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Ethan
He knew that he and Linc were going to have a come to Jesus’ meeting about what happened between the three of them last night. He would want to analyze every last detail in depth—especially the part of the two of them being together.
Ethan waited for Ella to leave, before waking Linc with a jumbo cup of coffee. He knew his best friend better than anyone and the man couldn’t start his day without coffee and lots of it.
He walked into his master bedroom and flicked on the overhead lights. “Hey, sleepy head,” he said. “Time to rise and shine.”
Linc moaned and rolled over to face him. “I’ll rise but I won’t promise that I’ll shine,” he teased. Ethan couldn’t help but chuckle at how grumpy Linc was in the morning. He’d been that way since they first met. When they were in college, Ethan would get up at the break of dawn, work out for an hour, grab a shower, and run by Linc’s room to wake him with a giant cup of coffee. Linc had always been more of a night owl to Ethan’s early wake-up call, but the two seemed to complement each other somehow. Even now, it was still Ethan’s job to make sure that the coffee was flowing before Linc made it into the office.
“You brought me coffee?” Linc asked, sitting up to take the mug from Ethan. “This is why I love you, man.” Ethan’s gasp filled the room as Linc took a sip of his coffee.
“Just the way I like it,” he hummed. He looked over at Ethan and smiled. “You’re reading too much into what I just said. Relax, Ethan. It was just a figure of speech. You were the one who started all of this with that kiss in the hallway.”
“Right, but I didn’t expect you to be on board with everything so quickly. But I have to admit, I’m glad that you seem to be okay with all of this.”
“I don’t know how I feel about all of this. I mean, I want to be okay with what’s happening between the two of us, but I won’t lie—I’m still worried that we’re jumping into something that might kill our partnership,” Linc admitted. Ethan worried the same thing, but he was done pretending that he didn’t want Linc anymore. Hell, he’d spent too much of his life wanting a man that he shouldn’t. He was done with worrying about what he should and shouldn’t do with his life.
“So, we’ll just agree to not let it,” Ethan said. “We can manage to keep our private life and professional life separate.” That was a total fucking lie. Ethan wouldn’t be able to keep his hands to himself around Linc and that was the only thing he was one hundred percent sure of.
Linc chuckled and nodded, “Sure, Ethan,” he said.
“Well, that wasn’t sarcastic at all,” Ethan drawled. “I think that we need some ground rules, and we also need to discuss what we’re going to do about Ella Blue.”
“Oh—that one’s easy,” Ethan admitted. “We’re going to take her to a late dinner tonight and then, I say we bring her back here and fuck her all night long again.”
“That’s a well-thought-out plan, man,” Linc teased. “You think she’ll go for it?”
“I’ve already put the dinner part of my plan into motion, and it was her idea to go for a late dinner since she played hooky from work all morning to catch up on her sleep.”
Linc made a face, and Ethan wanted to laugh. “I feel pretty bad about keeping her up most of the night,” he said.
“Don’t,” Ethan said. “Ella seemed to be good with everything that happened between the three of us. I think that she wants to be a part of this.” Ethan motioned between the two of them and Linc grabbed his hand into his own.
“What exactly is this?” he asked.
“You mean, what’s happening between us?” Ethan asked. He wished that he had an answer for his best friend, but he didn’t. This was also a mystery to him, but he needed Linc to be on board, so he’d have to wing it.
“Yeah,” Linc said. “What’s happening between us?”
“I think that what’s finally happening between us was a long time in the making. I mean, I’ve wanted you since we met in college, I was just too much of a God damned chicken back then to do anything about it,” he admitted.
“You’ve wanted me since college?” Beck whispered.
“Yes,” Ethan said. “I have.”
“Well, if we’re being completely honest, I’ve wanted you since about that time too. I just never imagined that we’d end up here, with a woman between us.” They had both shared that they were bisexual back in college. Ethan was the first on to come out to Linc, but once his truth was out there, he felt safe to share his sexual preferences with Ethan. He really thought that would be all that it would take to end up with Linc, but instead, it only seemed to drive a wedge between them.
They both chose to date women back then, since it was so much easier than explaining that they liked to be with both men and women. It sort of felt like a moot point telling others about who they wanted to date.
“We wasted all those years, and for what?” Linc asked.
Ethan shrugged, “We just weren’t ready back then, but it seems that we’re both ready now.”
“Yeah, I’d say so. I mean, we kind of let the monkeys loose and now, there’s no getting them back into the barrel.” Ethan couldn’t help but laugh at Linc’s analogy.
“Sure,” he agreed. “And I wouldn’t put them back in the barrel even if I could catch them all. Listen, I’d like to see where this thing ends up with Ella, you, and me,” Ethan said. “What do you say? You up for trying something new?” he asked.
“I think that I am,” Linc admitted. “I’d still like for the three of us to sit down and discuss ground rules.”
