Everett’s eyelids drooped, and he pulled Caleb to him, plundering a kiss from his lips.
Jayne snorted. A second later the mattress dipped, and Jayne made his way across it on his hands and knees. He came to a stop behind Caleb, one hand planted on the mattress behind Everett’s back, taking possession of them both. “It’s cute of you to think that.” Jayne ran his fingers through Caleb’s hair, then twisted it and pulled gently. With perfect grace, he lowered himself and kissed the corner of Caleb’s mouth, close enough that Everett broke from his lips and tried to claim Jayne’s kiss for his own. Jayne denied him. “But I thought you would’ve figured it out by now—neither of you own me. I ownyou.”
Caleb’s cock twitched. He turned his head to try to capture Jayne’s lips, but Jayne had already pulled away.
“Now.” Jayne traced a single finger along the tattooed band on Everett’s arm until he arrived at the dip between Everett’s arm and chest, then followed the line of his body until his hand disappeared. Everett moaned, and it didn’t take Caleb long to figure out why—Jayne was toying with his cock while Caleb pumped him. “Why don’t we—”
Jayne was cut off by Caleb’s cell phone.
“Fuck,” Caleb grumbled. Against his better judgment, he rolled away and plucked his phone from where he’d set it on the bedside table.
It was his father.
“Who is it?” Jayne asked. He sat on Caleb’s knees, effectively locking him into bed.
Caleb muted the ringer and placed the phone facedown on the bedside table. “No one important.”
The mattress shifted. Everett, no longer enslaved by Caleb’s hand, sat up and tugged the sheets over his erection. “It’s your father, isn’t it?”
The first stirrings of irritation prickled the hair on Caleb’s nape. He curled his fingers into a fist and pressed his nails into his palm, then released his grip. When Everett started to push like this, the conversation always spun around to the same old, tired arguments. “Does it matter?”
Obstinate energy crackled between them. Everett’s lips, still stained pink by the remnants of last night’s lipstick, tightened, and something dark flashed through his eyes. The next second, it was gone, but the damage had been done—Caleb knew what Everett thought of his decision not to speak to his father, and it made Caleb want to punch a hole through the wall. Who was Everett to judge him? It wasn’t his life that had been turned on its head. He had no idea what it was like to feel betrayed by someone he loved, and Everett knew it.
“Um, okay, let’s back up a step.” Jayne removed himself from Caleb’s knees and sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed. “Let’s start with the basics. Caleb, how is your father ‘no one important’?”
Caleb gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Just like always, Everett grimaced. “And that’s the problem, isn’t it? You never want to talk about anything.”
“Stop.” Jayne swatted Everett’s leg, then, for good measure, swatted Caleb’s. “Don’t make me use my dad voice. Both of you are grown-ass men. Caleb, how old are you?”
“Twenty-eight,” Caleb mumbled. “But I don’t see—”
Jayne cut him off. “Everett?”
Everett folded his arms over his chest and looked away. “I’m almost twenty-nine.”
“God,I’mthe oldest one?” Jayne cringed, then buzzed his lips and straightened his back. Out of the corner of his eye, Caleb caught Everett’s stern expression wavering, and that small concession was all it took to relieve some of the hostility buzzing between them. Caleb loosened his posture and sat up, putting his back to the headboard as Jayne continued. “Okay, listen. Here’s the deal. Are all of us old enough to talk through difficult conversations like adults? Yes. Does age change the fact that we all have our baggage? Hell no.” Jayne planted his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward slightly, the bulk of his attention focused on Caleb. “You’re entitled to feel the way you feel, but what you’re not entitled to do is make Everett feel like crap because you have daddy issues.”
Caleb’s cheeks burned. “I don’t—”
“And you,” Jayne said, turning his attention to Everett, “don’t get to antagonize Caleb. All it’s going to do is piss him off and make him more resistant to talking. If this is a longstanding issue, which I feel like it might be, I’m sure you’re tired of him not doing anything to change his situation. I would be, too. However, that doesn’t mean that you can keep needling him until he snaps. You’re hurting each other.”
Silence fell. Caleb glanced at Everett, whose expression had gone from stern, to vaguely humorous, to disheartened, and saw the pain he shouldered. Jayne had been right to call them out. It hurt to see Everett so wilted. While, at times, Caleb and Everett butted heads, Caleb didn’t enjoy fighting with the man he loved. He and Everett had always been a team, and the fact that they’d taken their friendship to the next level didn’t change that. But at the same time, Everett knew better than to bring shit up about Caleb’s father. It wasn’t the first time they’d had words, and it was better for them both when they dropped the topic completely.
But Jayne wasn’t willing to let the matter slide. He met Caleb’s gaze and picked up from where he’d left off. “I’m not going to ask for details, since you’ve made it clear that you’re not willing to disclose them, but I will say this.” Jayne knitted his fingers together and cast aside the humor he usually hid behind. It was disquieting to see him so serious, not because Caleb didn’t imagine that he was always carefree, but because he knew what Jayne was poised to say was about his life. “I don’t know what happened between you and your father, but I have seen the impact it’s having on your relationship with Everett. So, as someone entirely outside of the situation, I need to ask you this—is holding on to whatever happened in the past more important to you than how Everett feels?”
The question hit Caleb like a paintball striking bare skin, the sting lasting long after the damage had been done.
He was hurting Everett.
Ashamed, Caleb stole a look in Everett’s direction. How could he have been so shortsighted? The issues he had with his family were his own, but as his lover, Everett wasn’t only sharing Caleb’s home—he was sharing his life. They were in this together. By sweeping the issue under the rug, Caleb had thrown the balance of their relationship off.
“Fuck me,” Caleb whispered to himself. Gingerly, he reached out and laid a hand on Everett’s thigh. “’Rhett, I’m sorry.”
Everett turned his head, looking at Caleb in full. With the curtains open, sunlight streamed across the bed, bathing him in its glow. It flashed through Everett’s hair, lighting up its golden strands, and softened the blues of his eyes. The twenty thousand lumens that Caleb had execrated before no longer seemed so evil. How could they when they adored Everett just as much as Caleb did?
Everett smiled. It was a tiny gesture, but it spoke volumes—it wasn’t too late. If Caleb made an effort, everything would be okay.
