Ryan
Weirdest night ever…and I couldn't even blame it on alcohol or bad decisions because I’d been fairly sober, and I wasn’t sure it had been a bad decision. That part was still up in the air. Scott had been quiet on the way back to the apartment, and even though I could almost hear the wheels turning in his brain, he hadn’t seemed willing to share.
When my phone signaled an incoming text, I almost ignored it. It was late enough it would either be an “I’m drunk come get me” text from a friend or drama from someone. Neither of which I wanted to deal with. I was pretty content staring up at the ceiling over my bed and trying to figure out what had happened…and what I’d agreed to.
Grabbing my phone blindly off the nightstand, I brought it up to my face and smiled when I saw the text. Dare. I couldn’t decide if he was being funny or just a bit controlling, but I liked it either way.
I have a feeling you’re still up trying to decide WTF happened.
Chuckling to myself, I nodded. Yeah, it’d been a hell of a night. With someone else I might have ignored it because my head was still going in circles and it felt like I would be admitting too much, but I had a feeling Dare would know either way. He seemed to be able to look right through a person.
I couldn't decide if it was creepy or not.
Not letting myself think about it too much, I responded back.
Yeah feels weird not bad though…you’ve just got my mind going.
Dare texted back quickly.
Did I give you too much to think about?
Not wanting him to worry, I responded right away.
No…I just never thought about…well…Scott and telling him stuff like that.
It was vague, but it was something, so I sent it anyway. Dare responded with a laughing emoji and the devil. Evidently, I was funny and he was evil?
Stuff like you think he’s hot but you like being dominated?
Oh hell. He really had no subtlety at all.
Eventually, it might be a good thing, but at that moment, it was frightening. I hadn’t responded to a question like that in years. Fuck it. I’d basically outed myself to Scott anyway even though he hadn’t said anything about it, so there was no reason to pretend now.
Yes…both…how did you know?
I didn’t have to wait long. His mind seemed to go so fast, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was a night person.
Something about the way you watched me and each other. I knew you were both attracted to me but neither of you made a move and I knew there had to be a reason.
Several big reasons, in fact. Had I always been that transparent or was he just good at reading people? Before I could decide if I would even ask, he texted again.
I get the feeling letting someone else take charge isn’t something you’ve had a lot of experience with.
Understatement of the year.
Yeah…with just one guy…once I came out everyone assumed that I was this dominant top because of football and my size…
Dare always seemed to take things one step further.
And telling someone you wanted an aggressive partner seemed really personal. Stereotypes are alive and well in the gay community, no matter how much we want to get away from them. No one would look at you and think sub no matter how clear it is when they actually listen to you.
It was?
I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of that, but after a minute, I realized that since just about everyone else ignored it, I wasn’t going to worry about it. I had enough on my mind without adding things to the list that weren’t important.
I think you’re just better at reading people than most people are.
I laughed at his response.
Because I’m just fabulous.
And had a great sense of self-worth too. So I couldn’t resist teasing back.
Not what I was going to say…but sure…we’ll go with that.
His text had me squirming, and my cock starting to thicken.
Hmm naughty boy. I think someone is itching for a spanking.
Spanking?
I hated not being able to see his face. Was he being serious? I must have waited too long to respond because he texted back.
You’re very quiet. I think I might have hit the nail on the head with that one. Have you ever been spanked, Ryan?
I had another one of those tell the truth or go back into hiding moments. The truth won…for now.
Yes…once…it was…I wouldn’t object if you wanted it.
I sounded like a teenager stumbling over admitting I had a crush. Scott’s strong, silent-type demeanor when he got stressed was starting to sound like a better idea. He might be quiet, but he didn’t look like an idiot.
Instead of teasing me about stumbling over the wishy-washy answer, Dare seemed to take it very seriously. When he texted back, I could almost see the intense expression he’d worn several times at the club.
Thank you for being honest with me. I know that was hard.
Then, the intensity took a sexy turn.
But would it help to know that I pictured you bent over the table at the club earlier while I spanked you and had you coming all over the floor?
Fuck.
Would yes be a weird answer? Probably.
I’m not sure what the right answer is…but can I say you have a great imagination?
Closing my eyes and hoping I wasn’t doing something stupid, I hit send.
In seconds, Dare responded.
I can’t wait to tell you about the other things I imagined. Sexy beautiful things between the three of us.
And we were back to the part I was unsure about.
Scott didn’t know anything about the control stuff before tonight.
With his silence in the car, I still wasn’t sure what he’d thought about it either.
I’m not sure he realizes it, to be honest. He was pretty lost in his own thoughts about everything. I’m not going to make this an order but you guys need to talk about this stuff. Communication is the only way to keep this from blowing up.
He didn’t?
Are you sure?
I realized it was a stupid question seconds after I’d hit send, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Considering I just met you both tonight not 100% but I’m pretty sure. You guys need to talk. But fair warning, if you don’t do it before our date then I’ll force the issue and bring it up.
Shit.
I don’t know…
Telling him no really didn’t occur to me, but it probably should have.
It’s important, Ryan. If I’m in charge then I’m going to make some rules. I think that’s what you’re looking for anyway.
That just bounced around in my head like a ping-pong ball on steroids.
What kind of rules?
Admitting I was curious about that was easier than promising to talk to Scott, and that was more telling than I wanted to admit. I pictured Dare smiling at me when he texted back.
I shouldn’t let you change the subject but I will this time. Some naughty and some just to let you remember who’s in charge. I bet you’re hard right now, aren’t you?
Yep.
It doesn’t take a mind reader to guess that.
He sent a picture of a laughing emoji and something that looked like a paddle. Fuck.
You’re tempting me, aren’t you?
Tempting him to what? I decided it didn’t matter.
Maybe.
I could honestly say I had no idea what I was doing, but as tired as I was at that point, it didn’t scare me as much as it should have. Maybe it was a lack of sleep or maybe it was just because I hadn’t realized how lonely I’d been until Dare had sat down on my lap, but in that moment, I wasn’t sure who I’d been hiding from.
College was long since over and the people at my job didn’t even seem to realize I was human, much less gay. I was just a cog in a wheel, and as long as the paperwork got done, they didn’t care. My family knew I was gay and had handled it just fine, but they’d never asked me overly nosy questions, which I was grateful of.
There was only one person who would really matter.
Scott.
And not just because I was thinking about having sex with him…or at the very least having sex with someone else while he watched…and while I watched him.
I was going to have to talk to Scott.
****
The smell of coffee woke me entirely too early.
I tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but the thought of Scott going into the office before we’d had a chance to at least try to talk made me uncomfortable. We hadn’t fought, and we hadn’t done anything weird last night, but there was the canyon between us that seemed to be growing wider in my head.
Groaning, I shoved the covers off and ignored my morning wood as I went to the bathroom and quickly rushed through everything I needed to do. Once I was ready, I headed for the kitchen, trying to figure out what I would say.
Scott didn’t always go into work on the weekend, so I wasn’t sure how ready he was to head into the office, but I didn’t want to miss him by seconds because I’d taken my time in the bathroom. As I walked into the small eat-in kitchen, I saw Scott hovering over a cup of coffee, and from a quick glance at the pot, I realized it was probably his second.
Taking his time before going in or a lot on his mind?
His furtive glance in my direction before focusing back on his coffee made it obvious. Scott sat quietly while I poured myself a cup and overloaded it with milk and sugar. The first sign he was really seeing me was when he grimaced at the amount of sugar I spooned in.
Chuckling, I sat down across from him in my usual seat and took a sip. When I set the cup down and stared at him, he blushed. This couldn’t continue. “We’ve been friends for years, right?”
Scott gave me a nod. “Yes.”
“In the closet or out, it didn’t matter because we were friends.”
It wasn’t a question, but Scott nodded again. He took another sip of his coffee, the tension slowly leaving his body. Feeling a little better, I kept going. “This thing with Dare is going to be the same. Whether we do it or not, that’s not going to affect our friendship.”
Scott shrugged, but actually spoke more than a single word, so I considered it a step in the right direction. “It’s not like we’d just be dating the same guy. This is different.”
He didn’t bring up Ian by name, but I knew what he was thinking about.
Shying away from the topic of Ian might have made me a chicken, but I was fine with that. I wasn’t ready to talk about that part, and if Scott didn’t want to either, that was good with me. Finding out your friend liked to be bossed around in bed could be weird.
“Yeah…I know, but it’s…I don’t know. He made it sound reasonable.” Erotic. Sexy. Fascinating. There were other words that would have worked better, but they’d sounded intimate, even in my head.
Scott barked out a laugh and almost choked on the drink of coffee he’d swallowed wrong. When he stopped coughing, he shook his head. “Um, understatement?”
I had to laugh. “Maybe.”
But he’d still sounded…interested…and Scott hadn’t said no.
His gaze fell to his cup, and he swirled the coffee around for a moment. “What do you think he’s going to want to do? Like some kind of a sandwich or something more…like with everyone. Fuck. I sound like a kid.” Scott laughed at himself and took a breath before trying again. “Is he going to expect us to fool around with each other too? We’ve never done anything like that.”
That was the million-dollar question.
“No idea. He’s…confident, but he didn’t push too hard last night, so I don’t think that will change. When we were texting last night, he said we needed to talk things out first.”
“You guys were texting too?”
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “There was a lot on my mind.”
“Yeah.” Scott nodded and watched his coffee cup like he was afraid it would get up and move on its own. “We were texting about stuff and he said the same thing. Do you think he really wants to…date us? Not just get his kinky rocks off and leave but really date? Do people really do that?”
“Well, the internet universe says they do but the kinkiest thing our town had was Mr. Jamison and his ‘long-term tenant’ Mr. Brooks.” They were two older guys who’d been living together for so long the town had forgotten to be scandalized somewhere along the way.
Scott chuckled. “After I came out, Mr. Brooks came up to me in the store and told me that I could always come by and talk if I needed to.”
They were nice guys. “Mr. Jamison came up to me once we were in college and said that if you ever needed a place to live to let him know.”
Scott’s parents hadn’t exactly taken the news of his coming out well. They hadn’t shoved him to the curb, but he hadn’t gone back in years and they only called on Christmas and his birthday. My parents had done their best to adopt him and treated him the same way they did the rest of the kids in the family, but it wasn’t the same thing.
Scott grinned. “They’re great. Maybe we should get your mom to send them a Christmas card or something from us this year.” The king of changing the subject had done a damned good job…or maybe this one had been my fault. I wasn’t sure.
“Yeah, her list is ten feet long already, one more won’t matter.” Not sure how to bring the conversation back around, I gave up trying to be subtle. “Are you okay with what Dare talked about? We can tell him no if you want to.”
I just wasn’t sure what would happen if we did that. Would he end up wanting to date just one of us? He’d flirted with both of us and we’d both found him attractive at the bar, but Scott had never talked about wanting someone like Dare. Did Scott even understand the other stuff that Dare had been hinting about?
Scott looked up again. “Do you want to tell him no?”
“Oh no, I asked you first. No changing the subject.” I wasn’t dealing with that answering a question with a question crap.
Scott chuckled. “I guess I’m okay with it.”
That wasn’t a confident enough answer. “Do you want to date him together and see what happens?”
“No, you’ve got to answer the other question too before you get to ask another.”
“I guess I’m okay with it.” I cracked a smile when he rolled his eyes. “Now, do you want to date him together?”
“I guess.”
“I guess he’s got himself two guys to date.”
Lord. We were either going to be the most interesting people Dare had ever dated or the most boring. I wasn’t sure which.