Page 11 of One is Never Enough

Chapter 5

Toby

I’m lying in Jace’s bed when Jace walks in with a weird look on his face. “You need to come downstairs.”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s better if you see for yourself.”

I reluctantly pull my ass out of bed and follow him to the living room. When I get there, my world comes to a complete stop when I see Oliver standing there. He smiles shyly, and all I want to do is run to him, but Jace grabs my arm when I move.

“You had something to say, Oliver?” Jace prompts.

“I’m so sorry,” Oliver rushes out. “I should have listened to you.”

Jace crosses his arms over his massive chest, and I know he’s still hurt from earlier. “Yeah, you should have.”

Oli looks unsure for a second but pushes his shoulders back. “I never should have said those things to you, Jace. I truly am sorry.” He turns to look at me with tears in his eyes. “You never did anything to me to make me think you would betray me. I’m sorry and here to ask for a second chance.”

I go to walk toward Oliver, and Jace grabs my arm again. “Goddamnit, Jace.”

“We need to get everything out in the open. Right here. Right now,” Jace says. He motions to the living room. “Let’s sit.”

When we get there, Jace pulls me to sit beside him on the couch, and Oliver sits in the chair in front of us. I clear my throat, at a loss for words now that I’m looking at him. “We didn’t know what Aiden was up to.”

“I know that now,” Oliver says softly.

“You could have known that before had you talked to either of us,” Jace replies.

“You said you were ours,” I rasp. “That night. You promised to be ours, and then at the first sign of trouble, you ran out of here without letting us explain.”

“I don’t know what to say, Toby. Besides, I’m such an idiot. This doesn’t excuse anything, but I have a habit of self-sabotaging good things. My sister said it best today that I’d rather walk away first than give someone the chance to hurt me.” Oliver shrugs. “I want to take the leap. I want everything you guys offered, and in return, I’ll give you all of me.”

“For this to work,” Jace says, gesturing between all of us. “You have to trust us. You didn’t show that when you ran out of here that night. I know you needed a chance to process everything, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that you changed your number and refused to see us.”

“I know.”

“What about Aiden?” Jace asks. “I’m guessing since you’re here, you talked to your sister.”

“What does his sister or Aiden have to do with anything?” I demand. I just want this conversation to be over so I can take Oliver in my arms, but Jace wants to talk about Aiden?

Jace looks at me with narrowed eyes. “If you would shut up and listen, you’d know she has everything to do with this.” I sit back on the couch with a huff, and Jace squeezes my thigh in warning.

“Aiden and my sister were never really a thing,” Oli answers. “They were best friends growing up, and she covered for Aiden when his dad found some gay magazines. They pretended to date until he went to college.”

“I knew that,” Jace says to both of us. “And if either of you would have been willing to listen to me, all of this could have been avoided.” Jace gives me a pointed look, and I roll my eyes. “Should Aiden have told us from the beginning? Yes.”

“He also shouldn’t have gone through with it knowing it was Oli,” I throw in.

“I’m not disputing that. But Aiden finally had the opportunity to get what he’s wanted for years.”

“What’s that?” I demand.

Jace looks at Oliver. “Him.” Oliver’s cheeks flush, showing me he knew that already. “What are you going to do about Aiden?”

“I want to talk to him,” Oli admits. “Am I relieved my sister wasn’t in love with him? Yeah. But I’m still upset that he went into this knowing it was me.”

Jace tilts his head to the side, studying Oli. “All of the other shit aside, what do you feel now that you know your feelings for Aiden were reciprocated?”

---