Page 2 of You're Ours

The conversation was no different than one they’d have in the office or over lunch at the office cafe. Something about having it in Jackson’s softly lit kitchen made it different, though. He was almost acutely aware of the larger man. As Jackson unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeves, Tyler noticed for the first time a small scar above his wrist and the way his dark arm hair was more concentrated on the outside of his forearm. He’d seen his forearms before, when they’d stayed late in the office to tackle a particularly difficult forecast or needed to respond to an urgent budget request. Never during any of those times had Tyler noticed the prominent vein running up the inside of his left arm or the soft looking skin in the crease of his right elbow. He tried to blame it on the beer or the deathly boring meeting, but neither of those felt like adequate excuses.

The pizza arrived blessedly fast, meaning Tyler could stop studying his coworkers arms. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how he looked at it—Sky reappeared in a robe and slippers to answer the door. It wasn’t the kind of fluffy robe Tyler had hanging on the back of his bathroom door. It was made of a silky floral print fabric and ended only a few inches down his thighs.

Tyler subtly glanced at Jackson to see what he thought of his husband’s attire, but he barely seemed to notice. He was actually staring at Tyler as he took a large swig of his beer. His eyes lingered on Tyler’s lips for a moment, then traced his swallow down his throat to his chest.

“I’m starving!” Sky announced as he deposited the pizzas on the table with a dramatic flourish.

Tyler and Jackson glanced at him as he took a seat, the robe riding up even higher on his leg, revealing several more inches of supple-looking skin. Tyler jerked his eyes away and, thankfully, this time, found Jackson looking at his husband, not at him. Something about the quirk in his lip and slant of his eyebrow reminded Tyler of long days working on exasperating spreadsheets, but Jackson’s eyes held nothing but warmth for his husband.

Tyler’s thoughts once again strayed back to marriage. In theory, he had nothing against sexual monogamy. He wasn’t particularly thrilled by it, but he’d been in committed relationships and hadn’t minded being sexually limited to one partner. No, it was more the idea that he was supposed to meet someone who would sweep him off his feet and cause him to know, deep in his chest, that this was the only person he wanted to be with romantically for the rest of his life. He’d discussed it once or twice with his sister, and the way she’d spoken of her wife was beautiful—it truly was—it just wasn’t something Tyler had experienced or could imagine experiencing.

Not like he saw in Jackson’s hooded gaze or Sky’s returning smile.

Sky managed to chase away Tyler’s rumination with a lively debate on pizza toppings. He liked to talk with his hands, and after one grand sweeping gesture, the neck of his robe fell, flashing his naked collarbone and shoulder at Tyler before he pulled it back up. Tyler tried to ignore the fact that Sky was quite possibly naked underneath the robe. He also tried to ignore Jackson’s knee, which had bumped his leg somewhere around their first slice of pizza and was still leaning against him when he reached for his third piece.

When Tyler made a particularly well-timed joke, Sky placed his hand on Tyler’s thigh and laughed uproariously.

A few minutes later, Jackson shifted next to him, pressing the outside of their thighs flush together. Tyler also managed to ignore this as he finished his final slice of pizza. It had done wonders in absorbing his earlier drinks, and he felt only slightly buzzed by the time Sky slowly dragged his hand higher up Tyler’s thigh.

The room fell into an anticipatory silence as Jackson balled up his napkin and placed it on his plate. He leaned over as if reaching for something but instead placed his hand on top of Sky’s. There was an almost artistic dichotomy between their two hands, something his artsy sister-in-law probably would have pointed out. Jackson’s skin was closer to olive than tan, and his hands had a light smattering of obsidian hair across the knuckles. His palm almost entirely encompassed Sky’s much paler hand, allowing only two of his fingers to peak out underneath. They were short and rather thin, a bit like Sky himself.

As Jackson squeezed Sky’s hand, Sky flexed his fingers, and they grazed across the top of Tyler’s leg. He could feel them like a brand, even through the fabric of his slacks.

When Sky tried to move their hands together, Jackson stilled the movement. This only served to heighten the warmth growing in Tyler’s stomach. Unlike that confusing flutter, this one was definitely spreading to his dick, and it blazed hot when Jackson whispered, “Tyler… Is this okay?”

Tyler glanced at Sky’s eager expression, then turned to face Jackson. “Is it okay that your husband is getting dangerously close to touching my dick?”

Sky leaned in. “Is it okay that we’rebothgetting dangerously close to touching your dick?” Sky demonstrated by moving his hand half an inch higher. This time Jackson allowed the movement, and his heavy fingers brushed the inside of Tyler’s thigh. He tried to hold in a shiver as he glanced between the two of them again.

“I mean, I’m totally down, but are you both okay with this?”

A beat passed where they both said nothing, then Sky jerked his hand back. Tyler tensed, afraid he’d said the wrong thing, but Jackson moved his hand up to grasp gently at the nape of Tyler’s neck. He’d done this many times at work when Tyler would complain of his frequent tension headaches. Jackson seemed to know exactly where to knead and press to alleviate Tyler’s pain. It was what had initially made Tyler refer to him as his work husband.

“I’m so sorry, Tyler,” Sky said, as he clutched both of his hands to his chest. “I thought Jackson had already explained this to you. We’re polyam, and even though it’s been…well, awhilesince we were with someone else, we’ve explicitly discussed being with you and are both in total agreement.”

Jackson made a noise in the back of his throat and tipped his head in apology. “I told Sky I would bring this up with you, and I’d planned on doing it soon…but then we ended up here…”

Sky made a high and uncomfortable noise that might have been a laugh and scratched the back of his neck. This once again lifted the robe up his legs. “I guess I might’ve jumped the gun a little bit. I’m sorry. We can go back to a casual dinner if you want–”

“No!” Tyler said, placing his own hand on Sky’s leg. The move felt more forward given Sky’s bare skin, but Sky’s wide eyes betrayed nothing but curiosity and a sparkle of excitement.

“No…?”

“No, I don’t want to go back to a casual dinner. This is definitely okay with me, and so long as it’s okay with both of you…” Tyler slowly slid his hand higher up Sky’s leg.

He barely had time to enjoy Sky’s silky soft skin before Jackson tightened his fingers on Tyler’s neck. As if they’d choreographed it, Sky grabbed Tyler’s hand, and Jackson dropped his to land on Tyler’s lower back as they all stood up together. Tyler easily allowed Sky to pull him back towards the bedroom.

“We’ve been tested, and we’re both negative for everything,” Jackson said from behind Tyler.

“I’m on PrEP and I get tested pretty regularly, but it might be slightly out of date,” Tyler said. “Just to be safe, we should use condoms.”

Sky pivoted towards a dresser rather than to the bed, where he had originally been heading. He reached into the top drawer and pulled out an unopened box of condoms.

Tyler wanted to make a joke about how eager they were, but it died on his tongue as Sky pushed his robe open, revealing his entire chest, including two pink, pert nipples, as well as two paler pink scars. Tyler made a surprised noise, and Sky’s crystal blue eyes shot to him in alarm. Tyler watched as his face seemed to shutter. Where it had been open and eager, it was now guarded, his brows knit together and his lips pursed.

“I’m trans,” Sky said slowly.

All Tyler could do was stare.

---