Chapter 1
Dare
“I really don’t think we had this much stuff.” Ryan lookedaround at the boxes and stacks of random things that filled the room, frowning.“There’s just no way all of this is ours.”
Scott was nodding like he wanted to believe Ryan, but he wasthe more practical of the two because it didn’t look like he was taking Ryan’sword for it. “Um, I think we just had a lot of stuff in the closets?”
Trying not to laugh, because they really did have a lot inthe closet when we’d first met, I focused on getting them organized so Ryandidn’t have a heart attack. “Okay, I’ll start on the kitchen. I’ll work fromthe basic layout you had in the apartment, and you work on your bedroom.”
That had both of their cheeks pinking, but they straightenedlike having a plan made them feel better. Clearly, having a Dom in their lives washelpful outside of the bedroom too.
“Once you have that done, we’ll tackle the living roomtogether.” Looking around the room, I didn’t think it was quite as bad as theythought. “A lot of this stuff is going on shelves or into the office. That roomis nearly empty. It’s not going to take long.”
Contrary to what Ryan thought, I’d seen a lot worse when I’dhelped my siblings move.
Scott let out a breath and seemed glad to have somethingpositive to focus on. “Yeah, we packed things up really well. That’s why itlooks like so much.”
They really had, so he wasn’t just grasping at straws.
The goal had been to pack everything up and move in one daywith a rental truck and we’d done a damn good job. It’d taken most of the dayto get it moved, and Sunday would be filled with unpacking and cleaning up theold apartment, but by Monday they’d have most of it done.
“We do as much as we can, but the goal is not to be up allnight.” I looked at my two worriers and waited for them to nod.
Scott smiled, ignoring Ryan’s huff. “Yes, we’ll get clothesput away and the bed made and then when we’re tired, we’ll go to bed.”
We’d already had a long day and I wasn’t going to makeSunday even harder by staying up late.
Ryan’s expression said he wanted to keep pushing to get itall done, but then Scott gave him a bashful grin. “Don’t you want to test outthe new bed?”
That stopped our overeager boyfriend in his tracks.
Going very still, he thought about what Scott was hintingat. “I…Well, yes, we didn’t get a chance to test it out yet.”
For them, the new bed was a nearly obscene combination ofeverything they loved. It had bars like Scott’s old bed and was the sturdiestthing I’d ever seen, and the mattress was the same brand Ryan had before. Itwas just much bigger than anything they’d ever had, but they needed it if wewere all going to sleep together on a regular basis.
“Then we have a plan.” One that would hopefully keep us frombeing up all night. “Let me know if you need help.”
Or if they got nervous figuring out how they were going tolive in the same room together.
The weeks between signing the lease and getting the closetorganizers installed and ordering the new bed had let them get used to theidea, but two weeks just wasn’t a lot of time, no matter how much they wantedeach other.
So I was keeping my eye out for bumps in the road…like mytwo cuties being too shy to talk about something.
My taking control seemed to have some of Ryan’s stressreduced because he stopped looking at the stacks of boxes and actually smiled.“Nope, we’ll be good. The organizer looks great, and I think even all of Scott’shoard of clothes will fit in there.”
Rolling his eyes, Scott snorted. “Your clothes are thereason we had to put in extra hanging bars. How many pairs of jeans does oneman need?”
Ryan barked out a laugh. “Says the man with five red tiesthat all look the same.”
Scott looked offended. “They’re not all the same. Besides,you bought me several of them for birthday and Christmas presents.”
And now Ryan was blushing like a virgin on his weddingnight.
“You look good in red.”
They were so fucking cute.
“Nope, go hang up clothes before you two end up distractinglycute and sexy and I take you to bed before we get anything done.” That had bothof them turning to me in unison, wearing similar expressions of lust andcuriosity.
