Chapter Nineteen
TEDDY
Teddy had his arms wrapped around Ciaran’s soft body, while Geoff’s arm was wrapped around him. It was warm and comfortable between the two men. Three husky bodies snuggled up against the cold outside.
This feels right. Shit. This feels right. Did we fall for this guy? Geoff and I need to talk.
Teddy turned and faced Geoff. Goeff’s eyes were already open and staring at him.
“We should talk,” Teddy whispered.
“Let’s go to your office.”
They slipped out of bed, leaving Ciaran to sleep.
Geoff locked the office door and sat next to Teddy on a chair.
“We have to talk to him,” Teddy said.
“I know,” Geoff said. “I could see it, but I didn’t want to believe it. He’s too good to be true.”
“Are you falling in love with him?” Teddy looked deep into Geoff’s eyes with concern. He knew they’d agreed to just let the sex be sex and not get attached. It couldn’t be helped now, though.
“I don’t know if it’s love yet,” Geoff said. “But I’ve grown close to him already.”
“Me too.”
“So…what do we want to do? We know he’ll be here for at least another week,” Geoff noted.
Teddy watched Geoff. He knew he was falling in love with Ciaran and didn’t want to let him go.
But can I really love two men?
“Do you want him to stay with us…forever?” Geoff asked.
Teddy looked up to see that tears had formed in Geoff’s eyes. Geoff was clearly as scared as he was.
“I know the answer I want to give,” Teddy said. “I want to say no, but the truth is, yes. I want him to stay, and I think you do, too.”
Geoff nodded. “But how do we ask him?”
“Be upfront,” Teddy replied. “We just need to be honest with him. We’re all adults. If it doesn’t go well, it’s only for a little while.”
“I think he’ll say yes.”
“Me too.”
Teddy had breakfast ready by the time Ciaran made it to the dining room.
“Hey there,” Geoff greeted him. “How’d you sleep?”
“You guys have a comfortable bed,” Ciaran replied. He looked between them. “Cuddling with you guys was nice. It felt…” he stopped.
Teddy waited for a moment. “You felt loved and cared for?”
“Yes.” Ciaran’s face reddened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go this far. I…I think I really like you guys, but I know it’s just fun. You told me that. You don’t owe me anything. We had fun, and—”
“We really like you, too,” Geoff said, interrupting him.
“But not just in a friendly way. I can’t explain it. I’ve never had feelings like this before. It’s hard to say, I’m—” Ciaran stopped again.
“We understand,” Teddy assured him. “We feel the same.”
“You do?”
“Yes,” Geoff said.
“We wanted to know if you’d like to be part of our family,” Teddy said. “Move here and live with us.”
“You want me to be your third? Someone you play with?”
The disappointment on Ciaran’s face absolutely devastated Teddy. It wasn’t what they wanted, for him to be a friend with benefits. They wanted him as an equal partner in their relationship. Someone to add to the love they already had. He clearly wasn’t explaining it well at all.
“Not like that.” Teddy shook his head. “We want you to join our relationship. As a partner, with all of us equal in our love for each other.”
“What?” Ciaran said. “You guys have been together for years. I don’t know if I’d ever feel like an equal. You’ve had sixteen years to learn about each other and grow together. Here I am, just some guy you met a week ago.”
Teddy walked up to him and hugged him tightly. “You and I connected in the kitchen. I love Geoff to death, but he hates cooking. Doing it with you was a wonderful experience. I haven’t felt like that in years. We moved around the kitchen as though we’d been doing it together for years.”
Geoff walked around and wrapped his arms around Ciaran’s back. “Playing video games with you was a blast. And hiking? You made me see things in a new light. The scenes you pointed out were breathtaking.”
“We would care about you,” Teddy assured him.
“We wouldn’t do anything to make you feel like you don’t belong,” Geoff added.
“I need to think about it,” Ciaran told them. “How would it even work?”
“We can discuss everything when you’re ready,” Teddy promised. “Then you can decide if it’s right for you.”
“Thanks,” Ciaran stated. “I’m going to go to my room and read for a bit.”
“Take the time you need,” Geoff said.
“Would you like to eat here with us before you go, or did you want to take it with you?” Teddy asked.
“I’ll eat here first,” Ciaran replied.
Teddy smiled. He never thought that they would fall for someone else, and it happened so fast.
They ate in silence. Teddy glanced at Ciaran, who kept his eyes on his plate.
They’d put him in a difficult position, and Teddy’s stomach twisted.
They shouldn’t have. Ciaran was already unsure of what he wanted out of life, and they’d placed a near-impossible decision in front of him.
It’d have been better if they’d never slept with him.
But we had feelings before that. We’d obviously wanted to get caught.
“I’ll talk with you guys later,” Ciaran said.
“If we’ve done anything that made you uncomfortable, we’re sorry,” Teddy said, looking at him. “It felt right, to be honest. I hope you know we would never force you into something you didn’t want.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ciaran said. “I’ve thought about it, too. I just need to gather my thoughts, and then we can talk about it.”
“That’s fair,” Geoff observed. “We’ll see you at lunch.”
Ciaran turned and headed to his room.
They watched him go before Teddy headed to the kitchen with an armful of dishes, followed by Geoff.
“I think we scared him,” Teddy worried, placing the dishes in the sink.
“I don’t think so,” Geoff said. “He was just surprised we felt the same way he did. We validated his feelings, and I don’t think he’s had that before. He isn’t sure what to do with that. Give him time.”
“You’re right,” Teddy agreed.
Geoff wrapped his arms around Teddy and squeezed. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.” He kissed the back of his neck.
Teddy leaned his head forward, and Geoff continued to kiss his neck.
“I’d better clean the house before it gets away from me,” Geoff said.
“I’ll check the reservations and make sure nobody decided to book during this storm, and then I might bake a pie or something.”
“Can you make a cherry pie?”
Teddy turned to see a wide smile on Geoff’s face.
“I sure can.” Teddy grinned.
Geoff gave him one more kiss before going off to clean.
Teddy loaded the dishwasher, started it, and headed to his office. Scrolling through the backend of the website, he realized how much Ciaran had helped. He’d never been an organized person, and just got used to how things were, but now, it was cleaner and more manageable.
He’s improved our lives in a short time. I hope he says yes.