Page 52 of Burning Up

Toby glared at Matt. “Just being an idiot. Bryce came to see you. Don’t you think he’s ready to admit he didn’t really want to end things? We might have a chance to?—”

“Shut up, Toby. You know this is fucking impossible.”

Bryce took a few more steps toward the door.

“Please stay,” Toby begged.

Bryce sighed. He couldn’t ignore Toby’s pleading tone, but he wasn’t going to come between them. The last thing he wanted was for their relationship to end because they were fighting over him. “What if Matt’s right and this won’t work?”

“If you believe that, why did you come when I called you?” Toby asked.

“Because…” There were so many things Bryce could say, some of them lies, some of them half-truths. Would those really help? “Because I missed you. I needed to see Matt, to know he was truly okay.”

Matt blew out a long breath and laid a hand over his eyes. Tears ran down his cheeks.

Bryce sat back down on the bed and laid a hand on Matt’s chest. Was this impossible? He didn’t want it to be. He loved both these men. He wasn’t ready to say it out loud, but he could admit it to himself. The strength of what he was feeling didn’t leave him any choice. Mason, Jack, and Gray had worked it out. So maybe…

“This isn’t impossible, improbable maybe, but if we want it badly enough, we can make it work,” Toby said as he joined them on the bed. He was twirling his hair with one hand, but he laid his other hand on top of Bryce’s. Bryce hated how agitated he made both of them.

“You guys are so young. I don’t want you changing your lives for me. You don’t know what you might want in a year, or in six months, even.”

“We can’t keep working together whether we’re all together or not. You know that. So we’ve got to make a change anyway,” Toby said.

Matt nodded. “Even if you hadn’t realized Toby and I were together, someone would have eventually seen it.”

Bryce had to admit that was true. “And someone is going to realize how I feel about you both.”

“How the fuck does WT not see it?” Matt asked “The way you look at us, protective and tender at once. It’s so obvious.”

“I warned you I sucked at secrets.”

“You suck?” Toby said, an incredulous look on his face. “What about me being ready to charge into the building and get my ass disciplined because Matt was hurt?”

Bryce grinned. “Last time I checked, you loved having your ass disciplined.”

“Well, yeah, but only by you or Matt.”

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Matt said. “Not in a few months. Not in a year. I want you, both of you.”

Bryce took a deep breath, not sure how to respond.

“You have to know I feel the same,” Toby said. “I’m the one who’s pushed for this from the beginning.”

Bryce realized this was one of those no-turning-back moments. Did he take the risk? Hell yes. “I’d been thinking about a job with the fire marshal’s office before I left Atlanta.”

Matt’s eyes widened. “There’s an opening downtown. I saw it posted on the board yesterday.”

Bryce froze. He’d never believed in fate, but this seemed too good to be true. “Really?”

“Yeah. You’d have to do police training unless you were just doing inspections, but I think this position is for someone doing primarily investigations.”

“I want to be an investigator. That’s why I was considering it in Atlanta.”

“Are you going to consider it again now?” Toby asked.

Bryce nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

Toby squeezed his hand. “Are you also going to consider other options as well?”

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