13. Burton
CHAPTER 13
BURTON
I lay in bed and watched my two men sleeping. Excitement bubbled in my chest when I remembered what day it was.
The three of us spent the past week shopping for presents, which I did online because there was no way I’d drag myself to a mall during the holiday season, settling on a menu for Christmas dinner; which meant I thought something sounded good, but deferred back to Phoenix and Luka on most major decisions. When the other two forgot something from the grocery store, I went to fetch it.
It was crazy, yet delirious fun.
There were also quiet moments where Luka read How the Grinch Stole Christmas in his deep voice, or when Phoenix decided for an entire day, we would watch nothing but Christmas movies while cuddled up under a flannel blanket he’d bought to go with the holiday decor along with the dogs, who loved using the younger man as their own personal pillow.
We ignored our phones, spent time with friends and family, explored our neighborhood with daily walks, and had our parents along with Arthur, Jude, Gio, and Fergus over for dinner several times.
It wasn’t something I noticed or worried about before, but the years previous to Phoenix integrating into our lives, our year-end breaks composed of us lazing at home until our parents guilted one of us, most times it would be me, into dropping by for dinner. We didn’t exchange presents, but it was nice to catch up with them for the one night.
And at home, it was always quiet with minimal decorating, lots of naps, and ignoring the season all together.
But Phoenix loved any holiday. Christmas and Halloween were his favorites, and his enjoyment of it all led me to be awake at such an early hour, imagining how both men would react to the gifts I bought them.
“Why are you up so early, handsome?”
His hand slid over my chest as he nuzzled his face against my neck, sending a surge of emotions through me.
“Thinking, but enjoying being close to you two on Christmas morning. It’s a thrill to experience it all over again as an adult,” I whispered.
“I took over and made the house look like all the elves at the North Pole threw up in here, but I was excited to celebrate without judgment. Besides, I see the way you and Luka stare at the tree.”
“It’s a fire hazard,” Luka groaned.
I reached out and slapped Luka on the arm. A warm glow inside my chest grew at the sound of his deep laugh.
“It’s beautiful, like all the decorations, fairy lights, stockings, wreaths, and the little bows on all the plants pots, even though it took three days and a lot of coffee to get through them all. Along with the peach buttercream cake, the dark chocolate brioche, the tart cherry cream cheese danish, and the pecan-apricot cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing… and now, I’m hungry. But also horny, which is a constant state because both of you are naked and warm.”
At my words, Phoenix moved under the covers to sit astride my hips, but Luka ruined my fun as I reached for the younger man at the same time Luka yanked him away from me.
“Nope, we have to get up and start baking and cooking. Our guests will arrive at ten-thirty for the game and we’re eating at one. Maybe closer to two o’clock, depending on the sides I decide to make,” Luka said.
“Says the man who had his entire body pressed against Petal the entire night. And don’t act innocent. I know you nestled your swollen cock against his ass. Besides, I was only going to give him a blowjob, but no, you stole him and rubbed your sexy fucking body against him. What about me?”
Luka leaned over and kissed me.
By now, I knew which buttons to push, and whimpered into his mouth before I nibbled on his bottom lip. I savored the loud groan as he pulled back, his plump lip still caught between my teeth. His gaze softened as he looked at me, and I had a feeling he’d give in to my whining.
“Fine, we have time.”
Phoenix, still slick from the night before, climbed onto my lap. As he sunk down, taking my cock all the way to the hilt, Luka moved himself behind Phoenix and lifted my ass, positioning his cock near my entrance. He drove deep inside me as Phoenix fell forward and buried his face against my neck.
I moaned as I curled my hips up, brushing against Phoenix’s prostate over and over, clutching him close to my chest as he cried out with each stroke.
We didn’t last long.
Phoenix clenched hard with my dick deep inside him, his entire body shaking as his release marked my stomach and chest, which set me off.
“Fuck! Luka! Oh fuck, Petal!”
Apparently, I’m eloquent when pleasure overtakes reason and as Luka filled me with his hot come, complete contentment washed over me.
I groaned in complaint when Luka pulled out of me several minutes later, but I sucked in a sharp breath of delight as his fingers played around the rim of my hole.
“You’re insatiable,” Luka murmured.
I winked at Phoenix, who giggled as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and leaned down for a scorching kiss.
“With you two, I’ll always be.”
We lazed in bed for a few more minutes until my stomach rumbled.
“Hey, Sunshine, we should make B get up and remove the turkey from the brine, butter it and stuff it with citrus, before putting it in the oven.”
Phoenix laughed. “And then you can peel the ten pounds of potatoes before sautéing the onions and celery for the stuffing.”
“Or, and hear me out, one of you goes downstairs and brings me one of Petal’s famous baked apple pies. No one will miss it. I’ll scarf half of it before I pass out until our guests arrive, and then I’ll get up for a shower.”
Luka huffed. “You’re filled with my come with some of Sunshine’s smeared all over you. It’ll get sticky and uncomfortable in about five minutes.”
My dick twitched, and I pushed the bigger man, groaning. “Please don’t say come, because my prick likes the idea of coming inside you this time, Luka. And?—”
“Leave my dick out of this, handsome. He’s just as interested.”
With a big, exaggerated exhalation, I brushed a kiss against Phoenix’s lips, and then Luka’s, before I rolled to the edge of the bed and stood.
“This once, I will be the mature one, take a shower, help you two with Christmas lunch, and then nap during the Detroit Lion’s game.”
“It’s all we ask, sweetheart,” Luka said.
My heart warmed at the endearments and as I walked away, I glanced over my shoulder and said, “Leave Petal’s dick alone, love. We’ll take turns driving him insane tonight.”
The pout on the bigger man’s face was priceless.
But instead of what I’d been dreading as we readied lunch, I found I enjoyed helping throughout the day.
Luka kissed me whenever I volunteered to chop or peel something and when they hadn’t assigned me a task, I’d leaned my chin against Petal’s shoulder and watched his elegant fingers shape the pie dough.
Right on time, the doorbell rang before Arthur called out, “We’re here. The party can start!”
Petal shook his head and shouted back, “It’s Christmas, not a rave.”
Arthur appeared in the kitchen with his husband after blowing Phoenix a raspberry and booted me away from his best friend. He hugged Phoenix tight from behind.
Jude moved to the sink to wash his hands before he picked up a knife and diced the celery.
“With you three, it’s just as fun.”
“Where’s Gio and Fergus?” I asked.
When Arthur, busy teasing Phoenix with whispered words I couldn’t hear, didn’t answer, Jude said, “They’re outside with your parents, helping bring in presents.”
I nodded and headed toward the front, pulling on my peacoat before opening the door. I met mom halfway up the sidewalk and grabbed the mountain of gifts she carried.
“Some of these are for me, right?”
Mom, of course, blushed. But because she was honest to a fault, shook her head. “These are for Phoenix.”
“If we bribe him with thoughtful gifts and direct all our love to him, he’ll decide to stay with you and my son for the rest of your lives,” Mi added.
I huffed, “You don’t think Luka and I can hold on to our man?”
As she walked by, mom’s hands were free and she patted my cheek, “No, but don’t let that discourage you from doing your utmost to woo your man.”
“She’s kidding, son,” Dad said.
“Is she? Because her expression implies I’m a moron who wouldn’t know how to love someone without flashcards.”
Dad laughed and said, “Well, look at you and Luka. All these years later, you can admit it took you a while, son.”
“I’m ignoring both of you for the rest of the day. And when I tell Luka, he will, too. Hi, Gio, Fergus, you two are looking well.”
Fergus, with his face buried against his Italian boyfriend’s chest, lifted a hand as he continued to shake with laughter.
“Ah, buongiorno amico , it’s good to see you. And your relationship with Phoenix and Luka is good, no?”
A snort from Fergus had me glaring at the big man before I turned and sighed.
“Yes, everything is great. Let’s head inside.”
Tired of being ganged up on, I followed the parents into the house and dropped the pile of presents in my arms near the tree.
Still feeling tetchy, I walked into the kitchen, right up to Luka, and whipped him around for a dirty kiss. It calmed me, which had been my goal, but Luka’s eyebrow raised in question. I told him about the conversation outside, and he smiled and cupped the back of my neck.
“Oh, B, they don’t mean it like we’re going to lose him. It’s a sign of their love for us, a little push from them because they want to see a sign of commitment.
It’s because of all the emotional upheaval Aalto has put Phoenix through. Along with confessing our feelings later than we wanted, you’re obsessive about not losing either of us and resentful of anyone who dares to hurt us. But we’re not going anywhere and with every moment spent together, he lets go of his past because he knows he is safe with us.”
Arms wrapped around my waist from the side, and I glanced down to see worry etched on Petal’s face before he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Unable to stay away, I pulled him closer and brushed a light kiss to his mouth, before I said, “You know I love you with all my heart, right, Petal?”
A bright smile lit up his face, and all the uncertainty and anger at the earlier conversation vanished when he said, “I love you, too, Burton.”
Luka, always a protector, surrounded us and pulled us close.
Phoenix continued. “Both of you are the best part of my life, and I treasure you two every day. And I’ve been thinking about my anxiety and realized my doubts stem from past hurts. So from now on, I’m determined not to take anything for granted. I acknowledge all the good things and people in my life, and disregard all the negative in order to protect my sanity.”
Taking me by surprise, Luka said, “We should look into a commitment ceremony.”
Before either Phoenix or I could agree to it or consider what it might mean, a kitchen timer beeped.
Luka basted the turkey while Phoenix greeted our guests. I glanced at the time before I placed the prepared scalloped potatoes and broccoli au gratin in the second oven.
The game was about to start, but before I turned toward the living room, Luka snagged me around the waist and nuzzled the back of my neck. Phoenix’s eyes sparkled as he watched the two of us, giving me a smile before turning back to answer Fergus.
“Love you,” I whispered.
He smiled against my skin and for only me, he said, “I love you, B.”
We spent the day with excellent food, great company, and conversation.
The protective feelings Phoenix stirred in me were a surprise. Yet as I remembered the pain in my chest when Luka, who admitted years after our first sexual foray, I’d hurt him by telling him I wanted to go back to being friends, and I realized my feelings weren’t a new revelation.
What I never admitted aloud was when I was younger, and I could admit to in the recesses of my brain, was that I correlated sex with impermanence.
The women that flitted in and out of my life were temporary. Either I attracted women who didn’t want a long-term relationship or they disappeared from my life as quickly as they entered.
Luka, the one constant in my life, never encouraged my attraction to him after we went back to being friends. I’d locked down the feelings I had toward him for years, not because of any type of embarrassment, but because I hated change. The threat of losing the most important person in my life caused me to panic.
“What are you thinking about?” Phoenix said next to me as I washed the dinner dishes.
After eating their weight in a turkey dinner with all the fixings and more dessert than any one group of humans should have in their lifetime, most of our party crashed in the living room, but the parents retreated to their own rooms, to take a nap.
“I never realized over the years how much I worried about losing Luka because of my selfish decisions.”
“How so?”
I snagged a kiss from him, loving the peach rise on his cheeks, before he leaned against the sink. His gaze searched my face, waiting for my answer.
“In college, and after Luka came out to me and his parents, I kept wondering how his lips would taste or the feel of his body pressed against mine. I agonized about asking Luka to put me out of my misery and kiss me, but never drummed up the courage until he went out on his first date with a guy.
“It was abysmal, the date, I mean. I don’t know the details, but dejection poured off him when he arrived home. At a loss to contain my attraction to the man, I blurted out he was the sexiest man I ever laid eyes on and admitted I’d been daydreaming about how his lips felt against mine.”
Drying my hands on a towel, I stepped close to Petal, whose smile made my heart beat faster each time he aimed it my way, and cupped his face.
“I wasn’t scared about being with a guy, but every relationship I’d had fizzled into nothing.”
His eyes widened as he realized what I meant. “You chose Luka as your friend instead because you were afraid of losing him if you two shared everything?”
I nodded and stiffened when I heard Luka clear his throat. As we turned to find the man leaning against the counter, watching both of us with a smile on his face, I relaxed with the realization he wasn’t mad.
“I was afraid, too, B. But I worked out over the past few weeks that we weren’t ready yet.”
Phoenix held out his hand. Of course, Luka was powerless to stay away from either of us. As that realization dawned, I blurted, “We needed Petal with us to make us feel whole. We were so entrenched in being friends, neither of us could be brave without a good reason.”
Luka nodded.
“We’ve had some bumps in the road because of outside forces. But as long as we’re honest with each other and what we want, we’ll grow stronger. I’m not saying we won’t have disagreements in the future, but we’ll get through it. I’ve committed myself to both of you, heart and soul. So B, stop worrying about the past. It made us who we are today, and we’re stronger because of it.”
I sank against Luka, and Phoenix cuddled close to both of us. Luka was right. Things happened for a reason and whatever I did in my past life or this one, I lucked out with the two men I loved more than life itself.