Meanwhile, Ash nuzzled into Remi’s curls, pretending not to be affected, but his fingers slowed as they twirled in Remi’s hair. A soft kiss landed on the curve of Remi’s shoulder.

“You done flirting yet?” Ash mumbled.

Remi smiled and tilted his head up to kiss him. “Never. You like watching.”

Ash didn’t reply — just smirked and pulled him closer.

The sky had deepened into soft navy blue outside their apartment windows, the cicadas buzzing faintly beyond the screen. Remi lay sprawled across their couch, Ash’s hoodie drowning him as he scrolled on his phone, half-laughing at another message Théodore had sent — a GIF of someone wiping grease off their chest in slow motion with the caption: “When clients get distracting 👀.”

Ash emerged from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel, and handed Remi a glass of juice. He dropped onto the couch beside him, leaning back with a tired groan.

“You think he’s always like this?” Remi asked, smirking at the message as he tilted the glass to his lips.

Ash raised a brow. “You’re really asking me that while lounging in my hoodie and liking all his thirst traps?”

Remi giggled. “You are my hoodie supplier. It’s only fair I repay you in chaos.”

Ash chuckled low, wrapping an arm behind Remi’s neck, gently toying with his earring. The touch lingered for a moment before Ash exhaled, quieter this time.

“Feels different here,” he murmured.

Remi turned toward him, eyebrows lifting. “Atlanta?”

Ash nodded. “Quieter. Slower. I don’t feel like I’m constantly running from something.”

There was a pause.

Remi’s gaze softened. “You mean from yourself?”

Ash didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he let his thumb brush the side of Remi’s jaw. “You remember that night in Harlem? That last party?”

Remi’s breath hitched just slightly — not enough for most to notice, but Ash did.

“You mean the one with your sister’s ex showing up?” Remi asked, voice quieter now.

“Yeah,” Ash said. His voice darkened just a little. “The one where you had to pull me off him before I ruined his face.”

Remi sat up slightly, resting the glass on the floor. “He deserved it. You were defending her. And me.”

Ash gave a tight smile. “But I also scared you that night.”

“You didn’t scare me,” Remi said gently. “You scared yourself.”

Another beat passed between them — full, but not heavy. Just true.

Ash rested his forehead to Remi’s, breathing in. “I hated the version of me that could lose control like that. The version that was always two seconds from snapping.”

Remi cupped his cheek. “You’re not him anymore. And you never let that part of you touch me. You always knew where the line was.”

Ash finally looked at him fully, something unspoken passing through his gaze. “I just wanted out of that life. The people. The pressure. The...expectations. Your parents, my cousins. Everybody had an opinion.”

Remi nodded, his thumb rubbing slow circles on Ash’s wrist. “We needed air. Space to breathe and just be for a while.”

Ash leaned into the touch. “And now we’re here. Being flirted with by a mechanic who probably lives in his garage.”

Remi smirked. “A hot mechanic. Who actually made you blush.”

Ash groaned, tugging a pillow to hide his face. “You are never letting that go, huh?”

“Not a chance.”

A soft laugh escaped them both, and Remi crawled into Ash’s lap, resting his head in the crook of his neck. Ash pulled a blanket over them, pressing a kiss to his curls.

“I don’t care who we let into our lives,” Ash murmured. “Just don’t let go of mine.”

Remi whispered, “You’re stuck with me. Like sap.”

Ash chuckled, nose brushing his temple. “Sticky, annoying sap.”

Remi grinned. “And sweet.”

Ash traced idle lines along Remi’s arm beneath the blanket, his voice hushed, thoughtful.

“You know,” he said, “sometimes I think back to that rooftop. The one we snuck onto after Micah’s wedding. Middle of January, freezing our asses off.”

Remi huffed a soft laugh. “You mean when you dared me to scream at the skyline and then actually did it?”

Ash smiled into Remi’s curls. “Yeah. That night. We were reckless. But it was the first time I looked at the city and didn’t feel like it was swallowing me.”

Remi shifted to look up at him. “You said the noise used to drown your thoughts.”

“It did,” Ash murmured. “But that night, it felt like it was making space for them instead. Like the world finally paused long enough for me to hear myself.”

Remi reached up, letting his fingers rest over Ash’s heart. “You think that’s what love is? A quieting?”

Ash looked down at him, his eyes serious. “I think it’s a remembering. Of who you are. Of who you were before life started handing you masks.”

Remi blinked, throat suddenly tight.

“I used to think surviving meant performing,” Ash continued. “Keeping everyone else comfortable with a version of me they could manage. But with you... I never have to perform.”

Remi swallowed. “Same. I used to think love meant shrinking. You showed me it could mean softening instead.”

Ash took his hand, pressing it to his lips. “Every day with you feels like another layer I get to shed. And I don’t miss what I left behind.”

Remi leaned into him, voice just above a whisper. “Me neither.”

The silence that followed wasn’t empty. It was weighted, like a deep exhale after years of holding breath.

Ash wrapped his arms around him tighter. “We’re not who we were in Harlem. Or New York. Or even six months ago.”

“No,” Remi agreed. “We’re better. Braver.”

“Freer,” Ash added. “And maybe... finally home.”

THÉODORE’S HOUSE

Steam still clung to Théodore’s skin as he stepped out of the bathroom, a towel slung low around his hips. Water tracked down the lines of his chest, pooling briefly at the curve of his abs before falling to the concrete floor. His hand swept through his damp dreads. The loft was quiet, all glass and metal and late-night city glow. The Atlanta skyline flickered through the floor-to-ceiling windows like a low, pulsing heartbeat.

His phone buzzed.

He didn’t rush to check it — just crossed the floor slowly, bare feet silent against the cold ground. The screen lit up again as he reached for it.

@remi.xoxo🌈🧃:
“Goodnight 🌙🖤”

Just a simple message.

But it pulled something tight in his chest.

His thumb hovered over the keyboard. Not the first time Remi had messaged him late. Not the first time he’d thought about replying and then decided to wait.

But tonight… he typed:

@theomachinix 🔥⚒️:
“Night Sugar. Sleep tight. 🖤🏍️”

He tossed the phone onto the bed and let himself fall back with it, head hitting the pillows, body stretched long. The towel shifted. He didn’t care. The ceiling above him was blank, but his mind filled in what it wanted to see.

Ash’s narrowed eyes.

Remi’s grin.

The way the two of them were always tangled up in each other — that perfect, irritating closeness that made it feel like there was no space for anyone else… and still, he couldn’t stop thinking about slipping between them.

He didn’t do messy.

Didn’t do complicated.

But those two? They were the definition of both, and somehow that only made them more magnetic.

Ash had this quiet anger in him — not the explosive kind. The slow-burn kind. Controlled. Dangerous. He liked control. Until someone like Remi came along and wrecked it with color and laughter and chaos. Théodore had watched it happen more than once now — Ash biting back a smile when Remi did something dumb or loud or reckless.

And Remi... Remi had no filter. That mouth was always going, and somehow every damn thing out of it made you want to either kiss it or shut it up. Sometimes both.

They were opposites, but they worked. They had a rhythm. A sync.

Still, something in Théodore’s gut told him they weren’t closed off. Not really. There was room there. Maybe not wide open — but cracked, just enough. Just enough for him to slip a foot in the door.

He exhaled.

People usually came to him.

But this?

This might be something he had to earn.

He wasn’t sure when the curiosity had turned into something hungrier. Or when watching them had become wanting them. Wanting the way they trusted each other. Wanted to be part of that. Not just for a night. Not just for the thrill.

Though, yeah — the thrill was part of it.

The way Ash had clenched his jaw the last time they spoke, that flicker of heat behind his eyes. The way Remi laughed like he wasn’t afraid of anything — not even flirting back when he shouldn’t.

Théodore felt the corner of his mouth twitch.

He knew he was circling something dangerous. Something deep. Something with teeth.

But he was built for that.

His phone buzzed again.

Remi had reacted to his message — smirking emoji.

Of course.

He smirked too.

The game was on.
He was playing it slow.
But he was playing.

And he didn’t plan on losing.

Remi blinked at the screen, Théodore’s message lighting up like a slow drag of warmth down his spine.

> Night Sugar. Sleep tight. 🖤🏍️

He bit his lip. Cheeky bastard.
A smirk twisted on his mouth as he tapped the smirking emoji back.

The mattress dipped beside him a second later.

“Put your damn phone down,” Ash muttered, his voice rough with sleep. “Sleep.”

Remi turned just as Ash’s arm flopped over his waist, pulling him close.

“I was just—”

Ash gave his ass a light smack.

Remi yelped softly. “Hey—”

“Sleep,” Ash grumbled again, already half under.

Remi rolled his eyes, tucked his head against Ash’s chest, and grinned.

Yeah. This was messy.

But the best kind of messy.

Saturday – 11:09 AM
Remi & Ash’s Apartment – Atlanta

Ashley stood in front of the open closet like it owed him money.

“Why do I have nothing to wear?” he muttered, yanking out a plain black shirt, inspecting it, then tossing it onto the bed like it had insulted him personally.

Remi walked by with a bowl of grapes, chewing as he passed. “You have too much to wear. That’s the problem. Just pick one. We’re getting a car, not walking the Met Gala.”

Ash grunted and pulled out another black shirt. Same result. Same disappointment.

Remi set the grapes down on the dresser and groaned. “Okay, dramatic queen, enough.” He shoved Ash aside gently and reached into the closet like it was no big deal. “This one.” He held up a fitted black long-sleeve with silver edges on the collar. “It makes your arms look slutty. Théodore’s gonna lose brain cells.”

Ash gave him a look. “We’re not dressing for Théodore.”

“Sure we’re not,” Remi said, already skipping off to the bathroom like he’d won an award.

He came back ten seconds later, arms full of bottles, tubes, and sprays. “Alright. Sit. Moisturizer time.”

“No,” Ash said, already walking toward the door.

“Yes,” Remi repeated like a parent who wasn’t messing around. “You’ve been sleeping on my silk pillowcase with your crusty man face. I’m not risking a forehead breakout because you’re lazy.”

Ash flopped down onto the edge of the bed with a sigh. “Can’t I just use soap like a normal guy?”

“No!” Remi dropped everything on the bed, climbed right onto Ash’s lap, straddling him without hesitation. “Step one: toner. Shut up and let me work.”

Ash groaned and tilted his head back. “This is dumb.”

Remi kissed his chin. “That’s a groan. I reward those.” He patted toner onto Ash’s face gently, like a true skincare queen.

Ash sat there, looking half dead inside.

“Step two: serum,” Remi announced, like he was filming a tutorial. “This one has hyaluronic acid. I don’t know what that is, but it sounds smart.”

“Sounds fake.”

Remi ignored him and applied the serum, tapping it in. Ash groaned again.

Another kiss. This time on the corner of his mouth.

“Stop kissing me,” Ash muttered.

“Then stop groaning. Step three: moisturizer. This one's my favorite. It smells like vanilla cookies and ambition.”

Ash mumbled something that sounded like kill me, and Remi pecked him again, right on the nose.

He scooped up the cream and started rubbing it into Ash’s skin gently, circling it over his cheeks, forehead, and nose. He made little “boop” noises every time he tapped somewhere, which just made Ash groan again.

“You’re enjoying this,” Remi said smugly.

“I’m tolerating it.”

Ash’s hands were resting on Remi’s thighs, and the second Remi leaned forward to rub in the last bit of cream, Ash gave his ass a solid squeeze.

Remi squealed, almost dropping the moisturizer. “Pervert!”

Ash smirked. “We haven’t gotten any action in like two weeks. I’m dying.”

“Blame yourself,” Remi said, wagging his finger. “You came home smelling like car oil and gym socks two nights in a row. Not exactly a turn-on.”

“I was working.”

“I was dry-heaving.”

Ash rolled his eyes and leaned in. “We’re alone right now.”

“And we’re late,” Remi said, tapping his watch even though he wasn’t wearing one.

Ash leaned in, kissed his jaw slowly, and said in a low voice, “Pretty sure Théodore can wait.”

Remi paused. “You’re just horny because I made your skin soft.”

“I’m horny because you’re sitting on my lap rubbing things.”

Remi squinted at him. “You’re like a dog with lotion. No control.”

“Bark bark.”

“Idiot,” Remi muttered, then leaned forward and kissed him, slow and sweet.

Ash tugged him closer. “You smell like cucumbers.”

Remi smiled against his lips. “Good. That was a twenty-dollar mist.”

- Feedback? You all feeling it?

Teaser -

Théodore’s gaze flicked between them—first Ash, then Remi.
His lips curled slightly.
“A date. With both of you.”