Page 15 of The Trust (As Above)

Mac

“Mackie, just pick one.”

Blowing out a breath, I lean into the glass display like I’m looking over the options again, but I’m really just trying to relieve some of the pressure on my goddamn prostate. It’s making my cock dribble and I’ve had to run to the bathroom for a quick cleanup twice already.

Whose idea was this?

“Sir, if it’d help, I can adjust some things.”

“I—” I swallow and lick my dried lips. “I want engravings.”

The clerk nods. “I can do that. It would just take me about twenty minutes per side.”

“There. Problem solved,” Toby mutters.

I look at my second-best friend and sigh.

“Is this a good idea?”

Toby groans and rubs his hands over his beard. “I’m going to punch you.”

“It’s just that … this morning …”

He growls and the clerk steps back to give us a minute.

“If dude didn’t actually say anything, then there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, but Jordan hasn’t text me back yet. What if that guy got in his head?”

“Or maybe he punched him, and his hand it too swollen to type?”

I snort.

“He better not have. That place is his dream, and I won’t let him lose it over me.”

“Um, Mackie,” Toby says, his brown eyes leveling me. “It would be for himself, also. You aren’t the only queer guy in the group anymore. Plus, there’s Lemon? And that one you were telling me about. Pope or something?”

I snicker and nod. “Poe.”

“Yeah, that one.”

Sighing, I study the clarity in my friend’s eyes. The honey flecks through the brown that I remember from my childhood before life stole Toby from us for a bit. He’s good now, but he’s got this thing that …

“I would imagine being queer is a lot like being an addict.”

Toby flinches and blinks. “Why would you compare this to that?”

“Because. It’s a part of us. Something we have to live with, even when you might not want to. Society doesn’t understand it, though they pretend to, and so many people beat around it like it’s a curse.”

He shakes his head. “It’s not a curse.”

I swallow hard as I squeeze his shoulder and blink back the burn in my eyes at his admission.

“No, it’s not, Broby. It’s just part of who we are.”

There’s a hint of a smile that plays on my friend’s lips and I just know that he’s thinking of his girl.

“It makes us stronger. Worth fighting for.”

I knuckle his shoulder and turn back to the case to hide the way my eyes mist over. “Proud of you.”

He sniffs. “Shut up and pick out a ring for your man.”

It’s thick, his words, but they mean everything.

“Where’s my twin? He’ll know what feels right.”

Snorting, Toby nods across the store where my brother holds up a pretty necklace that glints in the light.

“She’d hate that,” I call out and Rex nods.

“You’re right. Think she’d let me put a ring on every finger instead?”

Shaking my head, I can’t hide my smile.

“Love you, fart munch.”

“ Fine . What about another wedding band?”

“She’s already your wife,” I call back with a chuckle.

My twin grins across the store at me. “Yeah, she is.”

God, I love my family.