Page 107 of Ours
“Cory… I’m so sorry. I seriously didn’t expect to leave you out there like that last night. I thou—”
“I’m not just talking about last night,” Cory cut him off. “I’m talking about the way you played Derek, Nic, and I against each other. Did you…” Cory tried to hide the hurt in his voice. “Did you ever even really like me at all?”
“I… Yes, Cory. I did. Do.” Jackson finally met Cory’s gaze. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but I’ve actually liked you for a while.”
Cory was confused but said nothing, letting Jackson continue.
“I think it was at a football game last year. Saw you hanging out with Derek. Thought you were cute.” Jackson was back to staring at his still-untouched glass of water. “Didn’t think much else of it until this year when I saw the three of you together again. Something seemed different. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on.”
“So, what? You were … jealous?” Cory hoped Jackson didn’t expect him to feel flattered.
“No, not jealous but… I dunno. I was horny, and when I pieced together the kind of stuff you guys were doing, I wanted some too.” Jackson paused then looked up at Cory. “I didn’t think it would actually work, the things I was saying to cause friction.”
“Well, it did.” Cory turned to look at Derek and Nic, who were watching them intently. Nic was still glaring at Jackson like an over protective guard dog. “Pretty spectacularly. You basically outed meandNic.”
“I’m sorry,” Jackson said softly.
“Been hearing that a lot lately.” Cory sighed. “What’s really fucked up is, I think if you had justtalkedto us? We probably would have ended up hooking up anyways, and I probably would have remembered it fondly instead of…” Cory gestured vaguely between the two of them.
“I… I’m just really sorry, Cory.” Jackson didn’t know what elsetosay. “I get if you don’t wanna talk to me anymore after this.”
“Not like I have to worry about seeing you in school much longer.” Cory had gotten the answers he needed. They were done here. He slid out of the booth. “See you at the reunion or whatever.”
“Yeah, see ya,” Jackson said a sad goodbye to Cory’s back as he made his way toward the bar and his two … men.
“Everything alright?” Derek asked as Cory approached.
“I think I got all I’m going to get out of that.” Cory nodded his head.
“Ready to go home?” Nic slid off his stool.
“Yeah.” Cory smiled. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 17
“Idunno about this, man.”
“What’s the problem?”
“It just feels weird.”
“Well, too bad because it’s too late to turn around now. We’re almost there.”
Derek and Nic went back and forth in the front seat of the car currently en route for a day trip to Lakefield. Cory sat in his usual spot in the back, the boys having regrouped after their afternoon chat (and sex) the day before. After they got back from Cory’s meeting with Jackson, they were at something of a loss as for what to do next. They were working toward rebuilding the trust between them again, but this was Cory’s first …anythinginvolving another person, let alone two, and Derek or Nic certainly didn’t have relationship experience that came close to what they were dealing with now.
So, Derek suggested they do the same thing he’d done the last few times he felt lost like this: talk to Carl—or Sir as Derek was expected to call him now. Carl had also told him he could gowith Daddy, but Derek wasn’t quite there yet. Cory was onboard with the idea right away, but Nic bristled, remembering Derek’s description of what he did on his last visit. It took a little convincing, but eventually he agreed after reassurances that it wasjustto talk.
Derek sent a few texts, and Carl said that he was happy to talk to the trio—and that they were a trio again at all, so they met up again the next day at Cory’s before hitting the road. With school almost over, none of the boys had any other obligations or much else to do at all. Nic was expecting this to be a fairly quick visit, but Derek was glad that the rest of the day was open, just in case.
Carl was out on the porch when the boys arrived. He stood as they pulled up, waving them over as they clambered out of the car. Cory and Derek walked right over, but Nic seemed to be dragging his feet.
“Boys, good to see you. Glad you got here safe.” Carl moved to open his front door and lead the way inside. “Heard things have been kinda crazy for you all lately.”
“Something like that, Sir,” Derek answered for the group. “Thanks for agreeing to talk to us.”
“Of course, boy. That’s what I’m here for.” Carl smiled before showing the boys to his living room, taking a seat in a large armchair while the three boys settled in on the couch. “So, catch me up.”
Derek ran through a somewhat condensed version of the last few days with Cory adding the occasional detail: Cory’s night in the woods, Derek and Nic running off to find him, the night in the cabin, the hospital, and finally their talks yesterday—which led Derek to what they were here to talk about today.
