Page 56 of Tameron

Bean flipped me the middle finger. “Everything needs more heat for you. I could add a Carolina Reaper to it, and you’d still think it needed more.”

“Carolina Reaper?” Creek frowned. “The fuck is that?”

“It’s officially the world’s hottest pepper,” Bean told him.

Creek scratched his head. “How do they measure that? By how much water you need to drink after eating it?”

“Actually, milk helps better than water,” Nash said. “Especially whole milk, as the fats help dissolve some of the heat. I learned that on the job. Yogurt or sour cream do the job as well.”

Creek shuddered. “I don’t even want to know why you needed to learn that. It can’t be healthy, eating something that hot.”

“It’s not if you’re not used to it.” Nash shot me a look. “It can cause irritation and even inflammation of your esophagus, stomach, or intestines.”

I let out a sigh. “I liked you better before you went all doctor on us.”

And that earned me another middle finger. I was on a roll here.

“Anyway, they measure the heat of peppers using a special scale called the Scoville scale, and Carolina Reapers are the hottest peppers on the planet,” Bean said.

Creek made a face. “That’s a hard no from me. Jesus fuck, I can’t even imagine how much that would hurt coming out of my ass.”

I debated making an anal joke but decided to let it pass. They hit a little differently now that I was bi. Which, come to think of it, the guys didn’t know either. Maybe that was something I could start with?

“Speaking of asses,” I said in what had to be the worst segue in history, “I have something I want to tell you guys.”

Bean sat up straight. “Are we at the announcement part of the schedule? Because if we are, I have something to share as well.”

Nash smiled indulgently. “The floor is yours, Bean.”

I opened my mouth to protest that I’d been first, but a warning look from Nash had me close it again. Apparently, he knew what Bean was going to say. Well, of course he did. We all told him everything first.

“Jarek asked me to marry him…and I said yes.” Bean flat-out squealed, and pandemonium ensued as we all congratulated him, hugging him.

“I’m so happy for you,” I said as I gave him a fierce hug. “No one deserves it more than you.”

His eyes were moist when he let go and cupped my cheek. “So do you. You’ll find your happiness too.”

When we all sat down again, it hit me. Getting married meant Bean would be moving into Jarek’s house. I cleared my throat. “Have you guys picked a date yet?”

“It’s not official yet, but we were thinking three months or so from now. Neither of us wants something big, so it’s not like we need a lot of time to plan or prepare. Just close family and friends.”

Three months. He’d be moving out in three months.

“So you’re moving into Jarek’s house, I assume,” Creek asked.

Bean ducked his head a little as he nodded. “Yeah. I know that’s a change, but?—”

“It’s all good,” Nash said. “We all knew this was a transitional period that wasn’t supposed to last forever.”

Sure, but…

“I think I want to move out as well,” Creek said softly. “Heath’s been so patient with me, but I know he’d love for us to start our life together with the two of us. And I think I’m ready to leave the nest, so to speak.”

I swallowed thickly. Creek and Bean were both moving out. I should’ve known this was coming, but somehow, I still felt blindsided, like the ground was disappearing from under me. Adizzy spell hit, and it took everything I had to keep calm and keep breathing. My hands curled into fists, and I focused on inhaling, exhaling. Inhale, exhale.

Everything would be okay. I could survive without them. I would have to.

“It’s a big change,” Nash said, and they were all looking at me as if they expected me to fall apart at any moment.

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