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“Good, G.I. Joe is here to save me.” I fail to deliver a good joke.
“Let’s go, Chris. Leave the equipment. I can’t have my wife—your daughter—in the middle of a bar brawl,” Mason orders Papa. “If they break any instrument, I’ll replace it. My guys are ready. The cars are too. Now.”
Chris hands his old guitar to Reed, who, without any trouble, squeezes himself through the sea of bodies and enters the bar, closing the door. Mason raises his hand and motions to several men carrying long black sticks who proceed in making a barrier between us and the emergency exit.
Mason takes Ainsley, and we follow. Tonight is an eye-opener. My skin prickles as the hands of strangers reach for us, pulling, tugging, while chanting our names. Our fans are usually great. But this bunch is loud, rambunctious, and drunk.
Normally, I don’t care, but worrying that Thea or Ainsley might get hurt has my blood boiling. We coordinated the event poorly, putting the people we love in danger. As I’m about to head to the bar, instead of the exit, one of the guards redirects me. Damn, I need to make sure Thea is safe. As we reach the black SUVs, Bradley helps Ainsley climb into the first one. Dad and Papa follow, and he signals Jacob and me to take the second one.
“Dude, I need to check on them.” I angle my head toward Silver Moon. “I’ll be fine, I can take care of myself. Go home and ensure my sister is safe and my parents are all right.”
He nods and leaves.
“Tristan was with the bartender chick all night. You know that, right?” Jacob scrutinizes my face, and I have no idea what he’s insinuating. “Snuggling, kissing… looking a lot like a couple. Sure didn’t look like the guy is giving up his lifestyle for you, Matt. Ainsley told me what happened between the two of you.”
“I appreciate the concern, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. Right now, I have to make sure Tristan took Thea to a safe place.” He frowns, and as I’m about to walk away, I stop. “Her name is Thea, Jacob. And she’s more than a bartender—she’s my girl.”
His eyes have that intense big-brother look of concern. He crosses his arms and tries to act like he has a few years on me. “What are you doing, Matthew?”
I lift a shoulder and give him a non-committalnot sure yetsmile, leaving him standing next to the car. With more time, I’d have shared with him a play-by-play of what’s going on. Right now, as everything is new and none of us have any idea of the direction we’re taking, I’d rather not say a word.
Thea and Tristan did look happy, like a perfect couple already settled and in love. If I weren’t part of them, I’d accept it. But not only for the past two weeks, but for the last few months, we’ve been falling slowly in love with each other.
We have daily phone conversations where I talk with Thea until she falls asleep or watch her through the camera of her phone during breakfast. Tristan and I do our thing. We’re building something where each one knows what the other feels and wants, where we want to make each other happy. Maybe where we love each other too, or if not, we’re falling and not planning on stopping. It’s just a matter of finding a way to live in harmony with our relationship.
“Where is she?” I ask Tristan when I enter the employee room.
“I took care of her. She’s safe. On a side note, tonight isn’t the best night to spring any relationship talk. She was stressed for most of the concert. Too many people and the music. The confusion in her head also didn’t help with the anxiety.”
He runs a hand through his hair and leaves it on the nape of his neck.
“I can’t give her up, Matt. I wouldn’t ask you to give her up because I know how much she means to you. Fuck, I had the best two weeks of my life, so this is hard. But I’m not sure what to do. I’ve seen her daily struggles. Mostly they happen when we talk about you when I kiss her. She wants us both but can’t fathom accepting us both. She can’t choose either. Matt, I have no fucking idea what we’re going to do.”
I shut the door and lock it. “I don’t want to give up either one of you. Why can’t we all have each other?” I place my hands on his narrow waist and press my forehead to his.
“Fuck,” he swears as his lips press into mine. He reaches for the back of my head, his strong hand wrapping around my neck as his thumb traces my jawline.
My cock twitches as our kiss becomes a battle where we yield and snatch the power from one another. The kiss consumes us as our tongues fight the lust we carry.
Earlier when I saw him with Thea, I wanted to hold the two of them so badly. Be Tristan, so I could have her in my arms. Become Thea, to be held by him. But reason comes first. The urge to leave the place with my girlandmy guy. Ultimately, I end the kiss instead of fucking him against the table like my dick wants.
“I’m in love with her, Matt.” He gasps for air. Our eyes meet for one second, but he closes his eyes, leaning his head over my shoulder. His arms circle my torso. “So much, it hurts to think that she isn’t here right now.”
I see the raw emotion written all over his face. “Me too, and you know what, Coop? We have to take a step beyond what we all know. This isn’t a fucking love triangle where we’re fighting for the same girl.” I place my hands on his shoulders and push him away lightly, because I want to watch him as I say this.
“I’m deeply in love with Thea, and I’m falling in love with you. I won’t give up either one of you. We can find a way to convince her that it’s possible and make it happen. We belong together. She’s half of my heart. You’re the other half.”
Tristan seems to be contemplating my words, which fills me with both elation and surprise. I thought he would immediately shoot them down before the first sentence even completely made it out of my mouth.
“We’ll try it your way, Matt. It’s wrong in many ways, but feels right in here,” he says and touches his chest.
I give him a quick hug and a kiss, open the door, and look toward the bar where our security detail continues to work on containing the crowd. “Is she upstairs?”
“No, I had no idea how bad it would get so I sent her to your place. Mason said he’d make sure she got there safely.”
My eyes bulge. We only had two cars. I snatch my phone out of my back pocket and fire off a text to Jacob.
Matt: Is Thea with you?
