Page 53 of One is Never Enough

“I’m sorry, Aiden.” I’m stunned fucking speechless, and all I can do is stare at the phone. “For everything I put you through. I don’t know how I’ll ever make up for how I treated you growing up, but I want to try.” What the hell did Jace do to him? “You needed me more than anything when you realized you were gay, and I made you feel like you were worthless because of it. I’m not saying I fully understand yet, but I want to. I want to make things better between us.”

“Why now? Why after all these years, Dad?”

“Because Jace made me realize what I’ve missed, and if I’m honest, so did Oliver. Instead of pushing you away when I found out you were gay, I should have told you how much I love you, son.”

Those words hit me harder than I expected, and tears spring into my eyes. What I would have given to hear those words when I started realizing that I didn’t like girls. I wish that instead of calling me names when he found the magazines, he would have asked me to talk to him. All he did was make me lie to everyone for two years, saying that Payton was my girlfriend to cover up my true self. It took me way too long to walk around gay and proud. All it would have taken to change that was a little understanding from my dad.

I clear my throat, trying to get rid of the tears clogging it. “You have to give me some time.”

“Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Goodbye, Dad.”

I disconnect the call before I can say anything, and then I do the one thing I haven’t done since that fateful day. I burst into tears. Big heaving sobs wrack my body, and there’s nothing I can do to stop them. I cry for the boy whose mom left him. I cry for the boy who always wanted his dad’s attention but never got it. I cry for the teenager who was scared to death about his sexuality and his dad calling him a faggot. I cry for the adult who still seeks his dad’s approval.

“Aiden!” Oliver’s voice breaks through the tears, and he’s dropping to his knees in front of the chair. He pulls my hands away from my face, frantically searching me over. “What’s wrong? Please talk to me.”

I reach for him and pull him into my lap. I bury my face in his chest and continue to let the tears fall. Oliver just rubs my back, whispering soothing words into my hair. When the sobs turn to hiccups, it’s almost like a cathartic release. I feel lighter than I have in a long fucking time. I pull back, and Oliver grabs some tissues from the box on Jace’s desk. He softly wipes my face off and grabs my cheeks after tossing the tissues in the trash bin. “Are you okay?”

I kiss his palm and swallow past the lump in my throat. “Yeah. I talked to my dad.”

“Oh, Aiden.”

“No. It wasn’t bad. I think he really wants to try.”

Oliver wipes a few stray tears from my cheeks. “Then why are you crying?”

“Because I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear my dad say that he loved me until he did.” I grab Oliver’s hands from my face and stare into his beautiful green eyes. Eyes that I wanted to get lost in when we were teens. “I love you so fucking much, Oli. I know it’s taken me longer to say it, but I’ve felt it since before I knew what love was. Seeing you was always the highlight of my day, and it hasn’t changed after all these years. I’ve never been so thankful you signed up to be fucked by three masked strangers.” Oliver laughs at that, but he has tears rolling down his cheeks. I wipe them away and reach into my pocket. I pull out the box that I’ve been carrying around for years. It’s always been meant for Oliver. I pop it open and pull the delicate silver chain from the box. I place it around his neck and rub the teardrop diamond that sits right below Jace’s collar. “I wanted to give you this before I left for college. I wanted to tell you then how I felt, but I didn’t think it was fair since I wasn’t sure myself then. But I know now, Darling. This was always supposed to be for you.”

“I love you so much, Aiden.”

Now that I’ve said it, I’ll tell him every day how much I love him.

Jace and Toby are next.

Chapter 22

Toby

After I finish up a few things at Inferno, I head back to the house. Jace already filled me in on who Oli’s client is, and it took everything in me not to drive to where Trent is and bash his face in. When I get to the house, I find Aiden and Oli in Jace’s office with Oli curled up in Aiden’s lap. My heart fucking sinks, and I rush to their side.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Oli looks up with tear-stained cheeks and so does Aiden. Oli rubs his hand down Aiden’s face. “We’re okay. We just had a moment.”

Aiden chuckles and slides his fingers under the diamond now on Oliver’s neck. I know what that is. I’ve seen it a thousand times over the years when I’ve caught Aiden staring at it. “You finally did it.” I go to pop a kiss on Aiden’s cheek, and he turns his head so my lips land on his. His kiss is slow, like he’s exploring me for the first time. I hear Oliver sniffle, and I pull back to look at Aiden. There’s something in his eyes that I can’t decipher until he opens his mouth.

“I love you, Toby.” I know the shock registers on my face because he’s never said those words to me. It’s always been an unspoken thing between us. “I should have said it years ago.”

I kneel beside them. “I love you too. But what’s going on?”

“I talked to my dad.” Aiden gives me the rundown, and my eyes widen with each word. “I want to believe him so damn bad.”

“You won’t know until you try,” I answer. “But I understand why you’re scared.”

Aiden sighs and grabs Oliver’s hand. “There’s something you need to know about Trent.” My blood immediately starts boiling because I already know what happened. “When we were in college, Trent was…obsessed with me. He’d follow me around, wait outside our apartment for me to leave, and he got my number from someone and would text me nonstop. No matter how many times I told him I wasn’t interested, he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Why do I feel like there’s more to that story?” Oliver replies, looking between us.

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