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“You can open your eyes now,” Marshall says, so I do. Reggie is standing beside the bed, as if unsure what to do. I’m on my back, Sir on the other side of me. He pats the bed, and I see relief hit Reggie, not because he has the same feelings that Sir and I have, but because he wants to know everything is okay.

We lie there together, and Sir asks, “Everything we did was okay?”

“Yeah,” Reggie replies. “I had fun. It was awesome, but if you want me to go…”

“No. You’re fine. We’ll lie here a bit, get cleaned up, and then Jay is making us dinner. You’re our friend, and you’re always welcome here.”

Ourfriend.

Welcome.

Reggie lets out another relieved breath.

God, I love my Sir.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Marshall

Our sweaty bodiesare entangled on the bed, Jay and Reggie talking about work and school. Jay tells Reggie what he’s making for dinner—chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and orzo that he wants to play around with. I listen without adding much to the conversation. It’s not that I don’t feel comfortable or as if I’m out of place, but I enjoy watching him, seeing him interact with Reggie, the joy making his voice go up an octave when he talks about dinner.

Outside of their having slept together, Jay and Reggie remind me of what John and I used to be. The way we could talk for hours about everything and nothing. The way we laughed together and felt comfortable. The pain in my chest pushes to the surface again, tries to strangle me, but I do my best to swallow it down. I don’t want to ruin this moment for them, don’t want to bring heaviness to something that was fun and beneficial for us all.

I don’t want Jay to feel guilty because I know he will, and that’s the last thing I want for him.

When Reggie’s stomach growls, Jay says, “I’ll go get cleaned up so I can start dinner.”

“I need to use the restroom first.” Reggie gets out of bed, walks naked to the bathroom, and closes the door behind him.

Jay rolls over to face me. “Hi,” he says softly.

“Hi.”

“Do you promise we’re okay?”

I smile, his words helping temporarily patch the holes in my heart from missing John. “Yes. Very okay. But I would like to do something before you cook.”

He nods. I roll him to his back, then straddle his head, rubbing my balls all over his face so he doesn’t smell like another man’s jizz anymore. The wet washcloth helped with that, but I do want him to smell like me.

Jay moans in the most delicious way.

When I sit beside him again, he smiles at me. “Mmm. Now I smell like my Sir.”

“Yes. You do. You can wash everything but your face.”

“Okay.” Another grin. “I’m going to run upstairs, clean up, and put on fresh clothes.”

I nod, and he heads out. I looked earlier to make sure his ass doesn’t need cream on it, but I check again while he goes. Just as I’m sitting up on the edge of the bed, Reggie returns.

“JT?”

“He went upstairs to change. I think he’s excited to start dinner. He loves cooking.”

“Yeah, that’s really cool. I didn’t connect the dots until earlier, but now that he’s been here and talking to me about it, I realize it’s something he’s done often for me at home too. He makes the best homemade chicken soup when you’re sick.”

“I’ll have to ask him to make it for me…hopefully without the illness.” We both chuckle.

Reggie grabs his underwear and begins to tug them on. “Listen…I want to thank you for today. It was fun. And I want to make sure you know JT and I are just friends. While I enjoy hooking up with him, it’s nothing more than that.”

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