Waiting for Them

by Alie Nolan

  Me: How about Friday night?

  Elliott: Friday is perfect.

  Caleb: Where should we go? What should we do?

  Me: It’s up to you two.

  Elliott: Okay, then, we’ll see you on Friday.

  I left my phone on my bedside table, and went downstairs to watch a film with Max.

  I threw myself down on the sofa next to him, where he was scrolling through film options on Netflix.

  “What’s with the giddy grin?” He smirked.

  “What giddy grin?” I feigned innocence.

  He pointed at my face. “That one,” he laughed.

  “I have a date this weekend, that is all I’m saying. What are we watching?”

  “A date? With whom?”

  “I told you, that’s all you’re getting. Pick a film,” I pointed at the TV.

  He rolled his eyes and went back to scrolling.

  “I’ll get it out of you eventually,” he said confidently.

  He was probably right, but for now, I was staying quiet.

  After all, this date had the ability to fuck with Caleb’s and my relationship with Jake.

  Shit.

  I hadn’t even considered Jake when I’d made my decision.

  I felt like a complete arsehole.

  Jake wasn’t going to be okay with me dating his brother.

  Calm down, I reminded myself.

  There was no reason to get myself worked up about what ifs, until I’d at least gone on one date with them.

  I would allow myself to freak out about Jake and all the other repercussions, after the date was done.

  FOURTEEN

  Elliott

  Caleb, Matty and I were meeting at a small restaurant in Portridge, because we all agreed it wasn’t the best idea to go on a date in Wiltonham—the land of the village gossips.

  Caleb and I arrived a few minutes before Matty, and were seated in a booth looking at the drinks menu, when he entered.

  Every time I saw Matty, it was like my memory had somehow forgotten how beautiful he was, and he took my breath away all over again.

  Matty looked nervous as he approached the table, shuffling his feet, and paying more attention than necessary to the floor.

  “Hi,” he muttered, carefully looking between the empty seats. One next to me, and the other next to Caleb. I felt guilty for inadvertently putting him in a situation where he felt he had to choose between us. This was new to all of us, and I wanted it to be as easy and uncomplicated as possible. Especially for Matty, who told us during a long phone conversation a few days earlier, that he’d only recently come to learn that polyamory was even a thing.

  “Take a seat,” I smiled and motioned to the seat next to me, effectively taking the choice away from him, and Caleb smiled at me.

  He took a seat, keeping a decent space between our bodies as he did, and we each quietly looked through the menus.

  Once we’d ordered and were sipping on our drinks, some of the awkwardness dissipated, and we were back to enjoying our usual easy and interesting conversations. After he texted, telling us he wanted to go on a date with us, we’d gotten into the habit of speaking on the phone almost every night—Caleb and I huddled around one of our phones with it on speakerphone as we listened to Matty talk.

  Matty wasn’t nearly as shy when you got to know him—this dinner aside, obviously—and we’d spent hours that week, getting to know each other. He’d told us endless stories about his family, his job, his friend Wyatt, and we told him just as much about us. The more we talked, the more I was convinced that the three of us could make this unconventional relationship work.

  When the three of us spoke, he slotted into our dynamic perfectly, it was like he’d always been there.

  Nothing had been defined—it was only our first date—but I already couldn’t imagine not hearing his voice every day. Although I’d prefer to hear it in person, rather than over the phone.

  Matty had been straight with us, that he wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he was interested in seeing what going on a date with the two of us would be like, and that he was attracted to both of us. That was more than okay with me, we would take everything slow, and see where things went.

  “How was work today?” Caleb asked Matty.

  “It was good, I got to snuggle with the most adorable kitten, so I’m counting the day as a win,” Matty giggled. “What about you two?” He looked from Caleb to me as he asked.

  “Our day was good,” I smiled at Caleb, who nodded his agreement with my answer.

  “I need more of those cupcakes you brought to my birthday,” Matty beamed.

  “I will make you some next time you come to the bakery,” Caleb grinned.

  As we ate and talked, Matty got closer and closer to me in the booth seat. I didn’t know whether he was doing it subconsciously or whether it was intentional, but I was struggling to resist wrapping my arm around him as he basically pressed himself against my side—it was what I would do if Caleb was the one doing it… but I didn’t want to spook him.

  I watched both men as they joked about something—I wasn’t paying attention to their words, I was too caught in my own head as I observed them—they both burst into laughter and I swore my heart had never felt more full.

  Both of their beautiful laughs echoed around the restaurant as they giggled together.

  As Matty’s body vibrated with his laughter, he placed a hand on my thigh, as if to steady himself as he continued to laugh. The warmth of his hand on my leg was all I could focus on as he left it there and continued to talk across the table, even after his laughter had subsided.

  I slowly moved my hand from the table and covered his with mine—silently praying that he wasn’t going to snatch his hand away. He didn’t. In fact, when my hand covered his, he rotated his so he could thread his fingers through mine.

  My foot sought out Caleb’s under the table, because I needed to be touching both of them.

  With Matty’s hand in mine, and Caleb’s foot rubbing soft strokes up and down my calf, I finished my meal with the biggest grin my face could produce.

  Once we left the restaurant, the three of us headed outside to the car park. Matty didn’t untangle his hand from mine as we walked, and my heart just about melted when I saw Matty reach for Caleb’s hand.

  “I really enjoyed our date,” Matty admitted as we reached his car. “Thank you, both of you.”

  I gave his hand a gentle squeeze, and without giving it a second thought, I leaned in and pressed my lips to his in a quick kiss.

  As I pulled back, I saw the most adorable look of surprise cross Matty’s face before his lips tipped up in a smile. He took my lips in a second, more forceful and passionate kiss. His tongue teased my bottom lip, seeking entry, and I opened for him, letting his tongue sweep against mine as our lips melded together.

  I felt familiar fingers lace with mine, and I held on tightly to Caleb’s hand, needing him to be just as much part of this kiss as Matty and I were.

  When we separated, Caleb was watching us with so much lust in his eyes, and I pulled him in and slanted my lips over him, letting him taste Matty’s lips on mine.

  Caleb moaned into my mouth, as we kissed with Matty pressed against us.

  When Caleb and I pulled apart, it was barely a second before Caleb and Matty were sharing a kiss.

  I watched them, holding one of each of their hands, as their mouths glided together. It was quite possibly the hottest thing I’d ever seen in my life, and I was desperately willing my cock to behave itself as it thickened and pressed against the fly of my jeans.

  I never thought I could be this turned on by the sight of my husband sharing a kiss with another man, but I hadn’t known what I’d been missing.

  When their lips parted, they were both breathless and panting, and for several moments the three of us just stood there, no one saying anything, as we took in the moment.

  I’d forgotten momentarily that we were in a public car park, but even after I reme
mbered, I couldn’t find it in me to care.

  As the three of us unlinked our hands, Matty smiled and muttered, “Best date ever.”

  “Does that mean they’ll be a second date?” Caleb asked hopefully.

  “If you guys want there to be,” Matty said.

  Caleb nodded eagerly.

  “I think I can speak for both Caleb and myself, when I say that we would love to go on another date with you.”

  “In that case, I would love to go on another date.”

  “Oh, I forgot to ask,” Caleb said to Matty, just as he was about to leave our little huddle to get into his car. “We’ve been invited to some sort of game night at Little Hollow tomorrow night, are you going?”

  Matty chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll be here. Get ready for a shitshow, it’s no doubt going to end in a row.”

  Caleb and I both chuckled—it was easy to believe that a game night with that many relatives could end badly.

  “We’ll see you tomorrow then,” I said, and placed a final kiss to Matty’s lips.

  “See you two tomorrow,” Matty said happily, as he got into his car.

  As Matty reversed his car out of its parking spot, Caleb turned to me and placed a sweet kiss to my lips.

  “I love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you too.”

  He gripped my hand in his and we headed to our own car.

  I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect way to end a wonderful first date for the three of us, and I already couldn’t wait to see Matty again the following day.

  FIFTEEN

  Caleb

  The following night, Elliott and I arrived at Little Hollow, ready for what promised to be a chaotic game night with the Logan family.

  Earlier in the day, we’d Facetimed Matty during a slow period at the bakery, and he’d explained that his mum, Rainy, thought this would be a great way to get the entire clan together on a regular basis, now that the younger generation had mostly left home. He also told us that the majority of the family were incredibly competitive, and he and several of his siblings and cousins had warned Rainy against the idea—warnings she had, apparently, ignored.

  As we approached the terrace that joined the two main houses on the property, Jake, Matty, Max, and Grace were standing huddled together, each with a beer in their hands.

  They all turned to us with smiling faces.

  “Hey, guys,” Max greeted us as we joined them.

  “Too chaotic you already had to leave?” I joked, and everyone chuckled.

  “Auntie Rainy is acting like this is the be-all and end-all of this family’s future,” Grace rolled her eyes.

  “Game night could very well be the end of this family,” Max laughed.

  “Once…” Jake turned to me. “…Lola suggested we all play a board game at Christmas, and I’m pretty sure at least three people cried that night, and Alec and Ethan ended up in a full-on fistfight.”

  A small pang of sadness hit me when I remembered that if I hadn’t left, those could have been my memories too. That sadness was instantly forgotten when I glanced over at my husband, and I thought about all the memories we shared because of the way life had played out for me.

  “Dinner’s ready,” Arthur called to us as he opened the front door of Steph and Ness’ house.

  “Okay, coming, Gramps,” Grace replied.

  We walked into the house, and as Elliott and I were about to follow people into the dining room, Ness pulled us aside.

  “Caleb, I’m so happy you came,” she smiled warmly. “I wanted to ask if you would like to meet Steph and me for lunch sometime. Just us two, not the rest of this lot,” she gestured towards the dining room, indicating she was referring to the rest of the family. “I’d like to catch up properly, without the chaos,” she chuckled.

  “That would be lovely,” I told her. “Just let me know a day.”

  “Perfect,” she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and then led us to the dining room.

  We sat at Steph and Ness’ large dining room table, a spread of delicious-looking food across it.

  Everyone chatted casually until we’d finished eating.

  As the plates were cleared from the table, Ethan spoke. “I’m gonna Facetime Alec, so he feels included.”

  “Where is Alec?” I whispered to Matty. It was the first time I’d realised that I hadn’t seen Alec either time we’d been to Little Hollow.

  Jake had, of course, talked about his oldest brother, Alec, a few times, but had never gone into a lot of detail about his adopted siblings’ lives with me.

  “Lives in America,” Matty answered. “With his boyfriend, Ryan, who’s an NFL player.”

  “Ryan Isaac?” I asked, and Matty nodded. “I remember reading an article last year about him after he came out publicly.”

  I wanted to ask more questions about everyone, because there was obviously a lot that I’d missed in ten years, but before I could ask… the games began.

  I didn’t know what I’d expected from a game of Cards Against Humanity with the Logan family, but hearing Stanley and Arthur—both in their seventies—saying phrases like “I’m sorry, Professor, but I couldn’t complete the homework because of queefing,” and, “When I’m a billionaire, I shall erect a fifty-foot statue to commemorate foreskin,” had not been it.

  The table was a constant stream of uncontrollable laughter as the answers got more and more ridiculous, and there was only minimal bickering over people playing favourites when judging the funniest answers.

  After Cards Against Humanity, we started playing a board game that I didn’t know the name of, or even understand the rules for.

  I was sitting with Matty to my left and Max on my right. Elliott was seated the other side of Matty. I studied the side of Max’s face for a moment, seeing all the subtle differences between him and Matty. Sure, they were identical, but it was easy to tell them apart if you knew what you were looking for. I didn’t feel an ounce of attraction towards Max, even though he looked almost exactly the same—minus the slight dusting of dark stubble covering his jaw, and his clothing—as his brother.

  I looked back at Matty, who was now having a whispered conversation with Elliott.

  One of them must have said something about me, because they both turned to look in my direction and caught me watching them.

  They smiled, and Matty reached out both of his hands, placing one on Elliott’s thigh and the other on mine. He glanced around the table, making sure no one was noticing what he was doing.

  He kept his hand resting still on my thigh for a while—only moving it when he needed to do something in the board game—until he suddenly started teasing my inner thigh, running a finger across the seam of my jeans from my knee all the way up, until it was very close to my cock.

  I shivered and glanced over to see him doing the exact same thing to Elliott, even though he seemed perfectly focused on the game in front of us.

  Was he teasing us on purpose? Or was he doing it subconsciously?

  Either way, my cock had taken notice.

  Matty seemed to gain more confidence, and swiftly ran his finger a little higher, stroking my growing erection through the fabric of my jeans.

  Great, I was sitting at a table with my little brother and his family, with a hard-on, while his cousin felt me up under the table.

  Just a casual Saturday night.

  A flush crept up Matty’s pale neck as he continued to tease me—and Elliott—obviously noting the reaction he was causing. I had no doubt that Elliott was equally affected by his teasing.

  I was too busy focusing on Matty’s hand in my lap that I missed whatever had been happening around the table until Jake’s cousin, Zach, threw a game piece at Grace.

  “Fuck off, she’s cheating,” Zach exclaimed.

  “You lot should start playing by my motto,” Grace chuckled.

  “And what is that?” James asked.

  “If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying,” she shrugged.

&nb
sp; “What kind of bullshit motto is that?” Ethan exclaimed, throwing his pile of colourful money dramatically into the middle of the board. “You’ve been cheating this whole time? That’s it, you’re now banned from game night.”

  Ethan and Zach both looked like they were two seconds away from flipping the table.

  “See, this is why we can’t do nice things,” Auntie Ness sighed dramatically before chuckling.

  Zach and James’ mum, Harri, snorted into her fifth glass of wine of the night.

  Ethan and Zach stormed out, and Grace followed them. “Ah, come on,” Grace called after them. “Don’t be such sore losers, dickheads.”

  Everyone left in the room burst into laughter, including Rainy, who didn’t seem to mind that her game night was going south.

  Max looked to his left—in the direction of me, Matty, and Elliott—and Matty quickly moved his hands away from us. Max was the only person at the table who could, if angled right, see where Matty’s hand had been.

  It was like a bucket of cold water being thrown over me. A reminder that even if Matty wanted to be with me and Elliott, it wasn’t going to be that simple when it came Matty’s family.

  What would they think of him being involved with two men?

  What would Jake think about me being involved with Matty?

  Was this going to do just as much damage now as I’d feared it doing ten years ago?

  I reminded myself that this wasn’t the same situation.

  This time around, Jake wasn’t set to lose everything if I fucked up.

  I risked losing the wonderful people who had welcomed me back with open arms, but I’d survived that once before, I could do it again if I had to.

  My main concern was causing tension between Jake and Matty.

  They had developed such a strong bond, and I didn’t ever want to come between them.

  If the three of us were going to do this—whatever it was—and it was still a big if, we needed to be more discreet until we’d worked out how to approach the situation with Matty’s family.

  As the first, and possibly last, Little Hollow game night came to an end, we all said our goodbyes, shared hugs, and I swapped phone numbers with Ness, before we walked to our car.