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“I’m…” he began before trailing into silence.

Confused? Oh, he was definitely confused. He’d gone from trying to wrap his head around the concept that Nick had beenfeeling that way for so long to trying to understand how they’d leaped into a kiss. Heartbroken? Matt’s heart definitely ached to think that Nick had been dealing with his feelings for so long on his own.

“No, not freaked out,” he said instead of dumping his thoughts into their laps.

Emily hummed thoughtfully. “Interesting.”

Nicole snickered. “Does that mean you liked it?”

Matt jerked. “What?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole said with a shrug. “I mean, if it doesn’t bother you?—”

“Itdoesbother me,” Matt insisted.

“Yeah, but not in the way anyone would have expected, especially not Nick.”

Emily cocked her head. “She does make a good point.”

“She does not.”

“She does, though I wouldn’t say it necessarily means you had to like it just because you aren’t freaked out,” Emily said with a pointed look at her sister. “But seriously, did you like it?”

Matt couldn’t help but laugh, trying to push the two sisters away. “You two are ridiculous, and not helping.”

“You’re not answering the question,” Nicole pointed out as she kept her grip on his arm.

Matt sighed heavily, shaking his head in disbelief. He opened his mouth to get them to understand there were more important things to worry about. Namely, he and Nick were now floating in a strange orbit around one another and didn’t know how to meet in the middle. But before he could find the words, the memory of Nick’s lips against his snapped his mouth shut and furrowed his brow.

Nicole nudged him. “Matt?”

“Shush, he’s thinking,” Emily chided.

Matt barely heard them as he thought hard about the question because, really,hadhe enjoyed it? In the moment, he’d been so taken aback by the suddenness that all he’d felt was shock. One minute, he was dealing with the reality of Nick’s long-held feelings, and the next, he was feeling his best friend’s lips on his.

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought, and his lips parted in surprise. In truth, he’d never considered being with another man. Sure, there had been the experience from before boot, but he’d barely given it a thought afterward. It had happened, something he didn’t regret or squirm away from. But it was still something he hadn’t ever attributed much importance to.

Had that little drunken fumbling in the woods meant more than he’d thought? Could it have been a sign that there was more to his interests than thick-waisted blondes or black-haired amazons?

Did it mean he could be into what Nick wanted?

“I think I need to talk to Nick,” Matt said softly.

Emily smiled knowingly, stepping away. “Probably. However, you might want to take it easy on him. He’s probably feeling like dirt right now.”

Nicole sighed. “You’ll probably have to deal with him feeling sorry for himself and feeling like he forced himself on you.”

Matt wrinkled his nose. “That’s not what happened.”

“No, but he’ll think it anyway,” Nicole said.

Emily snorted. “He’s always been a little stupid about taking too much responsibility and blame for everything.”

Matt stepped back, giving one last glance at the beautiful vista. “Thank you, both of you.”

Emily beamed. “It’s what you do for family.”

“And she’s not just talking about helping Nick,” Nicole pointed out.