“I didn’t come for a lecture,” Verity warned.
“And I’m not here to give you one. I just…don’t you think it’s time to take a chance?” he asked, cupping his hand around the back of their neck.
Verity was silent, but eventually answered with a tiny shrug.
“What are you scared of?” Jack asked. “Tell Daddy what’s wrong.”
Verity scoffed and rolled their eyes, lapsing back into silence and, for the first time Jack could remember, not correcting him about being their Daddy.
“Everything.”
Verity shook themself free of Jack and forced a smile.
“Let’s not talk about such boring things on the eve of the eve of your wedding,” they remarked.
“Wedding?” Aaron ambled toward them with an eyebrow raised inquisitively.
“Fuck,” Jack breathed out.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want people to know, he just didn’t want them to know yet. He wanted to have this with Callum for just the two of them for a while. They’d gotten their marriage license Thursday and they’d both eyed the appointment window for ceremonies, but Jack had begged Callum away from it, reminding him about wanting to marry him under the stars like he’d promised.
“Are you and Callum tying the knot?” Aaron asked.
“Would you shut it?” Verity snapped, squinting their eyes at him.
“Verity doesn’t believe in marriage,” Aaron said to Jack matter-of-factly.
“I’m aware,” Jack mused.
“Did you know that for being a switch, Verity is also surprisingly resistant to topping?” Aaron offered a thin-lipped smile.
“What Verity does in the bedroom hasn’t ever been my concern,” Jack assured Aaron, taking a step back.
“You’re being disagreeable, Aaron,” Verity warned.
“Even when you’re angry, I love how my name sounds on your lips.” Aaron narrowed his eyes at Verity and held their stare.
“I’m not going to come around until all of you get your shit sorted out. Jesus.” Jack shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Landon is the most reasonable out of the whole lot of you right now.”
Verity looked at him apologetically and opened their mouth, but Jack silenced them with a raised hand.
“You’re fine. I need to go catch up with Callum.” Jack tipped his beer bottle against his forehead toward Aaron and retreated, searching the yard for Callum and finding him sitting cross-legged on the deck talking to Landon.
Jack went first to the fridge, grabbing three new beers, then joining Landon and Callum near the grill. He realized as he approached that they were engaged in conversation with Gregory.
“It’s hard to explain,” Landon said to Callum. “People say it’s like flying, but I don’t know if that’s entirely accurate. It’s more like this incomprehensible feeling of vastness.”
“That makes zero sense,” Gregory said.
“Well I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Landon told him with a roll of his eyes, “You don’t have a submissive bone in your body.”
Gregory chuckled and flipped some skewers of meat on the grill.
“What’s going on over here?” Jack asked, thankful to have escaped the tension of the other two couples in the yard. He passed beers around.
“I was trying to tell Callum about subspace.”
Callum looked up at him with sparkling and devious eyes. “It sounds so cool.”
