Andrew's POV
"I think you're actually getting better," Patrick said as he sat at the breakfast bar, watching me as I attempted to make dinner. It was only some weird white brothed chicken soup that Jem had figured out a while ago but I was still having problems with it.
"Am I even doing this right?"
"Does it feel right," Jem asked, his voice coming out more teasing than I would have liked.
"Not really," I sighed.
I had only been trying to figure this out for a few minutes but the kitchen was already a mess.
Jem chuckled at my misery before leaving the stool he was sitting on and joined me in the kitchen. He had been attempting to only walk me through it but clearly my skill level wasn't good enough for that yet.
"You're actually not doing all that bad, you're just messy so it looks bad."
"Well that's comforting," I said with a small eye roll as I watched Jem fix everything.
I had expecting things to be kind of awkward between all of us but surprisingly it just felt relaxing.
Jem's words had been simple but what implied meant a lot more.
"I'm polyamorous," Jem explained as he shifted his weight from one foot to another. His eye bore into mine as I sat stiffly on the couch while Patrick sat on the recliner on the other side of the living room.
Patrick's face had been hard to read since we sat down but after Jem said those two words, panic slipped through for just a second before his eyes shifted over to me.
"What does that have to do with anything," I asked but I was pretty sure I already knew where this was going.
I had seen the way Jem looked at me and it was too similar to the way he looked at Patrick.
"I'm fond of you but I'm also fond of Patrick, and I don't want to have to choose between you two. Patrick told me it wasn't fair to keep this from you so it's up to you what happens now. I'm not ready for boyfriends but I also don't want you two to just walk away. If that's not what you want though, if you want or need something I can't give you, then please don't force yourself through it. So, what do you want?"
I bit my lip as I looked away from him.
I had never had a partner. I had really only had sex once and it was with some random girl from my high school. I was drunk at a party and barely even remembered it happening but I remembered that it didn't feel like every guy in high school said it would. It definitely didn't feel like anything Jem did either and he barely had to touch me to make it feel better than that night.
Jem said he wasn't ready for a boyfriend but I don't think I am either. I didn't know enough about myself to jump into something like that already.
Most people find that part out in high school or college but I was too busy working my ass off. If I wasn't working to save for college, I was taking every ACT, SAT, and MCAT I could find, trying to get scholarships so I could actually pay for college and once I got there I was just trying to keep my grades and try to keep myself from going broke.
This could be a step in the right direction at least. I know Jem would treat me well while I tried to figure it out.
"I want to try it your way," I said after a while. I was scared to look up at him but when I did he was smiling down at me.
I watched as he took a few steps closer, practically forcing himself to over me before leaning down, his lips brushing against mine.
"I was really hoping you would say that."
The light brush of his lips changed as he pressed them into mine. I gasped at the feeling but the gentle kiss didn't change.
He didn't shove his tongue in or make his touch harsher like he did months ago.
He only smiled against my lips until I was kissing him back.
Now Patrick and I watched Jem as he moved around the kitchen with ease, as if he didn't just ask both of us to be fuck buddies but a smile was all but plastered on his face.
"You know, if you keep staring like that, you might give me the wrong idea as to what you want," Jem said shameless, his eyes never leaving the giant pot he was working on.
I could feel myself turning colors as I looked away from him.
"Don't you think that's a bit much for just the five of us," Patrick asked as he looked down at the pot.
"It's Dev's favorite," Jem dismissed. "He could nearly eat his weight in this."
"Will he even be here? He took off as soon as he dropped me off here," Patrick said with a small frown, making Jem mirror his expression.
"He had to do a bit of extra work today and between the three of us, I don't think he's going to be very happy when he gets back here but seeing as this not pleasant conversation, we're going to move on," he said simply.
"So how is this going to work," I asked after a few minutes. Jem only hummed as he continued stirring, not understanding the question. "We didn't exactly get around to that part before you came in here. You said we aren't dating so that means we're free to do what we want?"
Jem froze for a second before continuing as if nothing happened.
"Of course," he said stiffly. "It wouldn't exactly be fair any other way."
I glanced over to Patrick who had a small frown on his face. We were both thinking the same thing.
Jem's mouth and his body language were saying two different things.
I waited for Patrick to call him out on it like he normally does but he said nothing as he Jem reached to get bowls out of the cabinet.
He said nothing as he poured his hard work into the bowls and passed then out to both of us before fixing his own. I went to join Patrick behind the breakfast bar while Jem continued to stand on the other side.
The three of us ate in silence. Nothing but the sound of spoons scraping bowls was the only thing that filled the air.
"How was work," Jem asked no one in particular after a while. The tension was still in the air but at least he was trying.
"Long and boring," Patrick sighed. "Being the sheriff of a small town is not as exciting as I thought it would be. It's mostly looking over reports and citations. In bigger counties where there is a crime rate, I would be out trying to solve murders and shit, that's so much cooler."
"Have you ever considered moving districts? I know our sheriff is old and nearly ready to retire. He'd probably let you transfer."
"I've thought about but I don't know if I could ever do it. I wouldn't be able to help with camp in other districts. While this one is boring, it allows me to send kids there instead of jail."
Jem's lips twitch down at that as his eyes moved to me.
"And you?"
"It wasn't too bad I guess. Same old, same old. Working two jobs is getting to be a bit much." I barely had time for myself before I joined the other practice but now I didn't have time to do anything before I had to go back to patient files and reviewing everything while also staying up to date with new tactics and theories.
It was getting exhausting at this point but I couldn't afford to quit either job.
"You're jobs are boring," Jem teased. "I don't see how you two sit behind a desk all day and are satisfied with that."
Patrick shot him a playful glare but Jem's smirk only widened.
The tension in the room disappeared as the night went on. The more relaxed Jem I was coming to know was here to stay, for now at least.
After dinner he and Patrick hooked up some game on an x box that Jem had. They worked together to kill every zombie in sight as I watched them.
Every now and then Jem would offer me his controller but I always declined. It took a while but eventually they both died when Patrick went down and Jem couldn't get to him fast enough to save him and without a partner Jem was over run. It was funny to watch Jem have his little temper tantrum as the playfully threw the controller on the couch.
"Andrew's turn," he said as he put the controller in my lap while Patrick began getting ready for the next game.
"I'm not a game person. I'd only get in the way."
"It's okay, it's not like we're trying to win a prize or anything," Patrick said with a small shrug but I still shook my head until a new smirk found it's way onto Jem's face.
He didn't say a word as he grabbed my hips before pulling me onto his lap. The small action alone had my face heating up while Jem put the controller in my hands. His fingers covered mine as his lips went to my ear.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you how to play," he whispered as he nodded to Patrick to start the game.
I felt him lean back on the couch as if he weren't really trying as he forced my fingers to follow his movements.
Surprisingly his hands remained gentle the whole time. Even when we got into a bit of trouble or when he got excited and began killing zombies left and right, his fingers never hurt mine.
But every now and then when they were waiting for the next round to start, his fingers would rub mine gently as his lips lightly brushed up and down my neck.
I guess his little confession meant he wasn't going to hold back anymore.
This game ended the same way the first one did, with Patrick dying and Jem not being able to save him but this time Jem didn't bother to act upset.
"You think you can do it by yourself this time," he asked as his hands left mine. In all honesty, I wasn't really paying attention to any of the game. He had tried to explain it at the beginning but the combination of his lips playing with my neck and his fingers rubbing against mine made it a bit hard to concentrate on what he was saying.
"I think I can," I lied.
"Good, because I think Patrick needs help this time."
I didn't have to see Jem's face to know he was smirking as he placed me back on the couch before all but stalking over to Patrick.
"I don't need help you asshole. I play almost as good as you," he grumbled while trying to back away from the bigger man.
"And yet we ended up dying both times because of you," Jem teased before he all but pounced.
He and Patrick fought but the small laughs that came from both of the showed how much they were secretly enjoying it but when Jem grew tired of Patrick resisting him, he wrapped his arms around Patrick's hips before pulling both of them back on the couch.
Both of their chests heaved as Jem forced them to take the same position he had done for me.
"Are you ready," he asked me with a prominent smile.
"I feel like we are going to die very quickly," I sighed but turned my attention to the TV anyway.
"We might," Jem said with a small shrug, "but it's not like we can't just start another game."
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