“No, but it’s going to look stupid to just stack these presents in the corner of the room,” I argued.

“Somehow, I don’t think anyone but you will be bothered by that,” Eric countered, glancing over his shoulder.

I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I leaned in close enough so only he’d hear my next words. “That’s true, but it’ll make me happy. And just think about all the ways I can thank you for giving me what I want.”

Eric groaned and I clamped my teeth down on his earlobe as I laughed. I knew he was going to cave and I’d get my damn Christmas tree. A big one so it wasn’t dwarfed by the high ceilings and plate glass windows.

“Fine,” Eric conceded. “After dinner, you and Cody can go get the tree since it was your brilliant idea.”

“Thank you.” I kissed his neck, sucking hard enough to remind him what I wanted to do to him later but not so hard it left a mark.

“Mmm-hmm. You’d better hurry and eat. You have a long night ahead of you between decorating the tree and wrapping all those presents.” Eric turned around in my grasp and pressed his semi-hard dick against mine. “And you’re not going to want to miss tonight. I think Bryce is in the mood to take charge again.”

Fuck. I loved it when Bryce took the lead. I’d never thought I’d be into a guy telling me what to do in bed, but it was hot as hell. And loud. And we had company for the weekend. Fuck, the old me, the self-centered asshole, wanted to jump in the car and kick Cody out at the center, but I couldn’t forget how happy he was when we told him he didn’t have to go back there until Monday. He’d just have to deal with us being as quiet as possible, because no way in hell was I going to miss this.

“Couldn’t you guys wrap while we get the tree?” I protested. Divide and conquer seemed to be a damn good idea to me.

Eric shook his head and laughed. “You were the one who wanted to do all this,” he reminded me. “If I’d had my way, we’d have sat around the house all afternoon and shopped online. We probably could have even paid extra so everything was delivered already wrapped. Now, you have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

“I hate you,” I groaned.

“Nah, you just think you do.” Eric tilted my head back and sealed his mouth over mine. My cock thickened as his tongue slipped past my mouth, pushing deeper, demanding more. As he pulled away, I felt the words I’d been too afraid to say to him threatening to spill out of my mouth. I didn’t hate him, I loved him and Bryce both in a way I never expected to share with anyone. It felt as though we were on our way to being something real and long-lasting. That, to me, was more than anything I could have asked for.

Someone cleared his throat behind us. I looked over my shoulder and saw Cody watching us. His brows were furrowed in confusion. “Uh, maybe now isn’t the time for a live sex ed lesson. I mean, it’d be hot as hell, but might get a bit awkward.”

The entire room erupted in laughter. The lighthearted atmosphere made me hate Cody’s parents even more. He was a smart, funny, and talented kid whose only black mark was that he happened to be gay. I couldn’t imagine living in a world where that was enough for a family to turn their back on their own flesh and blood. It made me grateful for what I had in my own life, both the family I was related to by blood and the men I hoped I’d never again have to live without.

Eric stared at me and I swore I saw the same emotions reflected back in his eyes. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I told them both how I felt. Maybe it’d be the best thing I ever did. But not now. Tonight, when we didn’t have an audience.

Rather than waste time sitting around the house eating leftovers, I grabbed the keys to Eric’s SUV and told Cody we’d get something on the way. It was late enough in the season that I wasn’t holding out hope of getting my dream tree, but I was okay with that since my main objective had changed. Charlie Brown’s pathetic little tree sounded like a fine choice because it’d take one minute to decorate and then I could say goodnight to Cody as I ran down the hall, stripping as soon as I was out of his sight.

“So, which one of them is your boyfriend?” Cody asked while we waited our turn in the drive thru line. I’d been riding an emotional high today and hadn’t thought about the fact that the way we lived wasn’t considered normal to most people.

“Both of them, I suppose,” I answered. There was nothing he could ask that I wasn’t bound to get from other people, so I found myself almost hoping he’d keep pressing the issue so I could get used to the inquiries. “You cool with that?”

Cody shrugged. “Yeah, I mean it’s your life, right?”

“Yes, it is,” I responded. “But I get that it’s not something everyone can understand.”

“No one but you needs to understand it,” Cody pointed out. He was right, but that didn’t mean people wouldn’t think less of us because we were all together. “Don’t you get jealous?”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean, if you knew they were back at your place fucking around while you’re not there, wouldn’t that piss you off?” Fuck, I really wished he hadn’t put that image in my head.

“No, it wouldn’t,” I answered without hesitation. In fact, since we’d cleared the air so we all knew it wasn’t a matter of all three of us or nothing at all, I almost hoped they were. We all needed to know that we could survive as pairings because come spring, it would be impossible for me to be around all the time. That thought upset me, but only because we were still new enough that I didn’t want to have to kiss them goodbye as I walked out the door for spring training or a long road stretch.

“Then why’d that smile fall off your face?” Cody pointed out. I was saved from having to tell him as I pulled up in front of the intercom to place our order.

The silence held while Cody scarfed down his food. I watched him pack away enough food for a small family, wondering if I’d eaten like that when I was younger. Given the number of times my mother bitched about the grocery bill, I probably did. I’d hate to know how much it would’ve cost them to keep up with my appetite if they hadn’t raised so much of our food on the farm.

“Can I ask you another question?” Cody inquired after he stuffed all of his wrappers into the empty sack.

“Sure. I told you when we met that you can ask me anything,” I reminded him. Back then, I’d simply been hoping he’d realize I wasn’t some hotshot athlete slumming it for the winter, but that I was there because I genuinely wanted to help him. I felt as though we’d grown to a point where I was one of the few people he could rely on and I’d never do anything to jeopardize that.

“Do you worry about the dude who attacked you?” I’d been waiting for someone to ask me this question, but I hadn’t expected it to come from Cody. Then again, he hadn’t been there in the early days and weeks, when asking me anything about the night of the attack or my injuries was bound to get someone yelled at. “I mean, if they haven’t caught him, how do you know he won’t try again? Don’t you think about that when you go out on your own?”

“Every fucking time,” I admitted. I couldn’t lie to Cody because I didn’t want him thinking it wasn’t okay to be worried about what could happen. According to my new therapist, it wasn’t healthy to obsess about it, but thinking about that night was totally normal.

“So how do you do it?” he pressed. I wondered if something had happened to him before he’d come to Pot of Gold. His demeanor had taken a turn, and he looked about the same as I felt most of the time when I was confronted with what had happened to me. “Doesn’t it piss you off, looking over your shoulder all the time, wondering if that fucker is out there somewhere waiting to finish what he started?”

It did. I hated giving some unknown fucktard control over any part of me. I hated that he lived in my head every night, even if the nightmares had lessened to unpleasant dreams thanks to knowing Eric was close by. But that wasn’t something I wanted to tell Cody now. The way he phrased his questions and the conviction in his voice reaffirmed that something had happened to him. I didn’t know what, but there had to be a reason he was so adamant that the center was a blessing, even as he bitched about the lousy food and the lack of privacy. He’d mentioned considering leaving, but he’d never followed through with it. On the off chance I was right, I couldn’t let him know how hard it was for me to act normal every day.