Beauknew that Zane was still trying to lure him back into his relationship with V,from an extracurricular perspective at least. He couldn’t blame him,necessarily. The sex had been phenomenal. Especially at the end when… nope, notgoing there.
Heunderstood Zane’s reasoning because the threesomes had been satisfying andinteresting, and Beau might’ve been inclined to accept the offers had it notbeen for the fact that his life had changed dramatically ever since the nighthe had been with Zane. What happened between them had only solidified thereason for all of the confusion Beau had been living with in regards to hissexual orientation.
Thatnight had changed him. It also clarified that what he felt for Zane, which he’doriginally thought was more than friendship, was merely infatuation. Althoughhe’d experimented, walking away from Zane and V had been easier than hethought. Mainly because it left him open to find what he’d been missing. Love.True love. Something that wasn’t only based on physical attraction.
BecauseZane and V had found that deeper connection with one another, it hadn’t been adifficult decision for Beau to back out of the threesomes. In fact, it waseasier to walk away than it would’ve been to deny himself the fulfillment heknew he would never find with them.
Andwith V’s support, Zane had backed off, but Beau knew his best friend was merelytrying to keep things from becoming awkward between them. If Zane had picked upon Beau’s fascination with his brother Ethan, he might just be a little lessworried. And maybe he had, but Zane wasn’t one to talk about those types ofthings.
Nowthat Beau had finally found his footing in the world, and V seemed tounderstand him, they were letting the significance of what they had all threeshared before turn into a comfortable, platonic friendship. For that, Beau wasthankful.
“Well,if you change your mind…” Zane let the sentence hang, but his attention was nowfully on V.
“Go.Have fun. Maybe you can start with dessert.”
Zaneturned back to face him, his blue-gray eyes glittering with devilish intent. “Ithink I might just do that.”
“Right.Like you hadn’t thought about that before.”
Zaneslapped Beau on the shoulder. “You know me all too well, Bennett.”
Thathe did. He knew Zane better than just about anyone else.
“Allright then,” Zane said, looking back at him, his expression turning serious.“If you’re sure you’re not hungry…”
Beaulaughed. “I’m positive.”
“Thenwe’ll catch up with you later at Moonshiners,” Zane said as V stepped up tojoin them.
“Youtwo have fun. Don’t get caught.”
“Never,”Zane laughed.
Vgrinned, looking over her shoulder as Zane led her away and Beau overheard hersay, “What were y’all talking about?”
Asthey moved closer to the exit, Beau laughed at Zane’s response, “He suggestedthat we go get dessert.”
Asmore people filed out of the L&D waiting room, Beau fell into step,following them down the hall to the nursery where they would all receive thefirst glimpse of Kaleb’s and Zoey’s son. He made sure not to get caught up inthe crowd, lingering behind as he kept an eye on Ethan. Something he foundhimself doing often.
Atfirst, Beau had tried to play off his attraction to Ethan. Having lived nearlytwenty-six years of his life being confused about what he wanted, forcinghimself to fall in with the norm and not understanding why he couldn’t seem tofind happiness, he had been a little overwhelmed by the initial draw he had toZane, and now Ethan. Only with Ethan, Beau’s intrigue was magnified by amillion, and he found his thoughts overwhelmed by the man. Sometimes, at themost inopportune times. But it was that original pull that made him realizeexactly what he had been avoiding all his life.
Infact, the night he had been with Zane was when the weight of the world hadfallen from his shoulders, understanding finally dawning. Did it hurt torealize that he was infatuated with his best friend? Damn straight it did.Worse that Zane was his best friend. But Beau knew going in that he wasn’t inlove with Zane, just curious, so in a way, experimenting with Zane had been ablessing. Zane and V had offered him a safe environment that allowed him tounderstand himself more so than if he’d been with a stranger that he didn’tcare about.
Sowhat did he do after that whirlwind realization? He went on a date, of course.With a guy.
Whata fucking disaster that had been.
Therehe was, shy as hell, nervous that he was actually at a turning point in hislife that he finally understood, but had absolutely no clue as to how to handleit and he found himself on the worst first date in the history of dates. Asidefrom the fact that he spent an hour of his life that he would never get backtalking to a man who wanted to do nothing more than figure out the mechanics ofhow the two of them could actuallybe together, Beau had found they hadnothing in common.
Nothing.
Afteran awkward dinner with Joe, when Beau assured him thatyes, he wouldprobablyfit, however,no, he didn’t actually want to try, Beauhad thought his night couldn’t get any worse.
He’dbeen wrong.
Ashe was planning his escape, Beau saw a man he recognized sitting in a booth atthe opposite end of the row. Blake Henley. The lying, cheating bastard was witha man – one that very much wasnotEthan – at the very same restaurant.And yes, Blake was all over the mystery man. Had the two men been any closer,it would’ve been considered public indecency he was sure.
So,Beau could thank Joe for turning him off of potentially dating. And to thisday, he hadn’t talked to anyone about it. V had tried to persuade him to talk atime or two, but he damn sure didn’t want to clue her in on the clusterfuckthat had been that evening. He wanted to pretend it never happened and try thewhole first date thing again.
