Page 10 of The Princess

“That’s not a no.” Taylor heard his dad call his name again. “I’m needed in there.”

“I’ll text you the details of our date.”

Taylor kicked the doorstop out of the way and stepped inside. “That wasn’t a yes, either.”

He tried to stop his own smile from forming but was unsuccessful.

“It wasn’t a no.” Damon spun away, promising to text him later and Taylor went back to work.

It felt like a dream. A weird dream where Nash and Damon were together, but not. Or at least together in a way where Nash was okay with Damon taking Taylor on a date. How much else would Nash be okay with, though? Taylor tried not to think about it because the details were unknown and the unknown was having a severe impact on his little shred of joy.

Damon wanted to take him out. On a date. He was willing to risk the wrath of Taylor’s brothers—not that there would be any—and willing to talk to his boyfriend for permission, apparently. Willing to come to the diner where Taylor worked and make an ass of himself, stumbling on his words in an almost shy way.

Holy shit. Damon liked him.

Taylor pinched himself to see if maybe he was dreaming after all.

CHAPTER 5

NASH

Damon had called him, practically giddy after Taylor had agreed to go on a date. It made Nash wonder if he’d ever had this effect on Damon. Not that he was jealous or anything. It was mostly curiosity, and a bit of wonder and appreciation. Part of Damon’s draw had always been his gentle nature. On the surface, he was a nice guy, and when you peeled back those layers, underneath he was still a nice guy.

Damon was equal parts joy and guarded hope. It made Nash wonder what a date with the two of them would look like. In Nash’s mind, Taylor and Damon were both a couple of golden retriever puppies. All energy and delight. It would be sweet to watch them together.

Deciding he wasn’t going to get any more work done, Nash closed his laptop. He knew he was lucky that he was able to do the thing he loved doing and earn a living at it. Well, he mostly earned a living at it. A small inheritance had made a down payment on his condo possible. A debut novel that had hit at the right time and made Nash a decent amount of money had enabled him to pay his condo off.

His family thought he should’ve done other things with it. Fun things. Trips and vacations and fast cars. Nash didn’t know what kind of money they thought he made, but he knew they were hardly the people he’d go to for financial advice.

Nash’s phone vibrated on the desk, and Damon’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hey, you,” Nash answered.

“Did I get you at a bad time? I know you’re usually working for a bit longer and I didn’t want to bother you, but I had no one else to ask.”

“Nah, I just finished. What’s up?” Nash got up from his desk and wandered over to the patio doors that led to the third-floor balcony. It wasn’t the most inspirational of views, but there was a park nearby and there were lots of trees with changing leaves to look at.

“I want to get Taylor something, but flowers seem… I don’t know. He grows avocados and shit from seeds. Is he really going to want cut flowers? They’re sort of dead. And then I thought, perfect, I’ll get him a live flower, but then I remembered that Jonah said his apartment is a fucking jungle and he literally has no space for another plant.”

“Damon, breathe.” Nash smiled, even though Damon couldn’t see him. “You’re overthinking this.” He found Damon’s affection for Taylor endearing.

“I know I am, but I want it to be perfect. Do you remember our first date?” Damon asked, as if Nash could forget it. They might not have let any of the Bennett clan know they were involved, but that didn't stop them from sneaking off for the odd date together.

And the longer they went on seeing each other, the sillier it seemed to keep it from everyone. But they’d both worried about how their found family would act if things went bad between them. They didn’t want anyone to feel like they had to take sides.

Fuck, was it smart of them to get involved with the youngest Bennett brother? Nash reminded himself that they weren’t involved with Taylor. Damon was. Well, he would be if he could ever get over his jitters.

“We went to that little diner, the one with the pie and the old guy who seems cranky, but is actually kind of nice.”

“Clyde.”

“Yeah, that one. And after, you took me out dancing, even though it’s one of your least favorite things.”

“Not with you,” Nash interrupted. “I like dancing with you.” Damon made a lot of things bearable. Dancing, for one. Nash never did enjoy it much. Being on a dance floor made him feel stared at. Seen in a not-good way. And awkward. But when Damon was with him, it didn’t matter if Nash didn’t know what he was doing. Damon did. And Nash could focus all his attention on Damon and forget anyone else existed.

Damon had gone silent.

“Damon?”

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