“Emery.” Ryker called my name, waiting me out to lift my eyes to his. When I didn’t, a gentle finger lifted my chin. Slowly, my gaze met his. Only then he spoke for not just me, but Enzo too, I’m sure. “I was hoping you’d like to stay with me. For years. I’m kinda enjoying the company. So, no, Emery. I’m not kicking you out. It’d hurt me if I did.”
“Oh.” My turn for a one-word answer.
“I was thinking, though,” Ryker said after dropping his hand from my chin. “That we could look for a bigger place. I love this house. But three people gives us little room to find hobbies or have our own space.”
“Who says we need space?” Enzo muttered, lifting his gaze to Ryker’s.
“You have, Enzo.” Ryker didn’t bat an eye at the statement, almost like he had thought over all possible roads this conversation could take us tonight. “When we first met. You wanted your own space, and I will keep that rule in place. It won’t matter if it’s here, or in a bigger house.”
“What if I changed my mind?”
“You still need your own space. We’ll butt heads more than you’d like.” Ryker shrugged, as though he knew Enzo that well. Maybe he did. “Emery may not require his own space, but he’ll find hobbies that will likely take over a table or even an entire room.”
I wrinkled my nose at that thought. I highly doubted that would happen.
My eyes went from Ryker, who sat relaxed in his chair as though he were talking about the weather, to Enzo, who now sat straight. Ryker was right; they would butt heads more often than anyone else. It was just who they were.
“Fine.” Enzo huffed, relaxing slowly against the back of the chair. “But I don’t mind sharing space with you now.”
“I know. But you still deserve to have the space you want.”
“How does he even know me?” I was sure the question was more to himself than anyone else.
“I’m good at reading people,” Ryker said easily. “You’ve both changed quite a bit since you came into my home. And you will continue to do so with the help of therapy and learning how the world works. But,” he paused, waiting until we both looked up at him, “my feelings for you won’t change. I’ll never hate you. I’ll never kick you out. And I will never fucking ignore you because you made me upset. I care more than I should, but I’m done fighting it. I’ll be here for years, to be there for you to talk to, vent to, or even to cry on my shoulder.”
“No one’s ever…” Enzo trailed off. Well, except for me. We hadn’t had anyone but each other to lean on for years.
“I’m not going anywhere, Enzo. I promise.”
Ryker
Maybe I’d gone a bit too far. I hadn’t planned to confess my undying love to them yet. I wasn’t sure there would ever be a time to do that. But I was pretty freaking close to telling them just that.
I did love them. Both Enzo and Ryker
I knew I had to take it slowly still. Enzo was like a frightened puppy. Too much attention and he’d run with his tail between his legs and take twice as long to trust me again over something so simple.
Emery was easy. He always was. I wanted to believe he felt what I did, since he was such an open book. Each day, he opened up more and more, and I saw what he couldn’t say.
I could see how much Enzo and Emery loved one another. It showed in the way they looked at one another. It bloomed when they talked about the promises they kept after their time together. It was there when they did chores, or just sat and did nothing at all.
It wasn’t possible to love one without loving the other.
Dinner went by without any other hiccups. Once they both knew where we stood, at least for the time being, it didn’t take them much to dig in.
After we finished eating, I began to clean up. Giving Enzo and Emery time to themselves was just as important as eating together.
In the kitchen, I kept my gaze on the dirty dishes as the sink filled with soap.
“Ryker.” So lost in thought, I jerked, dropping a spoon into the bubbly sink. A small splash of water hit my stomach, soaking my shirt.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Enzo said, trying but failing to hide his laugh. “Okay, maybe I lied. I did want to scare you.”
“Hmm-hmm.” I winked at him, letting him know he wasn’t in trouble. Sometimes, I wondered if he thought that if he said something wrong, I’d take a fist to his face. I hoped he knew I wouldn’t.
“I won’t have long before Emery comes back in,” Enzo started, standing right beside me. He lowered his voice, just in case. “He loves you, and I’m okay with that.”
“Glad to know.”
