Page 22 of You're Ours

Tyler’s breathing was just beginning to even back out, but Sky heard the way it hitched on his next inhale.

“I think…” Jackson murmured, rubbing his hand absently across Sky’s naked back. “I think I’m in love with you.”

Sky felt all the places Tyler’s body tensed, from his pecs down to his corded hamstrings.

“Jacks…that means a lot to me,” Tyler said, as his ab muscles flexed against Sky’s belly. “Truly, to know you can care about me as much as you care about Sky, that’s…that’s really special.”

The answering silence made Sky grimace. At this point, Sky was also relatively certain he was in love with Tyler, but he’d hesitated to bring it up for this exact reason. Some part of him had suspected that Tyler didn’t reciprocate the feeling–for either of them. He had no doubt Tyler cared about them, but something seemed different for him.

“I hope you know that I care about you, too. I just don’t know if…if things work the same for me,” Tyler tried again.

Jackson let out a breath like he’d been punched. “What does that mean? What things?”

Sky closed his eyes and hid his face against Tyler’s neck, not wanting to watch the fallout.

“I don’t…I don’t know how I feel,” Tyler admitted. “Or, I mean, I don’t know what to call how I feel. I don’t know if it’s love or lust or like or friendship?—“

Jackson made a scoffing noise, and Tyler snapped his mouth closed with an audible click. He slowly sat up, giving Sky the chance to scoot out of his lap so they could all face each other.

Sky felt torn in a way he’d never been before. He watched as stress etched itself into every contour of his husband's face; meanwhile, his boyfriend looked about ready to bolt for the door. He took both their hands in his and tried to think of some way to diffuse the tension, but Jackson steamrolled ahead.

“I’m sorry–you don’t know if how you feel about me isfriendship?”

Tyler’s shoulders were rising to meet his ears, and goose bumps broke out across Sky’s arms. It was like the room was charged with the electricity that comes right before a storm hits.

“I mean, wearefriends, right?” Tyler said. “We started as coworkers and then became friends and then really good friends–havingreallygood sex–and now–”

“And now we’re dating,” Jackson interrupted, his voice rising in pitch, while his volume stayed relatively low.

Sky had always been grateful that Jackson wasn’t the type of man to raise his voice. His tone would change, and his body would pull taut as a bow, but as far as Sky knew, he had never yelled at anyone.

“You’ve been dating me—you’ve been datingusfor almost two months and fucking us for even more than that. You have your own drawer and a corner of our closet, a designated seat at our table, and a place in our bed, and you—“ Jackson’s voice broke, and he pulled his hand out of Sky’s to grip the bridge of his nose.

Tyler’s fingers flexed, but he left his hand in Sky’s for the moment. “You’re right, I’m sorry, that didn’t come out right. I know we’re more than casual friends. I just meant I–I need a little more time to figure out how I feel. I care about you both, and I love that I have my things here and that I’m starting to spend more time here than out in the suburbs. It makes my commute shorter and makes it easier to see you both.”

Jackson dropped his hand to stare at Tyler. “You didnotjust say that you like our relationship because it makes your commute shorter.”

Tyler’s mouth fell open, but no words came out. Jackson pushed off the bed, and Tyler paled, his fingers squeezing Sky’s painfully tight.

“Do you truly not have anything else to say for yourself?” Jackson demanded. “You pretty much just called me and Sky friends with benefits, and the benefits are getting to stay closer to work and–” Jackson cut himself off as emotion choked his voice, then turned around to pull on his discarded pants.

Tyler dropped Sky’s hand so he could scramble towards the end of the bed. Sky wrapped their rumpled sheets around his shoulders. At this point, he didn’t think there was anything he could do. This was how it had gone with Connor, too. He and Jackson had fought, and Sky had barely gotten a word in edgewise before their relationship ended.

“Jackson, please, that’s not what I meant. I?—”

Tyler tripped trying to get his leg into his pants, and Jackson used it as an opportunity to snatch up his shirt as he left the room. Tyler finally managed to get his pants and shirt on and he rushed after him.

Sky grabbed a pillow and bent over at the waist, burying his face in it as surprise tears burned across his eyes. He heard their front door slam once and then a second time, and he pulled the blankets up over his head. As if all of his tears had been collecting, just waiting for this moment, Sky cried harder than he had in years. When he had nothing left but an aching throat and pounding headache, he eventually fell asleep.

He awoke some time later to Jackson stroking his hair back from his face.

“Hi,” Sky croaked, rubbing at his gritty eyes and sticky cheeks.

“Hi, my love.”

Sky looked around, hoping Tyler would magically pop out of the floor. Sadly, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Did Tyler…”

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