Page 203 of Piece Us Together

“Oh, for sure.” Once we’ve made it through the line and have paid with Travis’s money, I have Carter pose for a picture withhis drink and bag of cookies and send it to Travis with a cheeky message about proving he did as told. Travis sends back one telling me to let him know he’s a good boy. I show it to Carter as I fake a gag, making him laugh even as his cheeks flush. I can’t help but look at him for a minute then, wondering if that’s a little like what I look like when I blush for Hunter. I blush thinking about it.

“Uh—let’s check out some other booths. I should get Nolan some decorations.”

Carter grins. “Does he need anything else? The house is pretty decorated already, isn’t it?”

That’s probably an understatement. He’s been so anxious lately that every time he goes home, he adds at least two more boxes of decorations. The house already has four trees. He’s with Matt and Max tonight while I do this, hitting a sale at Target with a goal to find everyone a stocking. I highly doubt stockings will be the only thing he brings home.

Not to mention all the decorations he’ll be getting for Hunter’s house. I may have been contributing to that decoration fest, though. I like seeing Nolan so happy. I like seeing the reactions when Hunter gets home every day. I like seeing the house as ours instead of his.

“I didn’t mean to be rude,” Carter says, making me realize I’ve been too quiet. “He can decorate as much as he wants!”

“No, of course, I didn’t think you were being rude at all. I just—” I laugh nervously, realizing this is probably a good way to do one of the two things I need to do tonight—break the news about Hunter. “Nolan has another house to decorate, now. Not that the Big House being full of them would really stop him from adding more.”

It takes him a few steps before the words register. Then he stops short and turns, eyes narrowing on me. “Another house? Did you guys decide to move out?”

“Not…exactly.”

“Then what, exactly?”

“Uh—Hunter’s.” I feel my face going hot, but I force myself to maintain eye contact. “Hunter said Nolan could decorate his place. He’s—uh—he’s sort of whipped for Nolan. Couldn’t tell him no.”

Carter’s mouth opens. Closes. Opens. Closes. He shakes his head. Laughs. “Oh my god, Iknewit.”

“Knew it?”

“He’s being Nolan’s dom, isn’t he? Since you don’t want to, or whatever? I got a dom vibe from him with Nolan at the party, but I thought maybe it was just Hunter being Hunter. He’s very dom-y, even when he’s not trying. But there have been hints and—yeah.Wow. He’s Nolan’s dom, isn’t he?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Is it full-time? Or like one day a week? Is it—sorry, you don’t have to answer this, but…is it sexual? Or is he just doing kink stuff with him?”

I laugh, but the sound feels heavy, catching in my throat. “It—well, it started out every Saturday, and sort of sexual, but not—you know, everything.”

“Only started out?”

“It—uh—it rapidly escalated.” I look around us, convinced people are listening and understanding exactly what kind of thing we’re talking about. “We wanted more. And then more. And then feelings sort of got mixed in and…yeah.”

“We?” he asks, his voice going squeaky high, his eyes wide and scandalized. “Oh my god—do you mean, are you—are thethree of youtogether?”

I look anywhere but at him. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.”

“Tell me everything. From the start.” He pauses, then points a finger to a booth with not as many people. “Over there. Chop-chop.”

By the time the fireworks are about to start, we’ve acquired five bags of goods—only one of them for Carter. We’ve gotten second hot chocolates, voted in the snowman building contest, and found the perfect bench to sit on where one of the booth’s heaters wafts over us to keep us semi-warm, no buildings in the way of the sky. I’ve also caught him up—with very few sex-related details—to where things are currently, not including my issues we’re tackling with Dr. Singh. There’s a single barrier left between the relationship I have and the relationship I want, and that barrier is the fact that I still can’t bottom for Hunter regardless of how badly I want to. There are some things brothers just shouldn’t know.

Carter shakes his head, crossing his legs and leaning back when I finish. “This is crazy.”

“Crazy bad?”

“No! Not at all. I’m really happy for you. For all three of you. It’s awesome, Maison. Really.” He grins. “I think the craziest thing is that we now belong to the same kink-related friend group.”

My eyes widen as I realize he’s right. “Oh, man. I did not think about that.”

“We’re going to have to set some ground rules.”

“We will absolutely be setting ground rules,” I agree with a laugh.

“I really am happy for you, though.”

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