“I’ve never been,” I admitted.
“We can go sometimes. I’ll take you if your man doesn’t mind. It’s pricey, so I don’t do it often.”
I loved the idea of that—of hanging out with Jordan more. “I can pay,” I replied.
Jordan winked. “We’ll go Dutch, sugar baby.”
“Whatever,” I teased just as the oven timer went off.
“Oh my God. I can’t wait to eat them!”
“We have to let them cool,” I told him.
“Why do we have to do that? Is it in the cookie handbook?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is.”
“Have a little fun, Fin. We’ll have one ooey-gooey, too-hot cookie and let the others cool.”
I grinned back at him. “Okay.” And that was exactly what we did.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Aidan
I juggled two pizzas in my hands as I unlocked the door. I’d come home earlier than expected and thought it would be nice to bring dinner so Finley didn’t have to cook.
The second I stepped into the house, I heard the laughter. It was similar to Finley with Ian, but something was a little different about hearing him laugh with Jordan. Maybe it was because Jordan wanted him and Finley wasn’t sure if he wanted Jordan, or maybe it was because it was new, but I felt it, and I couldn’t stop the smile pulling at my lips.
He needed this, and it was so damn good to hear him laugh and chat with a friend. In some ways, Finley was so serious, older than his years because of what he’d lived through, and it was so rare that he could just let go. He was able to when he served me. I wasn’t a fool not to know it or admit it, but he needed more than me. It was then that I knew I’d done the right thing. Finley put so much faith in me as his Dom, and he was supposed to, of course. But the truth was, regardless, I was just a man, one who made mistakes and questioned myself like everyone else.
I stepped around the corner and into the living room, where I’d heard the laughter come from.
“Aidan, you’re home early!” Finley stumbled off the couch.
“Sit. You’re fine. You don’t have to get up. I brought pizza for dinner if you guys are hungry.”
“I don’t know about Finley, but I’m always hungry,” Jordan teased, and Finley pushed him playfully.
“We had cookies not that long ago.”
“Are you hunger-shaming me?” Jordan asked as I stood back and watched them together. There was an ease to how they interacted with each other already.
“Oh my God. No, I’m not. Come on.”
When they reached me, I cocked a brow at Finley, and he said, “Oh. Aidan, this is my friend Jordan.” He turned to his guest. “This is my Sir, Aidan.”
“Your Sir, huh?” I hadn’t been expecting that.
“Yeah, I told him. My Sir/boyfriend, Aidan.” He grinned up at me, and damned if my pulse didn’t accelerate.
I turned to Jordan. “Nice to meet you.” We shook hands.
“You too,” he replied.
“Here, I’ll take these.” Finley plucked the pizzas from my hand, and the two of them headed to the kitchen.
I was pretty sure I heard, “Holy fuck, your boyfriend is gorgeous. Rawr,” followed by Finley’s laughter.
I kept my distance, giving them space. Eventually, Finley came to my office to tell me he was taking Jordan home.
When he came back about an hour later, I was still sitting at my desk.
He knocked, and at my nod, he came into the room, slowly went to his knees, and put his head on my lap. “Thank you, Sir.”
“I didn’t do anything, sweet boy.”
“You did more than you’ll ever know,” he replied, and somehow, I knew he didn’t want anything more than friendship from Jordan, but he was incredibly happy to have that.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Finley
“Oh my God. Stop!” I shouted to Ian and Jordan as they continued to splash me. “I hate you guys.” I ducked under the water, swam over to Ian, and jerked him under. When we both came up again, the three of us were laughing, and it struck me then—which, after everything, was a weird place for it to happen—how much my life had changed.
It was summer, and I’d finished my first semester of college. I was swimming in the pool of the house I shared with my boyfriend, who was also my Sir, while I laughed with my friends. Real friends. It made my heart race suddenly, thinking about it all.
Ian frowned, as though he could tell. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I’m just…happy.” I had been happy for a long time by then, and it was because of Aidan.
“No shit. I’d be happy if I lived here too,” Jordan teased, and this time, Ian splashed him. “I’m giving you shit, Fin. You know that.” He hugged me and gave me a loud kiss on the cheek. Even though it hadn’t been long, Jordan and I had gotten extremely close, and I felt lucky to have him.
“Come on. I need a tan,” I said, and the three of us went to lie on the chairs by the pool. Ian turned on music on his phone, and we listened and talked and just…were.
Eventually we went inside, changed, and ordered pizza. Aidan and David were out, doing whatever it was they did. The pizza came, we ate, and then Ian went to his bag and got out a bottle of tequila. “Oh, oops. How did that get there?” he teased.
“Fuck yes,” Jordan replied. “Do you think Aidan will care if we crash here?”
Ian pulled out margarita mix next. I was twenty years old, and I’d never done this—never gotten drunk and just hung out with friends. Which was ridiculous, really. That was a rite of passage…and I wanted that. Hanging out with them reminded me of things I’d missed. It went back to what I’d been thinking before, about how happy I was, and feeling that way made me want to soak up even more experiences. “I’ll ask him.”
Giddy excitement buzzed beneath my skin as I texted Aidan.
I love you!
Uh-oh. What do you want?
Hey! That’s not fair. I say I love you all the time. *pouts* But…I wanted to ask if Ian and Jordan can sleep here.
Sure. That’s fine.
Thank you! <3
I tossed the phone to the coffee table. “He said it’s cool.”
“Did you ask your daddy if you can drink?” Ian teased, but almost in a mocking way. I knew he didn’t get it, but he didn’t usually make me feel weird about my relationship.
“Fuck off. He’s not my daddy, not that I would be opposed to that. It’s hot.” I played it off, but I was slightly irritated.
Ian rolled his eyes.
“Ugh. I’m still jelly,” Jordan replied.
“Tell him. He doesn’t understand kink. He’s judgy.”
“I’m not judgy,” Ian replied. “You’re happy, so I’m happy. I’m sorry for being an asshole. Can we drink now? And if you don’t drink with us, I’m going to be annoyed.”
The truth was, I should have mentioned it to Aidan. He liked to be in control of most aspects of my life, and I was perfectly fine with that. More than fine with it. I loved it, but Ian’s comment made me want to prove that I could do what I wanted…even though I didn’t really want to do what I wanted. I wanted to do what Aidan said. This shit was confusing sometimes.