Robbie must’ve been of the same mind, because he didn’t talk, didn’t move a muscle, merely lay there with his eyes focused on Priest and his hand resting on Julien’s.
It could’ve been hours, the time they spent watching one another like that. But when Robbie shifted as though to move, Priest’s pulse spiked at the thought of him getting up and walking out of the bedroom without saying a word.
Robbie gently removed Julien’s hand, and as he rolled to his back, still fast asleep, Robbie pushed the sheet aside, and Priest had to order himself to sit and wait.
You told him you would give him time, Priest reminded himself. So give it to him. But when Robbie got to his feet, wearing only the pair of white briefs with black polka dots he’d left on last night, it was an exercise in restraint for Priest to remain where he was.
After the night he’d had, Robbie should’ve looked rumpled and hungover. But with his hair tousled, and those briefs barely hanging to his hips when he started across the bedroom, the sunlight found all of his exquisite angles, and Priest couldn’t believe that this extraordinary man was theirs. He couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, he felt it, right down to his very soul.
As Robbie got closer, Priest balled his hand into a fist on his thigh and told himself to keep his mouth shut and stay fucking put. Not such an easy feat when Robbie stopped right in front of him, within touching distance.
Robbie ran his eyes over Priest’s face, and then ever so slowly reached out and smoothed his fingertips across Priest’s forehead under the piece of auburn hair that had flopped down.
Priest swallowed and let Robbie do what he wished, and when he traced those same fingers down Priest’s temple to his cheek, and finally stopped at his chin, Robbie took it between his thumb and forefinger and Priest waited to see what he’d do next.
“The name that goes with this face,” Robbie said. “It doesn’t matter to me half as much as the person this face belongs to.”
It wasn’t often that Priest was caught off guard, but he felt as though the breath had been knocked right out of him.
“I’m ready to talk, if you are.” Robbie let go of him to look over his shoulder at the bed. “You know, I never could’ve imagined that someone like Julien, someone like you, would ever be interested in someone like me.”
Priest opened his mouth to adamantly refute that, but Robbie looked back to him and offered up a small smile.
“But you are, and I can’t imagine my life without the both of you in it. I want to understand this, Priest. I want you to help me understand you. Because I want to fall all the way in love with you, and until you trust me the way I trust you, I can’t do that.”
Totally blindsided by everything Robbie had just said, all Priest could do was sit there and stare. It was clear that while throwing back a few too many drinks last night, Robbie had also been thinking a lot about what he wanted going forward in this relationship, and it was that which finally had Priest getting to his feet.
He raised his arms, about to take Robbie’s face between his hands, but when he paused, Robbie blinked and realized why he’d stopped. Robbie lowered his head a fraction and took a step closer to Priest, and with that move, he granted the permission that Priest had just silently asked for.
He took Robbie’s face and placed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll tell you everything. All of it.”
Robbie looked him in the eye. “Okay. Let me go and freshen up, and I’ll be back.”
Priest let his hands fall away, and Robbie went to leave. “Robert?” Robbie stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I’m truly sorry that I hurt you. I promise to do better from here on out.”
Robbie nodded, and as he disappeared into the bathroom, Priest remained where he was with an uneasy feeling in his gut, because he knew things had to get a whole lot worse before they would get any better.
* * *
JULIEN DIDN’T OPEN his eyes until the bathroom door shut and he knew he was alone with Priest. He hadn’t wanted to disrupt the conversation taking place, knowing it was one Priest and Robbie needed to have. But with Robbie now out of the room, and Priest left to think about what was going to happen next, Julien shifted under the sheets and opened his eyes.
Priest was standing by his desk chair, staring at the shut door of the bathroom, and Julien knew he hated that extra wall Robbie was still using with them right now. A door, a friend, someone in between him and them to give himself that extra breathing room, and it was effective. By merely shutting a door, the message was clear—we’ll talk, but not quite yet.