9. Damon

CHAPTER 9

DAMON

Damon woke before Nash and untangled himself from his octopus embrace. Nash was a serious sleep-cuddler and even when Damon fell asleep not tangled up in Nash, he always woke that way.

Damon grabbed a shower and walked into the bedroom to find a clean set of clothes. Nash had woken up and was still lounging in bed, propped on an elbow.

"Work today?"

"At ten." Damon worked at a pharmacy. It wasn't what he dreamed of doing when he was a kid, but no one dreamed of becoming a pharmacist until they looked at other degrees and pay scales and decided that it wasn't a bad option in the long run.

Damon kept a set of work clothes at Nash's house for emergencies. And random Tuesdays. Truthfully, half his wardrobe had migrated over to Nash's apartment. Not that Damon minded, but Nash might if he realized.

"Did you want to go for breakfast?" Nash tossed back the covers and climbed out of bed, and Damon did his best not to let himself ogle him. The man was fucking breathtaking. Slightly furry in all the right places, trim from his sometimes twice-weekly workouts with Colby, he made Damon's mouth water.

"Sure."

Nash stopped on his way out of the bedroom and gave Damon a knowing look. "We can eat at the diner if you want."

"I think Taylor would be wounded if we cheated on his pancakes." Damon stepped into a pair of the black slacks he only wore to work and pulled on a light blue button-up.

Nash came back from the bathroom and pulled Damon into a kiss that tasted like mint and mouthwash. "One of these days I need to get you all dressed up."

"You're ridiculous."

"And you're hot."

Damon shook his head, but he couldn't stop smiling. "I look like a dweeb. You have a dweeb fetish."

"You look hot. All put together and buttoned up, all proper and shit. Makes me want to ruin you."

Damon reached down and adjusted himself. "Really? Can we not give me a raging boner before work?"

Nash's response was to pull Damon closer and press his naked body up against Damon's fully clothed one. Damon had to stop himself from shivering. It shouldn't be so hot. And he shouldn't feel so vulnerable. Nash was the naked one. But Nash had that effect on him. He had a way of seeing right through Damon's happy-go-lucky exterior to the person underneath.

"Do you have any idea how exquisite you are?" Nash kissed the side of Damon's neck above his shirt collar and below his ear. All the blood rushed to Damon's dick, making him ache for more of Nash's touch. But Nash was already pulling away and grabbing clothes from his closet.

Damon gaped at him as he dressed, all nonchalant as if he hadn't just given Damon a huge boner.

"Really, Nash?" Damon scowled and adjusted himself again.

"You love it." Nash patted Damon on the ass on his way out of the room. "Come on."

Damon grumbled and followed Nash outside. He hesitated at the parking lot until Nash turned and jingled his keys. "We'll be done in plenty of time for you to get your car before work. If not, I'll take you."

"Careful, Nash. If you keep doing shit like that, people are going to figure us out."

Nash shrugged. "Maybe it's time they did, but we can talk about that later. Right now, I want pancakes. Or waffles. Or French toast."

Damon filed away Nash's statement for later. Everything was turned upside down and different now, and Damon had to wonder how much of Nash's statement was because he genuinely wanted people to know about them and how much was jealously because Damon had been on a date with Taylor.

Had it all been a big mistake? He'd let Nash talk him into it, and Nash had promised that he was okay with it. But was he really? Back when they first started seeing each other, it wasn't serious and they hadn't wanted the overprotective Bennett brother—Colby—to go all bodyguard mode on them.

And they hadn't expected to keep hooking up. It was supposed to be a one and done sort of deal. But then they didn't stop. And one more time turned into one more time turned into two people who never stopped hooking up. Damon's clothes migrated over to Nash's house. He had a toothbrush there. He used Nash's electric razor when he needed it. They did boyfriend things together and even recently had adopted that title. But had still told no one.

Until Damon took Taylor out.

"You're quiet," Nash said as they took a seat in the diner. The Bennett family had a table that was reserved for family for when Colby and Jonah stopped in. Damon and Nash were also included in that short list of family.

"It's been an interesting week. That's all," Damon hedged. He didn't want Nash to push, especially not here of all places. Here, where Taylor was in the kitchen. He hoped to hell that Taylor was okay with making breakfast for the guy who'd kissed him goodnight—and his boyfriend.

Damon took a deep breath and reminded himself that Taylor knew all about it. He'd made an informed decision. It helped calm him, but only a little.

He was aware of Nash's questioning gaze on him, but then Ethan Bennett, their surrogate father, appeared.

"Good morning, you two. What'll it be?"

Nash ordered a stack of pancakes, but Damon went for the classic bacon, eggs, and toast. Ethan poured them each a cup of coffee and promised to be back with their food soon.

Ethan sometimes sat with them when they came in, but the diner looked busy that morning and Damon hadn't seen anyone else working the front. So it was likely that Ethan was manning it alone and wouldn't be around much to chat. There went Damon's buffer.

Nash nudged Damon's foot under the table. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's just… I don't want this to be weird for you or Taylor. I mean, it's not every day I go out for breakfast with my boyfriend at the place my date from the night before works."

Nash arched an eyebrow.

"I mean, it's new, okay?" Damon raked a hand down his face.

"Why don't you go say hello to him?" Nash measured two spoons of sugar into his coffee. He looked calm and collected and totally okay with the idea.

Damon wiped his sweaty palms on his thighs. "You sure?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I minded. If anyone asks what you're doing back there, tell them you wanted to ask Taylor to make you extra bacon."

"I don't want extra bacon, though."

"I do. Now go order me some bacon." Nash motioned to the door that led to the kitchen. "You're running out of time."

Damon looked over his shoulder, noting Ethan's location at the other end of the diner. He was talking to a group of guys who looked to be like they were from the fire department. Before he lost his chance, or his nerve, he got to his feet and ducked into the kitchen.

Taylor was at the grill, of course. Damon watched him work for half a minute. He was insanely talented, making eggs and bacon at the same time as toast and pancakes and half a dozen other things.

"Hey," Damon said, for lack of anything else to say. Now that he was back here, he didn't know what he wanted to say to Taylor.

Taylor turned and smiled so big and bright he damn near glowed. "Hey, yourself. Couldn't stay away, huh?"

Damon cleared his throat. "I—um. I'm here with Nash. For breakfast. I wanted to say good morning. And that I had a good time."

Taylor's smile softened. "I had a great time too." Taylor went back to flipping bacon and scrambling eggs. "Which one is your order?"

Damon rattled off what they'd ordered. "But I'm supposed to ask for extra bacon on my order. Nash wants to steal it, I think."

Taylor laughed. "Tell him that I'll make him his own bacon." Taylor turned again, this time abandoning his grill to glide across the room to where Damon stood. "Are you free next weekend?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'd like to go out with you again. If that's something you want."

Damon did. He wanted that more than almost anything. "Yeah. I want."

Taylor stepped in and brushed a quick kiss against the corner of Damon's mouth. "Good. Now go sit with your boyfriend and tell him he's getting his own bacon."

Taylor went back to his grill, humming and dancing, and Damon had to use every bit of his willpower to pull himself away and go back to Nash.

Damon dropped into his seat. "Taylor said you get your own bacon," he said as Ethan walked past them. When he was out of earshot, Damon leaned closer. "And he asked me to go out with him next weekend."

Nash smiled at Damon, looking pleased as punch about it. Damon tilted his head. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"What's not to enjoy? You're happy. Taylor's happy. I'm happy."

The diner might not be the best location to hash this out, but Damon was going insane with all his tangled thoughts and feelings about the sudden shift in his love life. "We are. And it's not weird-bad, but still weird, that you're so okay with this."

"Are you not okay with it?" Nash asked him, nudging his foot against Damon's under the table.

"I—" Damon closed his mouth when Ethan appeared with their orders. "Thanks, Dad. It looks delicious as always," Damon told him. He wondered how much of their conversation Ethan had heard, which was why it was stupid to talk about this at the diner.

Ethan, if he had heard anything, gave no indication of it. He left them to eat and went to take care of other customers. Damon was glad it was busy and Ethan didn't have time for chitchat.

"I'm okay with it. I've never done anything like this before."

"Neither have I. And neither has Taylor. You're not alone in this, Damon."

"But you're so calm about everything."

"On the outside. On the inside, I've thought of a thousand different ways this can all go wrong. Adding another person to a relationship is a big deal. I want it to work." Nash's statement kicked the legs out from under Damon's stomach and it dropped. But then Nash gave him a soft smile and leaned in closer. "Because I've also thought of a million different ways that it can go right."

"Oh…" Damon exhaled.

"Yeah, oh." Nash pointed at Damon's plate. "Eat up, or you're going to be late for work."

Damon did as he was told, shoveling a bite of perfectly scrambled eggs into his mouth.

If Nash believed that this could work, then maybe it could. Damon would have to trust that Nash and Taylor knew what they were doing because he didn't have a single fucking clue.