Chapter 6

6

OSCAR

Keller is pissed at me.

He grumbles at me from his position on the couch. His leg is propped on the table across from him, and the crutches he hates are leaning beside him, on the ready in case he wants to move.

“You need to get over it. I’m not letting you stand longer than you need to. Your PT said -”

“I know what my PT said,” he explodes at me. The noise draws a few eyes, so he pauses to gain himself. “I know what they said, Oscar. I was there. You don’t have to baby me. Now we’re both out here being useless when it’s clear they need help getting the food ready.”

“There are plenty of able-bodied people here to do it. And I could have swapped out with you like I offered. I don’t know why Princess Aster even let you pull a slip.”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I wish I hadn’t said them. Keller’s jaw ticks in that way that tells me he’s seconds from disappearing - broken leg or not.

Even Shiloh senses what’s wrong when he arrives. That or the Princess sent him our way to mediate. He’s trying to get us to talk about what’s wrong between us. I’m not going to admit it’s the tension from us staying together. Or that maybe we’re both about to explode but neither of us wants to admit anything. We’ve been dancing around each other since the accident. And let me tell you that it’s really fucking hard to avoid someone while they live with you.

Especially when you had to help them with simple tasks at first. Like eating, changing, and … bathing. Yes, all of it has been a twisted sort of pleasurable torture. None of it changes the fact that we won’t work together without some type of buffer.

“You two want to tell me why you’re acting like assholes?” Shiloh pulls no punches as he gets straight to the point.

“I’m not a fucking invalid, a fact which Oscar doesn’t seem to get.” The anger in Keller’s voice has my own coming forward. Two hotheads who are hot for each other. The irony here is splendid.

Throwing my hands up, I give my side of things. “I never said you were. You experienced something traumatic recently. Your body needs to heal. I was just suggesting that you have some help in the kitchen. It didn’t have to be me.”

Shiloh moves between us to break up the backlash we both sense Keller is about to throw out.

“If I’m being honest, I’d bet that most of your issues right now stem from the fact that you are around each other every day. Plus, you two were not speaking in the days leading up to the accident. Have you tried talking out your issues? Like actually talking instead of bickering?”

I don’t answer him as guilt swarms over me. It wasn’t my fault that we weren’t talking. Well, not entirely. I could have called Keller to make amends. But I didn’t. I was too hurt, and I wanted to give him time to cool off. His accident ripped away that timeline and added more chaos to the mix.

A knock on the door across the room sounds. I ignore the men in front of me to stare off at the wall behind them. It’s not until I realize Shiloh is fidgeting that I turn to see who it is.

The sight of Neil makes me tense. My body goes on high alert as desire sweeps in like a storm on the coast. It’s wild and unmanageable in ways that leave me wanting to drag him and Keller away to get this anger out of my system.

It’s not until he speaks that I realize Keller has noticed Neil’s entrance too. “Who is that?”

“His name is Neil. He’s a professor at the local college.” My answer comes on autopilot. I give him the basics because I know that’s all he wants right now. Being someone’s best friend for years means you are privy to how they will think and do things.

Like right now, I know that Keller is sizing up the situation. He obviously saw me staring and followed through to see why. Now he’s fighting his own judgments of Neil, most of which I think match mine since I can hear his rapid breathing.

“Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on right now? That’s my potential future brother-in-law. Why do you both look like you want to devour him?”

Shiloh pours a metaphorical bucket of water over our heads. Keller looks down at his lap, while I turn to face our friend head on.

“It’s a correct assessment. I had a feeling before now, but I didn’t know how Keller would react.”

“Dumb it down a little more, please.” He is almost vibrating with frustration. I can’t say I blame him. The idea of what Keller and I want is unheard of for most people. And even though we haven’t had a conversation about it out loud, I know that this is what we both want. What we both need. The signs have always been there. We’ve just avoided them.

“Kellerand I are both a bit more… dominant in the bedroom. It’s part of the reason we’d never work together. We know this, but our love for each other kept the friendship and hopes of a relationship in the air.”

“And…?”

“And we always imagined this scenario where there was someone submissive enough to handle us both.” I get a little loose with my words. Keller doesn’t jump in to contradict me, so I continue forward. “Someone greedy enough to need two people to take care of him. Someone who might be able to handle Keller’s shutting down and my need to micromanage.”

Shiloh’s jaw goes slack.

“A throuple? That’s what this tension was the whole time? You both wanted to share someone. How would that even work?” I don’t like the way he’s speaking about it as if it’s some dirty idea.

His tone has my words turning sharp. “Leave the logistics to us.”

“It would never work,” Keller throws out. “We had the conversation one time, and it was during a night of drinking. We’ve not talked about it since and there’s no way a man like Neil would want a broken and burned firefighter.”

Funny how he can remember that conversation now that there’s someone here. Anytime I’ve wanted to bring it up he’s had no memory of it.

I’m up and moving toward him before another word is spoken. Leaning closer, I get in Keller’s space the way I know he needs me to.

“Don’t you talk about my best friend like that. He’s an amazing man and a damn good firefighter.”

Keller snort laughs at my words. “Idiot.”

“Maybe, but I’m yours. And I could be Neil’s. And he could be ours.”

“I don’t know, Oz. That’s a lot to ask someone. Especially someone who doesn’t even know we exist.”

Shaking my head, I correct him, my voice taking on a pleading tone. “There is never a perfect scenario where someone we both know and trust comes forward to be in our lives that way. Plus, I have met Neil before. That day I helped out at the farm. He was there too.”

“One meeting doesn’t justify an entire relationship. Especially one as unconventional as ours.”

My hand reaches out to wrap around his. He lets me take it, and I can feel the way it shakes in mine. “What if I test the waters first? Hmmm? I could see if he’s even interested in dating or if he’s put off by the idea. From there, we can maybe take him out together or invite him to the house for dinner.”

I rush to add the last part when I see Keller trying to shift his injured leg. Yeah, he could totally walk into a restaurant and have dinner without problem. But his pride is enough that he wouldn’t want to come until he could stand on his own two feet again.

“Ok,” he whispers back after a moment of silence. “You go see what you can find out. I’m not making any promises or anything. It would be stupid of me to ignore this whole thing, so I’m giving it a shot. One shot, Oz. That’s all I’ve got in me. My heart can’t take more.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I hold back the roar of victory I feel like screaming out. With his approval, I make sure he’s got enough to drink before taking off to the kitchen.

At the door, I glance inside to see if I can spot where Neil is. As luck would have it, he’s alone next to a setup of ingredients and what appears to be a cookbook.

I approach cautiously. He’s so focused I fear I might scare him.

“Need any help?”

He startles, even though I tried to wait until he seemed steady. He doesn’t move at first. His shoulders are straight, and his hand still hovers over the dish even though the can is now empty.

Gently, I reach up to grab the can. It might seem forward, but I don’t know of another way to break the spell he’s under.

The touch of my skin on his has him coming back to. He drops the can like it’s hot and turns around to me. His smile is forced, almost like he’d rather me not be here.

“I’m good, thanks.”

“Not so sure about that,” I joke. You almost lost this can to the… whatever that is.”

His finger points to the book where the recipe is while he keeps his attention on the ingredients in front of me. Sensing an opportunity, I lean forward to take a closer look. My body hovers over him. Close but not touching.

I hear his gasp as my breath moves across his neck. “Dressing Your Grandma Would Cry Over.”

“Are you lost?” Looking over my shoulder I see the man that came in with Neil. Standing closer to him, I realize that he looks an awful lot like Neil. Must be his brother. “Are you deaf?” He turns to Princess Aster and the others. “What’s his deal?”

To their credit, they all don’t immediately burst into laughter at my expense. Grayson steps forward from a corner of the kitchen.

“He’s fine. That’s Oscar. He’s friends with my Shiloh.” I smile at the way he lays claim on my old friend. Their relationship is good for him. Better than I could have guessed when they first found each other.

“Still think he’s too close to my twin. We share DNA. I can tell he doesn’t want you there.” The guy moves closer to us both, his eyes examining me.

Neil clears his throat and turns. “That’s enough, Vaughn. You’re not a guard dog. I would like to finish this recipe alone. Thank you.” He turns around before any of us can respond.

“You heard Number One. Time to go, buster.”

Sensing the rising tension in the room, I nod before slipping away. Back in the living room, I find Keller in a deep discussion with Fisher about the merits of goat yoga as a rehabilitation effort.

“It works even though they’re fake,” Keller asks earnestly. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Fisher whips his head from side to side so fast he nearly stumbles from the side of the couch. His boyfriend Xander grabs his arm before he topples over.

“No, really! I’m not lying. They did a study.”

“Little Seahorse, that was a Buzzfeed poll. It wasn’t a study done by doctors.” Fisher turns to Xander, his eyes wide at the accusation. “But it’s still a very valid piece of evidence.”

His backtracking has Keller laughing. I follow suit as I sit down near the trio. He turns my way, but I give him a subtle head shake to let him know we’ll have to talk about it later.

There’s nothing I can tell him now that will improve his mood. It’s best to let Fisher and his goats steal the show.