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2. Nash

CHAPTER 2

NASH

Sometimes Nash doubted the wisdom of having a secret fling. He and Damon had almost come together by accident and what was supposed to be a one-time thing with no strings attached had grown over time to this thing that neither of them could stop. Neither of them wanted to stop.

So why didn't they come out and tell everyone they were together? Why did Nash live in secret agony, standing not too close to Damon to avoid making anyone suspicious. But not staying too far away from him either, for the same reason.

They'd known each other for a while before they started messing around, and once they did, it was clear to both of them that they wanted to be together. Damon confessed to him that he'd always liked the idea of a poly relationship and it didn't take much to sell Nash on the idea of it. They just hadn't found that magical third person yet. It was Nash who struggled to meet people. In reality, Nash was a hermit who only crawled out of his cave to join Colby in the gym and to come here for fire nights. Those were his two big social events.

Damon was more extroverted than he was, but tonight he was…off.

Nash had noticed it almost as soon as they got there. They'd started carpooling to fire night a long time before they ever started hooking up, so arriving together had never been weird.

Tonight, Damon had headed straight for the back yard. Which also wasn't unusual. What was unusual was the way Nash was certain Damon was almost avoiding Taylor. He'd noticed it months back. The way Damon was friendly with the youngest Bennett brother, but only to a point.

It wasn't that he was unkind to him, because Nash would have to kick his ass up around his ears for that shit. To test his theory, he went and sat next to Taylor, noting he looked especially good that night.

Nash grabbed an empty marshmallow skewer and held his hand out to Taylor, who had been making S'mores like they were going out of style.

"Care to share?"

"Don't eat too many or Colby will make you do box jumps until your ass falls off," Taylor remarked as he passed the bag to Nash.

"He's tried that before, but so far I've been able to hold on to my ass just fine."

Nash jammed a marshmallow on the skewer and stuck it in the fire.

"You can't shove it into the fire like that!" Taylor protested. "You'll burn the outside."

"I like them burned." Nash slowly turned his skewer, rotating it to make sure his marshmallow was equally blackened all the way around. When he pulled it out of the fire, Taylor had the graham crackers and the chocolate ready and he assisted Nash in getting the marshmallow off the stick without anyone getting burned.

Rather than take the treat for himself, he stuck another marshmallow back on the stick. "That one's for you."

"I've already eaten like…ten?"

"You had six. If you have room for one more, I'd like you to try my burned S'more. It's superior. Tell me it's not."

Taylor frowned at the treat, which was the opposite effect that he'd been going for.

"But it's burned."

"It adds flavor."

Taylor laughed. "That's not how things work."

"Not at the diner, sure. No one wants burned eggs or burned toast. But a burned marshmallow is epic. Just try it." Nash nudged Taylor's foot with his own, and Taylor scowled.

"Fine, but if it's gross, it's going in the fire."

"That's fair." Nash turned his attention to his marshmallow and watched Taylor from the corner of his eye. Taylor took a careful bite, hid a smile behind the S'more, then took another.

"I suppose it's not bad," Taylor admitted as he helped Nash assemble his S'more. There was almost a sparkle of happiness in Taylor's expression for the first time that night.

"Not going to make one for me?" Damon sat down next to Nash and made a grab for his S'more, but Nash was faster. Yanking his S'more away from Damon, he burned his finger on the hot marshmallow.

"Ouch, shithead. Make your own." Nash eyed Damon with suspicion. He passed him the skewer and got to his feet. "Thanks for your help, Taylor."

"Thanks for the S'more."

"Is your dad going to bring out the guitar soon?"

"Probably. You should ask him," Taylor suggested. He cut his gaze over to Damon. "Do you need help with that?"

Damon had the end of the skewer squeezed between his knees while he fumbled with crackers and chocolate.

"I've got it." Damon scowled at the treat like it had offended him. Or maybe it was Taylor that had.

"Right. I'll see if it's guitar time." Taylor got to his feet and went around to the other side of the fire. He squished in next to Milo, who threw an arm around him and pulled him into his side.

Nash took the seat Taylor had just vacated and did his best impression of a person who wasn't confused, and pissed off about it, while he addressed Damon.

"D, buddy, care to fill me in on exactly what your problem is? Because you stormed over here, slammed yourself down, and then immediately made Taylor feel unwelcome. In his own yard." Nash whispered so low he wasn't sure Damon heard him at first.

"Not here."

Nash leaned back and pretended to be at ease. "Fair enough."

"Don't be mad," Damon said before stuffing half a S'more in his mouth.

The night was sort of normal after that. Ethan Bennett, probably the coolest dad on the planet, played enough songs to please his adoring crowd. A little weirdness where Damon was concerned lingered, but Nash doubted anyone else noticed.

The night ended as it always did—with Ethan playing one last song before heading inside. They weren't wild party animals or anything, and sometimes the rest of them stayed while Ethan went to bed. But now that everyone had coupled off, it seemed that the minute the guitar went away, so did everyone.

Jonah and Spencer were the first to go, after Damon finally let them. He'd spent a good chunk of the night with them, talking and laughing. It's where he'd been when Nash had sought Taylor out.

Colby and Milo were the next ones to go.

"Are you going to be at the gym Monday?" Colby asked, even though he knew the answer was going to be a yes.

"I wouldn't miss it."

"That's right. You wouldn't because I'd drag your ass there. Are you ready to go, Milo?" Colby called to his boyfriend, who was up by the house with Taylor. The two of them were huddled close and Taylor's hands were tucked in the sleeves of his sweater. God, he looked young then. Young and vulnerable in a way that Nash didn't like.

Taylor was in fact younger than him, but not by much, twenty-two to his twenty-six. There was nothing wrong with Nash liking the way Taylor looked. Or the way he was always trying to bring sunshine into everyone's life. But tonight there was something off about the whole thing.

Taylor slipped inside and Milo appeared at Colby's side, looking not at all worried. Nash bid the two of them goodnight.

"I'll get the fire." He tore away from Damon's side and filled the bucket with water. The rule of the Bennett house was that the last ones to leave doused the fire. He poured the water slow and careful, not wanting to splash his legs and get dirty ash all over himself. When he was done, Damon was waiting by the side gate for him.

Nash looked down and saw the light in Taylor's apartment turn off. He shoved his way past Damon and strode down to the curb where he'd parked his car. They alternated picking the other one up for fire night and this time it had been Nash's turn.

He was able to keep his cool until he got away from the Bennett house.

"What the hell was that?" Nash asked. "You all but ignored Taylor all night, and then you came over and were all ‘me want S'more,' like a caveman. Then you went right back to ignoring him."

Damon let out a sigh that sounded almost painful. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, but don't treat Taylor that way. What's your deal with him? Did he piss you off or something? I literally don't see how. He's like the nicest person we know. And that includes our asshole best friends, Jonah and Colby. Who, by the way, aren't fucking stupid. If they don't know about us already, they're going to figure it out."

"Jesus, Nash. I know all this. I said I was sorry, okay? What do you want from me?" Damon opened and closed his fist, staring down at his hand as he did it. It was something he did when he was upset, and Nash's anger softened.

"Can you talk to me? What's your deal with Taylor? I'm sure whatever he did, he didn't mean it."

The sound that came out of Damon was a strangled sound of sheer frustration. "He didn't do anything, okay." Damon raked a hand down his face. "He's just so…so fucking…ugh."

"You're going to have to elaborate." Nash grit his teeth. He was two seconds from pulling over, hauling Damon out of the car, and shaking him until he made sense.

"He's so fucking pretty, okay. It fucks with me."

Nash almost drove through a stop sign and he had to slam on the brakes. Heart thudding against his chest, he looked at Damon. "You…you're being an ass because you're attracted to him? Are you five?" Nash couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I didn't mean to be an ass to him. Just…he's so handsome, but then he wears that shiny lip stuff and that fucking sweater, and I wanted to burrow into it with him. But his brothers and his dad were right there. And the guy I'm casually, not casually, seeing was right there, and it made me all stupid and panicky."

Nash took a deep breath and continued driving. "So, you like him? I'm not mad that you like him, Damon. We agreed we could discuss adding someone else to our relationship."

Damon snorted. "Yeah, but Taylor is probably off-limits."

Nash reached across the space and gave Damon's thigh a gentle squeeze. "You're allowed to like him. Taylor is very, very likable. And as for anything else, I'm pretty certain Taylor can make his own decisions."

There was a heavy silence all the way back to Nash's because he wasn't letting Damon go home and sulk all by himself. Once they were inside away from prying eyes, Damon took Nash's face in both his hands and pulled him into a kiss.

"You're not mad?" Damon asked.

God, this man was such a people pleaser. He couldn't stand it when people were upset with him, which didn't prevent Nash from feeling that way when he had a genuine reason—like tonight.

"I'm not mad anymore. I was mad, but you explained your actions. You can't ignore Taylor like that, though. I think you really hurt him tonight."

Damon groaned and melted into Nash's embrace. Damon mumbled something into Nash's shoulder, but he couldn't quite make it out.

"What was that?"

"He's never going to forgive me." Damon sounded forlorn and it made Nash's heart soft for him. Damon never wanted to hurt anyone. The sooner he sorted things out with Taylor, the better.

"I think you're dramatic. He's hurt, but he'll forgive you. Even if you did act like an ass."

"I tried not to, but he's this fucking instant erection machine. All I have to do is look at him and I get hard. Do you know how many old people I had to picture naked tonight?"

Nash barked out a laugh and tugged Damon into his bedroom. Slowly, he stripped Damon of his shirt.

"So I like him. Now what?" Damon looked at Nash like he held all the answers. Which was ridiculous because he was flying just as blind as Damon was.

"Now you text him and tell him how nice he looked and that you're sorry you were an asshole, and you tell him to have a nice sleep."

"Won't that be…weird?" Damon asked, flicking the button of his jeans open.

"No weirder than being a dickwad because you can't deal with your own inconvenient boners."

"I suppose that's fair." Damon tried to reach for Nash, but he stepped back. "What, you want me to text him now ?"

Nash folded his arms over his chest. "You'll feel better if you do."

"God, fine." Damon yanked his phone out of his pocket and sat down on the edge of Nash's bed. He fired off a text and the moment he hit send, some of the tension in his shoulders fell away.

"It might take more than a text to make him feel better. He looked pretty hurt."

Damon sighed and stared at his phone, waiting for a response. "I know."

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