“Good God, you’re the worst,” Geoff laughed. “We don’t have sex with Bernard and Rory.”
“Have you?” Ciaran smiled.
“No,” Teddy replied. “We never had sex with guests.”
“You did with me,” Ciaran corrected him.
“At the time, you were not a guest of the bed-and-breakfast; you were staying with us,” Teddy reminded him.
“Still.” Ciaran grinned.
“All jokes aside,” Geoff said. “Bernard and Rory are in a monogamous relationship and don’t sleep around. We’ve had lunch with them before and discussed our lives.”
“We also learned Rory came out at thirty-five, and Bernard is the only man he’s been with,” Teddy said.
“Seriously?” Ciaran’s mouth gaped.
“Yup,” Teddy said.
“That’s wild.”
“Now.” Geoff clasped his hands. “We have work to do. We have some guests coming in this afternoon, so I’m going to get their rooms ready.”
“I’ll work on the websites for Trudy’s Diner. I can’t believe it took this long for her to decide to make a website.”
“I bet her daughter is behind that,” Teddy laughed. “I’m going to check the reservation registry for any special requests.”
They all hugged and kissed before going their separate ways.
Geoff, Teddy, Ciaran, Bernard, and Rory all sat around the table, plates empty, and bellies full.
“That was fantastic as always, Teddy,” Rory agreed.
“Thank you.”
“So, tell us how you guys became a throuple,” Bernard inquired.
“It’s an interesting story, to say the least,” Geoff started.
The three men entertained Bernard and Rory with the tale of how they ended up together. The avalanche, the snowstorm, and being stuck together for more than a week. They left out some of the more intimate details, though.
“That is so sweet,” Bernard sighed.
“What about you two?” Ciaran asked.
Bernard and Rory gave each other sweet smiles.
“We actually met in middle school,” Bernard said.
“But it took us over twenty years to actually date.”
“Teddy and Geoff told me you came out at thirty-five, Rory.”
“I did,” Rory said. “There was a lot at home preventing me from being who I was. I think I’d always known I didn’t like girls, but I couldn’t explain why…” he paused. “Then, when I reunited with Bernard, long-buried feelings came flooding back. I decided to explore them and realized I was in love with him.”
The two men kissed. “I’ll never forget the night you expressed how you felt.” Bernard smiled.
“No, I don’t want to talk about that night. I was a mess.”
