“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Quinn shoved his hands into his pockets again and finally brought himself to meet Shane’s concerned brown eyes. Then he caught the two men across the street talking to each other, but their eyes were on him and Shane. This time, the feeling in his stomach resembled nausea more than anger. He needed to find someplace to be alone and think about this. Really think about it. “I don’t want to keep you from your friends. I just wanted to let you know I understand why you didn’t want to…” His voice drifted off as he looked around them. “You know. We’ll talk tomorrow.” He flashed him a smile he hoped looked legitimate then nodded his head toward Royce. “I need to get him back to his car. See you in the morning.”
He didn’t even give Shane time to respond. He just turned and walked away, not daring to look at Royce who fell into step next to him.Shane watched Quinn nearly run away from him, his heart pounding in his chest. He noted how close Quinn and Royce seemed and he wasn’t jealous exactly, but he was…something. He knew Quinn wasn’t sleeping with Royce—knew that deep in his gut—so the unease probably stemmed from their disagreement. He still couldn’t understand where all that anger had come from. The man had blown up at him without provocation, and he couldn’t help but feel there was something else behind it.
It bothered him more than he cared to analyze, too.
He crossed the street to return to his friends, Jake and Aaron. He’d been getting together with the married couple on and off for over a year and a half—nothing serious, just some hot sex and laughs.
Jake and Aaron both watched him closely, Aaron’s light green eyes—startling and beautiful against his dark skin—particularly probing. That was normal for him as a high school counselor. The muscular black man looked like he should work at Ward Security, so Shane had been surprised to find out he had a degree in psychology and a masters in school counseling. It was fun to imagine teen reactions to him when they first saw him. He was particularly observant—something he shared with the man. Not the degree, but the observant. An old boyfriend of Shane’s, Jude Torres, had preferred to call it nosy. Funny enough, he’d run into Jude the same night he’d met Jake and Aaron.
A warm hand squeezed his waist and he gave Jake a smile and a hug. Jake was Aaron’s husband and the two of them had been together over ten years. Jake, shorter and slimmer than Aaron, was built like a dancer with a graceful, elegant and wiry body. He was one of the top attorneys in one of the biggest law firms in Cincinnati.
Neither man ever had problems with PDAs, though they were slightly stealthier when it came to touching him. Not once they were back at their house, though. Shane had spent many a happy night the lucky middle in their very attentive sandwich.
They were halfway through their meal when Shane leaned back in his chair and regarded them both. “How do you deal with jealousy?”
Aaron picked up his beer and took a drink before setting it back down. He glanced at Jake before he answered. “This is coming out of left field. You never asked us that before.”
Shane shrugged. “I figured you guys wouldn’t have picked me up together if there were issues.”
“So, why the question now?”
“I’m not sure.” He snorted. “I’m not being mysterious or anything. I honestly don’t know why I’m asking.”
“I think I have a feeling why,” Jake murmured with an enigmatic smile.
“We only play together, never alone.” Aaron laid his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “When we first got together, we were monogamous and for the most part, we still are.” He shot his husband a quick heated look. “But we both like threesomes, so we came up with this arrangement. If it’s someone we both like,” he said with a wink and a grin at Shane, “we go for it. There’s no reason to be jealous when we know how we feel about each other, and we’re both benefiting from the situation. Why?”
“Like I said, I don’t know.” He curled his hand into a fist, thinking about the sex with Quinn the night before. Fuck, it had been like nothing he’d ever felt, and that both intrigued him and scared him.
“I think you do.” Aaron’s smile still held nothing but understanding. “There were two men before you. The first guy moved out of state and the second wanted more than we were willing to give. That’s why we were happy you came up to us that night at the club. We could tell you were after a good time just like us.” Aaron shrugged. “We have friends who think we’re insane. That this will eventually break us up, but we’re both happy.”