Oliver
“Did you hear?” Oliver’s excited voice rang out through the house as he ended the call. They’d been taking turns talking to Bryce, and Oliver was over the moon with excitement.
“Yes. I heard.” Troy’s dry voice came from the kitchen. He wasn’t bouncing around like Oliver wanted to do, but Oliver could hear the pleased tone in his voice.
“He told his family about us!” Oliver tossed his phone onto the laundry basket full of clothes that were waiting to be taken upstairs and went into the kitchen to track down Troy. He walked, trying not to look like a teenager excited to be talking to their first crush.
Ever since the weekend Bryce had stayed over, their relationship had been getting more and more serious. At least, that’s how it felt to Oliver. Troy kept telling him to relax because they weren’t going to rush Bryce, but it was hard.
They’d talked most nights and had met for dinner several times. Oliver had even gone into the office to sign the new policies and talk through more of the fine print. To him, everything was moving along fabulously.
“It’s a good sign, you’re right.”
“I’m always right. And it’s a wonderful sign!” There hadn’t been a good way to ask Bryce if his family knew about them, so it had come right out of the blue when he started talking about his brothers and mentioned that they knew. A completely casual comment that probably sounded innocent, but felt incredible to Oliver.
“Is he getting off work early enough to have dinner still?” Troy went back to stirring the pot on the stove, his calm expression betrayed by the pleasure Oliver could see in his eyes.
“Yes, he’s on his way.” He was coming over to the house to have dinner. Bryce had been making an effort to leave early enough to do things with them most evenings.
Troy had even left work early enough to make homemade pasta sauce. It was his obsession, so Oliver didn’t even volunteer to make it. It was one of the things Troy did to show he cared. Oliver wasn’t sure Bryce would notice, so he told himself he’d find a time to point it out. It had taken him too long to figure it out on his own, and he didn’t want Bryce to suffer the same frustration.
As he walked around the kitchen, finishing the meatballs, Troy talked about his day and entertained Oliver with his stories. Troy was a consultant that helped small companies streamline processes and make things more efficient. Recently, he’d been working with a local chain of car dealerships that had been struggling.
He’d gotten home every night with stories about the stubborn employees and their insane reasons for not even following the systems they had in place. Most employees stayed with the company for years, and getting them to adjust to new things was more difficult than the owner realized.
“He didn’t believe me when I told him how many month’s worth of receipts she had in her desk because she couldn’t figure out the—” The ring of the doorbell cut Troy off.
“I’ll go let him in.” Oliver straightened and headed toward the door to the living room.
Troy laughed and went back to focusing on dinner as Oliver headed out of the kitchen. Opening the door, he gave a start of surprise when he was pulled into Bryce’s arms. The deep, heated kiss made his toes curl, and he made a whine of protest when Bryce pulled back.
Bryce had a grin that was erotic and infectious. Oliver had flashes of naughty things going through his head as Bryce closed the front door behind him and pulled Oliver back into his embrace, this time tighter, with Oliver’s body flush against his.
Oliver didn’t fight the need to rub himself against Bryce. His new Dom wasn’t a stickler for rules unless they were in a scene. He didn’t mind getting Oliver worked up and making him beg. Troy, on the other hand—
“Oliver.” Troy’s firm voice came from behind Oliver. “What are you doing?”
“He caught you.” Bryce’s grin was pure wickedness and fire. Not a submissive bone in his body showed in that moment. Bryce looked up, shaking his head. “He came to the door and jumped me, terrible behavior.”
Troy snorted, but Oliver peeked back and saw the laughter in his eyes. “We’ll have to see about reminding him of his manners. I’m not sure he needs to be thrusting against you, demanding attention.”
The control and censure in Troy’s voice went right to Oliver’s cock. He loved that naughty feeling that flooded through him when Troy looked at him like he should know better. If Troy had actually been disappointed, it wouldn’t have been fun at all, but that mock disapproval was hot. Especially when Bryce set him up.
“I’m sorry, Sirs. I’ll be good.” He glanced back at Bryce. “I’ll be very good.”
Bryce grinned and smacked Oliver’s ass, sending shivers through him. “Naughty boy.”
Troy shook his head at both of them. “Come on, you two. Dinner is almost ready.”
They headed back into the kitchen, Bryce teasing Oliver and making Troy roll his eyes. The smells from the kitchen hit them as soon as they walked in. Bryce groaned, sounding almost orgasmic. Oliver laughed. “If you actually learned to cook, then you wouldn’t just about come every time you came over.”
Bryce shrugged. “I’m not that bad compared to my brothers. It just doesn’t stick. I can cook stuff like spaghetti with jarred sauce and a few things like that, but not much more.”
He’d kept them in stitches at the restaurant the last time they’d gone out to dinner with stories about the things that his brothers had cooked. Even Troy had laughed upon hearing their antics. “I still don’t see how your parents just gave up.”
Leaning back against the counter, Bryce just lifted one shoulder in confusion. “I think it was a case of picking their battles. We all appreciate good food.” He looked over at the mountain of food on the stove. “Cooking it just doesn’t sound as good as eating it, maybe?”
Oliver just laughed, not understanding it at all. Seeing the food almost ready, he went over to the cabinet and grabbed the plates. Moving around the kitchen, he watched as Bryce and Troy eyed each other. There was still some awkwardness while they figured things out between the two of them.
Once the two men figured out if Bryce wanted to be more dominant or submissive in a situation, then things were easy. Until they worked that out, it was interesting to watch them. They each wanted to please the other, but weren’t talking it out very well. Oliver thought he was going to have to be the one to cuff them both to the bed next time and make them talk it out.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t get that far. He loved being tied to it and didn’t want to give up his spot. He had the best fantasies about being Troy’s love slave. Having to be the take-charge member of their little group wouldn’t be fun.
They needed a calendar.
Oliver felt like a cartoon character with a light bulb over his head. They needed a calendar. One where they could plan out their roles. If something needed to change at the last minute, then they’d adjust it, but if Bryce knew he could be a Dom during the week and a sub with Oliver on the weekends, it might make it easier on him until the two men worked out their signals or could manage to talk without worrying about offending each other.
“Oliver?”
“Huh?” Bryce was looking at him questioningly, but Oliver wasn’t sure what he’d said. “Sorry, I was thinking.”
“I was asking about the job stuff and if you’d figured out what you wanted to do.” Bryce walked around the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Oliver felt bad he’d zoned out and missed helping bring the food over to the table, but the guys didn’t seem mad. Just curious.
“I’m not sure.” Oliver walked over and took his normal seat beside Troy. They had a good-sized round table, but it felt like he was sitting between the two men. Sandwiched like that was perfect. “I’ve been looking around, but nothing is calling to me. I was talking to Troy yesterday about maybe going to grad school, but I don’t know about that, either.”
He’d been in the same position several years before when he’d just gotten out of college. At the time, he’d taken a job as an administrative assistant with a brokerage company. He wasn’t sure he liked finance, but he was great with organizing and managing people, like his boss and the customers.
The first weeks of working for the older gentleman had been rough. He was an odd mix of charm and a sexist pig, with women and gay men lumped in the same category. He’d taken it personally until he’d realized that the man wasn’t aware how offensive he was.
Before he could decide if he wanted to quit, one of the other assistants had approached him. She talked him through confronting the old fart and explaining what he could and couldn’t say. Oliver’s boss had never understood why what he said was so offensive, but it cleared the air and made things bearable. Oliver had actually come to enjoy their clients and his job.
When the old man died of a heart attack working late one night, Oliver decided to turn in his resignation instead of trying to find someone more open-minded at the firm to work with. Oliver only felt bad about George’s death because over the years he’d worked with him, he’d heard George’s wife say several times that she’d rather he died at work than retire at home.
She’d actually said something more colorful, calling him an old pig when she was yelling at him over the phone one time. So Oliver wasn’t upset, but wasn’t sure he wanted to live the drama any longer. Troy had agreed with him, telling Oliver that he should take time off to figure out what he wanted.
They made a good living with just Troy’s salary, and Oliver never felt bad for not working. Bryce didn’t seem disappointed that Oliver was technically unemployed, or maybe he was considered a house husband. House partner, maybe?
“Maybe you should find something to volunteer at if you just want to get out of the house.” Bryce took a bite of a meatball and moaned, making Oliver and Troy both shift in their seats. Bryce was completely oblivious to it, but watching him eat made them both want to jump him.
“Huh?” What had Bryce said?
Troy gave a low chuckle. “Volunteering.”
“Oh, yeah, it’s not a bad idea.” That just brought up more decisions, though. “I’m not sure what I would do.”
Troy and Bryce both gave him understanding smiles. Bryce leaned over and gave his hand a squeeze. “It was just an idea.”
“It’s a good one. I guess I’m floundering a little. I liked the helping side of my job. I want a career, but I don’t know what it should look like.”
“You’re smart enough to do anything you want.” Bryce gave Troy’s hand a pat and went back to eating.
“And staying home all day by yourself will make you crazy.” Troy gave him a dry look that made Oliver laugh.
“It’s already setting in.” Aside from avoiding a few odd jobs around the house like the baseboards, it was usually clean, and they were starting to figure out where everything should go. He was quickly running out of projects.
They tossed around a few ideas from reasonable to ridiculous and finished eating, laughing and joking. As they started cleaning up the kitchen, Troy looked over at Bryce after he put away the leftover sauce. “You still staying for a movie?”
Bryce nodded, loading a plate into the dishwasher. “Yes. I don’t have anything early tomorrow, so I’m not worried about the time.” He gave Troy a grin. “I’ve been trying to manage my schedule better and not make as many early morning or late appointments.”
“Evidently, you found something more interesting to do in the evenings.” Troy gave him a heated look as he walked over to the table to continue putting things away.
“Much more interesting.” Bryce looked at both of them, making sure Oliver knew he was included in the interesting. They were so cute.
“I have to drive out to a few of the auto dealerships I’m contracted with tomorrow afternoon. The meetings are all going to run late, and one doesn’t even start until after six. I was thinking that you and Oliver might want to have dinner out tomorrow.” Troy nonchalantly tossed out the date like he was asking Bryce to pick up wine before he came over for dinner. Oliver knew it was on purpose to try to make it less of an issue, but the silence was overwhelming.
Bryce finally cleared his throat, considering both men carefully. “That sounds good. Do you want to try the French place we were talking about the other day?”
Inside, Oliver was squealing like a teenage girl at a boy band concert, but on the outside, he thought he looked fairly calm. “That sounds good, as long as I get dessert.”
Bryce laughed, going back to finish loading the dishwasher. “I can agree to that.”
Troy snorted, giving them a dismissive look. “I can’t believe you’re going to have your date at the French place. I thought you would take me there.”
Oliver laughed so hard the drink of soda he’d taken started to come out his nose. Bryce gave them a look like they were both crazy. Then he gave Troy a flirty smile. “Wouldn’t you like the sushi place instead?”
Scrunching up his nose, Oliver shuddered. “Eww, gross.”
“You sound like my brothers.”
“Then they have perfect palates because raw fish is gross and the green stuff sticks to your teeth.” He grimaced, shuddering as he relived the taste of it in his mouth. “You two knock yourself out, but leave me home on that date.”
Troy laughed. “It wasn’t bad.”
“It was. It was chewy and the texture…yuck.” Oliver couldn’t get the flavor out of his head. He took the last drink of his soda, but could still taste the memory of it. “I need something else to get it out of my mouth.”
Troy walked back to the fridge, shaking his head, but Bryce walked over to Oliver and pulled him close. Kissing him deeply, sweeping his tongue deep into Oliver’s mouth, Bryce had him sagging against his chest and hard in seconds.
When Bryce pulled away, he was smirking. “Did that help?”
“Yes, but just to be sure, we should try again.” Oliver grinned and moaned as Bryce humored him, taking his mouth deeply again, pinning Oliver’s hands to his side so he was trapped against Bryce.
By the time Bryce pulled away again they were both panting. Oliver was starting to think heading up to the bedroom sounded better than the movie, but hearing Troy clear his throat nixed that idea. “Movie, no sex.”
“All right.”
“Okay.”
Oliver had to laugh because Bryce sounded just as disappointed as he was. They’d agreed that they’d hang out and not get distracted by naughty things. When they’d been on the phone with Bryce talking about the plan, it had seemed like a reasonable idea. In person, with Bryce looking at them like that, it was harder.
“You two.” Troy didn’t seem to mind their antics, though. Oliver thought he needed someone to help him relax a little more. Troy always took on too much, and if Bryce could help share some of his stress, Oliver would be grateful. He never felt like a burden to Troy or like a second-class partner in the relationship, but he knew Troy put too much weight on his own shoulders to make things work.
They’d talked about it several times, but Troy couldn’t move past the taking-care-of-Oliver mentality. It was thoughtful, but it made Oliver worry. “Come on. You two are dawdling because you don’t like the movie I picked out.”
Troy and Bryce barked out a laugh. Troy looked at the room. “What did you do to help again?”
“I swept.” Oliver gave them an indignant look.
“Sure.” Bryce drew the word out, rolling his eyes.
“I have the broom.” And he’d even moved around the kitchen with it. It wasn’t his fault the two men were much more fun to look at than the dirt on the floor.
“That doesn’t mean you did anything with it, kitten.” Troy let the words rumble out in a deep voice.
“Do I need to be punished?” Oliver knew he hadn’t managed to keep the excitement out of his voice. “I was naughty.”
Wearing matching wicked grins, Bryce’s just bigger than Troy’s, the men looked at each other. Bryce nodded to a silent question Oliver hadn’t seen. “You’re right. I think he does need to be punished.”
The way he said it sounded erotic and incredible. It made Oliver immediately suspicious, but horny, too. Before he could even ask, both men came toward him. Pulling Oliver so he was pressed between them both, Troy looked down at him. “Let’s go watch the movie and I’ll show you how we punish naughty boys who don’t help with the chores.”
Oliver almost purred. “Oh yes, Sirs.”