7 What was Wren Supposed to Say?

Wren lounged on his back deck with a beer after a shit week and just wanted to relax. He’d had enough chaos to last him a lifetime. Last night topped it off with a naked man who attempted to break into his ex-wife’s new house. Crying drunks weren’t his favorite to deal with especially ones who refused to keep the blanket wrapped around them. He’d spent thirty minutes disinfecting the back seat of his patrol car.

He reached for his phone but thought twice about it. Hunter hadn’t called him the last few days. He’d thought their date went great after the man relaxed and Hunter had stopped rethinking his every move and word. A second date was on his to-do list in the near future, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards. He really liked the man, more than he had liked anyone in years.

“Hey.”

He turned his head as he heard Hunter’s voice.

“Hey, this is a surprise. I was just thinking about you.”

“You were,” Hunter asked nervously.

“Yes, you want a beer?”

Wren set his bottle aside and stood, he approached Hunter and brushed a kiss to the corner of Hunter’s mouth. He frowned a bit when the man stepped back.

“No, I don’t drink.”

“Right, shit, I forgot. Can I get you something else?”

He retreated a few steps back.

“No, I don’t…I wanted to ask you something?”

“Of course, ask anything.”

He noticed Hunter was more nervous than he typically was and it made him a little leery. Maybe Hunter didn’t want to date him. The last few weeks were great. They didn’t get a lot of time together, but Wren made sure to set time aside each day to at least talk to Hunter. He had thought he’d made his interest clear.

“Did you still want to make a go of whatever this is?”

“If you’re talking about dating and seeing where it goes, yes, why? If you’re not into it then that’s fine we can still be…”

“Linus kissed me.”

Those three words didn’t register for a few minutes, and then they did, he didn’t exactly know what to say.

“I’m sorry, Ghost said it was a good idea to tell you. It was just a drunken kiss, so I’m sure it didn’t mean anything. He said honesty was…”

Hunter had spoken so fast all the words ran together. He wasn’t surprised by the kiss. He knew Linus had a thing for Hunter. He wasn’t even the jealous type, but he had to admit he’d experienced it seeing Linus and Hunter’s interaction at the diner.

Suddenly he realized Hunter was still talking, “Slow down and take a breath,” he ordered.

He raised his arms and wrapped his hands around Hunter’s biceps, steered Hunter toward the chair he’d vacated. He crouched down in front of Hunter and rested his arms on Hunter’s knees.

“It wasn’t like I didn’t notice Linus had a thing for you. It was pretty obvious when I saw you two together. Why are you freaking out?”

“I liked it.”

“And?”

Please don’t let this be like pulling teeth to get Hunter to explain.

“Is this a guilt thing?”

“I don’t know. Linus looked sad when I pulled away.”

The man appeared far too miserable for a simple kiss. It wasn’t as if they’d had the exclusivity talk and, to be honest, maybe it was too early to even ponder it. He had a long way to go to get Hunter to relax enough to accept a second date. He wanted more, he wouldn’t lie to himself about that, but what he wanted didn’t factor in when Hunter was tearing himself apart.

“Okay, let’s do this, start from the beginning.”

Hunter took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “Linus came into Brawlers like he always does. Sits on his usual stool. What wasn’t normal was he drank a lot more than he usually did. I drove him home after we closed. When I went to help him out of his truck, he kissed me.”

“Did you want to kiss him?”

He didn’t understand why he asked, but whatever Hunter had going on in his head was most likely being blown out of proportion with insecurity and an unhealthy dose of guilt.

“I don’t know…I didn’t want to stop.”

“Then we stay friends.”

“No, I don’t…”

“Tell me about Linus.”

He lowered to the porch and rested his arms on his bent knees.

“He’s the oldest and always felt left out. Lucky and Lou are more like Lily and Damon. Free-spirited. He didn’t have the easiest time growing up. Him and the twins were sort of ostracized for being different. I think that made him try to fit in—to be as different from the rest of them as he could. I think that’s why he initially joined the Atlanta PD.”

“And that didn’t work out for him?”

He’d admit to himself that he was curious about Linus. The man was undoubtedly exceptionally handsome. He’d had a moment of attraction when he’d seen Linus in the diner. Although, Linus didn’t seem to like him very much— maybe that was because he was interested in the man Linus wanted.

“He’s not much on rules. He liked going rogue a little too much, and that hasn’t changed.”

“Keep going.”

“I always liked him, but…”

“But what?”

“He doesn’t believe in monogamy.”

That surprised him, Linus seemed interested in something with Hunter. A thought struck him, and he got to his knees, pushed into the space between Hunter’s legs.

“What are you doing?”

He raised his hands and tucked Hunter’s hair behind his ears. “Answer a question for me, don’t think about it, just answer with the first thing that pops into your head, okay?”

Hunter nodded.

“Do you want Linus?”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts, Hunter. I wanted the truth and don’t regret admitting it. Linus is sexy.”

He closed the distance between their mouths and sucked gently at Hunter’s bottom lip.

“Maybe you’d…”

“Nope, you’re just as sexy.” He stroked his hands down Hunter’s chest, over the curve of his stomach, and lower to grip Hunter’s hips. He pushed the cotton of Hunter’s t-shirt up with his thumbs and ruffled the thick hair covering Hunter’s abdomen.

An image formed in his head of Linus and Hunter, his cock jerked and hardened. Short and stocky Linus, and tall, hairy Hunter made a fucking sexy fantasy. As he kissed Hunter until the man started to moan, he analyzed his sudden, odd desire. He wasn’t a prude, but he’d never had any interest in threesomes. One man was fine for him, but maybe it had possibilities.

He deepened the kiss and pressed Hunter back into the chair.

“Do you want Linus and me,” he asked as he nipped at Hunter's lush lips. Hunter's stubble rough against his skin.

Hunter's arms twined around his neck, the man's fingers tentatively played with the hair at his nape.

He pushed Hunter's shirt all the way up and lowered his gaze to take in the thick hair covering Hunter from waist to collarbones. That was fucking sexy. He always loved hairy men. So perfect.

“You going to answer me, baby?”

“I shouldn't, but I do.”

Hunter's voice barely above a whisper, hesitant. He sensed Hunter waited for him to push him away. That had never crossed his mind. He couldn't and wouldn't deny his attraction to either man. Linus remained a mystery, but he was interested in getting to know the man.

“Why shouldn't you,” he asked.

“I'm me.”

“There's nothing wrong with you. You’re beautiful and sweet. I wanted to get to know you from the moment I spotted you. Those sexy glasses. Cute little frown.”

He smiled at the blush that stained Hunter's sharp cheekbones.

“Don't get me started on these deep dimples…” He kissed one scruffy cheek then the other. “In your cheeks when you smile. It embarrasses you when I give you compliments, you gotta get used to it. I'll probably do it a lot.”

“You and Linus…”

“Me and Linus, what?”

“The compliments are too much.”

“Accept them, Hunter. What’s so wrong with me or Linus telling you the good things about you?”

Hunter hunched down, and the man’s hair shielded his face.

He placed his fingertips under Hunter’s chin and urged the man to look up.

“You need to talk to Linus.”

“He hasn’t talked to me in a week.”

“He was drunk, you probably didn’t react well to the unexpected.”

“He’s off on an operation for a week. He won’t contact me since he didn’t ask me to help like he normally does. I called Gage, and he wouldn’t tell me anything either.”

“Is that unusual?”

“Yeah, everyone’s instructed that if I ask, I’m to know where they are.”

“Then why don’t we plan for when he comes back, and we’ll talk to him.”

“Why?”

“If we’re going to make this work between the three of us, shouldn’t we all talk about it?”

“Why are you taking this so well?”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s because I like you and I won’t say I don’t find Linus to be an attractive man. I’ve never thought about a threesome, even if it was just for fun, but I can’t deny I feel this could be a good thing, odd, but good.

“Want to stay for dinner? We can consider it our second date.”

“Okay.”

Wren smiled as he gave Hunter one more kiss and tugged at the hair on Hunter’s belly. He wanted the man, but he also didn’t want to rush into sex. Being with Hunter needed to be about more than that. He sensed Hunter needed more—to be loved. He could see himself falling for Hunter, but the question was could he see himself falling for Linus too. He stood, took Hunter’s hands and pulled him to his feet. Soon enough they could deal with Linus. Until then, he’d learn more about Hunter, and somehow they could come up with a plan to make it work for all three of them.