and she took his.
“I think that went well,” she said.
Rhian tugged her closer, then sat in one of the kitchen chairs. She didn’t fight it when he drew her onto his lap. “It did.”
“Feeling any better?”
“I am,” Rhian said, shifting her in his lap a little so she could feel how much better.
“Honestly, you two,” she admonished, even as she could feel her pulse speeding up a little. “Henri was right in the front hall!”
“He was leaving,” Garrick said as he pulled up a chair and sat close.
“Thank god he didn’t forget anything,” she chided, but she was laughing. “It’s one thing to know, it’s another thing to see it.”
“I think Henri would be just fine,” Rhian said, his hand skating up her thigh. “I totally caught him checking out Garrick’s ass when he went to get the fresh coffee.”
“He did not!” Garrick said.
Rhian grinned. “He did.”
Savannah was distracted by their teasing, so she was startled by the drag of Rhian’s fingers along the elastic of her underwear.
“You know what I was thinking?” Savannah asked, quickly getting into the spirit of things, so to speak.
“That, statistically speaking, Rhian has probably managed to befriend all the gay or bi guys on the team?” Garrick asked.
“Well, yes, that,” she agreed, while Rhian huffed and rolled his eyes.
“And?” Garrick prompted.
“And,” she agreed, “when Noel, Jean-Michel, and Henri all know, maybe we can ask them to run interference for us when we’re on road trips. They can be your alibi or whatever so you can spend more nights in my room.”
Rhian’s fingers paused as they snuck beneath the waistband of her sweats. “Yeah?”
God, she liked the smile in his eyes. The hope radiating from them. “Yeah. I mean, only if you want to.”
Rhian tugged her down for a long kiss that was still almost chaste as he thanked her or agreed with her or whatever the hell he was trying to convey.
At this point, she was really distracted by his hand in her pants. Goddamn, pregnancy hormones were a thing of wonder.
She only whimpered a little when Rhian pulled away. “So, this means you’re okay with telling the guys?”
“If you and Henri both trust them, then yes.”
Rhian pulled her in again, holding her tight against his chest. She hugged him back. Garrick ran his hands over them both, staying close.
“Thank you,” Rhian said.
“Does it help?”
“Yes. It does,” he said quickly, sincerely. “I’m not interested in having a lot of people speculate about my private life. You know that. And I can’t tell them about my bio family, no matter how much I love them. So, I just needed…I just needed some more of the people I care about to know at least some of the truth about me, I guess.”
“And we can tell other people, eventually,” Garrick said gently. “We can talk about it, and we’ll decide as we go, right?”
She and Rhian nodded. It was still terrifying, but it also still felt like it was the right thing to do. It still felt worth it.
Chapter Eleven
Garrick hovered behind Rhian, who hovered behind the goddamn butler Seamus had hired for his holiday party, who hovered by the door, waiting for guests to arrive. There were already easily seventy people in the house, including a large number of people who counted as their family, but Rhian was determined to snag his friends the minute they walked through the door.
Henri and Lisa had the dubious honor of arriving first. Before they could even get to Rhian and Garrick, the children were invited to the party being held for them downstairs, and were then whisked away by one of the horde of caretakers and entertainers Seamus had hired.
Lisa waved goodbye, delighted, then greeted Rhian and Garrick with a big smile, shrugging off her wrap into the waiting arms of her husband, who passed it and his coat to the butler with a bemused expression. Lisa then kissed them on both cheeks and stood back so her husband could do the same.
Henri then assessed the looks on both their faces and burst out laughing.
“I don’t know what you expected when you set yourselves up at the welcoming committee.”
“I’m actually waiting for Jean-Michel and Noel, not you, old man.”
“He’s determined to tell them this evening,” Garrick added. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to have Henri aware of what was happening.
“Excellent,” Henri said cheerfully. “I love a good ambush.”
Rhian frowned, but the minute the doorbell rang again, he turned away to see who was coming through the door.
Lisa rolled her eyes. “On that note, I see a very handsome bartender who looks like he wants to be my friend.”
Henri patted Garrick’s shoulder sympathetically. “Grab me before you go wherever you’re going to drag them off to, and I’ll come along.”
Garrick studied his face. “Are you worried?”
“Not really,” Henri said with an easy shrug. “But I can’t pass up an excuse to smack them if they do anything other than smile immediately.”
Garrick grinned. “Fair enough.” He appreciated Henri’s protectiveness. It was, after all, why Garrick hadn’t left Rhian’s side. He had every intention of being there when he told his friends, just in case it didn’t go down as planned.
Noel and Jean-Michel finally arrived twenty minutes later, together, and without dates. As Garrick understood it, this had come to be expected.
He’d met them a few times before, but hadn’t really gotten to know them as well as he’d wished. He was hoping that after tonight, he wouldn’t have to force that reticence and they could all hang out some. What he did know of them, through Rhian, was enough to think they’d get along great.
He greeted them both in French—he’d gone to university in Montreal, after all—and their eyes widened. He figured they were wildly impressed until Jean-Michel said, “Good god, you’re from the Maritimes, aren’t you?”
Yeah, Garrick thought to himself, he was going to like them just fine.
He led the way to the bar, Jean-Michel and Noel teasing Rhian the whole way about his fancy friends. If either of them noticed that Rhian was being quieter than usual, they didn’t call him out on it. Garrick did catch them exchanging a long look, though.
He also noted the way their shoulders brushed, and that their eyes only very rarely strayed from one another. They weren’t rude, but they were very, transparently, aware of each other.
While they ordered their drinks, Garrick sidled over to Henri. “Can you get away for a moment?” Garrick tried not to be too obvious while he watched Lisa flirting with
the handsome bartender.
The man was definitely interested.
Henri rolled his eyes. “You know, I have you to blame for this,” he said in French, gesturing at his wife’s back.
Garrick responded in kind. “Pardon?”
“She’s decided we should reassess our life goals, now that she’s heard about you three.”
Garrick swallowed his drink wrong and started coughing.
“She seems to think,” Henri continued, as if Garrick wasn’t turning blue right beside him, “that we should—and I quote—explore our options.”
Garrick blinked back the tears in his eyes and took a healthy slug of his drink, this time successfully navigating it to his stomach instead of his lungs.
“You’re welcome?” he offered.
“Well, someday I’ll either thank you or punch you in the face, I suspect.”
“I respect that.”
Henri looked over his wife’s shoulder at the man smiling down at her and rolled his eyes. “She’s barking up the wrong tree, of course. Again. She’s terrible at guessing.”
“You don’t think he’s interested? He looks interested,” Garrick said, hoping he wasn’t accelerating the timeline on getting punched.
“Oh, he’s practically panting for her, but he hasn’t cast me so much as a glance.”
Garrick looked at Henri and smiled. “Ah.”
Henri took a sip of his drink. “Indeed. Not something I ever really gave a lot of thought, but I’m too old to pretend it was just because he and I were roommates in juniors, don’t you think?”
Garrick wasn’t sure what to say to that but was saved from trying to come up with something when Rhian nudged his side. “Let’s go to the study.”
“Yes,” Henri said briskly, “let’s.”
Rhian led the way down the main hallway and on to the back of the house, holding the door open into the small, cozy room where Seamus did most of his work. As they all filed in, Noel remarked, “You really know your way around this place. Will Mr. Lynch mind that we’re back here?”
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