He glowers at me as he sheepishly steps out of the bathroom, nervously tugging at the base of the dress. I wonder if this is something new for him, or if this was a part of himself he never shared with me when we were together. Either way, I’m not going to stand here and lie to myself, pretending that it doesn’t turn me the fuck on.
Extending a bit of that civility Lauren was looking for, I sign to him, “It looks good on you. Don’t feel like you have to cover yourself up.”
He perks up a bit at that statement. He looks down at the nighty, then back up to me. “You seriously think so, or are you just saying that?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it, Marcus. Doesn’t matter what I think though. It’s about how you feel.”
His chest puffs out a little more. “That’s damn right.”
Lauren’s eyes flit between the two of us. “Look at you, getting along civilly. Do you think we can sit down and have a chat? I have a bit of a better gist of what happened between the two of you, but I don’t want to play the go-between to you two sorting out your shit. I’m not going to play interpreter if I don’t have to.”
Marcus pulls out a stool at the kitchen island, where the flowers I got for Lauren are sitting proudly on display, and encourages me to sit. He does the same for her when she draws nearer as well. He yanks open the door to the fridge. “You want anything to drink?” he asks both of us, pulling out a bottle of water.
I shake my head, but Lauren accepts the bottle from him. Then, he grabs one for himself, uncaps it, and I’m met with the sight of his throat bobbing deliciously as he chugs from it. He finally pulls the bottle away from his lips, wiping his mouth off with the back of his forearm.
He swallows down the last big gulp before plopping on another stool, spreading his legs in such a manner that, were there not a kitchenisland between us, I’d see right up his skirt. He snorts, pressing his thighs together once he must see where my gaze has tracked. “Think I should have opted for something stronger than H2O for thisconversation… if that's all we're really doing anyway. From where I'm sitting, it seems more like some eye-fucking is taking place.”
“Marcus,” Lauren hisses. “Get over your new-found egotism from the praise you just got, and fuckin’ clear the air together, alright?”
And, oh man, Idolike her fire.
Chapter Ten
Icould be completely off base here, but Caleb and Marcus have some wildly obvioussexual chemistry still simmering between them. The animosity appears to be dwindling as they hash out their past hurts with one another. There haven’t been anynewdiscoveries, beyond what was discussed between Caleb and I at the gym, at least. And, for the record, I’m impressed that Marcusactuallyadmitted that he was quite gutted when he and Caleb parted ways.
He obviously got more emotionally attached during that time than I think he was even aware of. Outwardly, he portrayed it as more of a two-time summer fling type of situation, but it’s apparent now that he’s been minimizing the value of what they had together in the years since. Caleb, on the other hand, confessed that he wasn’t in it just for those summers at all. He fell hard for Marcus, loving every minute they spent together—which, I will say, was a lot more than I even remembered it, apparently.
Marcus even went so far as getting to know Caleb’s family, which should have been a huge beacon right there that things were much deeper than he’d even known. It’s easyto see—now, in hindsight—why Caleb reacted the way he did when Marcus broke it off. Was what he did right, per sé? Definitely not, but I do understand lashing out disproportionately when you’re hurting.
I’ve stayed silent, only here acting as a mediator in case things got too intense, but so far, I’ve just been a silent bystander. This has left me with ample opportunity to work out other things in my head. Things such as what Micah and I touched on, prior to Caleb showing up at the gym.
The notion of a throuple.
Honestly, the thought, at first, seemed utterly dismissible. Not only do I have Brody to take into consideration, but how Marcus would choose to handle that as well. Caleb has made it abundantly clear, to both me and Marcus, that what hurt the most about their split was Marcus’ insecurity about coming out. In order to make something like this work long-term would mean that eventually, he would have to admit to being in a relationship with Caleb too. That is, if I’m technically in a relationship with Caleb as well, which… I’m not sure I am at this point, am I?
We've been on a few really good dates so far, we have been texting non-stop in the times in between, and he seems like he wants exclusivity… so, maybe? I don't know! I'm bad at this!Ugh.
Regardless, the last thing I would want for Caleb is for him to feel like a dirty, little secret all over again. He’s not. He’s suffered enough heartache, and deserves affection and care. Receiving that fromtwopeople? Well, I don’t see why thatshouldbe an issue, but that’s obviously not how the rest of the world sees things.
That old adage about how love should be multiplied and not divided has never seemed truer than it feels right now. Not that I’m in love with Caleb right now or anything, because I’m not. But, like… it’s a possibility that itcouldgo there, isn’t it?
At any rate, I’m getting way ahead of myself here. Obviously. Right now? It’s all about Marcus and Caleb being able to see things from the other’s perspective, and it seems to me like they’re doing fine. They’re on the same page.
Ope, they’re on the same page and they’re hugging now too. Tears. I see streaks from them on both of their cheeks. They’re smiling though, so I suppose that means happy tears?
Is now a good time to bring up the prospect of trialing a throuple situation? Shit, I don’t have a friggin’ clue how any of this works. Clearly. I kneed a guy in the balls on our fourth date, and thenIended up nearly reduced to tears over the whole ordeal.
Tell me I’m not a total dumpster fire without actuallytellingme I’m a burning ball of hot mess express.
“It’s super late. I should get going,” I see Caleb signing. “At this rate, I’ll only be able to get a couple of hours in before we have to be down at the docks.”
Marcus snorts. “From what I’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, Gannett is late every fuckin’ morning. I doubt he’d even give a shit if we overslept.”
“Regardless of whether he is or not, I’d rather not set that bar for myself, that it’s okay to be late.”
“True. Yeah, you’re right. Wouldn’t be a good look for the new hires, would it? Slacking off within the first month…” Marcus asks hypothetically.
“Want me to pick you up on my way?” Caleb asks him.
