Page 21 of Full Mountie

“I know you worked together…” But I let that hang out there, because I’m starting to figure out it’s gotta be more complicated than that. “Did you…I mean, was it like with you and Gavin and Ellie?”

Lachlan goes pale beneath his tan. Yeah, I went straight to the thing we just don’t talk about.

He had a threesome with our boss. I had the misfortune of overhearing about it when Gavin and Ellie had a fight.

Ellie told me…details. Unnecessary details, because I don’t have any kind of claim on Lachlan, but enough to know it wasn’t really about him.

“No, nothing like that,” he says quietly. “But I guess I owe you more of an explanation about that incident, too.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” I take a swallow of my own drink. “I just want to clear the air between us so we can move forward.”

“As friends.”

“As whatever we both want,” I say firmly. I haven’t ruled out the idea of more kissing.

Now that I’ve brought up the threesome, I wouldn’t rule that out, either, although that would require them liking each other enough to be in the same room for sex. Although there is a certain chemistry between them that is…spectacular. Just highly explosive.

“That day with Gavin and Ellie…that was just the one time. And it wasn’t much more than what you’ve seen at Max’s house.” Now he’s blushing.

“I’ve seen a lot there,” I murmur. “Not that you’ve let me do much of it myself.”

“Those hockey players don’t know what they’re doing.”

“And you do?” I wave my hand. “No, don’t answer that. I think we’ve gone off in a weird direction.”

He gives me a long, confusing look. “Maybe we need to go there. It’s just that I’m way out of practice on this. It’s easy to suggest to others, to help others with, but actually pretty hard to negotiate for myself.”

That’s more sharing in a couple of sentences than he’s done in the last year. I move closer, but I still don’t sit next to him. I pace back and forth, slowly, as I sip my drink and process what he’s telling me. To the best of my knowledge, Lachlan hasn’t dated in a while. He may have had sex here or there, but where I thought I was observing a tightly wound up guy all these months, I was just really seeing a monk-by-choice.

Why did he make that choice? “So…what is this between us, then? Some kind of kink thing that I don’t understand yet?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I know that I look at you and I want you, but I’ve got this other stuff in my past that confuses that in a big way.”

“Like what?”

“My history with Hugh.”

It hits me like a ton of bricks. He’d already said that, more than once, but I’d mis-filed it. “Oh.”

He’s got ahistorywith Hugh. All the while I was lusting after him. But I won’t feel like a fool. No. There’s nothing wrong with being attracted to someone.

Or two someones. Even if they maybe really want each other. I lick my lips and try to be cool. “So you’re gay?”

He lets out a strangled laugh. “No.”

“Are you…” I trail off. I don’t want to play a game here, some fishing expedition for information that might not be any of my business. “I didn’t even think you like Hugh.”

He laughs.

I don’t see how it’s funny. “You glower and snarl and act like you hate him.”

“Yeah. Sometimes I think I do.”

Ah. “So you like him and you don’t like him. That’s positively high school.”

He rolls his head from one side to the other and I hear a quiet pop. I ignore all the complicated stuff that remains unsaid and put my glass down, then move around the back of my sofa to stand behind him.

I put my hands on his shoulders and make a shushing sound when he protests. “Let me. You’re…tense.”

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