Waiting for Them

by Alie Nolan

  I wished I could have gone and picked him up from his house—like a proper date—but it didn’t make sense when the zoo was in the opposite direction to Wiltonham.

  The drive between our houses didn’t often get in the way of us seeing each other, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t briefly considered the idea of Caleb and I moving a little closer to Wiltonham… closer to Matty.

  It seemed a little soon for moving to accommodate our relationship… I mean, truthfully, I didn’t think it was too soon, I knew I was never letting Matty go, and I was fairly sure Caleb felt the same, but from an outsider’s point of view it might have been a little soon.

  My brain, however, had convinced itself that it was okay to think about, because Caleb and I had talked about moving out of the city before.

  We’d always wanted a bigger house, with a bigger garden for a dog, and some extra bedrooms for kids one day.

  If we were going to move outside Portridge, it made sense to move in the direction of Wiltonham. That’s where Caleb’s family was, after all. It would be nicer to be closer to them, and be more in the countryside, surrounded by nature.

  And if we happened to move directly halfway between Portridge and Wiltonham, it would be by sheer coincidence that all three of our work commutes would be the same distance from that house.

  Sheer coincidence.

  Matty broke me out of my thoughts. “You coming?” he asked excitedly.

  I only then realised that I’d managed to park the car, turn it off, and was now sitting, staring into space.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  On our way to the entrance, I slipped my hand into Matty’s, and smiled at him when his face lit up at the gesture.

  Being alone with him felt as natural as it did when the three of us were all together.

  “What do you want to see first?” I asked.

  He scanned the large map on the wall in the entrance, and his eyes lit up as he scanned.

  “Armadillos,” he beamed.

  “Okay,” I agreed, and we made our way in that direction.

  Every single animal we passed on the way to the armadillos made Matty smile. His love of animals was evident every time he came face-to-face with one. I could see why he’d wanted to become a vet, and why he loved his job so much.

  “So, why the armadillos first?” I asked as Matty watched one scurry around the enclosure.

  “I love them, they’re my favourite animal. There aren’t many cases of identical twins in the animal kingdom, there was a set of puppies a few years back, and I’m sure there are ones that just haven’t been confirmed yet, but most animal twins are fraternal. Nine-banded armadillos, though, they almost always have identical quadruplets. Which means all of them are an identical sibling,” he smiled. “I haven’t been to the zoo in years, and last time I came here, they didn’t have armadillos.”

  I leaned in and pressed a kiss to his grinning lips.

  “What was that for?” he asked.

  I nearly said, ‘because, I love you,’ but I thankfully managed to rein myself in before it slipped out. I did love him though, it was an odd moment to realise it, but it didn’t change the fact. Watching him talk about something he loved, the happiness on his face, the excitement in his tone, something had clicked into place in my brain.

  I loved him, and I wanted to listen to him talk about animals every day, for the rest of my life.

  I doubted he would be ready to hear that yet though.

  “Because you’re adorable, and I love how passionate you are about animals.”

  Once Matty had had his fill of armadillos—which I had to admit were fucking adorable, and I saw a sign saying you could book an experience package where you got to meet and interact with an armadillo, which I would definitely be bringing Matty back to do when Caleb was with us too—we continued to make our way around all the different areas of the zoo, with Matty occasionally providing me with fascinating facts about the various animals we saw.

  “Elliott?” a voice asked behind me, as we made our way to the gift shop. I turned to see Claudia, a regular at the bakery, standing behind me, smiling brightly as she held her young son’s hand. “I thought it was you. Hi.”

  “Hi,” I greeted her. She came into the bakery at least once a week, and we’d even done her wedding cake for her several years ago, but this was the first time I’d ever seen her outside of a baking-related situation.

  She glanced between Matty’s and my entwined hands and raised an eyebrow. She obviously knew that Caleb and I were married, and I knew where her mind had gone.

  “This is Caleb’s and my boyfriend, Matty,” I introduced. “Matty, this is Claudia, she’s a regular at the bakery.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Matty said, extending his hand to her.

  “You too,” she took his hand. She had a curious look on her face, like she was trying to comprehend what I’d told her.

  I realised that had been the first time I’d told anyone.

  Max knew, and Matty’s friend, Wyatt, knew, but Matty had told both of them. I had yet to tell anyone, and it felt right saying that he was my boyfriend aloud.

  “So,” she began. “You and Caleb are still together?”

  “We are,” I said.

  “And you’re not cheating on him?”

  “Of course not,” I assured her. “The three of us are a… throuple? I guess.” I looked at Matty for verification on whether we were using that as a defining term. I’d also heard people say triad, but I thought I preferred throuple. He shrugged and nodded. “I’m sure you’ll be seeing Matty around the shop occasionally when you come in.”

  She still looked a little baffled, but she nodded. “Okay, well it was nice to see you, Elliott. And it was nice to meet you, Matty.”

  We said goodbye, and she ushered her son in the direction of the tiger enclosure.

  “She seemed nice,” Matty said. “But, aren’t you worried she won’t agree with our relationship and you’ll lose her as a customer?”

  “No,” I answered immediately. “If she doesn’t like it, I don’t need her money. You are far more important to me than a random customer.”

  He smiled at that, and we continued walking into the gift shop.

  We pulled up outside the restaurant, and Matty put the cuddly stuffed armadillo I’d bought him from the gift shop on the back seat and got out of the car.

  When Matty saw the cuddly armadillo toy, he’d fallen instantly in love with it, and I knew it would be a perfect reminder of our first date alone together.

  We’d had a wonderful afternoon at the zoo, and we were both hungry, and ready for some food. We’d chosen a cute little Thai restaurant for lunch, and the delicious aroma as we entered had my stomach grumbling instantly.

  Once we were seated, a waitress promptly came to take our orders, before leaving to get our drinks ready.

  “Thank you for today,” Matty said.

  “You’re welcome, but also, thank you too. It’s been a lovely date.”

  “It has,” he smiled.

  I reached across the table and took his hand in mine.

  I wished there wasn’t a table between us, because all I wanted to do was lean over and kiss him. He looked so beautiful, like always, and the way he always ran his tongue across his bottom lip to moisten it, made his mouth look so kissable.

  My phone buzzed at the same time as Matty’s did, which I assumed meant it was a text from Caleb.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the notification.

  Caleb: How’s the date going?

  Matty: Missing us already?

  Caleb: Maybe. ;)

  It was still early in the afternoon, so I knew that he was most likely still with Jake.

  When Matty and I had arranged our date, Caleb had decided to use the day to go visit Jake at uni. They were going to be spending the entire day and evening together. And Jake’s uni was a three-hour drive away, so chances were, he wasn’t going to be home until quite lat
e that night.

  Matty had been to ours a lot over the past few weeks, but he hadn’t been there with either of us alone.

  The three of us agreed that it was more than fine for us to have sex in twos, but had yet to do anything about it.

  I was hoping to change that.

  I already knew it wasn’t going to be quite the same, because everything was always so much better when the three of us were together, but in the way that our date had been nice just the two of us, I was hoping sex with just the two of us would be too.

  If he was up for it, of course.

  He’d agreed to the idea of us having sex when one of us wasn’t around, but saying it, and doing it, were two very different things.

  Either way, I didn’t dawdle at the restaurant once we’d finished our meals. I wanted to drive us back to the house and see what the rest of the evening had in store for us.

  Once we arrived home, Matty followed me inside, clutching the armadillo I’d bought him.

  He followed me through the hallway, and into the kitchen, where he placed the toy on the side and walked into me, wrapping his arms around my neck and lifting up onto tiptoes for a kiss.

  I pressed my lips to his, enjoying the sweet taste of his mouth as I explored it with my tongue.

  “Thank you for a wonderful date,” he said.

  “You’re welcome,” I told him, wrapping my arms a little tighter around his waist, pulling his body flush to mine.

  Just having him in my arms was enough to have my cock thickening in my jeans.

  Matty wriggled his body against mine, creating a delicious friction between us. A moan escaped me, and Matty chuckled, clearly proud of how crazy he was driving me.

  “Will you fuck me?” he asked shyly.

  “Like you even need to ask.”

  I took hold of his hand and started in the direction of the bedroom. I’d have fucked him in the kitchen, but we didn’t have any lube in there, and I wanted us to be more comfortable the first time I sank myself deep inside him.

  Once in the bedroom, I brought him to stand at the bottom of the bed, and wrapped him up in my arms as I kissed a line down the side of his neck.

  He let out ragged breaths as I sucked his pulse point, and my fingers teased the waistband of his jeans.

  I dropped to my knees in front of him and slowly undid his jeans, desperate to get my mouth on him again. I slipped his trousers and briefs down his thighs and licked my lips as his erection sprang free from its confines.

  I swiped my tongue across the head of his cock, and the moan that tore from him had all the blood in my body rushing south.

  As I sucked him in deep, in too much of a rush to be inside him to spend any real time teasing him, his entire body vibrated. I swallowed around him, his cock pulsing against my tongue.

  “Wait,” he said breathlessly.

  I pulled off and looked up at him, wondering why he’d asked me to stop. I was sure he’d been enjoying it, but maybe I’d been wrong?

  “You okay?” I asked.

  He nodded, and quickly reached down and fished his hand into the pocket of the jeans that were mid-way down his thighs.

  He straightened again, now holding his phone.

  I raised an eyebrow curiously.

  He was checking his phone while I was giving him head?

  “Payback,” he chuckled, like that was an answer to the question I’d been thinking. “Please, continue,” he smirked.

  I did, sucking him in deeply until he hit the back of my throat.

  In between his moans, I heard the distinct shutter sound of a phone camera.

  Oh… payback.

  I giggled around his length as I imagined Caleb’s reaction to receiving those photos.

  “Ugh,” Matty discarded his phone, dropping it somewhere on the floor. “Fuck, stop, don’t wanna, gonna…” he babbled breathlessly. “Don’t want to come yet,” he finally managed.

  I pulled back, releasing his cock with a pop.

  I didn’t want him to come yet either. Not until I was inside him.

  I stood, and he began frantically unbuttoning my shirt and pushing it off my shoulders, pausing every few seconds to kiss me.

  Once he’d successfully removed all my clothes, and his, I wrapped my arms around him and carefully lowered him onto the bed.

  I kissed him, before making my way down his chest, kissing and licking all his deliciously smooth skin.

  Matty was impatiently squirming under me. “No time for teasing,” he insisted. “Lube, now.”

  I chuckled and leaned over to reach into the bedside table.

  Once I’d lubed my fingers, I traced one around his entrance and his breathing hitched as I slid the digit inside him.

  I brushed over his sensitive bundle of nerves a few times before pulling out and adding a second, which he took eagerly. Relaxing around me, drawing my fingers deeper inside his body.

  For someone who’d been apprehensive about penetrative sex only a matter of weeks ago, he now showed zero apprehension as he pushed himself down on my fingers.

  When he was prepped enough for me, and I couldn’t take not being inside him a second longer, I pulled out and rolled onto my back beside him.

  “Ride me?” I suggested.

  “Fuck, yes,” Matty scrambled to his knees and quickly straddled me.

  Matty placed a leg on either side of my hips and reached behind himself to fist my erection. He reached for the lube and spread some onto my cock with a few hurried strokes, before holding it still as he lined it up with his hole.

  The tight heat of his channel surrounded me as he took me in inch by inch.

  A string of unintelligible words left his mouth as he pushed himself up and sank back down on my length.

  “Shit,” he moaned. “You feel just as perfect inside me as Caleb does.”

  “Good,” I growled. “You feel fucking perfect around me, just like Caleb does too.”

  It was true.

  Everything about Matty was perfect, in the same way that everything about Caleb was perfect.

  There was not a single shred of doubt that I loved my men equally in every single way.

  Matty continued to lift himself a little, before lowering himself again, but his movements quickly picked up speed. He rode me like his life depended on it, his head thrown back in pleasure, and his lips parted on a silent cry.

  I felt the tell-tale tingle at the base of my spine, and knowing I wasn’t going to be able to hold back much longer, I eagerly wrapped my hand around Matty’s erection.

  Fisting it as he continued to ride me, it didn’t take long before his channel tightened around me, and his body tensed above me.

  He came with a shout, shooting his release over my chest, and his hole clamped down so hard it bordered on painful. That was all it took to have my orgasm crashing into me with the force of a high-speed lorry.

  My vision blurred as I came inside him, filling him with my hot seed.

  “Holy shit,” Matty panted, leaning over and resting his weight on the hands he now had planted on my pecs.

  “Holy shit, indeed,” I smiled.

  Matty rolled off me, flopping onto the mattress with a satisfied sigh.

  I kissed him, and his lips spread into a sated smile.

  “Did Caleb text us back?” I asked.

  He shrugged and sat up to search for his phone. He didn’t find his, instead grabbing mine. He passed it to me, and I opened to see a string of unread messages from Caleb in our group chat.

  Caleb: No fair.

  Caleb: Thanks for that. Now I have a hard-on that I’m trying to hide from my brother and his flatmate.

  Caleb: You guys suck.

  Caleb: …literally ;)

  Caleb: When I get home, I’m going to need one of you to suck me off, while the other relays a detailed account of whatever you two are doing right now.

  Caleb: VERY detailed.

  Caleb: I hope you had an amazing date, I can’t wait to hear all about it xx
/>
  Matty and I laughed as we read Caleb’s messages.

  We settled down under the covers, and Matty lay with his head resting on my chest.

  I pressed a kiss to the top of his head and snuggled him closer.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  Caleb

  Steph and I had exchanged phone numbers at Rainy’s game night, so I hadn’t been surprised when she’d texted me, asking if I’d like to meet her and Ness for lunch.

  We’d texted back and forth a few times since the first text she sent me, and it had been nice to chat to her, but now that I was sitting in my car outside the cafe I was meeting them at, I was feeling slightly nervous… okay, a lot nervous.

  I ran my hands up and down the steering wheel a few times, examining the tattoos on my hands like I’d never seen them before, even though I knew them like… well, like the back of my hand.

  My sweat-coated palms moistened the leather of the wheel until my hands were slipping on the material, before I finally turned off the ignition and got out of the car.

  I have no reason to be nervous, I kept reminding myself.

  I’d driven to Wiltonham to meet them, because it just made more sense than them driving all the way to me, but the drive had given me too much time to think.

  My brain had gone over every scenario possible. From them berating me over my actions ten years ago, to them getting upset, to them simply asking too many questions I didn’t have answers to. I’d now worked myself into a mental hole I couldn’t climb out of, so the only thing left to do was go into the cafe and see what would actually happen.

  As I walked into the cafe, I immediately spotted Ness and Steph seated at a table in the centre of the room. They noticed me as I approached their table, and they both jumped to their feet and took turns hugging me.

  “Thank you for driving all this way,” Ness said.

  “No problem,” I plastered on a smile that I hoped was doing a good job of hiding my nerves.

  We sat down at the table, and Steph handed me a laminated menu.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “So, how have you been? How’s Elliott?” Ness asked.

  “I’ve been good.” I smiled at the image of Elliott and Matty that popped into my head. How adorable they’d looked when I’d left them in bed earlier that morning, wrapped around each other. “Elliott’s good too.”