Damon unlocks the door to the small room and parks his rolling carry-on just inside the door. The space has a nondescript built-in desk, an armless desk chair, charging stations, a telephone, a printer, and a random box of tissues. Perfect in case your on-the-go conference call ends with your termination, I suppose.
Nonetheless, the quiet space is the perfect place to issue long-overdue apologies, come out to your family, and tell them you’re engaged…come to think of it, we might need those tissues after all.
“I want to call Taylor first,” I tell Damon. “He deserves my apology before anything else.”
“I’m good with however you want to do this,” Damon says, brushing his lips against mine. “But when you’re done, I want to find out just how soundproof these rooms are.”
“Oh, fuck, could we please?” My dick twitches at the thought.
“Absolutely. Now call,” he instructs, holding out his phone.
I pull up Taylor’s contact in Damon’s phone—there’s a better chance he’ll answer if it’s Damon’s name on his screen instead of mine—and hit call.
As soon as the call connects, I almost drop the phone.
“If now’s not a good time, we can, uh…we can call later,” I stammer as I stare at Damon’s twin brother’s naked chest in the bathtub.
He looks as surprised as I feel.
“Oh, shit. Um, hey, Liam.” He sits up a little straighter. “Is everything okay? Why are you calling from Damon’s phone?”
Damon lowers his face to the screen over my shoulder.
“Hey, Bird. Everything’s good. Are you alone?”
“Yeah, Knox isn’t due home for another hour, so I’m just getting the nooks and crannies clean for all the gay things we plan to do tonight,” Taylor says with a smirk and a wink, flaunting his sexuality in the way he always has. “Not that you’d know anything about that, brother dearest.”
“You’d be surprised,” Damon mutters over my shoulder. “We’ll talk when you and Liam are done.”
Confusion paints Taylor’s features again. “Well, hold on, this sounds serious. I probably shouldn’t have my dick out for this conversation.” Taylor Landry is a special individual. Without warning, he stands from the bathtub, dick in full view as he climbs over the edge of the bathtub.
“Jesus, Taylor!” Damon yells. “Cover your fucking junk, man!”
Taylor angles the phone toward his face.
“Get your panties out of a wad, D. My junk looks exactly like your junk in case you’ve forgotten, and last I checked, dick wasn’t really Liam’s forte.”
I flash Damon a smirk, but it’s Taylor who catches it.
“What was that?” he asks, wrapping a towel around his naked body.
“We’ll get to that, but let’s start with something that’s long overdue. Tay, Damon told me the truth about you and my dad.” The way Taylor’s whole body goes rigid at the mention of my father makes me feel worse, but I press on. “That he lied to protect himself, and that you didn’t manipulate him and use him like he told me you had. I’m really sorry I didn’t give you a chance to tell your side of the story, and I’m even more sorry for reacting the way I did. It was shocking, sure, but I could’ve handled it better.”
“Oh,” he says in a small voice. Taylor and Damon are very different, but their moments of vulnerability look similar, and my heart pinches for the man on the screen. “Um, thanks.”
“Yeah. I’m also sorry I made D feel like he had to choose. That was really shitty, and I feel horrible about being the reason you and he didn’t speak for almost a year.”
Taylor shifts his gaze away from the phone, clearly uncomfortable with all this emotion.
“Yeah, it was kind of brutal,” he says with a humorless laugh.
“And since we’re going to be brothers-in-law,” I continue, “I just wanted to clear the air and let you know, I promise to never come between you and Damon ever again.”
Taylor laughs. “Liam, you’re not my brother-in-law just because you’re my brother’s best friend.”
Damon puts his forehead on my shoulder, hiding a laugh. “That’s not how we rehearsed this conversation,” he whispers loudly enough for Taylor to hear.
Turning to face Damon, while still checking to make sure we’re visible in the camera, I lean in to kiss him with plenty of tongue so there’s no mistaking what’s happening. Then, I hold his left hand up so Taylor can see his ring.
