Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bailey
I took a deep breath as I pushed the faded, creaking door of The Nag’s Head open, shoving my growing fears aside and ignoring the voice in the back of my head that said this was a bad idea.
It was a bit late for bad ideas now. We’d driven all the way here. Besides, I had a stubborn streak, and it had already decided we weren’t leaving until we got some answers.
I didn’t know if Aiden was here, but Jonny had sent us a photo of Bacon along with the pub’s address, so we knew who to ask if we couldn’t find him. The secrecy felt a bit underhanded, but we didn’t want to give Aiden the opportunity to avoid us.
The pub was packed, and there was a football match playing on a large TV at one end of the bar.
I could see another room filled with more tables through an archway, and the smell of roast potatoes and gravy was making my mouth water.
I hadn’t had a roast dinner in months, so maybe this trip wouldn’t be a total loss if Aiden told us to fuck off.
I could drown my sorrows in potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and… fuck, they had cauliflower cheese!
Across from the door, there was a small bar almost tucked into the wall, with a few stools in front and at one end.
Behind the bar was a round, muscular man with a shaved head and a white T-shirt who was looking at us with an interested smile.
And at the end of the bar, slumped on a stool with a pint of cider in front of him, was Aiden.
He looked almost as exhausted as I felt, his hair askew and dark circles under his eyes, but as he saw us, his face split into a wide smile.
“There he is,” Hunter said, relief evident in his voice.
He’d been nervous since we’d walked off the pitch last night, spending the whole night crocheting furiously and waking up well before me.
He’d had to drive because my ankle was still sore and slightly swollen, and every time we’d stopped at traffic lights I’d noticed him tapping furiously on the rim of the steering wheel.
We wound our way through the crowds over to the bar, and I realised a few people were watching us. We were new here, strangers to their pub, and they were waiting to see what we did.
“All right, lads?” Bacon asked as we approached, catching us before we had a chance to get to Aiden. “What can I get you? Apart from a table so you two can talk to this moping bellend in peace.”
“Fuck off, Bacon,” Aiden said.
“What? It’s the bloody truth. You’ve been a miserable wanker for ten days. This is what you get. Be grateful I’m not telling them about the time you drank three bottles of VK Blue and tried to do the worm.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Aiden muttered, cheeks flushing as he glared at his best friend, who seemed to be having the time of his life.
“Yeah, yeah, go and sit at table two and shut the hell up,” Bacon said, waving a bar rag at him. “I’ll send your men over in a minute. Do you want chicken, beef, or pork?”
“Er, pork?”
Bacon made a note on a small order pad. “Good, now sod off.”
Aiden slid off his stool and picked up his pint. He smiled at us, trying to linger for a second. “It’s good to see you—”
“Oi,” Bacon said, cutting him off and pointing at a table in the corner. “Move your fucking arse, Eggs. You can talk to them in a minute.”
I watched him go, suddenly worried we were about to be threatened by the hulking man behind the bar. I didn’t really fancy getting into a fight or being kicked out of the pub. Not before we got to talk to Aiden.
Bacon kept his eyes fixed on Aiden until he’d sat down. Then he turned to us and smiled. “What can I get you? And I take it you’d like lunch too?”
“Er, yeah, if that’s okay?” I asked. I glanced over at Hunter, who nodded. He wasn’t the biggest fan of eating in public, outside of the team canteen, but the table we’d been offered was tucked away. And if we were talking, he probably wouldn’t notice we were eating.
“Of course. I’m sorry about Eggs by the way. I know he’s been avoiding you.” He looked us up and down. “I’m guessing you’ve come to tell him how you feel, and that all his fears about you not wanting him aren’t true?”
There was the threat. It was subtler than I’d imagined, but no less real. Bacon was guarding Aiden, making sure our intentions were good. That we weren’t about to break his best friend’s heart in the middle of his pub. It was oddly sweet and I almost wanted to thank Bacon for caring so much.
“Pretty much,” Hunter said. “We know he’s busy, we know he likes his own space, but we also know he’s…”
He trailed off and Bacon nodded, picking up his thought. “Likely to do a runner because he’s allergic to his feelings? Sounds about right.”
“Something like that. We want to know where we stand and let him know we want to give this a shot,” I said. I glanced over at Aiden, who was watching us and looking distinctly unimpressed.
“Better go sit down then. But first, drinks. And let me know what you want for food. You can have chicken, beef, or pork. There’s a veggie option too. All comes with roasties, Yorkshires, veg, cauliflower cheese, and gravy.”
We got some beers, ordered lunch—beef for me, chicken for Hunter—and finally managed to escape across to the table where Aiden was waiting.
“What did he say?” Aiden said as we sat down on either side of him, boxing him into the corner.
“Wanted to make sure our intentions were good,” Hunter said with a wry smile. “And he’s sorry you’ve been avoiding us.”
“Dickhead,” Aiden muttered under his breath, shaking his head fondly. “He’s worse than Jonny.”
“They’re probably conspiring. It was Jonny who told us how to find the pub,” I said teasingly as I sipped my beer. It was good. Better than I’d expected.
“Wouldn’t surprise me. They both love to interfere in my life.”
“Does it bother you?” I asked. I fixed him with a hard look. “If you want us to go, then we’ll go.”
“No, don’t. I’m sorry. I… I’m glad you’re here. And I’m sorry for avoiding you. Or drifting away, I guess.”
“Even though you said you wouldn’t?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, that.” He sipped his pint. “You can call me a wanker. It’s all right, Bacon already has. And not affectionately either. I think I’ve hit the limit of his sympathy.”
Hunter’s smile widened a little. “What did you do?”
“Just mope,” Aiden said. He ran his hand through his hair and rested his forearms on the table.
“I missed you both. A lot. And that scared me. I’ve always thought I didn’t need anyone, but then I spent two days with you and suddenly I’m getting all these feelings.
” He flushed slightly as he picked up his glass, not looking at either of us.
“I mean, it was before that, but last week kinda confirmed them.”
“You could have told us,” I said gently, nudging my fingers against his hand. Not really touching, more to let him know I was there.
“I know. I, fuck, I really like you two. And I don’t know if I’ll be any bloody good at this, at being in a relationship, but I want to try.
With both of you. Together. All three of us.
” He smiled, but there was a terrified spark in his eyes, like he wanted to run away or be sick.
He downed the rest of his pint and I bit back a laugh.
Looking over the table at Hunter, I could see he felt the same.
I still hadn’t told him how I felt. I guessed now was the time to get it all out.
“I want that too,” I said. “With both of you. Hunter, you’re my best friend and I trust you more than anyone else in the world.
You balance me out, and you don’t care that we’re so emotionally enmeshed we’re pretty much one person or, like, that weird old married couple who do everything together.
I… I’ve loved you for years, probably since we first met, but I don’t think I’d ever have had the courage to act on it without the nudge Aiden gave us. ”
“More like a shove,” Hunter said. He was smiling fondly, fighting hard to keep his emotions together. Maybe doing this in the middle of the pub hadn’t been the best idea.
“Yeah, and we needed it. Aiden, you changed everything for me. The first time I saw you, I thought you were hot as fuck, and you just strolled into our lives like you belonged there. And you do. You belong with us, Aiden. Without you, everything would fall apart. You take care of me when I’m so tied up taking care of everyone else I forget how to breathe.
You help me let go and ask for what I want, but you’re also happy to tell me what to do and I, er, I like that.
Kind of need it sometimes to be honest. I know this is new, and fucking terrifying, but we need you. I need you.”
“I need you too,” Hunter said, shifting slightly in his seat.
I wondered if he’d moved his foot under the table to touch Aiden’s.
He did that to me when he wanted reassurance in public.
“The first time we met, you saw right through me, like I was made of glass. All the things I’d never allowed myself to want, you handed them to me with a smile and that was it.
You didn’t make a big deal of it, or act like I wasn’t supposed to want the things I do.
And you didn’t care that me and Bailey had feelings for each other—even if we were shit at acknowledging them—”
“So shit,” Aiden said with a teasing smile. He’d relaxed with every word we said, the realisation that we really wanted him finally starting to sink in. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
It was too early to tell him I loved him, but I already knew that was how I felt.
And one day I’d tell him and press my love into his skin with my lips.
Maybe the three of us would find a flat together, or a house, and Hunter and I would take Aiden to Ibiza, spend days lounging on our sofa under the huge crochet blanket Hunter wanted to make, kiss each other as much as physically possible, fuck until we were exhausted, and figure out the rest of our lives.
I already knew that was what I wanted with him and Hunter.
I just had to wait for them to catch up.
But I was a patient man. I’d waited this long; I could wait another few months. Years if I had to.
Hunter smiled, and I wished I could lean across the table and kiss him. Kiss both of them. “Yeah, we were. Still are. I mean, this is the first time I’ve told Bailey how I really feel.”
“Jesus Christ, and I’m the emotionally constipated one?” Aiden asked.
“You can have the gold medal,” I said. “We’ll tie for silver.”
“Fine, but you’re not far behind.” He turned back to Hunter, and out of the corner of my eye I watched him nudge Hunter’s knee under the table with his own. “Sorry, baby, you were saying.”
“Just that, you’ve never had a problem with me and Bailey coming as a pair. We didn’t have to choose between us.”
“I’d never make you choose,” Aiden said. “If anything, I thought you’d choose each other and decide you didn’t need me. I was ready to be a footnote in your relationship.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I said sharply. “It’s the three of us or nothing.”
Hunter nodded. “Agreed. I don’t want one of you. I’m greedy. I want both.”
Aiden smirked and lifted his pint to his lips. “You’re definitely greedy, babygirl. But we love that.”
“T-Thanks.” Hunter flushed and took a long sip of his pint as he tried to regain his composure.
“Do you have anything you want to say to Bailey? I don’t think we actually got that far,” Aiden said, nudging Hunter gently under the table again. My heart thundered as I looked across at Hunter. I’d told him how I felt, and on some level, I already knew what he was going to say.
But I still needed to hear him say it.
Hunter nodded again. His eyes met mine and he swallowed.
“Bailey… I… ever since we met, I knew you were special. It just took me a long time to realise how much you meant to me. You’ve been there for me through everything, and you care so fucking much.
Sometimes I wonder if I deserve you, but I know I don’t want to live without you.
So I guess, I want to be selfish and keep you. Because you’re everything to me.”
“Good, I want you to be selfish. Because you’re everything to me too.”
Hunter smiled, glancing at Aiden. “I want to be selfish and keep you too, Aiden. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, it is,” he said. “I can’t promise I’ll be good at this, but you both make me want to try. You’re so fucking amazing, both of you, and I want this.”
I exhaled, almost laughing from relief. “Good, because you’re stuck with us now.”
“No take-backs,” Hunter said.
“Oh no, two hot-as-fuck rugby players want me. Whatever shall I do?” Aiden teased, nudging both of us under the table.
“Your life is so terrible,” I said.
“It really is.”
“Guess we’ll just have to keep making you miserable,” Hunter added, grinning at him. He’d relaxed too and, casually, I wondered if he was getting hard under the table. He got really horny when he came down after being stressed.
“I guess you will,” Aiden said. He looked between us and smiled. Happiness really did look good on him. It looked good on all of us.
“Have we all made up then?” Bacon asked, approaching us with two plates piled high with food, steam curling through the air. My stomach rumbled, my exhausted muscles grateful for more fuel.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Aiden said, moving a few things on the table to make room for Bacon to put the plates down. There wasn’t a scrap of bare china visible. It all looked and smelled incredible, a complete contradiction to the appearance of the pub itself. “Wait, where’s mine?”
“Give me two fucking minutes, Eggs!”
“But I’m hungry.”
“Yeah, well, you can wait.” Bacon looked between Hunter and me and grinned, tilting his head at Aiden. “Good luck with this one. He’s a fucking menace. And he doesn’t come with a return policy either. He’s your problem now.”
“Fuck you!”
“God, no, Eggs. You’d kill me. I’ve seen your toy box and I’m not built for any of that.”
I caught Hunter’s eye as Aiden and Bacon bickered fondly, the pair of us biting back laughter.
Then I winked and watched Hunter try not to blush.
I really wanted to know what was in that box. And maybe soon I’d get to find out.