“Ah, so you’ve discovered my secret identity.” Everett arched a brow playfully, glad to see the old Caleb reemerging. “I guess you’re going to have to find a way to defeat me.”
“You know it.” Caleb rolled out from inside the blankets suddenly and pinned Everett to the bed. The distant look in his eyes had been replaced with adoration. “It’s a good thing for you that my boner has a superpower of its own—it never stays dead for long.” Caleb’s hand dipped between their bodies, tracing Everett through his boxer-briefs. “PS: do you know how fucking hard you make me when you wear my underwear? Fuck, Everett.Fuck.”
With a telling grin, Everett pushed into Caleb’s hand. “Yeah, I might have some idea.”
“I want you to wear them tonight.” Caleb’s hand tightened, and he began to superficially stroke Everett’s cock. “After Jayne puts Parker down to bed and Shep locks himself up in the guest bedroom, you and he are going to be alone, aren’t you?” As Caleb stroked, his thumb discovered the length of Everett’s shaft. Need built steadily in Everett’s balls, and he found himself working his hips in small, subtle ways to build that pleasure further. Caleb knew what he was doing—he could shut Everett down with a few simple touches, and he was doing it now whether he knew it or not.
Everett closed his eyes and resisted a moan. It felt too good. “You want me to wear your boxer-briefs?”
“Mmhm.” Caleb reinforced the idea with a kiss. When he spoke again, his voice was huskier than it had been before. “I want these to be what holds his hand to your body when he slips it into your pants.”
Heat burned Everett’s cheeks. He pushed back from Caleb only enough so that he could look into his eyes. “I thought we agreed that we were going to keep it above the belt when we’re alone with Jayne.”
“Mm.” Caleb dipped his thumb deeper, brushing the tip of Everett’s cock. The contact he made was minimal, but Everett couldn’t help but gasp as pleasure rolled through him. “After what happened last night, you have my blessing to do whatever you want to him… or to let him do whatever he wants to you.”
Anything?
Everett imagined himself in bed while Jayne crawled up the mattress, insatiable desire gleaming in his eyes. He’d straddle Everett’s hips and sink down onto his lap, nude. Everett’s cock would slot between the cheeks of his ass, and Jayne would grip him by his base and guide him into his slick heat.
Better yet, the fantasy changed, and instead of Everett, it was Caleb’s dick that Jayne was bouncing on, and Caleb who brought Jayne to throw back his head and cry out in ecstasy. The burning heat in Everett’s cheeks spread down his neck. Everett had never dared picture Caleb alone with another man, but Jayne wasn’t like their other conquests. The thought of them together didn’t cause Everett to feel jealous—it turned him on.
But there was more to Jayne than sex. Everett felt it in his heart, and from the way he’d seen Caleb look at Jayne, he knew Caleb felt the same way. Alone, they’d be able to explore their feelings in greater depth. If they were going to make this work, they needed to be sure that they worked as well as individuals as they did as a group. Still, Everett needed to make sure that Caleb meant what he said. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, I am.” Caleb kissed him sweetly. “He’s good for us, Everett. Seeing the two of you together last night felt right. If you want to get it on while I’m gone, I want you to go for it. But just with him. Only with him.”
“Only with him.”
It was an easy promise to make. Now that Everett’s heart had found the two of them, it didn’t have room for anyone else.
* * *
That night,after Parker had been put to bed and Shep had sequestered himself into the guest bedroom, Jayne stretched dramatically and draped himself across the couch, setting his ankles on Everett’s lap. Caleb had been gone for about an hour, and so far hadn’t called or fired off any emergency texts. Either he was making peace with his father, or he was dead. Either way, Everett was fairly sure he wouldn’t be asked to rush out on a search and rescue.
The night was his, and he planned to spend it with Jayne.
For a while, they coexisted peacefully. Jayne traced his heel over Everett’s thigh and sometimes dipped his toes into the space between his legs, coming close, but never quite brushing Everett’s groin. He held his phone over his head, mostly flicking his thumb to scroll up, but sometimes stopping to type. The television was on, and Everett had selected a movie to stream, but couldn’t begin to describe what it was about. While he faced the screen, he wasn’t watching the picture. All of his attention was focused on Jayne, and the way Jayne was toying with his body.
All of it felt surreal.
A few short weeks ago, Everett had been of the opinion that circumstance would tear Caleb from him. On the cusp of a stable, lifelong career, the carefree days of Everett’s twenties were fading, but for Caleb, it had seemed like they’d go on forever. Time, which had bound them together since birth, was ready to shove them apart.
Then Jayne had come along, and everything had changed.
Calebhad changed.
Everett ran an appreciative hand over Jayne’s ankle, savoring the sensation of his soft skin. A birthmark, approximately the diameter of one of the perforations of a spiral-bound notebook, dotted the skin centimeters above the protrusion of Jayne’s ankle. Similar birthmarks created constellations on Jayne’s calves and arms, and one, like a forgotten jewel, existed in the dip of his collarbone. Last night, Everett had explored them for the first time, but it felt like no matter how long he devoted himself to the study of Jayne’s body, he would never stop discovering its intricacies.
Did Caleb feel the same way?
For years, they’d loved each other, and for years, they hadn’t quite worked. Band-Aid hookups had held them together and allowed them to overlook the bigger issues, but Everett had always known there would come a time when patching the problem wouldn’t be enough. What they needed was someone to suture the divide between them, who could love Caleb for Caleb, and Everett for Everett, and them as a couple together.
What they’d needed was Jayne.
“You look like you’re thinking about something,” Jayne remarked, not glancing away from his phone. “Is everything okay?”
Everett blinked back to reality. He nodded. “Yeah. Everything is fine.”
“Despite how busy I looked—” sarcasm dripped from Jayne’s voice, dividing the first half of his thought from the second, “—I’m here to talk if you need me. I’m even here to talk if you don’t need me. I don’t know the full scope of what’s going on right now, but I do know that whatever’s going on with Caleb impacts you, too.” Jayne paused and lowered his phone, expression both distant and troubled. “Although, I guess that might not be the smartest idea. I feel like if we’re going to give this whole throuple thing a shot, we shouldn’t talk about each other without everyone present. If the tables were turned and it were me in Caleb’s place, I wouldn’t want you and him venting about me in private. I feel like that’s only going to build resentment and drive a divide between us.” Seemingly inspired by the thought, Jayne squinted. It looked like he was trying to read something written in minuscule print on the ceiling. “Now I see what they mean.”
