Scott
“Good morning.” A week and a half shouldn’t have been long enough to change how I looked at him, but somehow, it was.
We were still learning how to move from friends to more, but as Ryan walked into the kitchen the urge to kiss him still surprised me. Pausing in the doorway, he smiled, looking adorable in his rumpled pajama pants and T-shirt. “Morning.”
Ryan gave me a long, quiet look and then walked toward the table. “Dare gave me instructions already.”
Dare loved giving instructions.
If he couldn’t be with us, he said they were a great way to remind us he was still in charge. I just thought it was his way of pushing us together. He said that if he didn’t keep an eye on us we’d go back to living like roommates and it would get awkward.
He was probably right.
“What kind?” I was guessing good ones by the heated look on Ryan’s face, and the fact that he kept coming toward me said I was part of his instructions.
“The good kind.” He almost leered the words, and I squirmed in my seat, coffee forgotten.
He rounded the table before I could force my brain to find a new question. “I…”
Ryan’s grin widened. “According to Dare, you need a good-morning kiss, and I’m supposed to kiss you thoroughly enough for both of us.”
“Oh.” Again, the words didn’t come fast enough make sense.
Dare shouldn’t do this to me before I’d had coffee.
Ryan chuckled as he leaned over, his lips steadily moving toward mine. When they were inches from mine, he made a low moan. “I can’t make you come, though, and I can’t play with your nipples. He said I have to wait for our date.”
“What d—?” Before anything else could come out, he was kissing me. Tender and slow, he let it build, tugging at my lips and nibbling on them. Reaching out, I wrapped my arms around his neck and opened my mouth.
I wasn’t sure if Dare had given him step-by-step instructions or if he’d been as desperate for a chance to kiss me as I’d been to taste him, but as my lips parted, he swooped in and deepened the kiss until all I could do was make little noises and hold him. When he finally released me, I sagged back in the seat.
He grinned like he’d won the lottery.
“Now that’s a good morning.” Ryan’s words were cheeky and teasing, but I could tell there was something beyond the humor.
“I wanted to kiss you before.” He might have couched the seriousness behind a smile sometimes, but I just shoved it out there.
His grin eased back to something more tender, and he nodded. Crouching down beside me, he was almost at eye level. “Me too. That’s why Dare made me come kiss you.”
“Made?” I knew he hadn’t meant anything by it, but a few worries wouldn’t kill him.
Ryan winced. “Bad choice of words. I wanted to kiss you. I just…wasn’t sure what you wanted or how to approach it.”
“Me neither.” I pushed back my own worries and leaned forward to give him a quick kiss. “I’m not always sure how to go from friends to…boyfriends.”
Ryan nodded. “I still can’t believe we’re dating each other sometimes, much less dating Dare too.”
That was still hard to wrap my brain around. “I like it, though.”
His teasing grin widened again. “Which part? Dating both of us or me?”
I laughed. “Him, of course.” Then just to show him I was teasing, I smiled and gave him another kiss. One was never enough…neither were two. “Both of you together. I’ve known you forever so it’s more logical with you.”
“He’s hot and I’m logical.” Ryan rolled his eyes, but he crowded closer against me and set his hands on either side of the chair, pinning me to the seat. “I think my kiss was better than just logical. I’m thinking passionate or perfect or sexy. Hell, I’ll take sweet.”
I liked the trapped feeling that was starting to flood through me, even though he didn’t seem to realize what he’d done. “I might be able to give you sweet.”
The words came out a bit huskier than I’d intended. Ryan blinked and cocked his head. Glancing around, he finally noticed the tent in my pants and how he was leaning into me. “You weren’t kidding when you said you wanted to be tied to the bed.”
“Well, you said I wanted to be tied to the bed. I just said yes.” Internally, it’d been more like hell yeah, but I thought that’d been fairly obvious.
Ryan snorted. “You practically melted into the floor. Maybe if you’re good, Dare will tie you up, and if I’m good, he’ll let me play with you while you’re stretched out on the bed.”
Oh.
I’d fantasized about being tied to that bed more times than I could count. I’d paid way too much for it because the first time I’d seen it, I’d known it was perfect. The idea that I was going to end up tied to it was overwhelming and incredible.
Chuckling, Ryan leaned in and kissed my lips. “I know you’re turned on by the idea, but if you come now, I’m going to tell Dare.”
I was harder than I should’ve been considering no one was touching my cock. “Snitch.”
Ryan beamed. “Damn right, because it might get me a reward.”
“Dare hasn’t said we couldn't…get off.” He’d threatened to make it a rule, but he’d said he wouldn’t do it until we had a chance to talk and discuss everyone’s needs.
“But you want him to.”
I played dumb. I wasn’t sure why. “Want him to what?”
“Chicken.” But Ryan wasn’t upset. He just smiled. “You want him to tell us we can’t get off.”
Ryan must have been feeling ridiculously horny because he kept going, leaning into my personal space and sending shivers down my spine. “You want him to control you…to control us. You like the idea of him keeping you hard and needy and not letting you come…of making me frustratingly aroused but not letting me get off either.”
“Yes.” Hiding things from him…from them…was stupid. No matter how much my natural inclination was to keep shit to myself, I needed to share things with them or it would all fail. “I want him to control a lot.”
“I know. I don’t think I need it as much, but I get that you do.” Ryan said it in his matter-of-fact way that I was starting to get used to.
“You’ve thought about this for a long time too. Not like three people or me, but you’ve thought about giving up control for a long time.” He’d talked a little bit about the stuff he’d done with Ian, but he’d been vague. One day I wanted to know the rest of the story.
“Yeah.” I knew by the foggy look in his eyes and the way he smiled that he was remembering back. I was too. “At first, he had this way of making it seem like all my idea.”
Oh yes. “But then after a while the pretense wasn’t necessary and it was just him.”
Ryan nodded. “Dare makes me feel the same but…more. With Ian, I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. He made that perfectly clear. But with Dare…”
I nodded. “He’s like a force of nature.” Dare was an individual in the truest sense of the word.
“And with him, I can see more than just having fun or experimenting like it was with Ian.” Ryan’s voice was more hesitant, like he wasn’t sure how I would react to it. “He’s…special.”
“Me too. I like him.” It was my turn to start putting myself out there. “I like us with him. And I like how things have changed between us now that he’s…with us.”
Ryan grinned. “So I shouldn’t have needed Dare to push me into kissing you?”
I could feel the heat rising on my face. “No. You never need any excuse.”
“I’m glad.” Ryan’s smile turned heated as he leaned in close, his intent clear. “I think every day should start with a good-morning kiss.”
As his lips brushed mine, I whispered against them, “That’s a rule I could get used to.”
****
Some of my coworkers thought the closing of the stock market meant their day had ended, but mine never stopped that early.
Except today.
If I wasn’t careful, between the research and growing my client list, my day could be never-ending. But when I’d first joined the company, one of the icons in the office who’d been in the business almost his entire life dropped dead at his desk of a heart attack.
That’d been all the wake-up call I’d needed. I’d work hard and do my best, but I’d also make sure I had a life outside the office. So I went to the gym and tried to remember not to put too many hours in over the weekend, but I never left early during the week.
Not until my not-just-roommate said our Dom wanted us to go on a date.
When, after our long kisses in the kitchen, Ryan had said he wanted to take me out to dinner after work, I’d immediately said yes. Wednesday night wasn’t an ideal time, but with no meetings, it was doable.
I wasn’t at the bottom of the ladder anymore, but as I stepped out of my shoebox office, it still felt like it. I just had to keep reminding myself I was out of the mass of other new brokers, and I was doing better every month. One day, I was going to have a big corner office and my own assistant instead of sharing one with several other brokers.
“Sean? I’m heading out for the day. Thanks for your help earlier.” Sean was the only other out gay employee at the office, and it hadn’t taken a genius to guess that had been why he’d been assigned to me once I’d moved up. I wasn’t sure why the idiots in the back had decided it was a brilliant decision, but luckily enough, he’d worked out great.
From our first handshake there’d been no sparks at all. It was perfect.
He thought I was boring and that’s the way I wanted it. I’d never been in the closet at work, but I’d always kept my personal life private. So private, people had stopped asking me about dates and weekend plans after I’d worked there about six months.
With anyone else he would have asked about their plans or teased them about flaking off early, but with me, he just nodded. I’d felt bad to begin with about keeping people at a distance, but after I’d overheard him talking about me in the breakroom one day I’d stopped feeling bad.
He hadn’t been mean. In fact, he’d said lots of nice things about my abilities and industry knowledge, but he’d also cheekily told one of the other admins that I was the most boring person he’d ever worked with.
I had a feeling he’d meant the most boring gay guy he’d ever worked with, because I was not the least social or most awkward in the bunch. I was fairly normal. At least, at the office.
My goal was to make a living, not make waves, and I didn’t regret that.
I was proud of everything I’d accomplished, and that was what I wanted to be known for. Not like James, one of the other financial advisors who’d been hired around the same time I’d been. He was most famous around the office for the amount of time off he’d taken and the number of women he dated in a month.
I’d take “boring” over that moron’s decisions any day.
Sean finished typing something and pointed to a stack of papers. “I’ll have everything for the new clients set up tonight and on your desk tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” I’d worked on some small investments for a funny lady who was almost ninety. I’d mainly done it because she’d been nice and I’d felt bad that her previous advisor hadn’t been much help to her. Once we’d gotten everything up and running and she’d seen her money start to grow, she’d started steadily sending all her friends in to meet with me.
At the rate I was going, I was going to end up with a huge percentage of my clients being over eighty, but they were fun and I was starting to see my own income rise, which was nice as well.
“Oh, and I added two more meetings next week to my calendar.” I gestured to the papers. “More friends who need second opinions.”
Sean cracked a smile. “They’re easy to deal with on the phone, so I won’t complain.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Heading toward the front of the office, I mentally started my to-do list for the next day. Unfortunately, that didn’t keep my mind occupied for long.
By the time I was out of the parking garage, I was back to thinking about our date…and what might happen after.
I’d texted Dare for a few minutes at lunch. He’d been excited for my date with Ryan, but had also hinted that dessert might be just as fun as dinner. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to get him to elaborate.
Did dessert have something to do with Ryan and me, or was there something I was missing?
Ryan had been the one to get the instructions and he was being just as cagey as Dare, so it was entirely possible. Considering I’d had a hard enough time just getting the name of the restaurant he wanted to meet at for dinner, I thought it was more than possible.
Neither of us needed to be out crazy late, so we’d agreed to meet at a nice steak place just after work instead of having me come home and meet him there first. I thought Ryan was a bit frustrated that he wouldn’t get to drive me there like he’d pictured for what was probably our first date, but it made the most sense. He’d finally given in when I’d kissed him and told him that I’d do the same for any date because it was logical and it meant I’d have more time with him rather than driving around.
The drive across town wasn’t long, but it gave me too much time to think. Everything was simpler when Ryan and Dare were with me. Just having Ryan with me in the kitchen made my nerves quiet. I liked it.
I wasn’t having second thoughts about what we were doing or even issues about the practical part of it…I just wished I understood the boundaries. Ryan and I lived together but didn’t. We were friends but were dating. Where was the line between friendship and what we had now?
Could I just walk in and ask to sleep with him for the night?
Could I tell him I wanted to touch him more and explore his body?
Could I tell him I wanted him to touch me?
With other guys I’d dated, I’d always had to force myself to go through the motions of what I thought they’d wanted, but with Ryan, I wasn’t sure what to do. If we both wanted someone else to take charge we’d never get anywhere with just the two of us…but there were things I wanted.
More kisses.
To feel his arms wrapped around me while we lay down together.
The list was endless, but I didn’t know how to get started. There wasn’t this need to put things off or go slow like there had been in the past. I wanted everything now, but I wasn’t sure how to go about getting it.
But I was hoping that’s what Dare would take care of.
He’d been clear that communication and honesty were the key to making us work. With the secrets out of the way, I was hoping he’d take things to the next level. I knew his answer would be that we needed to talk about what the next level should look like.
But I was ready to make love to them…both of them.
If there was something I wanted at work, I’d have gone for it. It was like the football field; everything else just fell away and it was easy to focus. There was nothing personal hanging around in my head and nothing I had to worry about other than studying and giving my best.
It was easy.
The rest of life wasn’t that easy.
As I pulled into the parking lot and found a spot, I tried to push the thoughts away. “You are going to have fun on your date. That’s what matters now.”
Pocketing the keys as I got out of the car and stood, I glanced around, trying to see Ryan’s car. When I found him, I had to laugh. He was leaning against the hood of his car doing his best eighties movie pose, trying to seem cool.
He didn’t need to worry about how he looked for me. I didn’t need him cool…I just needed him.