Denny snorted. “Yeah, holy shit. Things have moved on so fast and felt so… so right, in a way, that I think Kristin and I separated months ago.”
“Right, which is why I’m going to give you two some advice,” Dr. Jarvis said and moved to sit on the armchair by the couch.
Jo held out a hand and Denny first pushed himself off the beanbag, then pulled Josiah up too. They walked to the couch and sat next to each other. Not like they would end up sitting at home while watching a movie, but still close.
“There’s something I’d like you two to think about. Like Denny just said, it hasn’t been that long since he and his wife separated. The fact that these revelations about your relationship and Denny’ sexuality coincided with that definitely warp the way both of you are thinking about it all. Do you agree?” Jarvis tilted his head, and when they nodded, he nodded back. “So I’d like you to consider this, especially since you live together for the time being. How about you give yourselves a deadline?”
Denny frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Am I correct to assume that as things are, you being so close both mentally and physically with the living arrangement, it might lead into something you’re not ready for?”
Josiah smiled slowly. “You mean that once we start to get comfortable by the idea of being more than friends, we might jump into bed because we couldn’t help it?”
Jarvis chuckled. “Yes, that’s exactly what I meant.” He steepled his fingers and leveled them with a serious look. “You two have a better foundation for a romantic relationship than most people. If you wait a little, let the dust settle for a time, I think you could have something incredible together.”
“You’re saying just don’t make this a rebound thing for either of us?” Denny hazarded a guess.
“Exactly. You’re not the only one who is fresh out of a relationship.”
Jo sighed. “I wasn’t in love with Gunner. I tried to be. I thought he’d be it for me, finally, but I guess I’m a one man kind of guy and….” He glanced at Denny before ducking his head.
“Yeah….” Denny exhaled the word.
“So how about this: You both keep coming to see me separately, even together if you feel like that’d benefit you. You live wherever the situation calls, but you don’t take your relationship to a physical level until… let’s say few months’ time?”
Josiah frowned, but it was Denny who asked, “Three months?”
“Yes. Based on both of your reactions, I can tell it’s not a bad idea to wait on that.” Jarvis looked amused now, and well, Denny kind of saw his point. Dammit.
“Well my birthday is at the end of August. Is that a good erm, deadline?” Jo asked, frowning as he seemed to be doing the math.
“I think that’s up to you two. It’s not like I’m the law in these things.”
Denny rolled his eyes at the doctor. “Mmhmm, yup, sure you’re not….”
Jo chuckled. “Okay, my birthday it is.”
“All right. Until then, you come see me and we’ll figure out ways you can support each other and yourselves, and maybe things will feel less chaotic by then.”
Denny wasn’t sure it would happen, because life was a thing, but he’d take it for now.
Everything continued as it had before they’d set the deadline. Josiah lived with him, which was slowly turning into the sweetest kind of torture, and the twins continued to live at Josiah’s place at the Hare.
One weekend they closed the Hare for Sunday and did some renovations in the little apartment. Before Josiah had moved there someone had divided the larger bedroom into a smaller one and a storage room by putting a wall in. Now, they tore the old wall down and put in a new one in a different spot, so that the twins got their own bedrooms, tiny as they’d be. The fire had made the twins closer as ever, and it felt like they needed to be close to another even more than before.
At one point, Denny joined the twins on the couch as they watched Nelson, Lance—Lieutenant Bailey—and Josiah build the frame for the new wall together. All three men had T-shirts on and they were sweaty and their muscles and/or tattoos glistened delightfully.
“Who knew you’d be this….” Drea snarked, gesturing at Denny and then the guys.
“Not me,” Denny admitted, blinking a few times as he tore his gaze off Josiah’s forearms. “I’m going to go do a lunch run, okay?”
He took the orders and ran, almost literally, down the stairs. Because, holy hell, he didn’t want to have an erection while sitting next to the two people he thought of as younger sisters.
To his utter surprise, as he opened the back door, he slammed right into—“Sammie!”
She dove into his arms, hugging him and laughing, and then he was laughing too and then, because the back door had an alarm system, there was a high pitched pinging sound every two seconds.
“Who left the door op—oh my God!” Josiah dashed down the stairs, pushed them outside to close the door, and joined the hug.
