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“Oof.” Damon winced. “That’s gotta be tough.”
“Yeah, she’s so busy it’s crazy. She loves it, though—she’s always been super passionate about that stuff.”
“She sounds great,” Damon said.
Leo smiled. “Yeah, she’s my best friend, really. Anyway, I don’t even know what you guys do for work.”
Josh pointed at himself. “I’m a lead copywriter for a marketing company.”
“I’m an electrical engineer.”
“Oh, shit. Two smarty-pants, huh?” Leo tried not to feel self-conscious about his own career choices.
Damon shrugged. “It has its ups and downs. Like your job, I figure—bet it takes a lot of social smarts to do what you do. I don’t think I’d be able to interact with so many people and keep my cool.”
Leo huffed a laugh, staring at his plate. “I mean…I guess. Some clients are better than others, just like any other job.”
“I can imagine,” Josh said. There was a pause before he continued. “Uhm, I also wanted to say…I’m sorry if I crossed a line last time, at the end there. I know your time is valuable. I didn’t mean to imply that we were, you know, taking you for granted or anything by asking you to stay longer than we agreed to.”
Leo looked up at him, startled by the apology. “No, it’s cool. I just…I guess a big thing that I have to deal with is that people like to feel wanted when they spend time with someone—sexual or not, you know? Like, they want to feel that the person is there because they like them, because they want to be there, and paying for someone’s time can mean they feel the opposite.”
Josh and Damon nodded like they were following Leo’s explanation.
“And I need to keep that boundary in place—that clients know that, like you said, my time is valuable and they’re paying for it. But there are times when I genuinely enjoy spending time with them, and that’s definitely the case with you two. So, sorry, I guess I’m sending confusing signals because…thanks for acknowledging that my time is paid for and should be respected, but also I hope you know that I really like spending time with you guys, too.”
Josh and Damon shared a look. “We like spending time with you too,” Josh said. “But, yeah, we don’t want you to feel taken advantage of, and I hope you know that you can stop at any time. You can tell us when we’re doing something that you don’t like or isn’t appropriate, and we won’t be angry or stop seeing you or anything.”
Josh wasn’t the first client to say that, but it was the first time Leo actually believed it. “Thanks.”
Josh nodded decisively. “Good. Anyway, you wanna watch a movie after this? Everything I suggested was nixed by Damon, but we can watch Pixar or something.”
“Hell yes,” Leo cheered, happy both at the choice of movie and the change of topic. “Love me a good animated movie.”
“Fave?” Josh asked.
“Emperor’s New Groove. No contest.”
Damon nodded. “It’s the best one.”
Josh held a hand up. “Okay, I’m not saying that one isn’t great, but I feel like Sword in the Stone is totally underrated.”
“Haven’t seen that one,” Leo admitted.
Josh gasped. “We have to watch it, then.” He turned to Damon. “We have to watch it.”
“Fine with me. My favourite part is when you imitate the squirrels.”
The mood was light as they finished lunch, Leo pleasantly full as he helped with the dishes. They settled on the couch with Leo in the middle, Damon’s arm behind him, Josh practically on his lap.
“This okay?” Damon asked.
“Yeah,” Leo admitted, trying not to show exactly how much he liked being squeezed between the couple.
The movie was predictably a little dark, seeing as it was Josh’s favourite, but any movie would be fun to watch with Josh gripping him and slapping his thigh every time one of the best bits came on, laughing himself breathless at every other scene.
It was contagious. An owl would ruffle his feathers in imperious offence on the screen and Josh would giggle nonstop, setting Leo off. At the squirrel scene, Leo legitimately worried Josh was gonna pass out.
“The girl squirrel is just so upset.” Josh hiccupped.
