Page 76 of Inevitable

“Renovations are supposed to be a surefire way to test a relationship,” Bas said thoughtfully as he removed the last strip of painter’s tape. “So far, so good.”

“We painted a room. I’m not sure I’d equate this to renovating.” Drew screwed the last outlet cover back to the wall and put the screwdriver away.

“Don’t undersell the accomplishment,” Bas chided. “We could be in the middle of a huge fight right now about the color of the baseboards or something, but we’re not.”

Drew looked around the room. What had previously been Bas’s domain was now all of theirs, and Bas had insisted on redecorating. He’d been adamant that all of them should have a say in what their bedroom would look like.

The first time Bas had brought up changing anything about the room, Ezra had refused to discuss it at all. And then when they’d dragged him into the store to look at paint samples, he’d just agreed to everything Drew and Bas had shown him without giving any hint about what he’d like the end result to look like.

Drew still wasn’t sure how Bas had gotten Ezra on board with the redecorating plan, but according to Bas himself, he’d simply annoyed Ezra until the guy had fessed up to liking white walls, so they’d gone with that. And then Drew had set his sights on a massive, dark gray bed, so that’s what they’d bought. And Bas had picked out dressers and nightstands, making the room a perfect mix of them.

It took them another couple of hours to get all the furniture sorted out, but by the time it was getting dark, they stood in their finished bedroom.

“You know, I first figured the white walls would make it look like a hospital, but it’s actually very nice. It feels light instead of sterile.”

Ezra raised his brows at Bas.

“Why did you let me pick white if you didn’t like it?”

Bas rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I said I wasn’t sure about it at first. I’m not sure about a lot of things, but sometimes you have to give it a shot to find out, don’t you?”

“Sure,” Ezra said. “But you don’t hate it?” He crossed his arms over his chest and stuffed his hands underneath his armpits, looking at the pristine walls. “If you don’t like it, we can choose another color. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in your own bedroom.”

Bas cleared his throat pointedly.

“Our bedroom,” he said. “And you need to learn to listen and trust that I mean what I say. I like the room. It’s perfect for us. Now stop looking like you’re about to run to the store to buy new paint.”

“I’m not.” Ezra scowled.

“Sure you aren’t.” But they were both smiling, and Drew felt the already familiar tenderness as he watched Bas bump his nose against Ezra’s until Ezra started to laugh, wrapped his arms around Bas, and kissed him.

Drew threw himself on the bed, bouncing up and down on the soft mattress. He lay back, hands beneath his head, and smiled at the ceiling.

“So, we have the rest of the evening for ourselves. What are we gonna do with it?” he asked.

“We should have sex.”

At first, Drew figured he’d heard Bas wrong, so he spent a few moments trying to figure out what word Bas could have actually meant when he said sex.

“Huh,” Ezra said slowly. “I have to say, I did not expect that.”

He sounded remarkably calmer than Drew felt about the whole prospect.

Bas grinned. “I like to keep you two on your toes.”

Drew pushed himself to a sitting position and regarded Bas.

“Okay,” he said, thoughts buzzing in his head like a swarm of bees. “But you don’t like sex.”

Bas lifted his index finger in the air.

“Not true. Today, I feel decidedly neutral about sex.”

“Maybe try and elaborate a bit,” Ezra said, calm as ever as Drew got up from the bed.

Bas nodded. “The bottom line is, I think we need it. All of us. It’s a relationship. We need to make compromises for it to work. This is a compromise.” He sent Drew a stern look. “Don’t make that face. I know it doesn’t sound the best the way I describe it, but see, sex is something people do, and it’s never going to be my first choice. But it’s not like the thought is abhorrent to me or anything.” He let out a deep sigh and grumbled under his breath for a second as if looking for the right words. “Think of this as going to the opera with me.”

Ezra snorted. “Opera?” he repeated.

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