13
Van finished staking the awning poles into the ground.Although the cold temperatures meant they likely wouldn’t be hanging out underneath the shade structure drinking a few beers while watching the sunset, he figured it would help keep snow from accumulating near the door and the patch of half grass, half dirt from turning into mud that they’d drag inside every time they went up the steps.
The physical labor helped him work off the rest of the energy buzzing through him after his intense discussion with Kyra.It was pretty obvious to him now that they’d needed to hash things out for a while.How much longer would they have kept going in circles if Ollie hadn’t broken them from the unhealthy cycle they’d been stuck in?
Too long.
“Thanks for setting that up.”Ollie approached from the rear of the van where he’d finished hooking up power and water to the campsite’s facilities.
“No problem.”Van at least felt useful.It was when he didn’t, like when Kyra had been scared, that he fell into old habits.
He didn’t care to go backward.The problem was that the way forward wasn’t only up to him.He needed to talk to Ollie before bedtime rolled around.The sun had already sunk behind the line of pine trees across the field.He was running out of time.
“Hey, Ollie?”Van cleared his throat and wondered if his friend would take what he was about to say next as a come on or as the legitimate question it was.
“Yeah?”
“You ever…”
“What?”Ollie wasn’t dumb.“Is this about sex?”
Van nodded.“We should probably figure out what our next steps are here and be ready so whatever we need to work out between us doesn’t mess with Kyra.What kind of experience do you have with this sort of stuff?”
“I’ve had a threesome before, if that’s what you mean.”Ollie shrugged a shoulder as if he hadn’t just shocked the fuck out of Van, who’d never done much out of the realm of ordinary.“With two women.I highly recommend it.”
Van couldn’t help but reflect Ollie’s grin as he smacked the guy on the back.“Damn, I never realized how boring I am.I thought I had a great sex life, for the most part—there’s never a shortage of eager women around Kason and the band—and now I’m finding out I’m pretty lame.Normal.Vanilla.Whatever you want to call it.”
Ollie lost some of his joking nature then.“You can change that, you know.If you want.Nothing wrong with it if you’re happy.”
“I’m not.”
“Yeah, it’s killing me too.Being stuck in limbo when it comes to Kyra.”
“So you’re not into other guys then, are you?”Van wished he’d brought a drink out with him.His throat had suddenly gone dry.Did he hope Ollie said yes or no?It was one thing to imagine both of them pleasing the woman they adored, but what else was he signing up for?Where were they going to draw the line?He had to know before they got naked and things became awkward.
He refused to let weirdness between them to take away from Kyra’s enjoyment.
“Shit, yeah.I mean, hasn’t everyone kissed their chemistry partner just once to see what it was like or had that wild night where they drank too much and ended up going home with another dude to keep from being lonely?”
Van tried not to stare at Ollie.“Um, no.”
“Oops.”Ollie shrugged.“I guess I’m not always the pickiest person in the world.If I have a connection with somebody, I’m pretty open to it.”
“So you wouldn’t be opposed to fucking in front of another guy?”Van tried to play it cool when his heart and his dick were pounding.
Ollie stepped closer.“Hold up.Are you giving the green light for a threesome with you and Kyra?”
“That’s what she needs, right?”Van scrubbed his hands over his short-cropped hair.“Is that why she hasn’t wanted to sleep with me again?”
“You’d have to ask her to know for sure.”Ollie sank onto the van’s running board, his shoulders slumped.“But no, I don’t think that’s the problem.She, um, is pretty…flexible…about stuff like that.”
Shit.Van was screwing this up.And now it wasn’t only Kyra who was in danger of getting tromped on by his artless ogre-handling of what was obviously a more delicate situation than he’d realized.Thing was, Ollie had taken one look and figured it out.
Van needed him to decipher the puzzle he’d landed them in.
Kason and Jordan had played off each other to win Wren, and the same went for Trevon and Quinn with Devra.Why not him and Ollie for Kyra?Sometimes it took two men to satisfy the right woman.
After the endless days and nights of fun and friendship on the bus, the special day they’d destroyed the bunk, and the emotional exchange in the van earlier, Van was sure Kyra was the right woman for him.He just wasn’t sure how to be the right man for her.