“You’re thinking way too hard about the shower thing. If it’s a big deal, we don’t have to,” Hawthorne offers.
“Oh, no, I was thinking about Aldis actually,” I admit.
“Should we call him to come back over? Not sure the shower can fit all three of us, but I’m game to try,” he offers easily.
Relief loosens the knots in my chest. Clearly, this doesn’t change anything for Thorne when it comes to Aldis.
“No, but let’s call him before bed later,” I suggest.
He nods in agreement, and I follow him down the hallway to the bathroom. I start the water so it can warm up, and we both undress. He sneaks kisses in between each item of clothing we shed, laughing each time like he thinks he’s pestering me, even though he’s anything but.
We step under the steamy spray, and I think he was right. The three of us will never fit. Two of us barely fit. While I reach for the bottle of body wash to pour a handful, I wonder how difficult it would be to tear this shower out and build something bigger. Thorne’s dad is a plumber and could probably help with the project, but I’m not sure there’s space to expand like that.
“What do you think about moving to a place with a bigger bathroom someday?” I ask.
“Well, yeah, we’ll have to when Aldis moves in eventually,” he agrees as if Aldis living with us one day is a foregone conclusion. I put my soapy hands all over his wet skin, and he leans into my touch. “Is it weird that we’ve only known him a few weeks, and I’m already thinking more long-term with him than I have with any of my girlfriends?”
I shrug, continuing to work the lather over his skin. “I don’t know. I feel the same way though. I can see a future with Aldis, with all three of us. I’m still cloudy on what exactly it will look like, but I want it anyway.”
Hawthorne leans in to press his lips to mine again, softly this time. Hot streams of water trickle between our mouths as we kiss. “Me too,” he says when we part.
After our shower, we order some Chinese food and settle on the couch. Even with the addition of cuddling and kissing, movie night with my best friend feels almost exactly like it always has. Easy, comfortable, familiar.
When we both start to yawn too much, I snatch the controller and turn the TV off.
“Come on, let’s go get in bed and call Aldis before we go to sleep.” It doesn’t occur to me until Hawthorne hesitates that I probably shouldn’t assume he wants to sleep in my room. The thought of climbing into my bed alone after being the middle spoon all weekend leaves me feeling cold, but I’ll deal with it if I have to.
After a few seconds, he gets up and heads toward my bedroom. I let out a slow breath and follow him. We both strip down to our boxers and get under the covers, and then I pull up a video chat with Aldis.
His face fills the screen, the background too dark to tell, but it looks like he’s in bed too. He smiles as soon as he sees me, but then his eyes flicker to Hawthorne in bed beside me, and his expression tightens for a fraction of a second.
“You two look cozy. I’ve kind of been kicking myself all night that I insisted on going home all by myself,” he admits.
“Come over,” I suggest without hesitation. “There’s plenty of room in my bed for you.” I show him the small amount of extra space. We could squeeze together and make it work.
“Tempting, but I’d better not. I’m too beat to drive.”
“We could come to you,” Thorne offers, propping his chin on my shoulder so he’s also in the frame.
That softens Aldis’s expression again. “You’re sweet. It’s okay. I’m glad you called though. I miss you guys already.”
“We miss you too.”
“Hey, I was going to check out the new rock wall at the gym on Friday. You in?” Thorne asks.
Aldis’s grin widens. “You bet your ass.”
“And let’s all have a movie night this week,” I add, not wanting to be left out of all the fun.
“You’re on,” he agrees again. “You two sleep well. I’m glad you called.”
We both echo his good night, and I end the call.
I end up as the big spoon to Hawthorne again, wrapping my arms around him and pressing my nose against the back of his neck after turning out the lights. The steady rise and fall of his chest is calming, the heat of his body making me drowsy quickly. It feels incredible having him fill up my bed after all these years of wishing for it. But I have to admit, without Aldis here, it feels a little like something is missing.
Chapter Fifteen
Bowen
“Is the weekend over already?”
Hawthorne laughs at me while we work to plant a Japanese Maple tree in our client’s backyard against our advice. The trees have a hard time with full sun, but they love it, so we did our best to find a protected part of the yard.
“Did you talk to Aldis today?” he asks.
“A few texts back and forth.”
“He seem good?”
“He did.” I glance up at my friend. “Something on your mind?”
He nods, brushing a dirty hand on his jeans before grabbing another bag of soil from our wheelbarrow. “Is it weird that I miss him? We spent all that time together, and now his absence is noticeable.”
My heart swells. “I feel the same. I’m gonna see him at the gym tomorrow morning to work out. I can invite him over for dinner and whatever.”
“Why not tonight?”
“He said he had work that would take him late into the night. Big client in Australia.”
“Oh, that’s cool. We’re supposed to climb on Friday.”
“We’ll figure it out, Thorne.”
“I know.” He smiles. “Did you notice anything different about me this weekend?”
I smirk. “Quite a few things, yeah.”
He snorts a laugh. “Dude. I slept through the night.”
I pull my head back in surprise. “You did. Fuck. Thorne.”
He grins. “Who knew all I needed was two hot men wrapped around me.”
“How was last night?”
“Still good. I woke up once, but it was only for a few minutes.”
“Whoa. That is awesome. I wonder if Aldis and I are your cure.”
I could live off the smile on his face right now. “I like that.”
The next morning, I saunter into the gym, casually glancing around for Aldis but not finding him. I might have beat him here. I put my shit in the locker and twist around only to bump right into him.
“Dammit. I was gonna squeeze that gorgeous ass of yours.”
Laughing, I step into his arms and kiss him. “Missed you, babe.”
“I missed you too. Both of you. Did you have a good day yesterday?”
“Busy with work, but it was fine.” I twist my hands in the hem of his T-shirt. “How did the meeting go with Australia?”
“Good. They’re happy. Talking about me going out to their Singapore office to do some in-house training because of the time difference.”
“That would be cool.”
“Yeah. Maybe, um, when the time comes, you and Thorne can take time off and come with. I’d love to explore a new place with my favorite people.”