“Aren’t you quite the acrobat?” Rus called out.
His sudden arrival startled Dylan, and his footing slipped. Dylan braced for an embarrassing and painful crash flat on his ass, but instead found himself swept into a secure embrace.
“Careful,” Rus whispered in his ear. “What would you have done if I wasn’t here?”
Dylan smiled, lost in the warm hug of Rus’ arms.
“Well, I obviously would’ve been fine, considering I was just waiting until you got here to stage my very own damsel in distress moment.”
“Clearly.” Rus grinned, helping Dylan properly stand before releasing him. “Since you didn’t cringe when I caught you, I’m hopeful for our conversation.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Rus shrugged sheepishly. “Mostly nervous.”
“Why are you nervous?” Dylan asked, fighting the quiver in his voice.
Did Rus have to break the news? Was he going to try and awkwardly steer their brief make-out session back to friendship? Dylan wouldn’t be upset by that. He swore to himself he wouldn’t be. Friendship was something he could definitely do. He was lucky to have Kaiden and Rus in his life as friends. And truthfully, dating was horrifying. He had no idea where to begin when it came to dating and relationships, so why was he yearning for one with Rus so badly? With Kaiden?
No. Dylan needed to put that out of his head before he found himself swept away by daydreaming again. Right now, he needed to play it cool and salvage his friendships. He already knew those worked. No point in ruining a good thing over a silly fantasy.
“I like you,” Rus admitted. “A lot.”
“Really?” Dylan quirked a brow.
“Yeah, and not in a friendship sort of way,” Rus clarified. “I mean, I do like you as a friend. But I also like hanging out with you. Which I suppose friends do, too. Um, well, it’s just when I think about you, I don’t just think about friendship. I think about you. Kissing you. More than kissing you. More than moreing with you, if you catch my drift.”
“I may have a vague inkling of what moreing is in this situation.” Dylan chuckled. “I might also be thinking about moreing with you too.”
A rush trailed along Dylan’s skin, sending a surge of excited goosebumps that made him involuntarily shudder. That little tremble of excitement quickly twisted into one of dread when he realized these reciprocated feelings meant Kaiden would be crushed.
It wasn’t as if Kaiden couldn’t handle Dylan and Rus dating, exploring this possibility, but surely after sharing a first andsecond kiss with them both, Kaiden would be left feeling like an outsider, an unwanted consolation prize. It dawned on Dylan that this was the real reason Kaiden avoided his friends.
“It’s going to crush Kaiden,” Dylan muttered.
Betrayal ate away at him and devoured all the joy he had swelled with a moment ago. It also left him with this sinking regret. Regret that he was missing something. Missing Kaiden. Missing the possibilities with Kaiden.
“Why?” Rus asked. “I might have moreing feelings for him, too.”
Dylan didn’t find the silly little wordplay funny anymore, too consumed by guilt and confusion.
“I figured you felt the same,” Rus said.
“For you, yes.”
“For Kaiden.”
Dylan stared, dumbfounded. What was Rus getting at?
“That kind of puts us back in the same situation.”
“Yeah, I spent the last few days sort of pondering the same thing, until I had a lovely chat with my ex.”
“Oh?”
“She’s wise beyond her years,” Rus said with an eye roll.
“Yeah?”
