“I don’t know how to do it.” He ran a finger down a counter.

“You’ll learn,” Josiah told him.

He turned, leaned against the counter. His chest felt tight. His throat felt clogged, full, but somehow he managed to speak around it. When he was working with Jay at the shop or talking with Tristan, he’d had moments of it, moments of feeling worthy; but none of them compared to how it felt right now. Before, he would have said no, told them he didn’t deserve it or that it wasn’t right. But how could he do that to them? These men who actually gave a shit about him? Josiah said they had to decide to be happy, and they’d done that. So instead of giving them shit, Mateo looked them in the face. “Con todo mi honor, les prometo que voy a valorar esto . Voy hacerlos sentir orgullosos. Gracias.”

“I don’t know what you said, but it was beautiful.” Josiah stepped closer, kissed his neck. “Sexy.”

“You and that goddamned Spanish. It makes me just as wild as it does Josiah.”

He knew they were trying to make the moment lighter, but Mateo didn’t need that. He needed them to know what this meant to him, so he said it again, in English. “On my honor, I promise I will value this. I will make you proud. Thank you.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Josiah

“We’re getting close to finishing.” Josiah leaned against the newly installed front counter. He looked over at Teo, who had paint on his forehead, then Tristan, who of course was spotless.

“You need to decide on lighting. We have the electrician coming in soon, right?” Tristan eyed Teo, too, before wiping the paint off his head.

“I put an order in yesterday. I went with the bigger ones,” Josiah told him, thinking about how Tristan had said we have the electrician coming, not you. “The ones that look like they have birds flying on them.”

“I’ll put ‘em in,” Teo said, and both Tristan and Josiah looked at him like, no shit. Teo was adamant about doing all the work that he could himself, without hiring out.

Teo gave him a half-grin and nodded his head confidently. “I made you somethin’ else.”

Josiah’s heart ramped up, something he’d been feeling more lately. There was a change in the three of them. No, things weren’t perfect, and they probably never would be. Tristan still slept restlessly and disappeared from their bed a few nights a week, but he still spoke with Elliot. Teo still worked himself to the bone to prove he belonged with them, but he spoke with Rhonda as well. Their life felt steady for the first time.  “What?”

Teo’s grin grew. He nudged Tristan. “Should I give it to him, or make him suffer?”

Tristan crossed his arms. “We can hold it over his head, as a way to get what we want.”

It was moments like these that the light completely overthrew the dark. Where he could forget Teo’s past and Tristan’s struggles. Josiah thought maybe, in moments like these, they forgot as well.

“You know I’ll give you what you want regardless.” A thought slipped into his head, fueling Josiah forward. He stopped in front of them, a hand on each of their T-shirts. He let his hands travel down their stomachs, but stopped right before reaching their cocks. “Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll only give it to you if I get what I want first.”

His chest swelled, made him feel invincible to say things like that to them, because it wasn’t something he ever thought he’d be able to do.

“Give him the goddamned gift, Mateo.” Tristan’s hand locked around Josiah’s wrist. “Your mouth has been driving me crazy lately.”

“I’ve always fuckin’ loved when you get mouthy.” Teo kissed Josiah hungrily, his tongue pushing its way inside before he ripped away.

It was Josiah who tried to pull him back again, his last promise already gone on the wind, but Teo shook his head. “Tristan’s right. Lemme get your surprise.” Teo rummaged through his bag before pulling out two wrapped packages, about twelve by twelve in size. “They’re nothin’ much, but—”

“Don’t. You always trivialize what you do. Do it again, and Josiah will show me his appreciation and not you.”

Josiah froze at the threat Tristan dished to Teo. He’d never heard anyone talk to Mateo the way Tristan did, and he knew it wasn’t something Mateo would let anyone else do. Still, his heart stalled, stuttered while he waited for Teo’s reply.

Teo’s tight lips loosened, that cocky half smile pulling at them again. “Remember that, cuz I’ll do the same thing to you,” he promised Tristan. Both of them were the same in that respect.