Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Your old man's buying me dinner. Is that code for sucking his dick? I'll not do it!

Channon read the message again to make sure he understood it. Jack was obviously taking Ewan's freak out seriously. Well, that was good.

Jacks not gna let u suck ne thingChannon sent back. dnt get ur hopes up

He got back a bunch of black hearts in response which he figured was the emoji equivalent of a ‘fuck you'.

he might make u eat kaleChannon added, smirking a little at the idea.

After a moment, Ewan replied with a single vomiting face emoji. Well, at least he was feeling more himself. Things couldn't be that bad, then, could they?

Don't worry, sweetheart,Jack had texted, and later, Call me when you're in bed.

Channon could do that. But that was hours away.

Meanwhile, Nate was impossible to get at, even when the conference broke for lunch—he was whisked off for some VIP thing Channon wasn't invited to. It wasn't until they wrapped for the day that Channon was finally able to restore his phone and let him know what was going on with Ewan. Nate ducked out to make a call and came back looking amused more than anything.

"So, I hear Jack and the menace are hanging out tonight," he said cheerfully. "Want to speculate on how badly that goes?"

Channon wrinkled his nose. "Uh. It might go fine? Jack promised he'd take care of him."

"Yeah, but Ewan hasn't promised to be good," Nate countered with a wicked grin. "I can't help wondering what Jack's going to do to him if he acts up. I told Ewan," he added casually, "that Jack had permission to use anything on the left side of the toy cupboard."

The thought made Channon inhale sharply. Jack wouldn't actually punish Ewan, would he? Jack always said he wasn't interested in playing with other subs. But if Ewan needed him…

Except Ewan didn't need him like that. And it would be all wrong for Jack to punish Ewan because he was frustrated with Ewan's bratting. Channon hated the idea intensely.

Some of that must have shown on his face, because Nate patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I didn't tell Jack that. Just putting a thought in Ewan's messy little head. Jack won't lay a finger on him."

It was a relief, but Channon still felt a little anxiety at the thought of Jack and Ewan alone in a house with a toy cupboard.

"So, since that's happening," Nate went on, cocking his head and grinning handsomely, "why don't you let me take you out to dinner? We can pretend we're having an affair."

Channon grinned. As if. Then again, he had sucked Nate's cock for him, and Nate had fucked him raw, several times now. But Jack had always been in charge of that. So it wasn't like the thought of sex with Nate was ridiculous, just the idea of doing it behind Jack's back.

"I'll ask," Channon said, already messaging.

may I have dinner w mr scott pls Sir?

"Is it Jack who likes that, or you?" Nate asked. "The way you always ask him for permission for things." He sounded vaguely curious, not interrogatory or judgmental, so Channon felt comfortable being honest.

"Both. He likes being asked permission, and I like, um. I don't know. Being sure I'm not doing something wrong."

Nate looked thoughtful. "Huh. I can see the appeal. Ewan would absolutely hate that," he added, smiling sharply. "He'd go nuts."

"You like making him nuts," Channon pointed out.

Nate grinned. "I really, really do."

Channon's phone vibrated. You may. Take a cheat day. Have fun, sweetheart.

He showed the message to Nate, and Nate flashed him a thumbs-up. "Awesome. Does a cheat day mean I can stuff you with carbs and fat?"

"Uh, pretty much," Channon said, kind of relieved Nate had asked and wasn't making fun of him. People always wanted to comment on the stuff he ate, and it was hard to explain without telling them that Jack controlled his diet because Jack controlled him. Nate already knew Jack owned Channon. It made it easier to breathe around him.

Nate grinned. "Next question: Tex-Mex or steakhouse?"

"Tex-Mex," Channon said after a moment of hesitation. Cheese was normally a forbidden food, after all.

"Attaboy," Nate said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I know just the place."

They ended up at an airy, cheerful, family restaurant with burgundy vinyl booths and adobe-rendered walls. It felt comfortable. Nate asked the staff to bring them ‘some of everything'. Channon relaxed, feeling like this was something he could manage.

"How's Ewan?" he asked. Nate had been texting on the way over, and Channon assumed he knew who the messages were for.

"Grumbly," Nate said, putting his phone aside and leaning back in his chair. "But when he's grumbling, you know he's all right. It's when he's quiet you have to worry."

Channon nodded, knowing this to be true. "I hope…whatever the problem is with his ex…" He broke off, unsure how to finish that thought.

"It'll be fine," Nate reassured him. "Jack can keep him out of the hospital. That was a joke," he added, obviously seeing Channon's dismay at the idea. "He's not in any danger. Except, maybe, from Jack."

The server began bringing out tasting plates, mini tacos and empanadas and something that was supposed to be nachos, but each chip was individually loaded like an elaborate cracker. Channon said thank you and got a brilliant smile from the server in return.

Everything looked and smelled amazing. Spicy, cheesy, the tang of fine-sliced raw onion. Cheat day, he reminded himself, eyeing the vibrant guacamole. Jack said.

"Dig in," Nate prompted, smiling a little. "You don't have to wait for permission from me."

Channon shook his head, reaching for one of those loaded nacho chips. "I can't help it," he said, and then he put the chip in his mouth and bit down.

Oh god. Maybe it was all the salad and steamed salmon and quinoa he'd been having lately, but the richness of cheese and refried beans that filled his mouth was overwhelming. There was something to be said about Jack's whole self-denial thing—you really did appreciate things more when you got them.

He must have made an obscene noise, because Nate grinned. "Oh yeah. There we go. Good boy."

Praise from Nate wasn't the same as praise from Jack, it couldn't possibly be. But Channon enjoyed it all the same.

As they ate, Nate kept up a casual conversation. Channon told him about the code he was working on, about his new unlock puzzle game and how he'd gotten it to generate new levels that had actual solutions instead of making them manually. Nate told Channon about a houseplant Ewan had bought for him that was doing its best to die, and how Nate had hooked up a raspberry pi to monitor temperature, light levels, moisture and pH, and was adding something to measure nitrogen when he got back to Santa Rita.

"The menace thinks it's hilarious," Nate said with amusement. "It's like the plant is bratting for him. He's outsourced his bratting. Automated it."

"You could just let it die," Channon suggested with fake innocence.

Nate gestured dismissively. "I know. I could. When I'm ready to hear about how much it means I don't love him."

Channon didn't think he'd ever heard Nate admit he loved Ewan. "But you do," he said, pleased.

"For my sins," Nate agreed. "You'd do the same. So would Jack."

Channon thought he probably would try his hardest to keep the plant alive and be very sorry when it inevitably died. Jack, meanwhile, would blame the plant, buy a replacement, and pay someone to take care of it for him. Or get Channon to do it.

When he said this aloud, Nate laughed. "Oh man, he would too. Ewan would hate that so much. This," Nate said, reaching for his margarita, "is why they don't get along. I hope neither of them are killing the other right now."

He sounded fond, but Channon frowned. "They could get along. If they wanted."

Nate shrugged. "I wouldn't hold your breath for that. Jack has his control issues and Ewan…has his out-of-control issues. There's no changing Ewan to suit Jack, and Jack won't change for anyone." He paused, and then his eyes slid to Channon, his expression thoughtful. "I used to think that was true anyway. But I guess he has changed, for you."

"What was he like before?" Channon asked, unsure what Nate meant.

"Impossible to pin down. Jack didn't do relationships. He was untouchable." Nate looked away, at a past Channon couldn't see. "I was the closest thing he had to a partner, but even that wasn't really…real."

There was something in the way he said it that made Channon feel sorry about it. "But you're still…I mean, you two are like…I don't know. Kind of more than friends."

Nate's attention returned to him. "A little more than friends. But hey, you know all about what that's like, right?"

He must have meant Ewan. Channon supposed it was similar, though in others completely different. "That first time you came over, and you and Jack, um."

Shared him. They'd shared Channon between them. It had been the first time Channon had been with someone who wasn't Jack, and he'd liked the way it felt. Dirty. But in the good way. And Nate had been nice to him. Nate had never used it against him, had always stayed within the boundaries of this whatever it was they were doing.

What exactly were they doing?

Channon tried to form the question, but it wouldn't come together in a way that made sense. In the end he asked, "Is there a word for when a couple kind of dates another couple?"

Nate's eyebrows went up. "Consensual non-monogamy? Swinging? Poly?"

"I meant, more like how it is with me and Jack, and you and Ewan. Like, Ewan says you two don't play with anyone but us. It's kind of…exclusive."

This seemed to amuse Nate. "You and Jack aren't exclusive, though. Weren't you dating someone not that long ago?"

Channon's face grew warm. "That wasn't, um. I mean, it wasn't romantic or anything. It was just sex." And really, that had been why it ended. Because Victor had wanted more than sex, and Channon hadn't been able to give it to him.

"Isn't it just sex when Jack invites me over to fuck you?" Nate said, low enough that no one could overhear.

"Yeah, but it's different. I don't know how. It's just not like it is with other people." Channon looked down at his food, trying to put this huge thing into words. "You two feel like part of us. Victor was just for me."

"Victor?" Nate leaned in, grinning wickedly. "Wait. You were dating Victor Ruiz?"

Oh god. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone," Channon said quickly. "Please don't—"

"I won't say anything. No, I'm just…wow. Jack said you were topping someone, but I never imagined it would be Victor." Nate leaned back in his chair. "He's hot. Nice one."

Channon felt his face getting pink. "I like him. But not like that."

There was a moment of silence as Nate looked Channon over like he was puzzling something out. "You don't like me ‘like that' either," he said eventually.

"I don't know," Channon said, frustrated and unable to put this into words. "I don't want things to change. I don't want you and Ewan to stop coming over for stuff just because Jack and I get married. I want…"

But he trailed off because he wasn't sure what it was he wanted.

"You want to keep playing with us," Nate said calmly. His expression was even, unreadable. "You want to have your cake and eat it too."

Channon blinked. That phrase had always sounded as if the person having the cake was being unreasonable and selfish, and now he wondered. "Is that greedy? Jack said things didn't have to change after the wedding."

"Jack also wants to have his cake and eat it too," Nate said with a faint smile. "I'm being unfair, but Jack, well. Jack likes to have things his own way and rarely takes other people's feelings into account." Nate gestured with his glass. "Like Ewan's, for example. How do you think Ewan would like being in some kind of kink quadrangle with Jack?"

Channon thought privately that Ewan already was. "Didn't he have fun last time?"

Nate gave Channon a wry look. "Angel, Ewan was only there for you. He would have put up with anything to get your hands on him."

It made Channon feel strange. On the one hand, he was disappointed. The idea of some kind of arrangement where Nate and Ewan were still part of their play seemed slippery and impossible to hold on to. But on the other, it was flattering to think that Ewan had been really that into the idea of Channon fucking him.

The thought occurred to him that it might be weird to think these sorts of things about your friends, and Channon hunched his shoulders. "I think I might be some kind of pervert," he said, embarrassed to admit it.

Nate laughed but not unkindly. "Well, you're in good company. Look," he said, his eyes crinkling in a way that only highlighted how handsome he was. "I get that you don't want things to change, but you're getting married. That just changes some things. That's the point." His tone softened. "Maybe we'll get together sometimes and have a little fun, but I wouldn't hold your breath on Ewan discovering some sudden urge to let Jack work him over. They're like oil and water. They don't mix. Be satisfied when they tolerate one another, okay?"

It was not at all satisfying. Channon didn't like the idea that his two favorite people could both like him but not each other. And sure, maybe it was na?ve to think everyone could just get along, but that didn't stop him wanting it anyway.