Chapter 21
Holden
Holden was not looking forward to work on Tuesday, and Merrick was already at the shop by the time Holden arrived.
He took a deep breath to center himself, unlocked the front door, and stepped inside.
The bells on the door handle jingled, and Holden checked the clock to decide if he should lock the door from the inside or leave it ready for the day.
It was five minutes before eleven, so he shoved his keys into his pocket and went straight to his station.
He sat down and rolled his stool into the strip of space that separated his and Merrick’s station.
“Let’s hear it,” he said, scratching at a persistent itch on the side of his nose that wouldn’t go away.
“What?”
Holden made a broad gesture with his hand. “About seeing your brother behind your back.”
Merrick blinked at him slowly, apparently at a loss for words…for what absolutely had to be the first time ever in Holden’s experience.
“I said what I had to say when I texted you,” Merrick answered.
“What?”
Merrick rolled himself over to the middle space, his knees brushing past Holden’s as he slid in front of him.
“Would any of it make a difference?” Merrick asked. “If I said I didn’t want you to be with him?”
Holden’s body reacted viscerally, a sharp twitch of his shoulders at the thought of never having Bryce in his arms again.
“No.”
“Then what’s the point?”
Holden wasn’t sure what to say. It was more common for him to be speechless, but Merrick still laughed at him just the same.
“You like him?”
“Yes.”
I love him, Holden thought.
“Do you treat him well?”
“Yes.”
“Does he treat you well?”
“Of course,” Holden answered. “Why wouldn’t he?”
Merrick grimaced, bouncing his head from side to side like he had something to say but was again, for the second time in his life, not willing to say it. Holden provided the answer for them both. “I know you think your brother is…I don’t know, a slut or something.”
He hated to use that word, but it was the most accurate one to what Merrick had, on more than one occasion, implied.
“He’s not,” Holden said. “I mean, maybe he was before, but not with me.”
“I like working here is all,” Merrick said. “I don’t want him to mess up my work.”
Holden bristled, failing to make the correlation. “How would that happen?”
“If he does something bad to you,” Merrick explained.
“What if I do something bad to him?” Holden suggested. “What if I’m the one who ruins it?”
Just the thought of losing Bryce was a knife in his chest, but he had to play through the hypothetical situation to prove his point to Merrick.
“Why would you?”
“Why would he?”
Merrick sighed heavily, shrugging. “I just want him to be happy, and I also want to be happy. I’m happy working here.”
“And he’s happy being with me,” Holden said. “But you should talk to him about that.”
“Don’t need to,” Merrick said with a laugh.
“Oh, so you save all your talking for me?”
“This is the most I’ve ever heard you say, now that you mention it, but no. I sent him a text a lot like the one I sent you, and we’re already good. Bryce knows me, knows how I am.”
“He knows you love him,” Holden supplied.
Merrick nodded, and the upstairs door to Riggs’s apartment opened. “So we’re good?”
Holden held out his hand and Merrick shook it. “We’re good.”
“Who’s good?” Riggs asked, coming downstairs and tugging a hoodie over his head.
“Holden is sleeping with my brother,” Merrick announced, wheeling his stool back to the other side of his station.
Holden’s cheeks burned, and he rolled back to his side while doing his best to avoid Riggs’s curious stare.
“That’s…something,” Riggs said.
Holden nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket to text Bryce.
He had no idea when the conversation between Bryce and Merrick had taken place, but it couldn’t have been too long ago.
Bryce had spent the whole weekend at Holden’s apartment, mostly in various stages of undress with varying volumes of cum inside of his body, and it was with the most reluctance that Holden had peeled himself away from his boyfriend to come to work and face his brother.
things are good here with Merrick
Bryce sent him back a selfie, lounging on Holden’s couch with one arm folded behind his head.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt and he hadn’t shaved the whole time they’d been together.
Three days of scruff lined Bryce’s jaw, and it was less than two hours ago Holden had nibbled his way from Bryce’s chin to his ear, their bodies pressed together still naked and warm.
Bryce
knew they would be.
I love your couch btw.
Holden typed out a message and hesitated before sending it, only to delete it and rewrite it three times before he finally found the courage to press the send button. Off it went and Holden set his phone face down on his station before Bryce had any time to reply.
“Merrick, what’re your books like today?” Riggs asked, frowning down at his own phone. The look didn’t necessarily mean something was wrong; Riggs just generally had that look about him unless his boyfriend Smith was around.
“Slow afternoon, but I’ve got a few later in the day.
Was planning to catch up on some sketches for next week, but I was also thinking of trying to get better at watercolors.
I don’t really know.” Merrick rattled on and Holden rolled his eyes, staring at his cell phone like it was a bomb about to detonate.
“Smith said he was going to bring his best friend by the shop for a tattoo.”
“Let’s do it.” Merrick grinned and clapped his hands together. “What would he want?”
“No idea.” Riggs sent a message on his phone and returned it to his pocket. “Smith is with her, but I told them to come by whenever they were ready.”
“Perfect. I guess I don’t really have enough time to get into watercolors today then, but sketching will probably work.”
Holden’s phone vibrated with an incoming message and he sucked in a breath, his hand hovering over the device before he picked it up again. He shouldn’t have sent the message. It had been rushed and poorly thought out, and Bryce was going to hate the idea and probably break up with him for it.
That seemed dramatic as he played the scenario out in his head, but it was still possible.
Maybe just not in this timeline. Bryce, for whatever reason, loved him, and he loved Bryce in return.
Holden would have never picked a man like Bryce for himself, but maybe that was why he’d been single for so long.
He’d been looking for the wrong people, or maybe he’d simply been waiting for Bryce.
His phone started to vibrate again, this time with an incoming call, not a text.
He flipped the phone over to see Bryce’s name on the screen and he answered the call with his eyes closed.
Holden stood and headed for the front of the shop, ducking under the counter before stepping through the door and onto the sidewalk.
“Hello.”
Holden leaned against the outside wall of the building, one leg bent and the other straight, his foot pressed against the plain wall of the shop.
The stucco could use some color. It was a shame Riggs had left it unpainted for so long.
Holden would have to talk to Riggs about a mural or something.
It could be a fun side project for him and Merrick to do.
“You didn’t answer my text,” Bryce said.
“I’ve been scared to look at it,” he admitted.
“Why?”
“Old habits, I imagine.”
Bryce chuckled softly in his ear. “Do you want to read it while I’m on the phone or do you want me to tell you what I said?”
Holden closed his eyes and dropped his head against the wall. “You might as well tell me.”
It was a warm day, the sun already beating down on the top of his head, his legs warm beneath the black denim of his jeans. The nerves and the cold sweat didn’t help things either.
“I think your apartment might be too small for two people,” Bryce said, and Holden’s heart sank.
“You’re right, it was a stu—”
“Holden, stop talking.”
He did, clicking his teeth together as he snapped his mouth closed. He could still picture Bryce on his couch, naked or nearly naked, sweat glistening on the center of his chest and the gorgeous pink flush he got when he exerted himself.
“It might be too small for two people,” Bryce repeated, “but maybe not for us.”
“What?”
“I don’t have a lot of things of my own.”
“Bryce.”
“I don’t think I’d take up too much room.”
“You can take all of it,” Holden said quickly, heart back in place and ready to run a damn marathon.
“I don’t want it all,” Bryce said. “Only enough.”
“It’s yours.”
Bryce paused. “Holden, we’ve only known each other a few weeks, are you sure you want me to move in with you?”
He was as certain of it now as he had been when he sent the text, as he had been when he fell asleep the night before staring at a cluster of freckles on Bryce’s cheek that he’d never seen before.
“Very sure,” he said. “Besides, you already have a key and spend more time there than me.”
“Do you want to tell Merrick or me?”
Holden laughed at that, angling his head toward the front of the shop in time to see Smith walking up, accompanied by a gorgeous woman with shiny brown hair and flawless skin. She must be the best friend Riggs had mentioned.
“He’s about to tattoo Riggs’s boyfriend’s best friend,” Holden said, pushing off the wall and heading back to the door. “I’ll tell him.”
“That’s mean.”
“What time will you be home from work tonight?”
“Late, but you don’t have to wait up.”
“You don’t have to tell me what to do.” Holden stepped back into the shop and slipped under the counter. “I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Can’t wait.”
Holden disconnected the call and tapped his fingers on Merrick’s chair as he walked by. “Your brother is moving in with me.”
Merrick’s head snapped up, his face a mask of confusion. Holden smiled, and the door opened again. He didn’t need to look to know it was Smith and the distraction he’d been hoping for when he told Merrick the news. The two of them studied each other while Riggs made his greetings to Smith.
“Is he now?” Merrick asked. “His idea?”
“Mine.”
Merrick made a pleased sound. “Who am I to argue with anything my brother does, right?”
“Right.”
“Merrick,” Riggs called out. “Come meet Asha.”
Holden observed the introductions, waiting until Merrick was deep in conversation with Asha about what sort of tattoo she wanted to get and what the time would look like to get it done to send another text to Bryce.
I think he took it well.
Bryce
I thought I took it well.
Holden’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
No one takes it better than you.
Go get your things this afternoon. I want you moved in before I get home from work.
Who’s needy now??
Please do what you’re told?
Are you asking or telling?
Do what you’re told.
I don’t think I should like this as much as I do, but I shouldn’t like a lot of things as much as I do.
Is that a yes?
Yes, I’ll fully invade your space before I leave for work tonight.
Do you like that?
I love it.
I love you.