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Wren fought the urge to wrap his arms around his body protectively and just stayed totally silent. Not that he wanted to shut his best friend out, but he didn’t really want to talk about this either.
Well…that was a lie. He did want to talk about it. He wanted someone to dig around in his head and rearrange things so everything made sense again. But he knew that wasn’t an option.
Ravi leaned forward and gently squeezed his knee over his apron. “Seriously. Did he do something to you?”
Wren quickly shook his head. “No, no, no. He was…” Wonderful. Perfect. Beautiful. Fuck, he was more than all that. He was every goddamn fantasy Wren had ever had, wrapped up in a shy, anxious English man who seemed to want Wren in spite of all the complications that came with someone like him.
But that was sort of the problem.
“It was amazing last night, but this morning was…weird,” he admitted after a long beat.
Ravi’s brows dipped. “This morning? Did you ask him to stay, or did he just never leave?”
Wren’s gaze cut to the side for a second as he breathed out a sigh. “I asked him to stay.”
Ravi’s brows shot up. “And now you’re full of regret.”
“No,” Wren said, his fingers snapping hard. “No.” And that wasn’t a lie, but it was also the problem. Waking up beside Percy had felt amazing. Different in ways he hadn’t expected. There had been no regret.
How could there be with soft morning kisses and a slow, sloppy hand job that had Percy writhing against the sheets. The man sang with his whole body, and Wren didn’t feel like he was missing anything with his processors off, watching the sounds Percy made with every roll of his hips. Wren would have stayed there all day if he’d been allowed to, but they were both adults with adult responsibilities.
But then Percy had started to look a little uncomfortable, like he wasn’t sure if he was overstaying his welcome. Wren was at fault for that one. The panic set in, and he’d been terrified that something would shatter the peace of the morning. So, he hadn’t put his processors on, and after a while, Percy’s ASL had reached a wall he couldn’t get past.
Wren had more than enough patience for it, but it was obvious Percy was still struggling with his own progress, and he’d left with a quick kiss and nothing more. Wren knew better than to demand promises he wasn’t ready to make himself, but the fact that Percy hadn’t texted all day was starting to get to him.
He felt vibrations under his feet and looked over to see Luke hovering in the doorway.
“Customers?” Wren asked.
Luke shook his head. “It’s dead out there. I just wanted to know if something happened to Mouse.”
Wren felt a moment of panic. “Why? Did someone say something?”
“No, but you look like someone denied your dog treats, so…”
Wren leaned forward and smacked Luke on the hip. “Asshole.”
Luke threw his head back with a laugh, but his face became serious after a second. “You look upset.”
“Personal crisis.” It was all Wren was willing to admit to his friend, who might have been perfectly fine teaching Percy ASL, but he would definitely not approve of Wren bending his rules to want him for longer than a single night. And that added another layer of complication because these people were his family, and if the dynamic was thrown because of Percy, he didn’t want to be in the position where he was forced to choose between them.
There was no question who would win, but he had no idea how badly that might break him.
Luke’s brows dipped into a frown, and he waved his hand at Ravi. “Watch the front. Wren and I have an errand to run.”
Wren had zero time to protest before Luke had him in an iron grip, dragging him out the back door and around the side of the building. Wren knew instinctively where they were going, so he just let Luke keep hold of his hand as he tugged him several shops over until they reached the pet supply store.
It was Luke’s feel-better place. The shop took in animals from local shelters in an effort to get them adopted quicker, and they had a Kitty Corner, which was a massive room surrounded by glass, filled to the brim with benches, cat trees, toys, and cats of every size, shape, and color.
It made Wren feel sort of soft and warm all over as Luke held the door for him, and then the pair quickly sat in the middle of the floor, where they were immediately swarmed with the new recruits. They were all different patterns, but they were all the same size, so Wren figured they were from the same litter.
“Thanks,” he finally signed after tucking a kitten under his chin to feel the purr.
Luke nodded. He had a tiny all-white cat in the palm of his hand, stroking its little head with his massive thumb. With his other hand, he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Wren shrugged. Just like when Ravi had asked, the answer was both yes and no, but Luke understood him even less than Ravi did. He’d do his best to be there because Luke’s main goal in life was to make sure all of his friends were happy. And if it meant staying up all night reading through the internet so he’d get some idea of Wren’s romantic orientation, he would.
But that wouldn’t solve his current crisis.
