Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

MITCH

"Hey." I flopped down on the couch beside Jagger.

We still shared the same small house we'd lived in before turning pro. We'd never talked about it, but we were both worried everything we had could go away tomorrow. We could lose our positions on the team roster, or be injured out. Because of that, we never spent much of our money. We could have both bought nice houses by now, but we continued living in this place.

Besides, it was comfortable and familiar. Easier than packing and moving. It was also the perfect analogy for our relationship. Comfortable and familiar, so why change anything? Why move forward? Why not just keep doing what we were doing?

"Hey." Jagger changed the channel when an ad came on. Grimaced and changed it several more times before stopping on one of those shows set in a pawn shop. One guy was trying to convince the owner that his collection of ceramic cows was worth more than the owner was willing to give him.

"Why would anyone pay good money for that shit?" Jagger asked. "You'd stick it in a drawer and forget it existed." He wasn't the sort of person to collect things. Sentimentality wasn't in his nature.

I didn't really collect anything either, because I never used to have the money to do it. I didn't know what I would have collected anyway, apart from books.

"Or on a shelf where it could gather dust," I said. My mother used to have an obsession with dusting. She'd do the whole house at least once every couple of weeks. Whenever she came to visit, she'd do it here. While telling me off for letting so much of it pile up. Personally, I was so used to it, I didn't notice it anymore. What did she expect from house where two men lived?

"Exactly." Jagger changed the channel again.

"Eden liked our date," I said carefully, wanting to open the line of conversation.

"Mmmhmm," he agreed.

"I liked it too," I added.

He nodded, without looking away from the TV. "Me too."

"I figured." He wasn't making this easy. Okay, I didn't expect him to. He was difficult at the best of times, and having personal conversations was never his idea of the best of times.

I cleared my throat. "The four of us fit well together, don't you think?"

"I guess so." He shook his head at the couple on TV who wanted to buy a house for three-point-five million dollars, when she was a teacher and he owned a bakery. He must sell a lot of loaves of bread if they could afford that.

"I think we should do it more often," I said. "Go out with Eden and Kage."

"Sure." He changed the channel three more times.

I pressed my shoulder against his arm and gave him a shove.

"What the hell, man?" He shoved me back and glared at me.

"When are you going to admit how you feel about Eden?" Enough beating around the bush. It was time to get straight to the point. If he'd let me. "And how you feel about me."

"You know how I feel about both of you," he said. He started to turn back to the TV, but I grabbed the remote and switched it off.

"Do I?" I asked. "I know you like fucking us. I know you love it when I suck you off. That's all I know. I'm falling for both of you, but I have no idea how you feel."

"Do I have to paint you a fucking picture?" he growled.

My pulse ratcheted up at the expression on his face. Even when he was angry, especially when he was, he was ridiculously hot. Those dark eyes and smouldering dark looks got me every time.

"A fucking picture would help," I retorted. "Or better yet, a word or two."

He closed his eyes and twisted his mouth to the side. He looked as though he'd prefer to have his pubic hair plucked out one by one, than talk about his feelings.

"If you can't tell me, I guess I have my answer." I pushed up off the couch and started to stalk away.

He grabbed the back of my shirt and hauled me back.

I staggered back a couple of steps before flipping down beside him again. "What?"

"I'm falling for both of you too, okay?" He let go of my shirt, crossed his arms and slumped against the couch cushions. "Are you happy now?"

"I'm halfway there," I said. "Now I need you to tell Eden how you feel. She's coming over after work to have dinner with us; you can tell her then."

He slid me a look, but didn't say anything.

"While we're being so open and honest," I said with a dash of sarcasm. "How do you feel about Kage?"

"Friends," Jagger said. "Only ever friends. Is this where you say you could see yourself falling for him too?"

"Is this where you say you'd be jealous if I did?" I shot back.

He looked at me for a moment through narrowed eyes, then raised his shoulders slightly before dropping them. "No. I saw how you were with him on the beach. I liked seeing it. If that's what you want, I'm good with it."

"Good, because I'm having a hard time deciding which one of you has a tastier cock." I smiled.

"Definitely me," he said with a grunt. "And you." He seemed to be thinking back to Eden sharing my cum with him. I was hoping he'd try it directly from the source, but I wouldn't push him on that. We made good progress and I didn't want to go backwards now.

"You won't get any argument from me." I grinned. "Eden will be here any minute. I'm going to get dinner started."

He nodded and grabbed the remote to turn the TV back on. A minute and four channels later, he settled on watching a replay of the Opal Springs Dolphins rugby union team.

I shook my head at him indulgently and headed into the kitchen. I took out a tray of chicken breasts and started to slice them, before rolling each slice in flour and setting them aside. In a bowl, I made a quick stir fry sauce, then sliced a bunch of vegetables and put some rice in the steamer. I may not be good at dusting, but my mother made sure I could cook. This chicken stir fry was one of my favourites.

I was just starting to cook the chicken when Eden knocked on the door.

"Come in," I called out. "It's not locked."

She opened the door and stepped inside. "I could have been anyone, coming to abduct you."

I grinned at her over my shoulder. "You can abduct me anytime, babe."

She set her bag down on the table beside the door and came over to give me a quick kiss. "Why do I feel like you'd say that to anyone who wanted to abduct you?"

I laughed. "I try to be accommodating. To be honest, if it was anyone but you or Jagger, they'd bring me back after a couple of hours. I wouldn't be able to stop talking about you two, or hockey. They'd get sick of me like that." I snapped my fingers.

"If anyone gets sick of you, they have bad taste," she said. She tucked several strands of her purple hair behind her ear, and peered into the sauce bowl. "That smells delicious."

" You smell delicious," I said. She smelled of lavender and roses. She always smelled good. Good enough to eat.

She turned her face and smiled at me, making my heart melt a little more.

I was wrong when I said I was falling for her. I already had. I was head over cock in love with her. With Jagger too.

"I love you," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Her eyes widened, but then her expression softened. "I love you too."

I kissed her gently before turning my attention back to the chicken. I didn't want to ruin the moment by burning the dinner.

Once it was perfectly browned, I set it aside to rest while I cooked the vegetables. I tossed them into the pan and started to quickly fry them, turning them frequently with a spatula.

While they cooked, I took a moment to glance over at Jagger. He seemed to be half-watching the game and half-watching us. I raised my eyebrows at him meaningfully, but he grunted and looked away.

I sighed softly and returned the chicken to the pan before adding the sauce to flavour everything. I stirred it through and turned off the stove. I divided the rice between three bowls and added the chicken and vegetable mixture on top.

Eden opened the drawer and pulled out forks for all of us.

Jagger finally turned off the TV and went to the fridge to grab three beers. He handed them around while I handed out bowls and nodded for them to sit down at the table.

I watched carefully as Eden stabbed her fork into a piece of chicken and pushed it into her mouth. She chewed slowly and made a sound of appreciation.

"That's so good," she said after she swallowed. "I had no idea you could cook."

Jagger surprised me by saying, "He's really good. Better than I'd ever be."

"Anyone can cook if they just try," I said. "But I enjoy cooking. It's relaxing." And I liked feeding the people I loved. Seeing them enjoying the meal I prepared was gratifying. Almost as good as scoring a goal.

"I might have to eat here more often," she said. "Brock and I try, but we're not very good at it. Mum used to do all of the cooking."

"You miss her?" I asked gently.

"Yes I do," she admitted. "Sooner or later, I'm going to have to talk to her, which I'm dreading like hell, but I miss her."

"How did she feel about Brock getting you in the divorce?" Jagger asked.

"She didn't mind, but I think that might change when I tell her," Eden said.

"Speaking of telling people things." I kicked Jagger under the table.

He glared at me. "What the hell was that for?"

"You know exactly what it's for," I said. "Go on." I jerked my head towards Eden.

Jagger held his fork in his hand like he might use it on me, but finally he set it down in his bowl and took a sip of beer. "Mitch wants me to tell you how I feel."

"If you don't want to—" Eden started. Her brown eyes were filled with conflicted emotions. She wanted to know how he felt, but she didn't want to force him into anything he wasn't ready for.

I was well aware how long she'd waited for this. How patient she'd been with us both. This conversation was long, long overdue. I wasn't going to let Jagger back out of it now.

"He wants to," I said. I turned one of Jagger's best scowls onto him. I doubted mine was as convincing as his. I didn't have as much practice.

He propped his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together and rested his chin on his knuckles. "I'm in love with both of you." He lowered his hands and went back to eating like he hadn't said a thing.

"I love you too," I said, once I got past the surprise. I hadn't expected that much of an admission from him. Hearing those words from his lips made my heart happy. More than happy, it might burst, it felt so full.

"I love you too," Eden told him. "I'm glad you felt that you could say that to us. It means a lot. Everything." Her eyes were shining, but smiling at the same time.

"Maybe it's time to think about moving," I said. "To a bigger house. Then I could cook for both of you more often."

I thought maybe Jagger would disagree, but he nodded, while never slowing down his eating.