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When Rylan got his footing, he pulled Issa into an embrace. As he pulled back when she didn’t return his hug, he noticed that Issa hadn’t taken her eyes off Cameron. She stared, slack-jawed at Cameron, before lifting her arms and patting him on the back twice.

Rylan reached for Cameron’s hand and smiled when he slid their fingers together with no hesitation. He glanced up and smiled at Cameron, who smiled back.

Turning back to Issa, who was staring at their linked hands, he made introductions.

“Issa, this is Cameron.”

“Well, it’s Cameron William Hayes for future reference.”

Rylan’s heart beat hard in his chest at Cameron’s easy acceptance of his friend and his willingness to get yelled at because Issa was close to him.

“And this is Issado—”

Issa’s eyes narrowed as she made a sound that cut off the rest of her name from Rylan’s mouth. “Issa’s just fine.”

Cameron nodded before he glanced around. “Where’s your roommate? Suzy, right?”

A blush stained Issa’s cheeks as she glanced out toward the road where she must have parked. “I sorta ditched her by the car when I saw you two kissing.”

As Rylan spotted Suzy at the same time as Tim, Aaron, and Eric stepped out of the house and they all congregated on the driveway. The tiny blonde with corkscrew curls and a wide smile threw herself at Rylan and hugged him. Rylan smiled as he caught her scent, sunshine and flowers that matched her bubbly personality.

“It’s good to see you, Rylan.” Suzy pulled back and noticed Issa gaze locked on Cameron. “What’s going on?”

“I’m waiting for answers,” Issa said.

Cameron pulled Rylan against his side, an arm draped over his hip. His thumb wormed its way under Rylan’s shirt and Cameron rubbed his skin, sending shivers of desire over his body. But he became distracted when Cameron answered.

“Well, both of our tongues were in on the action, not just his. We met last night, and I asked him to move in with me because it looks like Tristan’s back in town and looking for a fight. We haven’t made love, yet. I want Rylan to be my boyfriend, but I haven’t asked him because I wanted to give him a little more time to think about it and get used to the idea.”

Rylan leaned close to Cameron and asked, “Boyfriends?”

Cameron nodded.

And Issa picked up on the one point he wanted her to forget about.

“Did you let Cameron beat him to a pulp?”

“I offered, but the chicken shit is all talk.” Cameron sounded put out by the fact.

Issa smiled at Cameron. “You’re okay with me. But promise me that if Tristan fucks up enough he has to disappear, you’ll call me first. Okay?”

Rylan made a sound of distress, but Cameron and Issa ignored it. Cameron held out his hand and Issa shook it.

“Deal,” they both said.

“Well, hello, ladies.” Everyone turned to look at Tim, who was wriggling his eyebrows at Suzy and Issa.

Issa rolled her eyes but Suzy giggled. The sound making Rylan smile, taking Tim by surprise.

“When I flirt, women walk away.”

Cameron shook his head and changed the subject. “Why don’t we move Rylan’s stuff into the front room and after, we’ll have dinner?”

Everyone agreed and within a matter of an hour, they had everything Rylan owned stowed away in the house. While the rest of the group grabbed beers and drinks from the refrigerator and headed toward the backyard to the grill, Rylan stayed in the kitchen to help his boyfriend.

“What can I do?”

Cameron dumped the ground beef into a bowl and seasoned it with salt, pepper, and something Rylan couldn’t identify. He watched Cameron’s movements and again, was in awe of how deftly he worked. Rylan’s confidence came when he was sewing a dress or drawing a new design, but with everything else, he struggled.