“They’re not,” Ollie says firmly, zero doubt in his tone.
“It doesn’t bother you?”
“No. I love Rory too, and I know that when Cillian needed him, Rory was always there for him. And when Rory needed Cil, he was always by Rory’s side too. There are different kinds of love, Shai, and having one for one person doesn’t limit what you can have for someone else.”
I nod, believing him—that these things are coming from Ollie’s heart, that there are no hard feelings here.
“Will it bother you? If you and Rory become more, I mean. Can you accept it?”
“Cillian hates me.”
“Cillian will never hate someone who’s good to Rory. If you are, then you have nothing to worry about. I’m not saying it won’t take him time to come around.”
We chuckle, but I sober quickly. I can’t begin to wrap my head around this conversation. I think about the story Rory told me, about that wild, traumatized little boy who found hismom in a pool of blood. Who lay next to her, held her, mourned her alone until Cillian arrived…Cillian who sat with him, who never left him alone, who would have spent eternity in that bed with Rory if he’d needed it. Why would I want him to lose something I would do anything to have myself?
“No, it wouldn’t bother me.”
“Good because I don’t want either of them to get hurt. Rory’s claimed you, and as barbaric as that sounds, and as much as a quiet voice in my head tells me I shouldn’t like that feeling, there’s nothing in this world like being claimed by one of them.”
I nod. Even if I’m not sure I’ve been claimed by Rory like he says, I don’t doubt how special it is being chosen by any of them.
“Bunny, I’mstarving. You guys haven’t even found any food yet.” Rory comes into the kitchen, being dramatic like he often is. “I’lldieif I don’t eat.”
Ollie laughs. “I’m working on it.”
“Go see your boy instead. Shai and I have this.”
Ollie nods, and I watch as Rory kisses his temple. Ollie gives me a small, unsure smile before slipping out of the room.
“You gonna make food with me or what?” he asks.
I push to my feet, walk over, and ease Rory back until his body is wedged between mine and the kitchen counter.
“Want something?” he asks, eyebrow raised.
“A taste of my cherry,” I reply, then press my lips to his, let my tongue sweep into his mouth, tasting the toothpaste there from earlier, and somehow, I know nothing will ever be the same again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Rory
It’s been threedays, and Shai is still at the house.
We’ve fucked twice more, so he’s down another thousand dollars for what he owes me, but despite the fact that this has a time limit, we still got tested, to be safe. Sometime soon, I really want Shai to breed me. Maybe that’s what it takes to get to that place where Cillian brings Ollie.
The more time Shai spends at my place, the more frustrated I get with Kat. She calls him several times a day, wanting to know when he’ll be home, vacillating between telling him she misses him and then asking if he can bring her gas money. From what he said, the tank was full when he left the car with her. I’m not one who has a lot of control, and it takes every ounce of it not to deal with her in a way Shai wouldn’t like, but what the fuck, he’s twenty-two years old and doesn’t even have a life of his own.
Things are going more smoothly around the house, though. Cillian still doesn’t talk to him, but Ollie enjoys having him around, and Dean actually smoked a bowl with him yesterday, only the two of them.
I finish my cereal just as Cillian walks into the kitchen. “Where’s your pet?” he asks.
“At work. I’m going there in a little while. I have to makea couple of stops first, try and get rid of some product.”
“Whyare you going there?” he asks, taking the chair across from me.
I shrug. “Because I’m obsessed with him.” There’s no reason to deny it. Denying it won’t change the fact that it’s true, and even if I could deny it to some people, I can’t to Cil.
“So it’s more than just fucking?”
