Page 7 of The Handy Men
Dean shook his head. "Bogart didn't get the girl, and Christopher Reeves slowly withered away and died."
"Because of love." Jack sighed in contentment. "Isn't that romantic?"
"You have issues."
"Love hurts. It's sacrifice and pain. That's how you know it's real."
"Thanks a lot," Dean drawled.
"Not you and I, asshole." Jack slugged him in the arm. "You're the closest thing to perfect in my life."
That's why Dean kept him around. He could reduce him to a puddle with a look, a touch, and, very rarely, a sentence. Dean kissed him because it was as natural as breathing. When they first met, Dean had been working as an accountant for a nature magazine, while Jack was a freelance photographer who was dating one of the female editors. Never in a million years did Dean think Jack would be interested in a man.
"Of course," Jack said after the sweet kiss. "Sometimes you can be a real shithead."
And then he always had to ruin it. But that was just the way Jack dealt with strong feelings. "Oh, I’m the shithead? You’re the one who wants to woo Paige by asking her if she wants to suck your dick."
"It's a simple yes or no question."
"I want to suck your dick."
"I didn't ask you. I know you do." Jack kissed him again. Dean hummed in pleasure, hugging him close. He rubbed circles on Jack's back, making Jack arch and purr like a cat. "I miss sharing a woman with you."
Dean nodded. "It's messy, but worth it."
"Put a towel down."
Dean shoved him away. "That's not what I meant, dipshit. I meant emotionally. That's why we have to be so careful that Paige knows what she's getting into. We'll treat her like a queen."
"Fuck her like porn stars." Jack mimicked bending her over and fucking her from behind.
"And love her like she was our wife."
A flash of pain crossed over Jack's face. "Doesn't work that way. Look at all the movies that end up with horrible endings, especially ones that feature couples like us. And threesomes?" He grunted in disgust. "Someone always dies or winds up hating someone."
"It doesn't happen like that in real life with the right person."
"Tell that to Stephanie." Jack gave him a grim smile and brushed by him into the living room.
Ugh, Stephanie.
She had wanted a traditional marriage with one husband, but also a hot lover on the side. She figured she'd fuck around with them both and then one of them would marry her and things wouldn't have to change too much. Neither Dean nor Jack wanted that—they loved each other too much to be anything than married to each other. If it had been legal, they would have married Stephanie as well.
It wasn't as if they were going to take out a billboard on Main Street. She was so scared of people knowing she was in a threesome, she wouldn't move in with them. Wouldn't kiss or cuddle with Jack when they were out in public. Dean had spent most of his life pretending to be straight, but after he came out as bi, he didn't care what people thought. No one was going to stick him or his husband back in the closet. Jack was no one's dirty little secret.
At the time, they were living on Hamlet Island, down the street from Stephanie's parents in a big Colonial on Dune Street that Dean had bought as an investment property. It was too big for them, so they rented it out. One of these days, they were going to start a family and would need a big house. But that was a future dream.
Dean and Jack were on the don't-ask-don't-tell list for many of the old time residents. Dean swore that some of them still believed they were just roommates. Because of the tension, they decided moving to the mainland to a smaller place worked out better for their sanity. The money that they got front renting out the Colonial, along with the side jobs they took around the island, made it so they could quit the nature magazine and be their own bosses.
"Stephanie wasn't the right person." Dean followed, carrying their wineglasses. It had been over two years ago, just before Paige came to Hamlet Island. And while Dean had known almost immediately it was time to move on, Jack had stubbornly insisted Stephanie would come to her senses. It had broken his heart when she didn't. They never even got a call or an email after she broke up with them.
Jack flung himself on the wide leather couch and rested his head back so he could brood at the ceiling.
Dean would have liked to take the bad memories away and replace them with good ones. Paige could very well be the missing part of them, because she understood Jack and Dean were a couple. The next step was getting her to buy into the idea that they could be a threesome.
"I wish Paige was here," Jack said. "I miss talking with her. I wonder what she's doing now."
Dean was happy that Jack wasn't still thinking of Stephanie. The sex between the three of them had been off the charts, but the emotional connection hadn't been there. He knew that now, and he hoped that Jack did, too.
