Perfect Alignment (Thorne and Dash 3)

Kathryn tapped on her phone and nodded. “This is the address.”

She opened her door and stepped out. As Thorne followed suit, he looked at the cabin more closely. “Wait. That’s Marc’s car. Kathryn, what the fuck have you done?”

The screen door squeaked as Marc stepped onto the porch. Riley wasn’t with him.

“Where is he?” Kathryn asked.

“Asleep on the couch.”

Thorne scowled at Marc. You don’t hate him, his conscience reminded him.

“I didn’t fuck him,” Marc said. “I wouldn’t do that to you, to him, to what the two of you have. The only way I would ever touch him as more than a friend would be if you both wanted that.”

Thorne nodded. “I’m sorry for making an assumption.”

Marc headed toward his car.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“Home.”

Panic began to set in. “You can’t leave Riley alone.”

“I’m not.”

“You’ll be with him,” Kathryn said.

She handed him his suitcase.

This wasn’t happening. “Does he know I’m here?”

Kathryn shook her head as Marc started his car.

Thorne reached out and grabbed his sister’s arm. “You stay with him, and I’ll go back.”

“Thorne, you and Riley have to work this out.”

The door creaked again, and Thorne turned to see Riley standing in the doorway. It was one of the few times he’d actually experienced the feeling of time standing still.

He looked at Riley and Riley looked at him, and neither spoke for several seconds. Wearing gym shorts and a T-shirt, with his hair mussed, his skin pale, Riley looked so fucking edible. And Thorne wanted him, no matter what had happened. He always wanted him.

Riley’s mouth dropped open as he saw Marc back out of the driveway. “What the fuck is going on?”

“He’s going home,” Thorne said. “But I’ll get Kathryn to stay with you.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Kathryn told me—” He turned, but Kathryn was no longer beside him. Her car door slammed shut, and the engine started. “Oh, fuck no! She’s not…”

He knocked on her window. But she just waved and drove off.

“Wait!” he yelled. “You can’t…”

Riley looked from the spot where Marc’s car had been parked to the spot where Kathryn’s had been. “They left us.”

“Without a car.”

“Fucking bastards.”

“So you didn’t know about this?” Thorne asked.

“Fuck no. I rented this cabin at the start of the week. I was going to surprise you with it. Marc said we might as well use it.”

“Kathryn said I should get out of the city. She claimed she could use a friend’s cabin. Then I saw Marc’s car and…”

They studied each other for a few moments.

“I guess you better come in,” Riley said.

“Look, I can see if there’s another cabin free and—”

“It’s almost midnight. No rental agencies are open now.”

“No, but if I—”

“Oh, right. You’re Thornwell Fucking Shipton, so anything is open for you.”

The bitterness in his voice cut right through Thorne, but he didn’t respond because he knew he deserved it. He stepped inside, and Riley closed the door behind him.

“I could just call a car service.”

“Is that what you want to do?” Riley asked.

It wasn’t. What he wanted was to make things right with Riley. “No.”

“I used your account to rent this,” Riley said. “I was proud of myself for being okay with that. I thought I’d grown, that I was accepting things, that I was doing what you wanted, and then… How could you think…?”

Thorne wished he had a good answer. “I don’t know. I’d missed you, and I…”

Riley shook his head and paced the living area while Thorne remained standing in the doorway. “So you believe me now?”

“Yeah. I believe you didn’t fuck him.”

“There’s a but there.” Riley’s voice was so cold. Thorne wanted to drag him into his arms and just hold him, but he was sure Riley wouldn’t permit it, so his only choice was to keep him talking.

“What you and Marc have—”

“Is friendship, and you’ve never minded before.”

“I don’t mind now.”

Riley exhaled harshly. “That is a fucking lie.”

“I…yeah, but not like you think. I want you to have that. I just wish I had it too.”

“Thorne, you have so much more of me. I love Marc as a friend and that is all. Even when we were sleeping together, that’s all there was.”

Thorne nodded. He knew all that was true, knew he was being crazy, but knowing didn’t help. “I’m so sorry. I saw you there, saw you hug him, saw the intimacy, and I freaked out. I wanted this to be about us because I’m petty and jealous and never sure of myself with you. I thought I was over that, and then…”

Riley studied him skeptically. “What do you mean by ‘this’?”

“The wedding.”

“The wedding you didn’t want to plan.”

Thorne blew out a long breath. “Yeah. I refused to help you and then got fucking jealous about someone else taking my place. I’m an asshole, okay?”

He couldn’t read Riley’s expression. Was he hurt? Confused? Sad?