Page 12 of The Grumpy Vet (Vet Shop Boys Down Under #3)

Ryde

I hungrily slide my tongue along the left side of Linus's thick cock in time with Dario who's doing the same on the right. Good thing Linus has plenty of dick for both of us to feast on. My eyes slide shut, awakening my other senses and amplifying his salty, masculine tang I crave so much.

I don't know whether it's because we've been unable to do this for a week or the conversation we were having unleashed something in all of us, but whatever the reason, Dario and I made quick work of pulling Linus's shorts down his legs, dropping to our knees, and feasting on our favourite monster.

I've never been this wild with anyone before. Sex has always been something I've done because it's expected, not because it's fun. But there's something about Linus and Dario that unlocks a primal, sexual side to me. I feel more alive than ever.

With Linus's cock nicely slicked up, Dario pulls back and asks me, "You ready to take it?"

"You don't want to go first?"

"No, no. After you."

"Will somebody please suck me off?"

Linus grits out, his head tipping back.

"We're just working out logistics, thank you very much,"

Dario quips with a smile. And then his eyes light up.

"I have an idea. Start sucking,"

he instructs.

I shuffle into a better position, so I'm centred between Linus's legs, and take his cock into my mouth. As I start blowing Linus, Dario moves behind me. His chest presses into my back, and a few seconds later, he hooks his index fingers into the corners of my mouth. "Look up,"

he tells me.

"Look Linus right in the eye."

I tilt my head up with Linus's cock filling me, and Linus's mouth drops open, like he can't believe what he's seeing.

"You like this, Linus?"

Dario asks, his voice carrying a dangerous edge.

"You like mouth fucking Ryde while I spread his mouth open for you like this?"

"Fuck yeah."

His cock pulses against the back of my throat, and the spray of pre-come makes my taste buds light up. My eyes roll into the back of my head. This is too fucking good. Normally, I stay so focused when I'm blowing Linus, hyperaware of his every movement while also silently coordinating things with Dario so we don't accidentally bump into each other.

But with Dario taking the reins, it frees me up to just open my mouth and take it. Dario's dictating the pace and controlling my movements with nothing but his hooked fingers in the corners of my mouth, and at the risk of repeating myself, this is easily the single hottest thing I've ever done.

"You comfortable, baby?"

It's only when Linus doesn't answer Dario's question that I realise it wasn't directed at him. My chest fills with warmth at the endearment even though I'm not sure if it was intended or just slipped out, and all I can do is nod since my mouth is otherwise occupied.

Dario's tenderness offsets the debauchery of what we're doing so nicely. I feel so good. So wanted. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else…or with anyone else.

"I need to hear you say it,"

he says, slowly pulling me back until Linus's cock plops out and he removes his fingers from my mouth.

"Yes,"

I say, my voice breathy and strained.

"Because if it's too much or you're not comfortable, I can stop. I wasn't planning this. It just came out of nowhere."

"Don't stop. Please."

A charged silence lingers in the air.

"So you want me to keep going?"

he checks.

"Yes,"

I rasp, licking my lips hungrily, desperate for more of Linus's cock, which is dangling tantalisingly close to my face, desperate to have my best friend control my movements, reducing me to being a mouth hole for Linus's pleasure while not making me feel reduced at all.

"I can continue or…I can go even further if you want? Go harder."

"Harder,"

I whine, not caring how needy I sound.

"Pleeease."

"You okay with that, Linus?"

His cocks jerks in front of my eyes.

"Very okay."

"All right then."

The next thing I know, Dario's hands are at the back of my head, and in one swift motion, he forces me onto Linus's cock so hard, so fast, so deep I almost choke. This is nasty and so fucking hot.

Dragging me by the sides of my head, Dario slides me up and down on Linus's dick, using me like I'm a ragdoll. Saliva and pre-come escape out the sides of my mouth, dribbling down my chin, but not one of us cares.

He increases the pace, and I try to match my breathing to it as he pounds me up and down the entire length of Linus's massive cock. That's when I realise—I'm deepthroating Linus. Dario has trained my mouth so well I'm able to take the whole thing.

I don't have time to revel in my celebration, or even verbalise it to the guys, because Dario is relentless.

"Eat that fucking cock,"

he growls.

My eyes fall into the back of my head at the heat of his command, and I fully surrender whatever sliver of self-control I had. I'm totally at his mercy now. He can do whatever he wants with me.

"I'm gonna come,"

Linus pants.

"Good. Fill his throat,"

Dario responds, his voice deeper and lower than I've ever heard it.

"Okay, I'm coming,"

Linus cries out, and Dario responds by holding me in place as Linus empties himself in my mouth.

And in this moment, the certainty of the situation hits me. It's us. The three of us.

Nothing else makes sense.

Linus

"How's he doing?"

I ask the nurse, stepping into my father's room.

She leaves the clipboard she was examining, hooking it onto the end of the bed, and walks over to me.

She places a hand on my arm, her expression soft. “Love, I need to be honest with you—your dad’s slipping fast. He’s been struggling more each day, and we’re seeing signs that his body is slowing down.”

"I see."

I glance over at the frail figure on the bed. He looks so small. Hard to believe the man once seemed like a giant to me.

"What can I do?"

"Just be with him."

Her voice drops, quiet but sure. “We’re doing everything we can to keep him comfortable.”

"Thank you," I say.

She gives me a warm smile and slips out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her. I pull up a chair next to the bed. I don't know what to do so I hold my old man's frail hand. There's not much point in talking since I don't know what to say. Don't even know if he can hear me, and even if he can, he's not able to respond. He's just staring blankly, head tilted towards the window, dry lips slightly parted.

A few minutes pass, and something stirs in me. Fuck it. Even if it's going to be a one-sided conversation, there's some shit I need to get off my chest.

I hook my fingers under his jaw, gently turning his head so he faces me. I stare into his dark-hazel eyes.

"I forgive you, Dad. For everything. You did the best that you could. It must've been tough, raising me without Mum. Running the clinic. Not having anyone to talk to or lean on. I get that. I really do."

My mind wanders back to my life before Dario and Ryde became such an integral part of it. I always vowed to be nothing like my old man, but I fear I may have been slipping down a similar path nevertheless. I was alone. No life outside of work. Getting grumpier by the day.

And then Dario and Ryde burst into my world, turning my black-and-white existence into full-blown colour, and I haven't been the same since. Oakey called it. I seem happier because I am happier.

"Thank you for everything you did,"

I say to my father, the pressure building behind my eyes.

"You did the best you could. You're safe here. You're okay."

I repeat the last two words half a dozen times while he just stares at me blankly. I stop and search for some small sign that he at least heard me. But there's nothing there, his eyes glazed over. He may still be alive and breathing, but he's already gone. And I was right, I won't get that Hollywood movie closure.

I let go of his hand and lean back in my seat. Something Dad once said pops into my head. It was after his father's funeral. He was in a foul mood, grieving but unable to process any of his emotions as usual, and he said something like, "Just goes to show, no one wins at life. We all end up in the same place in the end."

I didn't give his bleak words much thought at the time, but now that I'm remembering them, I see the truth of what he meant. Life is short, and really, it's not about anything other than doing your best. Whatever that best means for you. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, why give a fuck what anyone thinks? We all end up dying anyway.

Ryde and Dario float into my head again. I have a striking montage of visuals to choose from, most involving them wrapped around my cock, but given the setting, I settle on a more PG-rated image, one of us sharing a meal at my place after our workout at the end of a long day.

Oakey left over a month ago, and after picking up where we left off—and then some—things between the three of us have only gotten better. And not just sexually, although whatever triggered Dario to get all rough and nasty like that has opened up a whole new world for us to explore. Ryde has returned the favour, making Dario choke on my cock on multiple occasions until tears streamed down his face.

But what's even better than our off-the-charts sexual chemistry is that we're now spending all of our spare time together. Not just evenings, but weekends, too. I've taken them on a few hikes, showing them some of my favourite hidden water holes. Most nights after dinner, we'll go sit outside near the rooster pen and stare up at the brilliant display of stars in the sky. Dario even ordered a jigsaw puzzle from Amazon and two weeks later, it arrived. It's sitting two-thirds done on my dining table.

All of which is to say this is changing from purely a physical thing to an emotional thing. And that is scarier than watching Wilby inhale a meat pie. But as I stare at my old man and contemplate what the fuck the point of all this is, it’s dawning on me that maybe it really shouldn’t be that scary at all.

We've laid our cards out on the table and shared how we honestly feel. Ryde has feelings for me. Dario has feelings for Ryde. And lingering just below the surface is what hasn’t been brought into life with words yet. That I’m developing feelings, too. For both of them.

The real question is—where to from here?

Dario only has a couple more months before his time at the clinic wraps up, and then what happens? Do Ryde and I go back to how we were before he arrived and pretend like none of this happened? Do we continue without him, just the two of us? Neither option sits right with me. But if Dario doesn't want to stay, and I can't leave Scuttlebutt because of the clinic, where does that leave us?

I let out a weary sigh. I've got enough to deal with in my present day, I don't have the energy to worry about what's to come. Dad’s condition has been steadily deteriorating these past few weeks, and despite putting on a brave face and not talking about it—healthy coping mechanism, I know, I know—it’s been getting to me. The end is coming, whether I’m ready to face it or not.

We sit in silence for a while longer before I eventually say goodbye to my father, thank the nurses at their station on the way out, and step out into the still-warm evening air.

I'm walking to my car when I stop in my tracks. What the hell? I walk up to the bench under the massive river red gum.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Oh, nothing. Just hanging out,"

Dario replies, looking up at me with a charming smile.

Ryde says, "We've noticed you’ve been a bit down lately. We thought it might be too much to visit your father with you, but we came here as a show of support. To let you know we’re thinking of you."

"And to give you these."

Dario bends over and retrieves something from under the bench.

"You got me flowers,"

I say when he gets up and hands me the bright bouquet.

"Don't worry. We’re not being sappy. They're edible,"

he says, rocking on his heels.

"Chocolate edibles, not the other kind,"

Ryde clarifies.

A warm flush sweeps through my chest. I don't know what to say. No one's ever bought me a gift before without there being an occasion for it.

I swallow hard.

"I'm really touched. Thank you."

We start towards the car park when something they said twigs in my head.

"Have I been acting down lately?"

"Yeah. A little,” Dario answers before Ryde rushes to add, "I don't think anyone else has noticed, but we have."

I slow down, and, by god, I want to grab both of their hands. But I'm holding the flowers, and we're in public, so I stick to those totally lame excuses as reason not to.

Actually, you know what?

No.

Fuck that shit.

Wasn't I just sitting with my dying miserable bastard father contemplating how short life is? When we reach Ryde's car, I toss the flowers onto the roof, grab the sides of his face, and kiss him—hot and rushed but with an underlying note of tenderness—before pulling away and kissing Dario the same way.

"What was that for?"

Dario asks with a grin when I step back.

"For showing up,"

I say, my eyes flicking between them.

"For you guys being here for me."

"We're always here for you, Linus,"

Ryde says, and then he does something awkward. But cute. But very awkward. But very cute.

He throws a weak punch at my shoulder, and it's clear as fucking day he's never done that before by how limp a gesture it is.

Dario clocks it.

I clock it.

And Ryde's wince tells me he's clocked it, too.

None of us says anything for a few long seconds, and then…

We burst out laughing.

"Sorry. Don't know why I did that,"

Ryde wheezes.

"That was so random."

"It really was,"

Dario agrees, wiping tears from his eyes.

And it's right now, in this very moment, with the evening sun casting an amber glow over the three of us, that it really hits me how much they both mean to me. I knew I liked them. I knew I cared for them. But this is something deeper than that. I want this thing between us to grow. To stay. I want to be with them.

Both of them.

Not because the sex is out-of-this-world hot, or because they're the perfect antidote to the loneliness in my life, but because this is the real fucking deal. And I know it is because it's unlike anything I've ever felt before.

I'm falling in love with Ryde and Dario.