by N. R. Walker
“He’s been stressed,” Angus said, nodding slowly. “That’s why I’ve been seeing them so much. It… helps—” He shrugged. “—relieve stress.”
“Wait,” I said, putting the pieces back together. “Your best friends Michael and Vee are Angus’ couple?”
Hennessy laughed. “I think so.” Then he pulled out his phone and hit a number. It answered on the second ring. Still smiling, Hennessy said, “Michael, my dearest friend in all the world. … Yes, yes, it all worked out really great, actually. I’ll be in first thing in the morning to catch up. … Nah, it’s fine. I’m here with Jordan right now and his two best friends. … Yeah, me too. Hey listen, if I said to you right this minute I was sitting across from a guy called Angus, what would you say?” Hennessy grinned as he listened to whatever Michael was saying. “Well, he’s a painter by trade, brown hair, brown eyes, cute as hell.”
I snorted at that, and Angus blushed. Hennessy handed his phone over to him, then Hennessy laughed and nodded. “Turns out it’s a really, really small fucking world.”
“No way,” Merry whispered excitedly.
“You’re not kidding!” I cried. “Holy shit.”
Angus was smiling and blushing and whispering into the phone. “Okay.” He ended the call and handed Hennessy back his phone. He was three shades of red but his smile gave him away. “Uh, this um, meeting thing we talked about?” He cleared his throat. “Dinner at their place next weekend…” He bit his lip. “If you want?”
I was stunned. “And I thought today couldn’t get any weirder. Hell yes, I want to meet them.” Then I blanched. “Oh God. I’ll be meeting your best friends and his couple. At the same time.” I put my hand to my forehead, already about to panic. “I need to give them the ‘don’t fucking hurt him’ speech for Angus, and they need to give it right back to me for you. Fuck. This could be a disaster.”
Hennessy burst out laughing and slid his arm around my shoulder. “They’ll love you.”
“I need an invitation to this dinner party,” Merry said. “There is no way in hell I’m missing this.”
I squinted at her. “You really get far too much enjoyment from my anguish. But God, yes, you’re coming. I’ll need all the moral support I can get.”
Merry shook her head sadly. “I’m not going for moral support, honey. I’m going because if it’s an utter train wreck, I want first row seats. And if I have to hear about it for the next five years of my life, I’d rather be an actual witness so I will know if I have to be supportive or if I need to tell you to pull your head out of your arse.”
I considered arguing, but everything she just said was pretty much true. “Fair enough.”
Angus was positively glowing. “Well, I hate to bail on you guys, but I just had a better offer, so I’ll um… be heading into the city. I probably won’t be home till morning. Just so you know.”
“And as much as I’d like to inhale a bottle of vodka right now,” I said. “I think we need to go back to your place and talk, yeah?”
Hennessy smiled. “Yeah.”
I put my hand up to get the waiter’s attention. “Can we have the bill, please?”
As soon as Hennessy opened the door to his townhouse, my nerves were back. But it was different this time. I wasn’t nervous or anxious wondering what his expectations were on a physical relationship. I was nervous because I was about to tell him how I felt about him. But I was excited too. It wasn’t lost on me what he’d said in the group meeting, in front of everyone. He’d said he couldn’t hate me when he was in love with me.
“So?” he said, throwing his keys and wallet on his table. “Angus, huh? What are the chances?”
“I know! How freaking freaky is that?” I replied. “Do you really think… do they…?” I sighed. “I worry about him. He’s just a teddy bear who some people might take advantage of. And he’s not stupid. I mean, he sees the best in people and he has a heart of gold and I’d hate to see him get hurt. I think he’s really falling for them, and I have no idea about the dynamics of throuples, but I—”
Hennessy put his finger to my lips, then replaced them with a soft kiss. “Michael and Vee are two of the best people I know. They’re kind and decent, and there’s probably not a better couple suited for Angus. Michael told me weeks ago about the loving two people thing, long before we knew it was Angus. And if Michael says he loves someone, it’s with all his heart. He and Veronica are devoted to each other, and if they’ve introduced a third person, then I can only imagine they’ll be equally devoted to him.”
“I hope so.”
Hennessy pulled me in for a hug that I could literally feel balming my soul. “It’s been a weird day, huh?”
“So weird,” I said. I pulled back and looked up into his eyes. “And I’m sorry. I really need you to know that. I should have stayed and talked to you, but I panicked and basically ran away. I was an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” he murmured. “You’re still navigating where you are with your asexuality, and that can take ages. There’s no right or wrong.”
“Not talking to you was wrong,” I replied. “Leaving you without an explanation was wrong.”
He made a face that kinda said he agreed with me. “It could have saved us both a lot of heartache.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
He gave me a kiss. “I forgive you.”
“When I thought maybe I wasn’t asexual, I panicked. You’ve said before that you don’t want to date anyone who wasn’t, and I thought I’d blown it. My stupid dick liked the attention, or something, I don’t even know.”
He snorted. “I don’t think your dick is stupid.”
“Well, I can tell you, it’s no Einstein either,” I replied, and he chuckled. “But I don’t want to have sex. I really don’t—it makes me uncomfortable even thinking about it, to be honest. I want to be able to cuddle and kiss on the couch while we watch Deep Space Nine without my dick getting any ideas.”
Hennessy kissed me again, this time with smiling lips. “That sounds perfect to me. And if your Einstein gets any bright ideas, we can cool it a bit. Or go into the bathroom and get rid of it.”
I gasped, horrified. “I’ll pass on that.”
“Would that be a hard pass?”
I gave him a playful shove. “Really? Dick jokes?”
“Yes. Dick jokes. I’m asexual, not dead. We’re allowed to joke about these things. And we’re allowed to talk about sex. And we’re allowed to get hard-ons, as inconvenient as they sometimes are. We can’t change being human.”
I pulled him against me, fitting right into that groove of his body like perfect puzzle pieces, and sighed. We stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, breathing each other in. Now for my moment of truth. “In the meeting tonight, I asked if you hated me for being such an idiot, and you said you couldn’t hate me because you loved me. And that was the single most romantic moment of my life, and it’s a gift I will never take for granted. I promise you that. And Hennessy?”
He pulled back so he could see my eyes. “Yeah?”
“I love you too. I think I loved you from the beginning. When I found out you were reading Flowers for Algernon. That was like bam! Cupid fucking shot me. And you know, at first, I thought coming to terms with being asexual would turn my world upside down. But I was wrong. It kind of set it the right way up.”
His eyes were a little glassy, but his smile was brilliant. “I love you too.” He cupped my face and he drew me in for a kiss. “And you knew who Daniel Keyes was. And bam! Cupid shot me too.”
“He’s such a motherfucker.”
Hennessy laughed and pulled me to the couch, where we fell into a heap of legs and arms and cuddles and kisses and two episodes of Deep Space Nine, until I fell asleep in his arms.
The Next Weekend
Hennessy
“Do I look okay?” Jordan asked. He was breathing hard, a little pale, and this was his fourth outfit change.
“You look fin
e.”
He grimaced and made a weird strangled sound, then disappeared back into his room. We were heading into Michael and Vee’s place for dinner. Angus was already there, having left a few hours ago.
When I’d gone into work on Monday, I’d held my phone out to Michael, showing him a selfie we’d taken the day before. “Me, that’s Jordan, and this guy…”
Michael sighed, turned, and shut my door, then sat on my desk. He took my phone and stared at the photo on the screen, a smile pulling at his lips. “We used to play around with a third person when we were in college,” he said absently, still staring at Angus. “It was a lot of fun, and the sex was always amazing, but it was only ever me and Vee. We were rock solid. We still are. Then we got engaged and we stopped inviting people in, if you know what I mean. We just didn’t think it was something married couples did, you know? It was weird. And we didn’t for a long time. Years. But then on New Year’s, we were out at a bar downtown and Vee went off to dance, and she met this guy. She said he had a smile that could light up the room and his laugh…” Michael grinned as he spoke, still holding my phone, his eyes trained on Angus. “God, his laugh. And you know, she wasn’t wrong. She never is.”
“And one thing led to another,” I prompted.
“And it led to another, and another.” He let out a long sigh and slid my phone back across the table. “It was never supposed to be permanent. But he was so much fun, and he’s great in bed, like wow, and he’s… he’s… addictive. But he’s also genuine, and he’s kind, and he’s considerate—”
“And he’s Jordan’s best friend.”
Michael nodded. “I know. Well, I know now. He’s only ever called him Jay, not Jordan. But yeah…” He shook his head and let out a long breath. “Angus is… I love him. And Vee loves him, and we love him together. And I know that’s weird, and it’s not conventional, but bringing him into our marriage doesn’t detract from anything. It makes it better. It’s another dimension and another layer. I don’t expect you or anyone to understand, but you don’t have to. We don’t need permission and I won’t defend how I feel about him. I—”
I put my hand up to stop him or surrender, or both. “I would never ask you to. If you’ve brought a third person into your bed, then I’m glad it’s him. Angus is a great guy. How can anyone not like him?”
Michael’s grin was instantaneous. “I know, right?” He swallowed hard. “So? We’re cool?”
“Of course we are.”
“And dinner this weekend?”
“Looking forward to it. Jordan is already having a nervous breakdown,” I said with a laugh. “But he’ll be fine.”
“And things with you and him are all sorted?”
I nodded. “Yep. We’re good.”
“For what it’s worth, I’ve never you seen this happy.”
“Thanks.”
“And something to make you even happier, we’re signing off on Rob this week.”
“And I cannot fucking wait.”
“You’ve been the utmost professional.” He smirked. “Not that I expected anything else.”
I snorted. “Thanks.”
“And we’ve got two smaller contracts for immediate start,” he said. “So, if you want, I’ll do the handover with Rob so you don’t have to see him. I’ll be sure to remind him that you’ve moved on to bigger and better things.”
“Deal.”
“Oh, and Vee said you don’t need to bring anything this weekend. Just this new man of yours. We’ll take care of everything else.”
“Are you sure we don’t need to bring anything?” Jordan asked when he came out wearing the first outfit he’d had on. It was dark jeans and a blue-grey sweater that matched his eyes perfectly. “Not even wine or flowers, or chocolates, or something?”
“No, nothing.” I looked him up and down. “You look great, by the way.”
There was a knock at the door. “That will be Merry,” Jordan said.
I got up to get the door while Jordan put on his shoes. “Hey,” Merry said brightly when she saw it was me. “Oh, don’t you look dashing.”
“He always looks great,” Jordan mumbled from the living room. “And I look like a potato. They’re going to think Hennessy is dating a potato. They’ll probably stage an intervention—”
“Jordan, shut the fuck up,” Merry said, still smiling. “Or you’ll be a late potato.”
“Oh God, what’s the time?” he said, appearing somewhat panicked.
“We have plenty of time,” I said to him. “And you look great.”
Merry appraised him. “You actually do.”
He looked down at himself. “Do I actually look like a potato?”
Merry rolled her eyes and ignored him. “You look great too,” I told her. “Love the dress.” It was purple, and her yellow cardigan and orange shoes somehow kind of all worked.
“Thanks!” She said, shoving her hands into the pockets. “It has pockets!”
“Okay, let’s go,” Jordan said, patting down his pockets, double checking for the fifth time that he had his wallet, phone, and keys. “We ready?”
I nodded and held out my hand for him to hold. “Relax. They’ll love you.”
“How do you know that? You can’t know that. You just wait until I open my mouth and word-vomit all over everyone. It’ll be a disaster.”
“They’ll love you.” I kissed him. “Because I do. Now come on or they’ll wonder where we are.”
And the funny thing about Jordan was that he definitely had two varying degrees of nervousness. There was the ordinary kind of nervous where incessant rambling ensued, and then there was the petrified, holy-shit kind of nervous where he went unusually silent.
He’d stopped talking when we got close, barely made a sound when we got out of the cab, and as we rode the elevator up to their floor, his lips were pressed into a thin, very-shut line.
“You okay?” I asked, pulling on his hand.
He nodded, then shook his head, then nodded. Then the elevator pinged and the doors opened and he shook his head. “Nope. Not okay.”
We stopped just outside Michael and Veronica’s door, and I cupped Jordan’s face and kissed him softly. “They will love you because you’re an amazing guy. Because I love you, because Angus loves you. You have nothing to worry about, okay?”
He nodded but hardly looked convinced. I pressed the doorbell anyway, and Michael answered. He wore jeans and a white button-down shirt, looking handsome and casual and very, very happy. “Hey, come on in,” he said, opening the door wide. He didn’t even wait for introductions. He just stuck out his hand and said, “You have to be Jordan. The guy I hear about all the time, from Hennessy, from Angus.”
“Oh,” Jordan said, shaking his hand. “Yes, the one and the same. It’s nice to meet you.”
“And this is Merry,” I said, making introductions.
Once that was done, Michael waved his hand inside. “Come on in and let’s see if we can find my beautiful wife.”
Their apartment was very nice. Not only had Michael made his own fortune, but Vee had too, and it showed in their style of tall ceilings, white tiled floors, dark furniture, and floor-to-ceiling glass that showed off one of the best views in Sydney. Vee was in the kitchen, wearing dark tights and an off-the-shoulder, oversized sweater, looking glamorously casual, her dark hair in waves to her shoulders, her smile wide.
And there was Angus, looking just as at home in his jeans with the knees out of them and an old T-shirt, no shoes. His whole face lit up and he walked over and collected Jordan in a crushing hug, and I gave Vee a kiss on the cheek. “You look… Well, jeez, you look ridiculously happy.”
She beamed. “I am.”
Michael walked behind her and kissed her bare shoulder. “We are.”
“You do too,” she said quietly. “Introduce me to the man who puts that spark in your eye.”
We all made small talk and had a glass of wine and few canapés, but Jordan was still quiet, and the stiffness of his sho
ulders told me he was incredibly nervous.
“Oh, Vee,” I said. “You have to show Jordan your Miyazaki set.”
He perked up at that. “Hayao Miyazaki?”
“Oh, you know his work?”
He put his hand to his mouth. “I love it.”
“I have The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle. Leather-bound, first edition. Signed.”
Jordan gaped. “You do not!”
Vee laughed. “And that’s not all.”
“Noooo,” Jordan breathed.
Vee nodded.
Jordan gasped. “Shut. Up.”
She laughed and took him by the arm and they disappeared down the hall with Angus in tow. Merry and I helped Michael serve the main meal, and when Jordan reappeared with Vee and Angus, he was so much more relaxed. And chatty. And smiling.
We ate dinner, drank some wine, laughed, and chatted until our plates were empty and our bellies were full. It was actually amazing to watch Michael, Vee, and Angus all interact. There were soft glances, the brushing of hands, lingering looks. It was clear to see they were all happy.
“Thank you,” Jordan whispered to me later. “Vee’s library is amazing. I want one.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I like your friends,” he murmured. “They treat him well.”
I spared a glance at Angus and he was laughing at something Merry had said, and he had his arm around Vee’s chair and Michael had his hand on Angus’ thigh. “Yeah. I knew they would. He’s happy.”
Jordan let out a sigh and smiled, leaning into me a little. “So am I.”
I leaned in and kissed him. “Glad to hear that.”
There was silence, which made me and Jordan look around the table. All eyes were on us, and I couldn’t even be embarrassed. “Yes, I’m so ridiculously in love,” I said. “It’s actually gross.”
Vee laughed. “I think we need music!” She picked up her phone, and a few screen-taps later, music began to play out of the ceiling speakers. Then she offered her hand to Angus, which he took with a grin, and they danced over to the living room, sliding the coffee table out of the way. Michael shot up and offered his hand to Merry, which she happily took, and I stood up and held out my hand to Jordan. “Mr O’Neill, if I could have the privilege of this dance.”