Page 36 of Lover
“Get your butt in here and help, Ro. It’s sloppy joes, so it’s easy.” He already had the sauce mixed. He made it in bulk and jarred several for future use, so all they needed to do was cook the ground turkey and mix in the sauce. Shannon enjoyed cooking, but sharing the responsibility with Rory and Rand took it to another level. Rand threw out a few more ideas for the floors while he chopped lettuce and vegetables for a salad, and Rory sat perched on one of the counters, squeezing a stress ball to work on the weakness in his wounded arm.
When the food was ready, Shannon set out plates, silverware, and wineglasses, and the three of them sat down to eat. Sipping his wine, Shannon swayed side to side in his chair, Debussy’s “Clair De Lune” playing softly in the background. “This music is oddly soothing.” Rand admitted.
“That reminds me, Lindsey Stirling is going to be at the American Airlines Center next spring. We should get tickets.” Rory took a bite of his sandwich, groaning. “So good,” he said around a mouthful, sauce dribbling down his chin.
“Come here.” Rand laughed, grabbing Rory by the back of the neck and pulling him over, licking the sauce from his chin. Shannon didn’t miss the flash of desire in Rory’s eyes. Perhaps it was Rory’s turn to ride and his turn to observe. Sitting there, watching his guys flirt and feed each other, he couldn’t help but think how blissfully normal it was. The two things Shannon had wanted for as long as he could remember were to lead a mundane life and to be loved. Life had dealt him a shitty hand from the start. Between his parents and Bruce, Shannon easily could have grown into a bitter, cynical, lonely old man. Instead, he found the strength to get away, the courage to be his own person and live his life the way he saw fit. Having not one but two men to love, that loved him—that was karma getting it right for a change.Seems I hit the jackpot, he thought.
“My parents invited us to their house for Thanksgiving,” Rory told them out of the blue.
“But I wanted to cook this year. It’s our first Thanksgiving, and I thought we could have Connie and Claire over.” Shannon tried not to sound disappointed, but he was. He looked over at Rand. The man shook his head once, the movement crisp and quick. At least the two of them were in agreement.
Reaching across the table, Rory patted his hand. “Shan, I said they invited. I didn’t say we were going.”
“I like that idea, Shan. Thanksgiving here with the girls—let’s do that.” Rand threw his two cents in.
Rory shrugged. “Fine by me. Virginia is fucking cold in November.”
Shannon and Rand had been introduced to Rory’s parents over Skype while he was still in the hospital. Clifford and Arleen Landers were the second marriage for each of them, finding one another later in life. Rory’s mother had assumed she couldn’t have children, so the Landerses were stunned when they learned Arleen was expecting at the age of forty-eight. Rory described them as old and set in their ways, which rang true—both pushing eighty, traveling was not their forte. Shannon thought eccentric was a more apt description. He was anxious to meet the Landerses, eventually, but spending their first Thanksgiving and Christmas together in Texas in the home they were creating, the three of them, was more important to Shannon than he could put into words.
“Here you go.” Rand poured the last of the wine into his glass before pushing his chair back, standing, and going over to put the bottle in the recycling bin. Shannon moved to get up, his intention was to clear the table and start the dishes, but Rory stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Sit, enjoy your wine and the music. I got this.” Rory kissed him before grabbing his plate. Shannon leaned back in his chair, sipping the delicious Pinot while watching his men and listening to the deep, bluesy tones of Janis Joplin floating in the air. This is what life was all about, a series of moments strung together to make memories, to create lasting impressions. Whatever the future held for them, this was just the beginning, and they had a lifetime of memories to create.
Chapter Thirty Three
Rand Christmas 2016
––––––––
Hoisting the largeDouglas fir the three of them had picked out at a tree farm in Plano earlier in the day, Rand carefully carried the tree up the stairs and into the loft apartment. “Where do you want it, Shan?”
“Over in that corner where I’ve put down the tree skirt. Do you see?” Shannon zipped past him, going to stand in the middle of the red material someone had vomited glitter all over.
Chuckling and shaking his head, Rand watched Shannon spin in a circle atop the garish, velvet thing. Pleasing the young man was as easy as loving him and boy, did he love Shannon Dupree. It had surprised him how seamlessly they went from Shannon and Rory, and Rand...to Shannon, Rory, and Rand. Just a few months in, and he couldn’t imagine his life without the two men that now held his heart.
In the weeks following the shooting and the three of them deciding to pursue a relationship, he and Rory had basically moved into Shannon’s studio apartment, but nothing was official. At least, not yet....That was about to change. Confident in his decision to love both men, Rand packed up his apartment and rented a storage unit to hold all his furniture and the boxes of stuff he’d collected over the years. His plan was to use the money he’d been paying on rent for an apartment he was never in to help Shannon complete the remodel of the other side of the studio that sat empty and bare. The space was more than enough for the three of them, and it was where they’d fallen in love, all of them—the place where their life together had begun. Conversations were had—discussions of rules and expectations, taking things slow. Rand snorted.Slow, my ass.He’d followed Rory up the stairs to the loft the day he’d been released from the hospital and never looked back.
Speaking of the devil, he heard Rory shuffling into the room behind him, unable to turn around and properly greet him with the nine-foot-tall plant he was carrying. Thank God, the studio apartment had vaulted ceilings. “Is he going to be doing his impersonation of the Energizer Bunny on crack all week?” Rory asked, dropping the three boxes he’d carried into the room onto the floor. “ ’Cause I can shoot out the window and toss the tree to the curb, literally.”
Rand snorted again, kicking the tree stand over to where Shannon stood bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, wearing an ear-splitting grin on his face. Obviously he hadn’t heard Rory’s threat. “Pop the legs out and hold the ends, so I can settle the tree.”
Once the tree was secured in the stand, Rand took a step back and admired the monstrosity. “It really is a beauty.” Shannon squealed and clapped his hands. Looking over his shoulder, Rand pursed his lips to stop from laughing out loud. Shan had snatched the top box and set it on the coffee table, tossing the lid onto the couch. Rory rolled his eyes, swatting away the flurry of tissue paper circling the air as Shannon started unwrapping the ornaments for the tree.
––––––––
After the tree wasdecorated and dinner had been devoured—Rory made an out-of-this-world chicken chili that he and Shannon couldn’t get enough of—they settled on the couch to watch a movie and cuddle. He’d never considered himself the cuddling type, but with the perky blond and the cranky agent, Rand felt most at peace when they were in his arms. “So, I have something I want to talk to you guys about.” He flipped off the TV whenCasablancaended.
He turned to face Shannon and Rory, sitting on the coffee table, reaching for their hands. It was an unspoken agreement: when Rand sat on the table, the two younger men knew it was important, and whatever he was going to say should be taken seriously. “I cleaned out my apartment and turned in the keys. All my stuff that’s not here is in storage. I want to put my money into the studio, our home, and our future.”
Shannon’s smile was brilliant. “Rand, sweetie, I couldn’t agree more.” Leaning forward, Shannon met him halfway and they shared a quick kiss.
“So, I guess now would be a good time to tell you both that I’ve been talking to Frank, Taylor, and Caleb about gutting the vacant side of the loft and getting it ready to remodel.” Rory waggled his eyebrows.
“Always trying to one-up me, Agent.” Growling playfully, Rand grabbed a fistful of Rory’s shirt and jerked him closer, capturing his mouth with a deep, possessive kiss. It was just one of many things Rand loved about the two men that warmed his bed. Rory liked it hard and rough sometimes, but Shannon was far too precious and vulnerable after the hand life had dealt their youngest partner early on. He and Rory both cherished him, his youthful vibrancy and the softness he brought to their triad. And Rand learned something about himself as they were exploring the ins and outs of their commitment. He actually craved the soft, gentleness he washed Shannon’s body with when they made love. The way each of them loved might be different, but it was no less honest or pure; it was the glue that held them together.
A throat clearing broke through the cloud of lust he and Rory found themselves in with just one kiss. “I have something for you guys as well. I was going to wait until Christmas morning but since you two are sharing...” Shannon stood and ran into the bedroom, reappearing a few seconds later with two identical boxes in his hands. They were small, square boxes wrapped in shiny red paper with red bows on top. “Here you go.” Shannon handed him one, then Rory, and neither of them hesitated, tearing the bows off and opening their gifts. Each box held a platinum cuff bracelet, a symbol etched in the middle.
“It’s a trinity knot.” Shannon rolled up his shirt sleeve to show a third bracelet on his wrist. He slid it off and turned it around, pointing to the words etched into the metal.
