Julien sat up in bed, and as he did, he must’ve caught Priest’s eye.
“Bonjour, mon amour.”
“Good morning,” Priest said as he walked over to his side of the bed and held a hand out to Julien.
When he took it, Julien squeezed Priest’s fingers and offered him a lazy smile. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
“An hour or so, yes.”
Julien shook his head and tugged on Priest’s hand until he had one knee on the mattress. “That’s not sleep. That’s a nap. How you manage to function and look so awake is beyond me.”
“Years of practice, I suppose,” Priest said. “It becomes second nature when you spend so long afraid to close your eyes.”
“Oui, I imagine it would.” Julien pushed his fingers through the thick strands of Priest’s hair, brushing it back from his face, and then leaned forward to kiss him softly on the mouth. “How are you this morning?”
Priest moved to sit beside Julien and drew Julien’s hand into his lap, staring at their entwined fingers. “Honestly?”
“Toujours.”
“I’m a bit…scared.”
Julien’s heart ached at that admission, knowing how much it would’ve cost, and he let his eyes rove over the handsome face he knew he’d never grow tired of looking at. Priest’s lips were pulled tight and his brows were drawn into a deep V of consternation.
“That’s understandable considering what you’re about to do today, wouldn’t you say?”
Priest nodded then turned to look Julien in the eye. “Will you stay with us? While I talk to him? I think we need to address what he said last night before we move onto the other, don’t you?”
“Oui, I do.” Julien brought their hands up to press a firm kiss to the center of Priest’s palm. “And of course I’ll stay.”
“Thank you,” Priest said as he lowered their hands, and then took Julien’s lips with his.
The kiss was fierce, passionate, and bittersweet, and Julien closed his eyes and sank into the moment, allowing Priest to take what he needed, and when he finally raised his head, Julien said, “It’s okay to be scared, you know. I guarantee you’re not the only one.”
Priest swallowed, and his eyes shifted over Julien’s shoulder to the bathroom door.
“Exactly,” Julien said. “God only knows how many drinks it took for him to get up the courage to say what he did last night.”
“Six.”
At the sound of Robbie’s voice, they both turned, and judging by the alert eyes staring back at them, Robbie had washed up before he’d pulled Priest’s robe on.
“Wait, that’s not true,” Robbie said. “Maybe seven?”
Julien’s lips twitched, as Robbie slipped his hands into the pockets of the robe and walked back into the room.
“But you know what I realized by the end of all of that?” As both men stared silently at him, Robbie climbed onto the bed and moved between them on his knees. “Being apart wasn’t going to help. I thought it would, but no.” Robbie shook his head. “This is where I’m supposed to be. But if you two don’t feel the—”
“Robert,” Priest said. “We feel the same way. Being apart from you has just about killed us.”
Robbie fidgeted with his hands in his lap. “Yeah?”
“Oui, princesse,” Julien said. “We were worried about you. But more importantly, we missed you.”
“Will you come up here?” Priest asked, and held his hand out to Robbie.
Robbie slipped his hand into Priest’s and shuffled up until he could turn and sit between them, and then Julien took his other hand, making sure there was a solid bond between all three of them during this next conversation.
“Before I get into things about Jimmy and my past, we’d like to talk to you about what you said last night, just before you fell asleep,” Priest said.
Robbie bit down on his lip and lowered his eyes, the topic obviously one he still wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable talking about.
“Non,” Julien said. “Don’t be shy, princesse. You have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about. Talk to us.”
“Please,” Priest said. “Help us understand what we did to make you feel excluded, because that…that is something we never want you to feel. Not here. Not with us.”
* * *
ROBBIE SHUT HIS eyes for a moment as he tried to think of the words to explain what it was he was feeling. It was difficult to describe, really, and while he knew Julien and Priest wouldn’t judge him, no matter what he said, he still wanted to get it right.
Finally, he opened his eyes and began to talk. “This last month has been pretty full on.” Robbie looked to the person who created calm amongst the three of them, the one who made everything feel more comfortable just for him being there—Julien.
“We know, and understand that,” Julien said, and gently squeezed Robbie’s hand. “So if you need to take a step back—”