“I think he said something about trusting that I would be a very gentle lover,” Charlie said.
Aspen’s burst of surprised laughter only partially drowned out Noah’s groan.
“Babe, I told you that you have to be careful with those sexy words of yours.”
Noah shook his head against the side of Aspen’s neck. “I wasn’t trying to be sexy! I was very flustered, because as we have all discovered, it does not occur to me to think of someone as a sexual prospect until they make it very clear to me that they are.”
Aspen gave Charlie one more appreciative glance before grabbing Noah’s face and lifting it up.
“You are absolutely perfect. Please never change,” they said, and they meant it, and Noach clearly knew they meant it because he blushed even harder and scrunched up his face.
Aspen kissed away his frown, letting their lips linger a little longer than they normally would because they wanted to make sure the message really hit home. When they pulled away, Noah was still flushed, but he was smiling, too.
“You’re right about that, pumpkin,” Charlie said.
Aspen whipped their head around so fast they nearly gave themself whiplash. “Pumpkin?”
Charlie smirked and gestured at his own hair before tipping his head at Aspen.
Aspen’s hair had faded from red to an interesting orange color over the holidays, and Aspen had liked it so much they’d declared it their favorite color of the month and redyed their hair and roots a slightly sharper orange color earlier that week.
“Are you making fun of me?” they asked, not because they really minded, but because they wanted to understand the dynamic they were building.
One of Charlie’s large eyebrows lifted, and he tilted his head in what looked like genuine thought. “I don’t know. Noah, is it making fun of you when I call you peanut?”
Aspen raised one of their own eyebrows and turned back to look at Noah, whose poor face might never return to its normal color. “Uhm…I think of it more like an affectionate nickname? It’s sweet, not mocking.”
“Well, if you’re giving out endearments, I’ve been dying to call you handsome since the moment I laid eyes on you. I just wasn’t sure if you’d like it,” Aspen said.
Charlie’s cheeks didn’t color the way either Aspen’s or Noah’s did. They sort of sprouted pink and then red, like flowers pushing up through the dirt.
Noah shifted, keeping his arms around Aspen, but circling around behind them. He rested his chin on their shoulder, so they were both looking at Charlie. “You are quite handsome,” Noah murmured.
Charlie huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, doing some very appealing things to his biceps. “Well, what are you two going to do about that?”
Given that Aspen had absolutely not been expecting any of this to happen an hour before the fundraiser started, they were going to do a whole lot of nothing. From the almost constant texting they’d been doing with Charlie in the group chat to some of the individual texts they’d exchanged over the past several weeks, Aspen had begun to form a real connection with him–but he was Noah’s friend. They’d never discussed what would happen if their trial relationship and exploration into polyamory intersected with existing friendships. If this were happening with one of Aspen’s friends, they would hope Noah would talk with them about it first.
Aspen hugged Noah’s arm to their chest before pulling out of his grasp. “I’m going to distribute these leashes to everyone who needs them, so you two can talk about all the fun little things we’ve just learned about each other.”
Both men gaped at Aspen as they quickly gathered up the leashes and scurried out the back door of the shelter. They really wished they had time to debrief with Blair about this, or to run out to the front of the shelter and talk with Rachel.
There had been a second revelation on New Year’s Eve. Rachel was on her own self-discovery journey, and with the help of Blair and through her friendship and exploration with Noah and Aspen, she’d reached a conclusion. She was polyamorous and wanted to continue sleeping with and loving Aspen and Noah the same way she always had. At the same time, though, she also wanted to find a partner who would one day want to live with her, entangle their lives together, and become an anchor for her. Both Aspen and Noah had agreed wholeheartedly that they wanted to continue seeing her, but neither saw themselves in that role with her.
Aspen had coined them “sexy bestest friends,” and Rachel and Noah had immediately adopted the term. While Aspen had always had an easy time talking with Rachel, the added clarity about their relationship helped ease their mind. Now they felt like they could share the deep, nitty-gritty details of their trial with Noah, and not risk hurting or dismissing anyone’s feelings.
Unfortunately, by the time they finished arranging all the relay supplies and prizes behind the shelter, there was less than half an hour left, and they still needed to check in with the other stations. It took the remaining time to drop off the leashes, distribute the fundraising flyers, and ensure the volunteers were ready to collect waivers from attendees.
When they finally made it to Rachel out front, she had just begun admitting guests, and Aspen was beyond thrilled to see the line wrapping around the parking lot. They’d tapped every contact, friend, and connection they had to spread the word about the fundraiser. Frankie had put out announcements on the Rainbow Bean’s social pages and even had his sibling announce it at their weekly drag show. Aspen and Blair had told all their clients, and Rachel and Noah had shared it with their colleagues.
Aspen approached Rachel with an eager grin, but her brow was furrowed. They hurried to her side and threw an arm around her back.
“Is Noah okay?” she whispered before turning back to hand the man in front of her some raffle tickets and a receipt.
He beamed at her, complimented Aspen on their hair, and then followed the tape Aspen had laid down earlier that morning to guide guests into the shelter and to the next station.
“Noah’s fine, hon. I think you answered a question he hadn’t really been asking, but I know how his brain works. He’ll appreciate having the information when he’s ready to process it.”
“Okay,” Rachel murmured, accepting another credit card and running it through the small card reader Noah had helped Charlie get for this and hopefully future fundraising events. “I just don’t ever want to push someone out of the closet for queerness, neurodiversity, or anything else.”
