I clear my throat, and Deacon lets me take point. “I think what we’re saying is that we understand we were sweeping you up into something that was happening between us very fast, and maybe too fast for you.”
“It was,” he says.
“Evan, anyone can understand why it was harder for you,” I say. “It was the weirdest love triangle of all time that you didn’t ask to be part of.”
“Didn’t I? Wasn’t I the one who put myself in the middle?”
“You alreadywerein the middle,” Deacon says. “All you did was point it out. We all had to come to terms with it at our own pace.”
Picking up where Deacon leaves off, I add, “It’s the only way a relationship like this has even the slightest chance of working. At least, that’s how I see it.”
“I see it that way, too,” Deacon says. “You and I were always gonna take longer.”
“Why?” Evan asks him.
“Because we met at a terrible time in my life. A time when I wasn’t ready to open up and let anybody anywhere close to me.”
“And we’re boyfriend material?” Evan asks.
“Yeah. And I wasn’t ready for a boyfriend.”
Evan’s ability to practically read Deacon’s mind will never cease to amaze me. “And Isaac is how you knew you were ready.”
Deacon nods. “Also, you know…”
“Sobriety,” Evan finishes.
“Exactly. Although I don’t think it’s very useful to think about how things could have happened when we already know they happened the way they did.”
“You’re right,” Evan says. “And I admit that’s exactly how I was thinking about it. In terms of all the what ifs.”
My patience is wearing perilously thin. I need to put the whole thing on the line and get crystal clear. “And now? Are you ready for two boyfriends?”
“So fucking ready,” Evan says so easily I almost can’t believe I’m hearing him right. “If you guys can handle long distance.”
I let out my breath and lean toward him. He catches my face and presses a kiss on my cheek. “Yes. Anything. I need you. I need you back.”
“I love you, Isaac,” he whispers.
“I love you, too. So fucking much.”
“I know.”
Cradling his jaw in my hand, I adjust his face to align our mouths. I kiss him, inhaling the long sigh he lets out as his lips melt against mine. Our tongues meet with a tentative lick, but once I have the taste of him occupying my senses again, I practically fall into his mouth. He catches me by the waist, but lets me take over, leaning back into the sofa cushions as I press into him.
Deacon’s hand moves between my legs, sliding up to my crotch, spurring me on. I already knew he wouldn’t deny me this, but his encouragement is even better. I think if he had to, he’d strip Evan naked and hold his legs open so I could get inside him faster if he felt like I couldn’t manage it myself.
Between Evan’s soft whimpers and Deacon’s firm strokes, I’m so fucking hard again, my zipper barely stands a chance.
Distantly I hear Deacon’s low voice speaking to Evan. “You weren’t in the way. You were just in the middle. Exactly where we wanted you.”
“Mmph…” Evan grunts, his hips lifting from the couch.
“Can you handle it? Both of us?”
Evan nods, even as he keeps kissing me.
“You’re lucky you don’t live in town anymore,” Deacon says, opening my pants and sliding his hand in. The soft sucking noises of his mouth on Evan’s neck punctuates this uncharacteristic outpouring of words. A side of him I swear only Evan brings out. “You’ll need time to recover from what’s about to happen to you.”
