Charlie
I wasn’t sure this double date was the best idea. Ollie only glared at me with hatred in his eyes while Kit scowled at me like I had said something terrible about his mother. And they were supposed to be a couple? They didn’t act like one. There was at least half a foot between them as we walked through the crowd at the carnival, and they barely even acknowledged each other, while I was holding on to Jones like he might disappear into thin air. Like he might change his mind and tell me he didn’t want to be with me. I might have a problem.
Speaking of my fiancé—I loved how that sounded—he had a smile on his face that was ten miles wide. It had been there since this morning when I asked him to marry me, and I kind of liked it. His happiness was almost contagious. He oohed over every game, ride, or concession stand that we walked by, begging me to stop at each game so he could try to win something.
“Charlie.” Jones stopped to take my other hand and stared up at me. “Can we go into the funhouse? Please, please, I love those silly mirrors. You know, the ones that make you look all funny-shaped and weird.”
Kit grunted. “So lame. ”
“Of course, Bashful. I would love to go into the funhouse with you.” I shot a look at Kit, who smirked at me. “Whatever you want.” I leaned down to kiss him.
Jones sighed happily. “First, take a selfie with me.”
He didn’t seem to notice the way Ollie was watching us or the grumpiness of his boyfriend. Or he just didn’t care. Maybe he was just used to them.
I happily pulled Jones against me so he could take a picture, and then I slid my mouth over his again. “I love you.” I murmured.
“Gross.” Kit started to stomp away, and Ollie ran after him. I couldn’t help but watch the way their fingers brushed just slightly as they spoke, and then they disappeared into the crowd together.
“They’re complicated.” Jones tugged on my hand, and we started walking again. “I think Kit cares for Ollie but doesn’t understand how to express his feelings.” We got in line for the funhouse.
I dropped his hand to wrap my arm around his shoulders. It crossed my mind to bring up the way Kit hit Ollie, but that wasn’t really any of my business. Even if it seemed more like abuse than affection. Maybe it was some weird kink I wasn’t aware of. It sounded painful, and I wasn’t into that.
“We’ve decided to join you.” Ollie knocked my shoulder as he walked up to me. “It might be fun.”
Kit popped his jaw. “Doubtful.”
“Kitten, please. Can you at least pretend to have fun?” Ollie sighed as he looked down at his boyfriend .
I was pretty sure my own eyes were going to pop out of my head. “ Kitten?” I mouthed to Jones, who leaned his weight against my body. Now I had even more questions.
Kit grumbled something under his breath, but when Ollie touched his arm, his face softened for just a moment. Then he pushed Ollie away and folded his arms across his chest. I didn’t know a lot about Kit, other than his reputation on the track: aggressive, competitive, and mean. He didn’t like to lose and often didn’t. He didn’t seem to have a lot of friends either, and it was easy to see why.
“Stop fucking staring at me,” he snapped, and Ollie held up his hands. “God, you’re always doing that. Just looking at me with those eyes. I fucking hate it. You can’t do that. I’m not worth it. You deserve so much more. Someone who can love you back. Forget it. I can’t be around you right now. Jesus Christ.” Kit shoved past Ollie and disappeared into throngs of people.
Ollie’s face crumbled. His chin began to tremble, and Jones untangled himself from me so he could go to his best friend. I stepped out of the line for the funhouse, so we didn’t hold up the line. Jones hugged his best friend without hesitation, and Ollie easily returned the embrace. I realized now that Ollie wasn’t in love with Jones, if he ever really had been, but he was definitely in love with Kit. Who didn’t return the feelings.
Before I could stop myself, I pushed past Jones and Ollie, threading in between the crowd of people on the hunt for Kit. It didn’t take me long to find him sitting on a bench, his head in his hands. I folded my arms across my chest as I stared down at him and waited for him to notice me .
Kit glanced up, his blue eyes red and watery. “What the fuck do you want?”
“To talk to you,” I answered.
He huffed. “Too bad because I don’t want to talk to you.” He gawked as I sat down. “Just make yourself comfortable, Callahan. I wasn’t trying to be alone or anything.”
“I know we don’t know one another, but if you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”
“Hard pass.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’re an asshole. You know that, right? For some unknown reason, Ollie likes you. You’re upsetting him, which, in turn, upsets Jones, and I can’t have that. Do better, Kit.”
“Go fuck yourself.” He glanced away as his eyes swam with tears. His chin trembled as he avoided my gaze, and I watched as he brushed away the tears that slid down his cheeks.
I nudged his arm. “It’s okay to feel, Kit. It means you’re not dead inside.” I tried to coax a smile at him.
“I want to love him back, but I don’t know how. I don’t know what to do. I’ve never had someone treat me like Ollie does,” he whispered, and this time, when the tears fell, he didn’t stop them. “It’s terrifying.”
I didn’t try to touch Kit or console him. I could tell that’s not what he wanted. I was also a little scared he might try to hit me if I did. “Have you tried telling Ollie that? It might help.”
“No.” Ollie slapped his palms against his cheek to wipe away the wetness again. “He’s just too happy. I don’t understand how someone could go through life like that. Always finding the good in everything. It’s kind of disgusting.”
Jones’s face popped up in my mind. The smile that lit up his eyes, the sound of his laugh, how he blushed when I talked dirty to him. “I know the feeling.”
“But it’s also kind of nice. To have someone like that in your life. Right?” Kit glanced up over at me.
I nodded. “It is. They always see the bright side of things and make you smile even when you don’t want to. Someone to make you realize that not everyone in this world is terrible.”
Kit picked at a thread on his jeans. “You’re really going to marry Jones, huh? You’re all head-over-heels for him or some shit like that.”
“I love Jones. He’s it for me. I knew it the moment I met him that no one else would ever do. He was sweet, innocent, and kind. He made me want to be a better person. I tried, fucked it up, and I’m ready to right all my wrongs with him now. Jones is willing to forgive me so we can try again. I won’t let him down. Not this time.” I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
Kit snorted and shook his head. “Yeah, well, I doubt that Ollie will make me a better person, but he is kind of awesome.” His lips turned up slightly. “If you tell anyone that I said, I’ll slit your throat while you’re sleeping.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
I wanted to ask so many questions right now. Like how the two of them even got together in the first place, but it wasn’t the right time to do that. Then Jones threw himself at me, and all of that was forgotten. He peppered kisses against my lips, nose, and cheeks as I roared with laughter. This is what home felt like.
Jones smiled at me, his eyes dancing with happiness. “Found you.”
“Yeah, you did, Bashful.” I kissed him properly this time, my tongue slipping between the seams of his lips. I wrapped my arms tightly around him and held him against me.
Ollie was watching Kit with uncertainty. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Kit climbed to his feet and made a motion for Ollie to sit down. When he did, Kit climbed up into his lap and buried his face into the crook of Ollie’s neck. Right out in the open for everyone to see. Imagine that.
Ollie’s eyes went wide, then he held Kit tightly against his chest. Like maybe he was afraid that Kit would realize what he was doing and change his mind or freak out. Ollie gave me a quick smile when he noticed I was watching, then pressed his nose into Kit’s dark hair. I wasn’t the romantic Jones was, but I couldn’t help but want to root for them.
“Did you two talk?” Jones whispered into my ear. When I nodded, he hummed happily. “Are you besties now?”
Kit coughed loudly. “Are we going to that funhouse or what?”
When I met his gaze, he gave me a curt nod.
“Yes, please. Can we?” Jones clapped his hands happily as he looked between the three of us. “Please, please, please, Charlie! I want to take pictures inside with you.”
I would never say no to him. Not ever again. “I’d love that, Jonesy. ”
He beamed as he climbed to his feet and reached for my hand when I joined him. “You two are coming, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Kit feigned annoyance, but I saw the way he looked up at Ollie. The shine that hit his eyes, and it wasn’t tears. It was much more than that. “Come on, Ols.” He got to his feet.
Ollie frowned. “We don’t have to. You didn’t seem that excited about it before. I know it’s not really your thing.”
“I will literally do anything you want me to,” Kit confessed, and his ears burned pink. “Do you want to go check out the funhouse with me?”
Ollie nodded. “I do, yes.”
“Then let’s fucking go.” Kit grunted, and then surprised me even more when he grabbed Ollie’s hand to drag him away.