Chapter 8
Dare
The insistent chime of the phone as text messages came in woke me from a dead sleep. Groaning, I rolled over and grabbed blindly for the phone. It wasn’t too early because as I squinted and forced my eyes open I could see light peeking in from around the curtains.
My sweet nuts were up and worrying entirely too early.
Scott had messaged first but Ryan’s seemed to be longer so I read Scott’s first. I had a feeling I’d need coffee for Ryan’s.
You up?
Well, now I was, but I wasn’t going to respond with that. It was probably my fault for leaving the volume up so high.
Yes, got to work early today.
My alarm had been set to go off before too long, so no point in telling him anything else. Turning off the alarm, I forced myself to start moving and headed toward the bathroom. I was out in minutes, but it was enough time for Scott to have texted me again.
We’re still on for dinner and stuff tonight?
What was Scott concerned about, the dinner or the stuff? The stuff.
Yep, as long as that works for you.
Then, just to make sure he understood where I was at mentally, I sent him another quick text.
I had a good time last night.
As I made my way to the kitchen, I pulled up Ryan’s message. Where Scott liked to work his way up to divulging what he wanted and had that funny habit of answering a question with another question, Ryan sometimes just dived right into the conversation like I’d been around to hear the first part that had gone on in his head.
Don’t you I think I have to talk to Scott about the control thing before tonight? It just seems like the best idea. If we do more than kiss he’s got to know because I think it might be obvious then. Unless you don’t really want us to do that much. That’s kind of up to you but I’m open for more. I’m supposed to tell you that, right?
They both seemed calm and quiet but were so complex on the inside. Ryan just hid his worries and thoughts behind the mask but Scott actually seemed to have that deep silence go all the way through him. I had a feeling Ryan would be a talker during sex because once he opened up it released the floodgates.
We’ll do stuff when you’re ready. If you want to get it out in the open then we’ll do it this afternoon. Unless you want to talk to him by yourself?
Personally, I wasn’t sure what would be best. Delaying the conversation would only make things harder in the long run. I also wasn’t sure if I should be there or not. My first reaction was to insist we do it together so I could see their reactions and facilitate the conversation if necessary, but I didn’t want to cross the line from controlling to overcontrolling.
If it was just Ryan explaining to Scott what he liked, and how he and I saw parts of the relationship developing, then it wouldn’t be as difficult of a conversation. Scott was understanding and laid back so I couldn’t imagine him reacting badly to anything Ryan wanted, but since he had his own desires to open up about, I wasn’t sure how it would go.
As I started moving around the kitchen and getting the coffee ready, I set the phone down on the table for a few minutes. I heard the text messages start coming in quickly again and had to smile when I finally sat down at the table with a huge mug of coffee and a day-old muffin that was still pretty good.
Scott had finally messaged back and seemed to be slowly working his way through the same mental debate that Ryan was.
I was thinking about tonight. How did you see it going?
I was a terrible person so my first thought was to send him something dirty, but I knew that wasn't where his mind was at. Not yet, at least.
Do you mean the practical part of the date or the conversation?
Two could play the endless questions game.
Switching back to Ryan, I read his message and had to smile again.
NO! Unless I have to then I will but I don’t think this is something I want to do alone. I know Scott won’t think I’m crazy but I don’t know how to explain it and I don’t want to overshare but that’s not really possible if we’re dating…right?
So cute. I grinned as I responded.
Since we’re dating I think the TMI thing isn’t something you need to worry about. Talking to him is better than making him guess what you want. I don’t mind being there when you talk to him. We’ll sit down and do it when I get there so you don’t spend the whole date worrying.
