Page 21 of That's the Way Rejection Goes

“But I knew I liked men from the get-go,” Calum added. “It was something I kept to myself, and I did everything I could to hide it. Hence the blue-collar, jock, handyman persona. I did so much to hide it that it just sort of became who I was.” He looked over at Erick, reaching out and taking his hand affectionately. “But I wouldn’t give up on this guy for anything. He’s perfect.”

“You are too, babe.”

“You two are saccharine,” I chuckled. “And it’s really cute.” But then there was a thought in the back of my mind that escaped through my lips before I could stop it. “So why did you two want to cheat on one another?”

Deafening silence filled the room, and I bit my lower lip, knowing I’d spoken out of turn.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I didn’t… I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No. You’re right,” Erick replied. “We were surprised by it too. But we’ve told everything to one another and talked it through.”

“That’s right,” I nodded, feeling my heart sink for some strange reason. “You said you two were still mates and that nothing would ever come between you.”

“Yes,” Erick nodded. “But that doesn’t mean something couldn’t… I don’t know…enrichour lives further.”

“Yeah,” Calum said, trying to back up his mate. “If something good came along, who knows, right?”

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean? Like an open relationship or something?”

“Not quite.” Erick glanced over at Calum looking for some help. “It’s just that we’re…opento new experiences I guess?”

“You know,” Calum continued. “Sometimes you really love lemonade. But then you find out you like iced tea too. And that doesn’t mean you like lemonade any less, it just means you like two things just as much and then you mix the two together and it’s even better and everyone is really happy and satisfied and nothing is weird about it at all, right? It’s just a bunch of consenting adults enjoying their Arnold Palmers.”

I had to blink a few times after he sped through that ramble, but I still couldn’t put it together. What the hell was he talking about lemonade for? I thought they were trying to explain their sex life or their relationship, but now I wasn’t entirely sure what we were talking about.

“I guess so,” I replied slowly, still not catching his meaning.

Calum just chugged his beer and placed the bottle on the table, his leg bouncing nervously on the ground. “Anyone need another beer?”

Erick was only half done with his. “Yep.”

Before I could deny another drink, the bottle was sat in front of me. But I’d barely taken a sip of the first. For a moment I wanted to push it away, to tell them that it had been fun and very confusing, but I was ready to go back to my regularly scheduled life. But then I thought of Gary and Benny and how much I wanted them to get some private time together. Plus, the thought of going back to my room alone wasn’t very appealing and those two Alphas smelled too damn nice to force my legs to work, anyway.

“So, what’s your favorite book?” Erick offered, changing the subject completely.

My heart sped up at the question. “Well now I know neither of you are readers,” I replied.

“Why’s that?”

“Because if you were, you’d realize how ridiculous of a question that is. Asking a reader to name a single favorite book is like asking a musician to pick his favorite song. It’s impossible.”

“Top five?” Calum asked, drinking his second beer at an alarming rate. “Top ten?”

“That’s a lot of books.” I shook my head, knowing nobody wanted to hear about all that. “I’ll bore you two to death.”

“What?” Erick scoffed. “I doubt that.”

“I want to know,” Calum added. “And for the record, I don’t think anything you say could be boring.”

“Ditto.”

I couldn’t help a grin. The pair of them were pretty smooth. Asking a boy about his favorite books was a good way to get in his good graces. Of course, this boy was nearly forty, but that didn’t stop me from feeling giddy and excited, nonetheless.

“As long as you’re sure…”

“I’m sure. Are you sure, Calum?”

“Totally sure.”

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