9. Leon
NINE
LEON
As a workaholic, Leon had found that getting his needs met at the club was optimal for him. He got to socialize, play, get off. He could have a one-time interaction with someone, or he could spend the evening with someone he’d been with before, who he knew wanted the same thing he did: no-strings-attached sex. It was easy. When he wanted to have sex, he went to the club.
It prevented situations like the one he was currently in: sitting at his desk waiting for a text message.
The group text thread he and Oliver and Dylan had was something Leon could disappear into so easily. It was always flirty, sometimes sexy, and sometimes just casual conversation. Dylan asked about his cases, Oliver checked in to make sure he was taking care of himself. They talked about TV and movies or the lawn care Dylan and Oliver were doing. The car Leon was thinking of buying.
And then, of course, a very horny exchange of photos, videos, and voice memos.
Since it was the workday, Leon wasn’t waiting for one of those at the moment. He was watching his phone screen out of the corner of his eye where it was lying on his desk, ostensibly reading a draft of a will on his computer. Leon had opened the thread to send a good morning and seen Oliver was already typing something, three dots blinking as he typed and typed.
Finally, the brick of text arrived. Leon was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. They were having a lot of fun, but Leon knew that their arrangement wouldn’t be forever. Oliver and Dylan were married, and Leon was, well, their fun thing they did every once in a while.
Eventually, they would need to choose their marriage over him, and he would have to go back to the club.
The idea of it honestly broke his heart.
He held his breath as he picked up his phone and read the text.
Oliver
Hi, babe Dyl and I are going to Vegas next week/weekend for a trade show thing that is going to be kind of boring for me, and he suggested that I bring a friend. Someone to entertain me while Dyl is working. Obviously, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, and this is pretty last minute, but we’d really like to have you there with us. I’d really like you there with me.
Oh. They weren’t dumping him. Oliver had called him his friend. That was…sweet. It felt like more than just fucking. He let out the breath he’d been holding, and his phone buzzed again. A text from Dylan with the dates.The two of them left in just over two weeks.
“You there, man?” Leon’s coworker Dan asked, knocking at his open office door.
Shit. Leon was absolutely blushing. Dan leaned against the doorframe and smirked at him.
“Texting your sweetie?”
Leon rolled his eyes at him. Dan was the only other lawyer at their firm who knew Leon’s…preferences. Casual. Kinky. He wouldn’t be scandalized by Dylan and Oliver.
“Texting my sweetie…and his husband.”
Dan’s eyebrows lifted in appreciation. “Oh, so that’s how it is.” He invited himself into Leon’s office, closed the door behind him, and took a seat in one of the chairs facing Leon’s desk. “More than a one-time thing?”
“This has been going on for a little over a month. It’s super fun.”
“But…?”
“Feelings are dangerous. They just invited me to go on a trip with them.”
“Both of them?”
“His husband likes to watch.”
Dan nodded approvingly. He was happily monogamously married with a kid, but open-minded. “Hot. What’s the issue?”
“Time off, obviously. And I don’t want to overstep.”
“You just said they invited you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it’s not overstepping, dude. You’ve gotta have a fucking surplus of PTO. When was the last time you took any?”
“Don’t remember, honestly.”
“It’ll get approved. You got any appropriate photos of your boys?”
His boys. Leon liked that. He thumbed through his Photos app and found one of Dylan and Oliver that was as appropriate as they were going to get. Shirtless, but just the shoulders up. Oliver was lying against Dylan’s chest in bed. It was a selfie they sent Leon after some FaceTime sex.
“That’s Oliver,” he said, pointing out the blond. “And his husband, Dylan.”
“You’re living inside of a porno.”
Leon beamed. Yeah, it felt like it.
“Ask for that time off,” Dan said, getting up to leave.
“Did you need something?”
“Nah, just came to bother you.” He left with a smile.
Leon sent a quick IM to his boss to ask for the time off. It was soon, but there was never a good time to take off work in his business.
He drummed his fingertips on his desktop while he waited for a response, then thumbed open the text thread again. He scrolled back up it, reliving some photos they had sent back and forth the night before.
His computer pinged. His boss was cool with the PTO.
Okay, well, that decided it, right?
He was nervous when he responded, trying to sound cool and collected. That was his role, and while it came naturally most of the time, if anyone was going to shake him, it would be these two boys.
Leon
I’m in. Sounds like fun. Got the time off work.
Oliver sent a whole bunch of confetti emojis, and they agreed to talk about it that night on FaceTime to plan everything out.
Leon would never say he hated his job. He knew what he was signing up for. He made it through the grind of law school and the first several years of working for a big firm. He knew things would get a little better when he made partner, but even though he had a discipline that wasn’t as intense as some, the nature of the game was that when you worked in elder law, your clients died. And then you had to deal with their kids.
Due to the documentation put in place before clients passed on, things usually played out cleanly. But sometimes Leon had to deal with fallout from the family, and that week he’d had two such issues. And on top of that, it sucked to lose a client—someone he spent time with to understand and learn about, so he could help make them the best end-of-life plans he could. Sure, it wasn’t like losing a best friend, but it also wasn’t fun.
He was just feeling so fucking heavy.
He packed up his messenger bag before heading home and noticed a text from Dylan. He assumed it would be Las Vegas prep, since they left in a few days, but instead it was a picture of a pile of ingredients, Oliver standing next to them giving him a thumbs-up.
Dylan
We’re doing fondue night tonight. And, as always, we bought enough food for an army. Come over?
Leon wasn’t feeling particularly sexy, and he didn’t want to bring his bad mood to two people he only wanted happiness for.
Leon
Had kind of a rough day. Not sure I’m up for anything intense tonight
Oliver
oh no :( come over for hugs and cheese, then
Leon laughed. He was kidding himself if he thought he would be turning down any invitation from Oliver and Dylan.
Leon
Hugs and cheese sounds amazing. I’m just leaving work now. Can I come straight over?
Oliver
YES
By the time Leon made it through traffic across town, his stomach was grumbling. But he barely had to wait even a single second when he got to Oliver and Dylan’s house before Oliver pulled him inside and into the hug he’d been waiting for, telling him to keep his shoes on because they were eating on the deck.
The pile of ingredients in the photo Dylan sent him were cut up on platters, and Oliver grabbed one on his way out to the deck. Leon had never been in their backyard, which was small but felt private and backed up to a woodsy area with lots of old-growth trees. Dylan was fussing with the fondue pot when Leon got outside, but he left it to wrap Leon in a second hug. If anyone had any doubts about dating a couple, Leon had plenty of pros to share. But right now, double the hugs was the thing at the top of his list.
Oliver grabbed drinks, and they sat around the patio table, dipping pieces of bread, vegetables, baby potatoes, tortilla chips, grilled shrimp, and pieces of chicken into a molten cheese sauce Leon wanted to bathe in.
“What made your day hard?” Oliver asked, sitting right next to him, their knees touching as they both speared little potatoes and took turns dipping them.
“Lost a couple of clients this week. And in my line of work, that means they died.”
“Fuck,” Dylan said, reaching across the table for his hand as Oliver grabbed his bicep.
“I’m so fucking sorry.”
“It’s not like losing someone close to you, you know? But it’s still sad. And then dealing with their ‘loved ones’ who aren’t even as sad about it as I am is torture.”
“People are monsters,” Oliver said, instantly on his side. Sometimes he would talk to his coworkers about this, but it was easy to be jaded and protect your feelings at work. This felt different. Free.
Oliver wrapped his arm around Leon’s bicep and rested his head on Leon’s shoulder, like he genuinely wanted him to be there. The night was chilly, so he soaked up Oliver’s body heat. Oliver let Leon feed him little bites of food covered in cheese, and Leon relaxed, listening to Dylan and Oliver talking about their own workdays. Dylan’s job sounded very difficult for technical reasons, and Oliver’s job sounded tough for more political reasons. The vibe was off, Oliver said, and he was always on alert in the office.
They polished off the savory food, the pot of cheese nearly empty, and then they took everything inside. They were all full from dinner, but Oliver made cheesecake-stuffed strawberries for dessert, and if Oliver asked him to, he’d keep eating forever.
Oliver pushed him up against the kitchen counter and kissed him, mouth tasting of strawberries, as Dylan started cleaning up the kitchen. Just having Oliver’s body against him, his little hips in his hands, made the whole week worth it.
“Thank you,” Leon said, pulling away from their kiss just enough to nudge their noses together. “Both of you. This week has been…awful. I didn’t think I’d get to feel happy today.”
“I’m glad Dylan’s spidey sense perked up and he decided you needed to come to dinner.”
“Dylan is a genius.”
“I absolutely am,” Dylan jokingly agreed.
Leon had assumed that, regardless of intention, they’d end up in bed together. That was just what happened between them. But he left twenty minutes later—after many kisses—another thank-you for dinner on his lips as they planned to carpool to the airport on Sunday.
Somehow, on his drive home, Leon realized he’d had a good day.