Unwrapped

“Right now? Sitting on a bench on the north end of East Lake, feeding the pigeons. Greedy bastards.”

She shot a glance at Matt. If Tristan was sitting alone on a park bench in the near dark in the middle of winter, things were more dire than they’d suspected. “Did you talk to your parents?”

“Yeah. To my mom at least. She’s pretty much gone back to the way things were before.”

“Oh good. I’m so glad.” But she didn’t miss the pain in his tone. “And your dad?”

“He didn’t rush out to shoot something when I showed up, so that’s progress, right?”

“Guess so. Did he say anything to you?”

“Yeah, he actually asked how TD’s year-end numbers looked.” He gave a short, ironic laugh. “I told him profits were up six percent from last year, and I got an ‘atta boy’ before he and Steve went off to do that manly son-and-father thing I’m now excluded from.”

“He needs time. You said he’s starting to come around.”

“Yeah. I know.” He paused. “So I’m out feeding the birds.”

“Gonna get done with that anytime soon, or you planning on camping out there tonight?”

“Nah, think I’m done.” She heard rustling she assumed meant he was standing up and getting ready to go. “You guys gotta be starving by now.”

That was Tristan, doing his duty when his heart clearly wasn’t in it. “Aren’t you?”

“Sure.”

She bit off a sigh. One way or another, she and Matt would just have to love him through this. “So what’s for dinner? Thai Kings?”

After getting another “sure” in response, she calculated how long it would take to get from the office to the takeout joint.

They wouldn’t have much time.

As soon as she hung up with Tristan, she flashed Matt a bright smile. She’d told Val that faking it counted, so if she had to fake her happiness until she knew Tris would be okay, then she would.

“What’s that smile for?”

“You’ll see.” She started mentally packing her overnight bag as she snagged Matt’s arm and pulled him with her upstairs. “So, about that bondage rope of yours…”

Tristan took the long route to Thai Kings, just to give himself a little longer away from the loft. It was a nice night, cold and clear, with tons of stars twinkling in the dark blue sky. But the weather wasn’t why he wasn’t in any hurry to head home.

Cait and Matt weren’t at fault either. Not really. He didn’t trust anything right now. They didn’t know he’d yet to stop expecting them to turn to him and say maybe they’d all moved too fast, that they weren’t interested in the kind of relationship he wanted. Just because he’d finally gotten them to cave didn’t mean his timetable matched up with theirs.

He didn’t doubt that they loved him or each other. As friends at least. But as for the rest? As far as committing to a real, permanent arrangement, something deeper than pizza runs and sexfests and innuendos they didn’t have to keep behind closed doors…well, that was murkier water.

Had he pushed them to do something they truly hadn’t been ready for? He didn’t think so, but he’d given them plenty of space and ample opportunities to approach him, and they hadn’t.

For God’s sake, for the last two nights since Mrs. Collins had gone home, the two of them had kept to their parts of his bed as if each of their areas were separated by an electrical fence. If they expected him to make the first move, they’d obviously overestimated his current level of confidence.

Though it hurt, he could handle the situation with his dad. Things were improving slowly. He hoped one day his sexual orientation and relationship choices would be a nonissue. In the meantime, he would do his best to deal.

But putting his heart on the line with Cait and Matt, even turning to them in bed at night, was just asking too much. He couldn’t take the possibility—no matter how remote—of another rejection right now. If that made him a coward, he’d wear the title and be done with it.

Besides, why the hell couldn’t they come to him? Make that move, give him that grand gesture? Just once, why couldn’t they show him how much they loved him without him begging for it first?

When he couldn’t stall any longer, he drove into the parking lot of Thai Kings. He’d called in their usual order, though he wasn’t particularly hungry. But Cait and Matt were waiting on him, so he’d deliver.

Score one for the dirty Boy Scout.

Lips quirked, he picked up their order and headed back outside into the brisk night. As he strode across the lot, he took a deep breath of cold air. He had no reason to complain. So everything wasn’t perfect with his parents. So Matt and Cait waited for his lead when it came to showing emotion beyond expressing an interest in playing naked Twister—and they hadn’t even expressed that lately. He had a hell of lot going for him. Maybe he needed to stop waiting for his lovers to take control and do it himself—