More than Friends

Chapter Three

“Hey, Matty!” Ryan called as he and Lee trotted up the stairs to the apartment building.

“Hey!” Matt grinned. “You found the building okay?”

“We’re here, aren’t we?” Ryan laughed. “Where’s Vixen?”

Matt chuckled along with him. Ryan had been calling Matt’s boyfriend, Brian, that name for a while now, but to Matt, it just didn’t seem to fit. Stopping to smile at Lee for a moment he turned his eyes back to his best friend.

“He’s inside with Niko,” he said. “They’re almost finished packing the cooking equipment in the kitchen.”

“Big job,” Ryan whistled.

“Uh huh,” Matt nodded. “So. You going to actually introduce us, or do we have to do that ourselves?”

Lee laughed out loud. He was a little nervous about meeting Ryan’s best friend, but the guy had put him right at ease. He was tall, like Ryan, and built solidly. His muscles were clearly defined on his bare arms and beneath the tight, white wife-beater he was wearing, as well as the denim jean shorts. He had sandy dark blonde hair and clear blue eyes. Man, these California boys were hot, Lee thought to himself. And he’d snagged the hottest one. He looked over at his dark brown, almost black haired boyfriend. Matt was the blonde beach god, but Ryan was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome.

“Don’t mind him,” he grinned at Matt. “He never introduces me unless he’s forced to.”

“Oh, that is SO not true!” Ryan scowled.

“Oh no?” Lee turned to his boyfriend. “Let’s ask Kevin and Jason.”

Matt dissolved into a fit of hysterics while Ryan tried not to crack a smile. It was bad enough that Lee knew he had him wrapped around his finger. He didn’t need Matt and Brian to realize it too.

“Give … it … up,” Matt coughed out. “I can … see … how it is … between … you two.”

Lee raised one chestnut brown eyebrow in triumph. He knew Ryan was laughing on the inside anyway. He always did.

“Matt, meet Lee,” Ryan smiled gently and pulled Lee closer to himself, wrapping his arms around the boy’s waist. “My boyfriend.”

Lee beamed happily at the loving tone Ryan used and pressed his back into the bigger boy’s chest before turning to Matt and stretching out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Matt’s smile stayed in place as he shook the boy’s hand. “Boy, am I glad to meet you,” he chuckled. Gesturing to Ryan over Lee’s shoulder, he added, “He was way overdue.”

“Overdue for what?” Ryan’s scowl returned.

“For falling,” Matt clarified and gave him a pointed glare. “You and I both know it, too.”

“Know what?” Ryan countered. “I didn’t know I was such a charity case.”

“That’s not what he meant and you know it, baby,” Lee admonished him softly.

“What did he mean?”

“I meant that you’ve had to watch me and Brian,” Matt replied seriously, “and Jase and Kev for a long time now. It’s about time you opened yourself up to someone, too.”

Ryan tried to keep the scowl in place, but his best friend knew him too well. So did Brian. Hell, he bet the little blonde and his equally small brother had many a late night conversation about him and Lee. It wouldn’t surprise him, really. Brian had sort of adopted him as a brother before he’d moved to Boston with Matt, and Kevin never let Ryan get away with holding things back. Man, they were devious, those little blondes, he thought with amusement.

“I psychoanalyze you,” Ryan griped with a smirk. “Not the other way around.”

“Ryan!” a voice called out before Matt could reply.

All three of them looked up to see Brian running and tripping down the stairs. Ryan let go of Lee to catch Brian in a hug before the boy could fall on his face. Lee tried to feel a pang of jealousy at the closeness he could see between the two, but he just couldn’t. Brian was the most adorable thing Lee had ever seen … well, besides Kevin. You could definitely tell the two were brothers, though Brian’s hair was lighter and his eyes were green. He was very small, too. Maybe he reached five feet five inches, but Lee wasn’t willing to bet on it.

The boy pulled away from Ryan and smiled up at Lee shyly, clearly waiting for an introduction.

“Hi, I’m Lee!”

“I was going to introduce you!”

“Uh huh,” Lee grinned at Ryan as he shook Brian’s hand. “I’m with him.”

“With him, huh?” Brian giggled.

“With me,” Ryan affirmed seriously.

“It’s about time,” Brian smirked, leaning back into Matt’s strong form.

“You, too?” Ryan demanded.

“Did you torture your friend?” Brian admonished Matt, tilting his head all the way back to look up at him.

Matt grinned down at the blonde and bent his head to kiss the tip of his nose. “What do you think?”

“I think you did,” Brian grinned and looked back at Ryan. “And I think he deserved it!”

Ryan sighed theatrically and pulled Lee back into his chest as a human shield. Lee didn’t mind though, loving the proximity he was able to enjoy with Ryan. It was something he’d never thought he would have. Ryan kissed his ear then glanced up at the building.

“So, where’s this Niko guy?”

Lee frowned. He’d forgotten about the Greek kid. Was he cute? Would Ryan be attracted to him? Why did he feel threatened by that boy and not Brian? Well, he answered, Brian’s happily taken. Whereas Niko is … Niko’s not taken. He sighed inwardly, struggling to keep the jealousy inside. He trusted Ryan. Ryan wouldn’t leave him. He pasted a smile on his face and deliberately relaxed his muscles so he wouldn’t let on what he was feeling.

“There he is!” Brian grinned as a dark haired boy emerged from the doorway.

“I had to go to the bathroom,” the Greek shrugged.

His accent was sexy and he was cute, Lee acknowledged. Shit!

“You are the love of my life,” Ryan whispered in his ear while Matt and Brian’s attention was diverted. “And I don’t see anyone but you in front of me.”

How the hell did he do that? Lee was seriously going to ask Ryan if he had secret psychic powers when they were alone again later. But first he was going to enjoy the scintillating chill that Ryan’s whispered confession sent down his spine.

“I love you,” he whispered back.

“I love you, too.”

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Matt and Ryan moved all of the large furniture, like the beds and dressers, into place. They’d taken a rented van over to Trent’s apartment earlier and picked up all of the things that Niko and Brian had packed the day before. Trent’s furniture consisted of a chair, a couch, a coffee table, a small utility table for the kitchen and a full-sized bed. It didn’t take them long to load it all up and move it to Matt and Brian’s building. Trent’s father had originally tried to take the furniture, claiming he’d paid for it. But Matt’s father, a lawyer, argued that the man didn’t have receipts to prove it. Trent didn’t care one way or the other, according to Matt, but Cody demanded that he keep it. Cody was big on holding a grudge these days.

Matt and Brian hadn’t had a coffee table, but they did have a full-sized kitchen table, which was good because their new kitchen was larger than their and Trent’s old ones. They also had a couch, but it was so similar to Trent’s that they matched perfectly. Everything fit in well, and they were moved by the end of the day.

“Food!” Brian announced.

“You and Kevin really are alike,” Lee grinned.

“He eats a lot, too?” Niko asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Lee smiled at the boy, albeit tightly. “Can’t keep him full for long.”

“Me either!” Brian laughed. “Let’s go to Durgin-Park again!”

“Is that your favorite place?” Niko asked him with a small smile. “We seem to end up there many times.”

“Hey, when you find a favorite, you stick with it!” the small blonde laughed.

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Later in their hotel room, Lee snuggled closer to Ryan beneath the covers. His animosity towards Niko had slowly dissipated while they’d dined, especially when the boy told them all stories of his village back home. Niko was homesick. He was also still hung up on Kolina, a girl he’d known growing up whose parents had arranged for marriage to a rich boy from the mainland. He hadn’t seen her since.

Lee knew some of the boy’s story from when Ryan discussed it, but Niko didn’t seem to like talking about Manny or of his time in Boston before he’d met Brian. Lee just knew something bad had happened. He also knew Brian had a troubled background as well, though he also preferred not to discuss it. Ryan had only said that what had happened to Brian should never happen to anyone.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Ryan asked sleepily.

Lee glanced up at him in the dark and noted the strong lines of his profile. He traced Ryan’s cheekbone with his index finger and kissed the man’s chin before answering the question.

“Us,” he said simply.

“Us?”

“Mmm hmm.”

Ryan quietly pondered that for a while then asked, “What about us?”

Lee kissed his lips slowly, carefully, lovingly before replying. “Did you mean that today?”

“I mean everything I say to you,” Ryan whispered. “Which thing in particular, though?”

Lee squirmed awkwardly before settling back against Ryan. “About me being the love of your life.”

“Ah,” Ryan smiled staring deeply into Lee’s turquoise-colored eyes. He rolled the boy onto his back and settled on top of him. “Yes. You are and always will be the love of my life.” He never broke eye contact and punctuated the statement with a firm and hungry kiss to Lee’s pouty lips.

“You can’t guarantee that,” Lee said sadly.

“Can’t I?” Ryan leaned in and nibbled on Lee’s bottom lip until he gasped, then slid his tongue inside the smaller boy’s mouth and explored its inner recesses, branding him, making him writhe instantly with need.

“You feel that?” Ryan asked between gentle pecks.

“Wh-what?” Lee panted.

“That. The instant connection.”

Lee nodded mutely.

“I know that you’re the only one I’ll ever have that with,” Ryan continued confidently. “And I know that there’s nobody else I’ll want.”

Lee still couldn’t find his voice, so Ryan sealed their lips together again and took the boy to another new level of heaven.