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Damon laughed. “Arthur legit led on a squirrel.”
“Scoundrel,” Leo said, setting all of them off again even though the statement wasn’t even funny.
By the end of the movie, Leo felt worn out in the best way, cheeks sore from laughing. He was warm from the two bodies pressed against his, the heat of Damon’s laughter on his neck.
It made Leo realise how long it had been since he had felt comfort like this with anybody except his sister, and even that was a different sort of feeling.
Leo didn’t have friends. A few acquaintances, maybe, but it was hard to get close to people. Or, Leo found it hard to get close to people.
His sister’s face swam in front of him, the hill that formed between her eyebrows when Leo updated her on the nothing that was his life in the past few years.
She had an Alpha and a group of friends she went to bars with to do trivia nights, the nerds. She had a career that fucked her up a little, but that gave her a sense of purpose, too.
Leo had literally never had a sense of purpose. Or, if he had, his dad had chipped away at it until there was nothing there. One time, a client had called him useless, and his mind had just spun right out of his head. He couldn’t even remember what had happened for the rest of the session, just white noise where a memory should be.
There, between Damon and Josh, Leo felt settled, somehow. Like that small spot on the couch was somewhere he actually belonged.
Which was so stupid, it was ridiculous.
Josh’s voice cut through Leo’s spiralling. “That was great, right? New favourite animated film.”
Leo smiled reflexively. “I mean…the lack of llamas was a real disappointment. Sorry.”
“But the squirrels? Eh? Huh?”
“The Emperor’s New Groove also has squirrels.”
“Yeah, but these are superior squirrels.”
Leo pretended to think about it. “Okay, I’ll give you that.”
“Thank you.” Josh leaned over Leo to look at Damon. “He’s mine now.”
“I don’t think so.” Damon squeezed Leo into his side. “Hands off.”
Leo laughed. “There’s enough of me to go around,” he said, even though it tasted like a lie.
Most days, he felt spread thin, like people were taking bits of him and not giving anything back.
For now, though, he could pretend he was whole, and that he could give it all to whomever he wanted.
SIX
Despitetheturmoilbrewingunderneath Leo’s skin, Josh’s next heat went better than the first.
It was comforting how Damon and Josh reacted to seeing him, the open smiles on their faces, the way Josh pouted and stretched his arms from where he was bundled up on the couch.
“Let’s cuddle until it hits,” Josh ordered, and they all went into the bedroom, lying on top of each other, Leo’s scent already joining theirs in the cotton sheets.
When the heat finally flared to life, Leo wasn’t cast aside. Instead, it was him that Josh kissed, wiggling on top of him and panting as Damon tried undressing them as best as he could, what with their limbs all tangled up.
“Come on, babe,” Damon encouraged, “let go of him just a sec so I can take your shirt off.”
Josh did, ripping Leo’s shirt off in turn before diving in for another wet, deep kiss.
Josh was still frightfully thin, but Leo would swear his ribs weren’t as prominent.
Leo swallowed Josh’s surprised moan as Damon lifted Josh’s hips to lick at his slit, as if he weren’t dripping with slick already.
