Bonus Chapter Patrick
BONUS
Patrick
The night of Liam and Blake’s canceled wedding thirteen months ago
“We did it!” I say holding up my glass to clink with my husband’s from my spot next to him at the hotel bar.
He smiles fondly, amusement shining in his eyes as he taps his glass against mine. “And what is it we did?”
“We got Jace and Kieran together! It’s real. They’re going to get married and grow old together and it’s all because of us,” I explain, even though he should already know this.
“I don’t think we get to take credit for them being in love,” he says with a short laugh.
I raise a brow, challenging him. “Um, yes, we do. Do you honestly think Kieran would have admitted he actually loves Jace if it hadn’t been for our off-camera questions during the hometown visit?
We can absolutely take credit, and I fully intend to remind Jace that we’re the ones to thank at every possible opportunity. ”
“I have no doubt you’ll do just that,” Joey says with a laugh before changing topics. “So, we’re in a hotel tonight. Does this count as a vacation?”
My smile is immediate. “Absolutely it does.”
He takes a sip of his drink then uses the glass to gesture to someone sitting at the other end of the long bar. “What do you think of the brunet down there?”
I don’t bother being coy as I turn to face the man Joey is asking about, and holy shit, I can see why he caught his attention. “Um, super hot, obviously. Has he looked over here or done anything that makes you think he might be interested?”
Joey squints a bit as he considers. “Not at us, but I’m fairly confident he was checking out the male bartender, so I think he’s queer at least. Hard to say, but I mean, look at him. It wouldn’t hurt to shoot our shot, right?”
“Look at him? Look at us, babe. We’re just as hot as he is. On our own, we’re both total catches, but as a package? There’s a reason we don’t get turned down often,” I remind him.
He snorts another laugh, and for a moment, my gaze is stuck on the delicious way his cheeks darken.
That’s part of why I love doing this, picking up other men with my husband.
After all the years together, I know he’s confident in our relationship, in my love for him.
But when he flirts with other men, it’s like he reverts back to the shy, closeted man who can’t quite believe how desirable he truly is, just like he was when I first fell in love with him.
It’s been really amazing to grow together over the years, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about Joey, or the way we interact with each other. But the obvious boost to his confidence when we’re with other men makes me happy each time I get to witness it.
We haven’t always done this. At first, we were only with each other, and I know we’d both be happy in our marriage if we never picked up a third again. But for now, it’s something fun and exciting we both enjoy.
I’m really glad our neighbor volunteered to be our third all those years ago, and that he kept volunteering when we’d dismissed him.
When Joey and I finally had an honest talk about it and realized we were both interested, that we’d only been hesitating because we were afraid of what the other might think, we agreed that radical honesty would be the best thing for our marriage.
We’ve lived that way ever since. We’d already had a trip with our neighbor planned, so we decided that would be the perfect place to take him up on his offer.
Since then, it’s become a thing we enjoy on vacations, and like Joey said, staying in a hotel definitely counts.
I pick up my drink and nod toward our mystery man as I stand. No time like the present. Joey follows, and we move to take the empty seats on either side of him. He glances between us as we sit down, offering us a warm smile, but it doesn’t quite meet his eyes.
“How’s it going?” Joey asks, smiling as he nods at his nearly empty beer. “Can we buy you another round, or are you waiting for someone?”
This isn’t our first rodeo. We always verify if someone is truly alone before we start flirting. I do not need to get punched by anyone's significant other again.
He shrugs. “Sure, that’s really nice of you to offer. And, yeah, just me.”
His tone makes it seem like he isn’t very happy about that, even though his relaxed features appear open and friendly, as if his default setting is to smile but something has disturbed his typical joy. Maybe he’s looking for company, and we’ll be just the thing he needs to cheer him up.
“Well, what on earth is someone who looks like you,” I say as I give him an obvious once-over, “doing all alone at a bar on a Friday night?”
He lets out a big sigh, not bothering to check me out in return.
I’m hot. Joey’s hot. And this guy hasn’t seemed to notice or care.
Joey and I exchange a confused look, silently communicating like we’ve perfected over the years.
Right now, I think we’re both thinking the same thing: this guy must be straight.
“Well, I was supposed to be in a wedding tonight. But it was canceled.”
Joey and I exchange another look before he asks, “Was it one of the reality TV show weddings?”
The man perks up on his stool, eyes wide, obviously surprised that we’d guessed that. “Yeah, my best friend Blake was supposed to get married today, but there was a misunderstanding and it was canceled. Are you guys here for the show too?"
Joey and I both try to mask our disappointment before we respond.
A hookup with this man is officially never happening.
Jace has told us all about his new friend from the show, Liam, and his canceled wedding.
I think he even mentioned doing wedding prep activities with Blake and Liam’s friends, so he might know this guy.
That’s not nearly enough degrees of separation for what we were hoping for.
Still, he seems like a nice guy, and there’s no one else tonight that’s caught our eye, so with a subtle shrug in Joey’s direction, I order another round for us all, and we settle in to hang out with our new friend.
“Yeah, our nephew Jace is getting married tomorrow,” I finally answer him and hold out my hand to shake his. “I’m Patrick, by the way.”
“And I’m Joey.”
He sits up a bit straighter and his smile looks a little less forced as he introduces himself. “I’m Chad. I met Jace and Kieran; we all went tux shopping together. They’re great! Fuck, I hope tomorrow goes smoothly for them.”
“Thanks. We think it should,” I assure him.
As it turns out, Chad is a very fun time and we end up doing shots and exchanging wild stories, laughing until we’re the only ones left at the bar.
By the end of the night, I still can’t really get a read on if he’s straight or not, but it obviously doesn’t matter.
And even though we don’t invite him back to our room, Joey and I were smiling all night, so we have no regrets.