Chapter 17
Ollie
Kaspar inhaled sharply.
Damn, Bright. That was the wrong thing to say.
“At the risk of sounding stupid…so did I.” He emptied his bottle. “I want to get some fresh air before I get back to work. Are you coming with me?”
I nodded and got up to slip my coat on. Kas cleared our table and waited for me by the door.
He led me through a maze of buildings until I found myself in the sprawling park behind Veitsreuth Castle.
“Don’t worry, I'm not doing anything stupid,” he muttered and shuffled his feet to put some distance between us.
“Like what?” Shut up, Ollie.
“Like kissing you,” Kaspar said bluntly, then recoiled. “Damn it, Ollie. I’m sorry.” He ran his hands over his head and rubbed his face hard.
“It’s okay.” I extended my hand and held his forearm.
“I spent the last few weeks convincing myself that it was a one-off thing.”
“And did it work?”
He didn’t have to say it.
Just like Bo and I had tried to go back to our lives and pretend we didn’t want to have Kaspar with us again, he’d tried and failed to get over it.
We did alright. We were still happy. And it sucked that we couldn’t just move on.
“Bo and I talked a lot about what happened, Kas. And we both agreed that it wasn’t a case of missing anything in our relationship.”
His face fell.
“What I mean to say is you aren’t a patch to fix something broken or an experiment for us. We are enough but still miss what we had with you. We weren’t missing anything. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t missing you.” I let go of him. “I’m sorry. I’m probably not making any sense.”
“Yes, you are.” He gave me a small smile; he looked happier than before.
“And Bo and I would both like to see you again. Hang out, date, or however you want to call it. Not just sex.” I dropped my voice on the last word when a group of elderly women chose that moment to stop next to us and take pictures with the well-endowed marble statue of a Minotaur.
We both snorted and retreated further down the gravel path.
“We want to get to know you better. If you want that, too. We are a package deal, though. There’s no me without Bo, and no Bo without me.”
“No offense, Ollie, but that is what I am looking for. I am sure you are great. But I am definitely interested in getting to know both of you better. I don’t know if you guessed but I’m not into monogamous relationships.”
I grinned at him.
“I had an inkling of that. It was important to me to say that, though. Bo and I are mated and married. Nothing will ever change that.”
“I would never want that. Getting between you guys. I just want to be—” Kaspar broke off and inspected a chipped claw.
To be loved?
I couldn't say it out loud, though, and continued. “Yeah.” I took a deep breath. “How about we have a movie night together? Maybe on Saturday? Bo’s team has a game on Friday.”
“I’d like that,” Kaspar breathed.
“What’s your favourite pizza?”
“Oh, I’m not fussy about that.”
“Come on, tell me.”
“I like the one with salad and ham. It’s way too fancy for a movie night, though. Just get me anything. It’s—”
“Kaspar!” I interrupted his rambling. He’s not used to having his wishes fulfilled. Well, welcome to the Bright-Persson family. “It’s no big deal, sweetheart. I’ll order the fancy one for you.”
He stilled. His eyes landed on my face.
Shit. I just called him sweetheart, didn’t I?
“All I’m saying is you’re allowed to have nice things. And it’s okay to ask for them.”
Those pretty brown and blue eyes held my gaze fast.
“What time do you want me to be there?” he murmured eventually, rubbing his hand over his nape.
“Four thirty? Is that okay?”
“Yeah. That’s good. I’m sorry, but I have to go back to work now.”
“Oh, of course. Sorry. I hope you won’t be too late.”
“No.” Kaspar shook his head, a small smile on his lips. “Do you think it’s okay if I hug you goodbye?”
“I think that’s okay.”
He briefly closed his arms around me, and then stepped back.
“It was lovely to see you today, Ollie.”
“And you, Kaspar. I’m looking forward to Saturday.”
“Me, too.” He gave me a little wave, turned around, and walked away.