Allen considered his next move carefully. He didn’t want to make things worse between Kingston and Riley if Riley wasn’t ready to admit to anything. He was sure Riley would get defensive if he knew that Kingston had called and spilled the tea, which wouldn’t help the situation at all.
But his hesitation flew out the window when Riley’s shoulders slumped, and he gave Allen the saddest, most lip-wobbling frown he had ever seen and said, “I think I fucked up.”
Allen instinctively opened his arms and gestured Riley closer, smiling when Riley crossed the room and collapsed to his knees, shoving his sweaty head into Allen’s stomach.
Allen brushed his fingers through Riley’s damp hair, letting the bigger man wrap his arms around him in a hug without complaint. He cooed and tickled Riley’s ear, tugging the hair on the back of his neck in the way he knew Jake liked when he was upset.
“What’s wrong, Ry?”
Riley shook his head, nuzzling his face deeper into Allen’s stomach. “I’m an idiot.”
Allen wasn’t sure if that’s what he said because it was hard to hear Riley’s muffled voice, but then Riley lifted his chin and repeated himself.
“I’m an idiot. A big one.”
Allen offered him a smile and gently pinched his blotchy cheek. “Talk me through your woes so I can understand.”
Riley’s face turned redder than Allen thought possible, and he let out a pathetic groan and dropped his cheek to Allen’s lap. “I was doing a good job handling Sloan’s attitude and misread some shit. Now things are awkward, and I’m pretty sure I hurt his feelings, and he hates me again, so I’m panicking. He’s been moody, and I think it’s my fault because I gave him the wrong idea—and now all the effort I put into building a friendship with the guy was pointless.”
Allen was glad that Riley wasn’t looking at him because his face would have given him away. He had been worried that Riley’s anger was a knee-jerk reaction to being kissed by another man, but he seemed more upset by whatever response he had given Kingston.
Riley ‘shut him down hard’ is what Kingston had said. Allen didn’t know what he meant by that, but he knew how to speed up this process now that he felt more secure about Riley’s emotions.
“Kingston called me,” Allen stated, not bothering to tiptoe around the reveal. His heart tripped when Riley’s head shot back up in alarm, and he quickly soothed him by tugging on his dark-blond hair.
“You don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to,” said Allen. “But if you do?—”
“What a jackass,” Riley snapped, his arms clinging tighter around Allen’s body. “I can’t believe he ran to you guys and told on me. I’m going to punch him in his stupid, smug?—”
Allen rolled his eyes and huffed.
—annoying, obnoxious, rude?—”
“You’re about to run out of adjectives, Riles.”
—attractive, pretty mouth.”
That wasn’t where Allen had expected Riley’s spiral to lead, and a smile tugged at his mouth after the flustered, exasperated confession ended. “Pretty, huh?”
Defeated, Riley dropped his head back onto Allen’s lap and let out a pathetic whimper. “Have you seen his mouth? It’s so fucking distracting. I didn’t realize how much I thought about it until I felt—until he kissed me.”
Allen sent a thank you to whatever god was listening for giving him two awkward bisexual awakenings that he could handle. Things would have gone less smoothly if Riley had shown a toxic reaction to Kingston’s advances, but this was sounding like an easy fix.
“Thought I was straight,” Riley mumbled. “Thought I liked girls, even if I couldn’t find the right one. Then Sloan starts harassing me about who I like and don’t like, accusing me of being in a threesome relationship with you and Jake?—”
Valid.
“And I thought he was trying to literally insert himself into your relationship, so I got angry, and then I got angrier because he’s always talking about fucking girls, and it was confusing. And then when he kissed me, I should have pushed him away, but his lips were soft, and he tasted like mint from the gum we were chewing, and I forgot. I forgot who we are and what we are, and that’s never happened before? How is it possible to forget you’re kissing your rival, who is aguy, and not care? Shouldn’t I be mad instead of feeling guilty for brushing him off? Fuck, Ally?—”
“Dude, breathe,” Allen ordered, scuffing Riley by the back of his sticky neck to give him a shake. “If you start hyperventilating,Jake will feel a tingle of foreboding in his asshole and come barging in to save you.”
Riley’s head popped back up. “Oh god,no. He’ll act all pleased because he’s been dropping hints about my preferences for years. Ever since that time we kissed?—”
Jesus Christ. Allen needed alcohol. Stat.
“Forget Jake,” said Allen, even though he was struggling to ignore the images of Jake and Riley making out in his head. “Kingston. Let’s talk about him.”
“What about him?” Riley asked, sounding petulant.