“What?” Joshua sat up straighter on his end of the couch. “Why would you ask that?”
“Melody mentioned you guys were over there almost every single day.” Lincoln stopped the movie so he could take off hisshades. His striking blue eyes were curious, with no hint of reproach or disgust.
Joshua flailed with his answer. On one hand, they hadn’t decided not to tell anyone about their threesome. On the other hand, they hadn’t discussed what to do if someone asked about them. He didn’t want to lie, because lying was like denying his feelings for Van, and that would be a betrayal. “Yes?”
“Yes, you guys were at Van’s, or yes, you’re dating him?”
“Both.”
Lincoln squinted at him. “And Benji’s okay with that? I thought you two were exclusive.”
“We are, and yes, he is. We’re all, uh, dating each other.”
“All three of you?”
“Yes?”
“Dude, I’m not attacking you or interrogating you. No judgments. But Benji’s my friend, and so is Van, and I don’t want any of you guys to get hurt.”
Joshua tensed. “We know what we’re doing. All three of us started this with our eyes wide open. It’s hard to explain, but we work. And we’re happy.”
“Okay. Has Benji told the band about it?”
“No. We all want to settle into it first, you know? Define the relationship for ourselves, before we start telling people.”
“I can accept that. But you really should tell Melody and Emmett, since they already suspect something’s going on. They’ll keep your secret, Joshua, I promise.”
“I’m surprised Van hasn’t told Melody already.”
Lincoln chuckled. “I think she’s been too preoccupied with her own love life to bother much with Van’s.”
Joshua latched onto that crumb, eager to get the conversation off of his sparkling new poly relationship. “So things are going well with her and Adrian?”
“So far, so good. Emmett reports that she’s been over to the house several times this week to have dinner with Adrian and Beatrice.”
“Good for her.” Joshua’s phone chimed with a text.
Van:Brunch at my place tomorrow? 11?
He typed back he’d be there, with a few extra smiling emojis.
“You have fun with your phone, pal.” Lincoln lifted himself off the couch with a small groan. “It’s been a busy day and I feel a headache coming on. See you in the morning.”
“G’night.”
Van must have been on his break, because they texted back and forth for a while, mostly surface stuff that avoided the one guy missing now, and who’d be missing—physically, at least—for the next couple of weeks.
Joshua ended up falling asleep on the couch with his phone in his hand, only waking up when Emmett let himself in around one-thirty. Joshua crawled into bed, but couldn’t fall into a good, deep sleep again. He’d gotten used to sleeping with Benji beside him, and now the bed was too big. Too empty.
How did I do this for three years? I need him.
The sun finally rose, giving him an excuse to get the hell out of bed. A hot shower, three mugs of strong coffee, and an action movie on cable finally woke him up enough to drive over to Van’s for brunch.
Van ushered him inside with a smile and a quick kiss. “You don’t look like you slept much.”
“I don’t usually after Ben and I separate, especially when we get a long period of time together.” He looked around the familiar living area of Van’s apartment, expecting to see Benji at any moment. “Seems worse this time.”
“Because you were together a week?”
