Page 2 of The Princess

“Always.”

“You’re the best. Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“You can get the fire going and preheat the barbeque. I’ve got the rest handled.”

“Got it.” Taylor stuffed his feet into his Chucks and went out the back door into the yard. Fall had arrived and the grass had finally stopped growing so fast, but even so, it could use a mow, and the edges of the yard along the fence were unkempt. They weren’t going to win any awards for their yard, that was for sure, but Taylor loved it all the same. It felt like home.

The playhouse had long since been abandoned, but it still sat at the back of the property like a relic of their childhood. There was a deck where the barbeque sat. A small propane fire pit sat in the middle of some patio furniture, but the real fun happened out at the circle of bricks.

The ground around the pit was firmly packed dirt. The grass hadn’t stood a chance of staying alive there. There were various chairs and benches, more than enough seating for everyone.

Taylor retrieved wood from the shed using a wheelbarrow to keep his sweater from getting ruined. By the time he had the fire going and the barbeque heating, the back door opened and Damon stepped out.

He smiled at Taylor and made a beeline for him, dropping into a chair by the fire. He kept his jacket on, and Taylor already missed summer. Summer meant months of shirtless Damon, and that was a sight Taylor never tired of.

“Hey, Damon. You’re early.” Taylor poked at the fire, coaxing the flames higher. Not that he needed to, but it gave him something to do besides stare at Jonah’s best friend. He’d covet the few minutes they’d have together before someone more interesting came along to keep Damon’s attention.

“I’m not early, everyone else is late,” Damon joked. “Pink looks nice on you.”

Taylor hated that he could tell he blushed. “Thanks.”

He dared to glance up at Damon, but his attention had already shifted away back to the house. Back to where Taylor could see Nash through the window talking to Taylor’s dad in the kitchen.

Those two never ran out of things to talk about. Nash and Damon were family in all the ways that mattered, and both Nash and his dad liked the same sports team. They were probably talking about the game that Taylor knew was on last night.

Though Taylor would never admit it, he wished Damon or Nash, or someone like them, would look at him that way. All moony-eyed and secretly wanting. He wouldn’t even mind sneaking around if he had to.

“How’s things at the diner?” Damon asked. He leaned back in the chair and stretched his long, lean legs out toward the fire. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Taylor his full attention. But now that Taylor had it, he didn’t know what to say.

He shrugged. “It’s good. It’s nice having someone else around who knows how to run the kitchen.” Taylor opened his mouth to tell Damon about something funny that had happened in the diner, but the back door opened and Nash came strolling through with Taylor’s dad. They were carrying the dishes of food over to the grill.

Damon jumped up and went over to see if he could help. Or to get away from Taylor. Though he had complimented Taylor’s sweater and made small talk, Damon seemed to like everyone else more than he liked him.

He was all smiles for Spencer and Jonah. The three of them were super close, even after Jonah and Spencer ended up in a relationship. Damon was happy to launch into a conversation with Taylor’s dad and be friends with both his older brothers, but Taylor was all but invisible to him. Like an afterthought. A person to chitchat with until more interesting people showed up.

Like Milo and Colby, who came through the side gate, not bothering to go into the house. Colby went straight to Nash, who was doing his best not to stand too close to Damon or to look at him too much. If Taylor hadn’t seen them kiss, he’d still be none the wiser about the two of them.

Milo came over to Taylor, barely sparing a glance or a word for anyone else. He slid an arm around Taylor and pulled him into a hug.

“What’s up, sugarplum? Why the long face?”

Taylor liked Milo, and he knew that he’d keep Taylor’s confidence if he was asked to. But Taylor didn’t want to stand in his back yard and have a pity party because his crushes were hooking up and one of them didn’t even seem to like him as a friend. It was worse than being friend-zoned. It was like standing in line for dodgeball and not even being picked last.

It was like not being picked at all.

CHAPTER 2

NASH

Sometimes Nash doubted the wisdom of having a secret fling. He and Damon had almost come together by accident and what was supposed to be a one-time thing with no strings attached had grown over time to this thing that neither of them could stop. Neither of them wanted to stop.

So why didn’t they come out and tell everyone they were together? Why did Nash live in secret agony, standing not too close to Damon to avoid making anyone suspicious. But not staying too far away from him either, for the same reason.

They’d known each other for a while before they started messing around, and once they did, it was clear to both of them that they wanted to be together. Damon confessed to him that he’d always liked the idea of a poly relationship and it didn’t take much to sell Nash on the idea of it. They just hadn’t found that magical third person yet. It was Nash who struggled to meet people. In reality, Nash was a hermit who only crawled out of his cave to join Colby in the gym and to come here for fire nights. Those were his two big social events.

Damon was more extroverted than he was, but tonight he was…off.

Nash had noticed it almost as soon as they got there. They’d started carpooling to fire night a long time before they ever started hooking up, so arriving together had never been weird.

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