Charlie’s dimple returned. “Okay. Gordy Simple: I think you’re very sweet, and your love for Noah brings me a lot of joy. Up until today, that meant I wanted to be your friend, but…” he lowered his voice, and it somehow got even deeper. “I saw you getting out of his car and knew immediately I wanted more from you. Then, seeing you two kiss?”
Aspen’s breath caught. Was this where he was going to admit that he couldn’t do anything with either of them? Was he opposed to polyamory and wanted to claim one of them for himself? Caveman style?
They were immediately ashamed of their thoughts, but that didn’t stop their little butterfly from swan diving towards their stomach.
Charlie brought his mouth right next to Aspen’s ear. “Seeing you both kiss made me realize two things. The first is that the two of you belong together. The way you feed off of each other and build each other up is beautiful to watch. I don’t believe I would be getting in the way of that, but I know for damn sure you two aren’t at risk of getting in each other’s way with me.”
Aspen’s butterfly battered against the walls of their stomach, and they thanked their lucky stars they’d forgotten to eat breakfast that morning. “What’s…the second thing?”
Charlie chuckled, his breath skimming across the shaved side of Aspen’s head. “The second is that I would be the luckiest man on earth if I had the chance to see if maybe I could belong with you both as well. In whatever way you’ll have me.”
Aspen’s knees threatened to buckle, but Charlie stepped forward and allowed Aspen to collapse against his chest. “Sweet gay Jesus…what am I going to do with not one, but two men with sexy voices and sexy words?”
Charlie laughed, and it shook through Aspen like an earthquake. “Stay after the fundraiser and have dinner with me?”
Aspen batted their eyelashes in a way they hoped was flirty. “Just dinner?”
“At leastdinner.”
An effervescent laugh that reminded Aspen of butterfly scales bubbled out of them. “Gordy Simple.”
“That’s the best way to be.”
The small dog, which Charlie was still holding the leash for, nudged Aspen’s calf, and when they didn’t immediately give it attention, it began humping their leg.
“Oh god.”
“Now, Princess, that’s not very nice,” Charlie scolded. For a second, Aspen thought maybe he’d misspoken Aspen’s new nickname, but then he palmed the small dog and lifted it in front of Aspen. “We only hump with consent here, Princess. Say you’re sorry.”
The dog’s beady brown eyes stared in two opposite directions, and Aspen wasn’t sure which one to look at. Charlie patiently petted Princess’s head until she gave a soft bark, and then he placed her back down on the ground.
“Uhm…I accept your apology?” they said, looking down at the poor creature. Her fur was patchy, but someone had put a sweater and little boots on her. If that didn’t get her adopted, nothing would.
“I watched you with the relay dogs. You’re very good with them. Why don’t you like walking them?” Charlie asked, straight and to the point in a way Aspen had come to like about him. He texted the same way, a little blunt but always clear in his intent. It was a reputable trait to have in a partner.
“I had a bad experience walking one with my ex.”
Charlie scrunched up his nose. “Are you sure that wasn’t your ex's fault?”
Aspen barked out a surprise laugh, which startled Princes so bad she peed.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” Aspen said, looking around frantically for paper towels to wipe down the sidewalk with.
“It’s fine, pumpkin,” Charlie said with a laugh. He nudged Princess gently with his foot onto the grass, and she squatted down and peed some more. “She’s really not the sharpest tool in the shed. She prefers to pee on the grass, which is good, but she can’t always find it, even when it's right in front of her face, so accidents happen. I’ll hose down the whole sidewalk later.”
Princess finished her business and then immediately laid down on top of the spot.
“I will also be washing all of their outfits.”
Aspen laughed and found themself leaning into Charlie’s side. He immediately wrapped his arm around them, and they had to stifle a groan of satisfaction.
Perhaps misinterpreting the noise, Charlie cleared his throat. “If you feel up to talking about it, what happened with your ex?”
Ugh, Aspen really didn’t want to talk about that, but they supposed if they were going to start something with Charlie, they should probably get it out now.
“I came out as nonbinary, and our marriage sort of fell apart. I think it was already on its way down, but–”
“Uh, sorry,” Charlie said, his voice a little breathless as he squeezed Aspen’s shoulders tightly. “I meant, what happened with walking dogs with your ex?”
