Aspen kept their arm around her back, squeezing her again as they both told the woman in front of them to have a great time.
“You definitely didn’t push me out of any kind of closet,” Aspen whispered. “You just gave me the information I’ve always needed to describe my brain. I think that’s the same for Noah. Hopefully, you just gave him a word to understand himself better.”
Rachel nodded, handing the couple in front of them an adoption form when they asked for it, and ringing them up for five raffle tickets. “I just know that you both aren’t super into labels or titles.”
Aspen snorted. “You’re not wrong, but regardless of that little asexuality revelation, I think things are about to get even more complicated with Charlie joining the mix.”
The credit card reader beeped loudly when Rachel jerked the card away too soon. She placed it gently on top of the reader, and this time it went through.
“I am going to need a full debrief later,” she said, gently hip-checking Aspen back towards the entrance. “But right now I need to focus.”
“Of course, and fine, I will accept that,” Aspen said, smiling widely at the couple as they walked past. “Thank you, by the way.”
“What for?” Rachel asked, handing a little girl a doggy coloring page.
“For everything,” Aspen said, blowing her an air kiss before heading back inside.
They didn’t see Noah or Charlie for the next several hours as the first relay race took place, followed immediately by puppy pile photos in the fenced-off dog park. Aspen ended up holding the leash for a scary-looking miniature poodle, and naturally, that was how Charlie found them.
“You know, pumpkin, for someone who says they don’t like dogs, you chose one of the more challenging ones to walk.”
“Oh, no, absolutely not. I was just holding her leash after the race,” Aspen said, frantically shoving the handle of the leash into Charlie’s hands. They were large and warm, with calluses that Aspen bet would feel amazing on their skin—when it wasn’t chapped from the cold.
How had Noah had this man’s hands on him for all these years and never wanted to sleep with him?
Reciprosexuality. That was why. What an interesting concept. Aspen definitely couldn’t relate, but the more they thought about it, the more it made sense for Noah. He’d had his fair share of hookups and relationships, but as Aspen rubbed their hands together for warmth and tried to subtly lean into Charlie’s space to steal his body heat, they realized Noah hadnever once made the first move, at least as far as Aspen had seen. He would frequently return advances, but he never initiated them.
Aspen glanced up at Charlie. “Why did you wait so long to admit you were interested in Noah?”
Charlie hummed in thought as he looked out across the back lawn, taking in the dozens of folks scattered around. “I think part of it may have been not wanting to upset the status quo. I don’t have many friends, because I tend to like dogs more than people. Noah’s always been different, and I didn’t think it was worth risking our friendship over.”
“So, what made you decide now was worth the risk?”
Charlie smiled, one of his dimples popping out as he looked down at Aspen. “Your trial period has changed him. He’s talking about things like polyamory, and he’s questioning all the shit his parents put in his head. I think he’s still figuring it all out, and when the opportunity arose, I thought maybe it wouldn’t hurt to throw my hat in the ring of folks who wouldn’t mind figuring things out with him.”
The butterfly looped happily in Aspen’s chest, even as their stomach flopped around like a dead fish. The way Charlie spoke about Noah was beautiful, and so much bigger than the silly crush Aspen was clearly developing on Charlie. Charlie and Noah had been building something between them for years, yet it had been almost two months since Charlie admitted he was interested in Noah, and neither had pursued anything. Noah hadn’t even told Aspen the conversation had happened.
“I’ve really liked getting to know you the past few months,” Aspen said slowly. “But you don’t owe me anything just because I’m friends with or in a trial relationship with Noah. I hope you know, and that Noah told you, that he’s allowed to pursue things outside of his trial with me. I would never want to get in the way of you two exploring things together.”
Charlie’s dimple disappeared as his lips slanted into an almost grimace. “I’ve really got my work cut out for me with the two of you, haven’t I?”
Aspen bristled, not sure what the heck that meant, but pretty sure they didn’t like?—
Charlie put his large hand on the back of Aspen’s neck, and a hundred memories of Noah doing the same thing to Aspen played through their mind like an old-timey photo reel. Had he picked this up from Charlie? Or the other way around? Now that Aspen thought about it, they were pretty sure Noah hadn’t done this when they were in college, or in the few years after.
“Noah gave me pretty much the exact same speech in the storage room,” Charlie said. Aspen tried to jerk away in surprise, but Charlie held them firm. “He wanted to make sure I knew that I was free to pursue whatever I want with you, and he wouldn’t get in the way. Which is almost laughable given that you and I were flirting with each other by talking about my interest inhim.”
Aspen let out a huff of breath through their nose, and it condensed in front of them into a small cloud. “Yeah, that sounds like our Noah.”
Charlie’s grip tightened, pressing into the tendons at the back of Aspen’s neck that held a lot of their stress. He rubbed gently, making Aspen’s shoulders collapse lower than they’d been in weeks.
“Oh, god. That feels good.”
Charlie stepped closer, fully shielding Aspen from the cold air while also blocking them from view. He bent down until they were almost at eye level, and Aspen realized that in addition to his eyes being a gorgeous brown, there was a pretty band of green around his pupils.
“I’m going to keep this Gor–very simple for you.”
“I’ve heard about Gordy Simple, don’t worry,” Aspen said, tipping their chin up so the back of their head was resting fully in Charlie’s palm.
