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1
Jack heard the door open as he pulled a pan of hot caramel popcorn from the oven. Perfect timing. Mason was home and hopefully Gray had been able to get most of his paperwork finished so the three of them could curl up together and continue their third run through the fourteen brilliant episodes ofFirefly. Why the hell had it been cancelled and how had he not known about its awesomeness until Mason came into his life?
Their schedules had kept them apart for the last few nights, and Jack had been looking forward to this all day, the three of them snuggled on the couch, watching TV until they started to doze off like an old married threesome. Who would need to go out with two amazing men at home? He could happily hole up for weeks just cuddling, fucking, and cooking for them.
Mason dropped his bag on the table and came up behind him. He kissed Jack’s neck as he grabbed a handful of popcorn that he immediately threw back into the pan, yelling, “Hot!”
“Of course it’s hot. It just came out of the oven.” Laughing, Jack grabbed Mason’s hand and kissed his palm. “Is that better?”
“No, but this will fix it.” Mason kissed him, sliding his tongue along the seam of Jack’s lips until he opened for him, letting him get a taste. Desire rose swiftly, and he clutched at Mason’s hips, pulling him in tight, letting him feel his cock, which was now hard and needy.
The sound of Gray clearing his throat brought them up for air. Mason stepped back, grinning at Jack. “That was a delicious hello.” He turned toward Gray, but when Jack saw the expression on their lover’s face, he knew they weren’t getting the same kind of greeting from him. He looked serious and…scared? Jack’s stomach knotted.
“What is it?”
“I need to talk to you. I waited until Mason was home, but I… Maybe you should sit down.”
“Gray, what’s wrong?” Jack asked, the caramel he’d tasted as he coated the popcorn lying heavy in his stomach.
Mason laid a hand on his arm. “Are you okay? You’re really pale.”
Jack ignored the question. “Don’t make us wait.”
“Thornton, the lieutenant from Major Crimes that I told you about—” He glanced at Mason. “He’s been encouraging me to take the detective exam. He wants me in his unit.”
“But—”
Gray held up a hand. “Yes, it would mean we wouldn’t be partners anymore, but it would also mean we could be out if we wanted to. We’ve been talking about making a change, and you’ve known I was thinking about going for a promotion.”
“Yeah, but, I…” Nausea tightened Jack’s throat.
Mason reached for Jack’s hand and squeezed. “This could be good for all of us. Let’s think about it.”
Jack looked at Mason. Hehadknown this would happen sooner or later. Gray was right about it being for the best, but Jack had continually pushed it to the back of his mind.
“I just want us to—” he started, but Gray interrupted him.
“I told him I’d take the exam.” Gray looked at the floor as he spoke.
“What?” Jack roared, fear replaced by anger that threatened to scorch him. “How dare you do that without talking to us!”
“I shouldn’t have, but he’d already asked me before, and I’d put him off. He told me I had to let him know today, and you said you’d support whatever I wanted so?—”
“I didn’t mean for you not to even tell me. Couldn’t you have mentioned this when he asked you the first time?”
“I—” Gray ran a hand over his ruthlessly short hair. “I should have. I’m sorry, but?—”
“But what?” Mason asked after Gray was silent for several seconds. Jack was glad he’d spoken up, because he wasn’t capable of saying anything nice.
Gray sighed. “I knew Jack would react just like this.”
Fuck you.“When it was still something to actually discuss instead of something dictated to me, I would have talked to you. Now that you’ve kept it from me and decided to just walk away?—”
“I’m not walking away.”
Jack snarled at him. “We’re partners, Gray, and now we won’t be.”
“We’ll still be partners in the way that really counts.”
