Chapter 55
“Well, come on over here and let’s all get better acquainted,” Bill said, motioning Marty forward with his free hand.
Marty walked up to where the two men were standing, his eyes lowered. Bill slipped an arm around the young man’s waist. Now the three stood with Bill between them, an arm around each of them. Then he leaned toward Marty and gave him a deep kiss. Dan watched. He saw an expression cross Marty’s face as they broke the kiss, and Marty looked into Bill’s eyes. He quickly dropped his gaze when he realized Dan was looking at him.
Bill then turned to Dan and kissed him. Dan didn’t close his eyes. He continued to look at Marty, trying to discern the young man’s reaction to Bill’s kissing him.
Dan recalled Marty’s expression when the young man had walked in on Dan and Bill at Ezra’s party when they were changing clothes in the bedroom. Dan thought of seeing an upset Marty in the hallway just after Bill had left Dan’s office that morning after they’d fooled around. Marty must have seen Bill come out of the office. He remembered the raised voices when Dan had seen Bill and Marty apparently having words in the hospital wing the day before. Bill must have just told Marty of his plan for them to be a threesome.
Dan suddenly understood: Marty was in love with Bill, too. And Bill didn’t seem to have a clue. Bill thought of the young man as just a fuck buddy.
“Well?” Bill asked, looking from Marty to Dan. “Go on.” He pushed Dan and Marty toward each other. Marty obediently closed his eyes and raised his lips to Dan.
Dan turned and looked at Bill. “We need to talk.” 11
It had been a couple of days since Dan said goodbye to Bill. Bill had called several times and had cornered Dan at the clinic, trying to get Dan to understand where he was coming from, insisting they could make it work.
Dan tried not to be judgmental. Maybe for some men Bill’s theory of primal polygamy was valid—that you could love, be committed to a relationship, and still have other relationships, fuck buddies as Bill called them. Dan couldn’t and wouldn’t accept that. No matter how hard Bill tried to make Dan see the logic of it, he didn’t succeed.
However, Dan was equally unsuccessful in getting Bill to see that Marty was in love with him, and Bill was unfairly using the young man. Dan had seen that Marty wasn’t really into it when the three men had been together the previous weekend. Dan couldn’t convince Bill that Marty’s willingness to sleep with them both wasn’t based on Marty’s acceptance of Bill’s theory, but rather on Marty’s loving Bill enough to do anything Bill wanted, just to please him. However, Bill couldn’t get beyond thinking of Marty as merely a sex partner.
Dan’s landline rang. He sighed. He was in no mood for another go around with Dr. Henley on the issue. He let the phone ring until the answering machine kicked in.
“You’ve reached Dr. Parker. If this is a medical emergency and you need the immediate attention of an equine veterinarian, please hang up and call All Creatures at 734-555-3525. Otherwise stay on the line and wait for the sound of the beep.”
The machine beeped. “Hi, Dan. This is Scott…”
Dan leapt from the couch, causing the dogs to be unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. He tripped over a doggy chew toy as he ran to the phone and picked it up. “Hey, Scott.”
“Hi.” Scott’s voice sounded warm and friendly. “Did I disturb you? Is this a bad time?”
“No, no, it’s fine,” Dan said, making an effort to control his breathing so as to appear relaxed. “I just thought it might be another of those calls offering a trip to the Caribbean if I sit through a boring sales pitch about buying into a time-share.”
Scott chuckled. “Well, it’s not an invitation to the Caribbean, but I did call to remind you of your invite to our cook-out Saturday afternoon.”
Dan grimaced and lightly smacked himself on the forehead. How could he have forgotten? “Really looking forward to it,” he said, relieved Scott had called to remind him. “Anything I can bring?”
“No. We’re well-stocked. I have a couple of family members for you to meet.”
“Oh? Want to tell me who they are?” Dan asked, wondering if it were Scott’s in-laws in addition to his wife and daughters.
“Well, let’s just wait for you to get here.”
They said goodnight. Dan walked back to the living room and sat back down. Lady jumped up on his lap. Lad curled up next to him. He stroked both of them softly, as he leaned his head on the back of the couch. His eyelids felt heavy. He should get up, let the dogs out, brush his teeth, and go to bed. But it was so nice just to sit and think of the call he’d just received. He smiled and drifted off to sleep.