Jase shrugged and said, “I guess you're right.” He turned to Luis and asked, “Am I patient man?” Clearly, he didn't have a clue.
Luis laughed. “Sometimes,” he said. “But you are used to getting what you want, and when you are frustrated about something, you can be very demanding.”
“That's how I feel right now,” Jase said. “I could punch something.”
“Let's get to bed,” Luis said. “A good night's sleep might help more than you realize.”
“I'm curious about something,” Jase said. “What happened to those boots and the outfit you were wearing in the barn?”
“I left them in the bathroom to dry,” Luis said.
“I didn't see them,” Jase said.
“I didn't see them either,” Matthias said.
Luis went into the bathroom, looked at the corner where he'd left the boots, and saw the corner was now empty. He turned in the doorway and said, “I know I left them in there. I'm certain.”
Jase walked to the bed and pulled back the covers. He gestured for Luis to get in first and said, “Maybe you forgot. There's been so much going on you might have just put them outside on the porch.”
Luis thought for a moment. He walked to the bed. “I don't know. I distinctly remember putting them in the bathroom to dry. I would have thrown them out if I could have. I hate the sight of them now.”
Matthias was still on the end of the bed. “There, you see? You probably put them outside and didn't even realize. The mind can play funny tricks on people under stress, especially when you don't want to deal with something.”
“Tell me about it,” Jase said.
Luis would have gone out on the front porch then if Hood and Blaze hadn't been fooling around in the living room. They weren't loud, but he could hear the pull-out bed squeaking. So he yawned and stretched. He climbed into bed and Jase followed him.
But when they pulled back the covers, Luis noticed Matthias was still on the end of the bed. “Are you coming to bed?”
Matthias sent them both a look. “It's okay?” He smiled at Jase and said, “Luis wouldn't let me come to bed until you came out of the shower.”
Jase kissed Luis. “That's so sweet.”
Luis rested against Jase's shoulder and said, “It didn't feel right to be in the same bed with another man without you around.”
“You can come to bed now,” Jase said. He laughed this time. “You have my permission.”
When Matthias was under the covers, the room grew quiet. The only sound they could hear was the pull-out bed squeaking louder in the living room and the occasional moan or squeal coming from Blaze. It sounded to Luis like Hood was banging her into the kitchen.
“This is a little awkward,” Matthias said. “I feel like the third wheel now.”
Luis rested his palm on Matthias's shoulder and said, “Don't feel that way. I'm glad you were here to help me out with Jase. I don't know what I would have done without you.”
Matthias leaned over Luis and smiled at Jase. “We could have a little fun now if you'd like. Unless you guys aren't into that sort of thing. It's cool one way or the other.”
Jase shrugged and asked Luis, “Are we into that sort of thing? I don't have a clue.” He wore an innocent, helpless expression.
Seeing Jase so clueless tugged at Luis's heart. Luis hesitated, then said, “We have experimented with other guys. We went away last spring to a place not far from Russian River in California. We were testing out a new motor home for a company you were thinking of investing in. We met these two guys. Twin brothers, Rob and Rand. One thing led to another, we got to know them and genuinely liked them, and we would up fooling around with them the entire weekend.” Luis didn't mention he'd always been the one who was against this sort of thing.
“You took turns on twin brothers?” Matthias asked. He pressed his palm to his throat and gulped. This was the widest Luis had seen his eyes.
Luis lowered his head and looked up. This time he wanted to shock Matthias on purpose. “Actually, Jase, Rob, and Rand took turns on me that weekend.” He decided not to go into detail about meeting up with Rob and Rand again that summer in Alaska. He thought it might be too much information for Jase to absorb.
“Fucking hot, man,” Matthias said. “Did the twins do each other that weekend?”
Luis smacked his arm. “No, they didn't do each other. They are both tops. Besides, twin brothers don't have sex with each other, you idiot. I told you that already. It just a stupid, tacky fantasy that horny old dogs like you like to think might happen. Brothers don't have sex with brothers unless there's something fundamentally wrong with them. That's just wrong. And I think it's against the law, too.” The thought of having sex with Gage, his own brother, turned Luis's stomach sideways. And he knew that even though Rob and Rand would have sex with the same guy at the same time, the thought of having sex with each other made them just as nauseous. They wouldn't even sleep in the same bed together.
“How did it work out for us?” Jase asked. “I mean, with the brothers.”
Luis shrugged. “We're still good friends with them. They are coming to our home this week to spend Thanksgiving with us at Cider Mill Farm.” Then he turned to Matthias. He wanted to go into a little more detail so Matthias wouldn't get the wrong idea. “Jase and I agreed we'd leave ourselves open to do three-ways, or in the case of Rob and Rand, four-ways, if the right moment happened. We don't go out looking for sex with other guys. We don't have an open relationship and we never have sex with other guys unless we are both there at the same time. I know other gay men have different arrangements. Our good friends, Josh and Roland, play around all the time with or without each other. That's their business and I try not to judge them. But we decided we wouldn't bring other men into our bedroom often, and if we did, it would be while we were together. We are monogamous in that sense. That's why I didn't want you getting into bed with me until Jase came out of the bathroom.”
He knew he might have gone into too much detail. Jase's lips were parted, his head was down, and he was rubbing his jaw. But Luis wanted Matthias to understand completely. He liked him and had a feeling they might all become closer eventually.
But Luis didn't expect Matthias to run his hand up his leg and ask, “How do you know when the right guy comes along? Do you have a special silent code or something? Do you signal each other?”
Jase didn't know Matthias was feeling up Luis's leg. “Don't ask me,” Jase said. “I don't have a clue. But I like what I'm hearing so far.”