“Now, I’m not saying I’m God’s gift to gay men or anything, but I do think that helped Drew. It gave him someone to talk to rather than feel like he’d been abandoned for a second time by the man he loved.” So far, Bryce had a point. What I’d been through wasn’t identical to Drew’s year, but we’d gone through a lot of the same things. But Bryce wasn’t done talking. “Then, you came home, and I think he’s a liar if he says he wasn’t attracted to you as well. Hell, you seem like a good guy and you could give him something I couldn’t at the time.”

“What’s that?” I scoffed, feeling as though this conversation was going off the rails.

“You were here.” Three simple words filled with regret. Had Bryce told Drew sooner that he was going to be back in town, all of this could have been avoided. Hell, maybe Drew wouldn’t have even gone out that night, in favor of spending time with Bryce. I knew from the way he’d spent every night at the end of the couch with his phone glued to his hands that Bryce was something important to him.

“But he wanted you,” I argued. “The only thing I could give him that you couldn’t was a warm bed at night.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Bryce’s response was laced with sarcasm. “Come on, Eric. Think about this rationally. You’re fucking gorgeous and Drew’s your typical red-blooded male. Being here would have been enough. Anyway, that’s not the point of all of this. What I’m trying to say is Drew’s probably upstairs right now trying to figure out how to act when he’s in the room with both of us. He’s fucked around with you and I’m not going to insult you by saying we haven’t done the same thing.”

That was a buzzkill. Again, I tried to interrupt and tell him I didn’t need a play-by-play of the night’s events. This time, he stopped me by moving closer on the couch and pressing his palm to my mouth. The corner of his mouth turned up in that cocky smirk, which was quickly becoming his signature smile, when I inhaled deeply and shifted to try to get my dick to listen to me for once.

“I don’t care if I have to keep my hand here until I’m done talking,” Bryce warned me. “You need to listen to what I have to say because it affects all of us.”

This time, it was Bryce squirming around on the couch. My eyes drifted toward his lap and I could see he was just as turned on as I was. God, I was a miserable excuse for a friend. I was hard as nails for the guy who’d just left Drew’s bed. I swallowed hard and nodded for Bryce to continue.

“When he and I were talking tonight, he admitted to me that he’s confused,” Bryce told me. It felt like a betrayal of Drew’s trust for him to share such tidbits with me, but I wasn’t about to try and protest. “He’s attracted to both of us and he thinks he has to choose one or the other.”

I reached up and pulled Bryce’s hand away from my face. “Why would he think that?”

“Because no matter how much he tries to come across as tough and wise to the ways of the world, he’s still a country boy at heart,” Bryce observed. He wasn’t far off from the truth. Drew had been raised in a good family in a small town. He’d gone off to a small, private college where he was still fairly sheltered by the athletic department. “I think he’s worried that getting involved with someone is the same as being in a relationship with them and he has very clear ideas on what that means to him.”

“Meaning two people, no more,” I interjected, finally seeing where Bryce was going with all of this.

“Exactly.” If Bryce moved much closer to me, he was going to be sitting in my lap. That wouldn’t be a hardship, but it would be uncomfortable since I still didn’t know him well enough to fully trust what he was saying. “I told him I don’t expect him to choose, and I don’t think you do either.”

I shook my head, unable to form words. I’d never met a man who seemed so laid back and easy going, yet could turn on the charisma and make a grown man want nothing more than to follow along with whatever he suggested.

“What I’d originally suggested to him was to just do whatever feels right and see what happens,” Bryce informed me. He moved his hand to the back of the couch, allowing his finger tips to brush my shoulder. The faint touch sent a jolt through my system. “But what if there was another way?”

Chapter 13

The biggest benefit of growing up in an old farmhouse was learning how to move around without being heard. It was a skill I’d honed through my high school years because I didn’t want Dad to hear me walking into the house hours after curfew. Now, that skill came in handy again because it allowed me to stand at the top of the stairs listening to the conversation in the basement without them realizing I wasn’t in my bedroom.

I wanted to be angry with Bryce for talking to Eric about me without making sure I was okay with it. Then, I heard the slight hitch in Eric’s voice when he asked Bryce what he meant by there being another way. I was curious as well, only because I was hoping Bryce was about to suggest what I’d been trying to work up the courage to admit I wanted. I didn’t want to pick one or the other. I wanted both of them. Not only that, but more than once, I’d thought about what it’d be like to walk in and see the two of them together. Would I join in or would I be content to simply stand there and watch?

As I listened to Bryce paint almost that exact image for Eric, my cock thickened beneath my sweatpants. Just hearing Bryce talk about the things the two of them could do to me had me gripping the handrail to steady myself.

“There’s no reason we can’t both fuck the nightmares out of him,” Bryce stated bluntly. “Get him so worked up he comes hard enough that he passes out. It’d be a surefire way for both of you to get some sleep.”

“What do you mean both of us?” Eric asked.

“I’m not stupid, Eric,” Bryce deadpanned. “Drew wasn’t the only one to wake me up tonight. In fact, I was just getting back to sleep when he freaked out on me. It was a certain someone yelling across the hall who woke me.”

“Sorry about that,” Eric apologized. I hadn’t even realized Eric had been having trouble sleeping. I’d taken for granted the fact that he was awake every night when the dreams woke me. I thought it was because he was hovering, but the truth was he had his own demons to face.

“Don’t apologize,” Bryce insisted. “I do understand why both of you are having trouble sleeping, but it’s not healthy for either of you. I also know you’re both too proud to admit you need to talk to someone. So, the alternative is for the three of us to consider working together to ensure a good night’s sleep.”

“You make it sound like taking a sleeping pill.” Eric chuckled. “Seriously, how can you talk about this like it’s the most normal thing in the world?”

“Because it’s your view of what’s normal that has you thinking it’s not normal,” Bryce argued. “You’re giving in to what society says is healthy without thinking about what feels good. And in a twisted way, the three of us are perfect for that because you’ll eventually go back to Seattle, Drew will be here, and I’ll be splitting my time between here and Portland.”

“Whoa, I thought you were talking about a little bit of no-strings fun.”

“I am, but who says those non-strings have to be cut when you guys go back to work?” Bryce responded. “And maybe you’re right. Maybe we’ll give this a shot and nothing will come of it. But if we’re still having fun, I see no reason to try to make this into something more serious than it needs to be.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Eric agreed. “But there’s just one other problem.”

“What’s that?” Bryce asked. I was curious as well, but seeing as I was still eavesdropping, I couldn’t exactly ask for myself.

“What if the two of you work and Drew and I work, but you and I don’t.” God, I hated Eric for being the sensible one. I would much rather none of us think about what could complicate some great sex.