now, he'd been fighting this insane jealousy, but the idea of Psyc calling it off and walking away? It left this hole in Braden's chest. A feeling of loss - because that wasn't what he wanted.
"Shit," he breathed. "No. Psyc, just no. I'm not saying this is going to be easy, and I'm sure I'm going to be a fucking idiot, but when you said that? It's like when you can't decide, so someone else picks for you, and in that instant, you immediately know you wanted the other one?"
"Yeah?" Psyc asked.
"I just got that feeling. I like option one. I'm gonna step all over things between the two of you, and you're gonna have to tell me to back off, but let's do this for real? Me, you, and her. I mean, those teenagers are making it work. We can figure this out, right?"
"And us?" Psyc asked.
Braden just chuckled. "Well, if you ever want to stick your dick in my ass, I'm cool. Wait, not what you meant?"
Psyc laughed too. "Ok, yeah, no. I mean..." Then he just sighed, the mirth vanishing. "You said I could talk to you, right?"
"Always," Braden promised. And while that might not make sense with the emotional wreck he'd been lately, he honestly meant it.
"I sucked her dick, Brae. I fucking swallowed! I mean, I gave a blowjob, right? So what does that say about me?" Psyc refused to look away from his glass.
"It says your girlfriend is trans," Braden explained. "Not the fucking same. Everything about Rhaven reads as feminine. Her lips, her hair, even the feel of her skin. She smells like a girl, and I promise you that her cum doesn't taste like a guy's. Hormones kinda mean less wigglies."
"Did not need that visual," Psyc grumbled.
Braden just reached over to clasp Psyc's arm. "Real big clit and a squirter. Think of it that way. The problem with men is that they read as men. Hard muscles, broad shoulders, and completely different mannerisms. Psyc, it's not about her bits. It's about all of her, and she is definitely a woman. Being with her doesn't make you less straight, ok?"
"I..." Psyc poured a little more rum into his drink. "I don't think there's anything wrong with being gay. I don't see a problem with bi or trans or even non binary. It's just that I woke up last night, and I started thinking about it, and I couldn't figure out what it means about me, you know? And then how that fits with you, and some of the things you said, and if you, um, were hoping..."
"No," Braden assured him. "I'll flirt with you. It's what I fucking do. I never expect you to give in, and I'm not setting this up as some way to get in your pants. I'm doing this for her, and my brain feels like it's being pulled in half because of that, but it's honestly that simple."
"So what do I call you?" Psyc asked. "I mean, when people ask, and I say this is my girlfriend and... Her boyfriend?"
"That works," Braden agreed. "I mean, unless you wanna call me your boyfriend, and I'm so down with that."
Finally, Psyc chuckled, but it was weak. "This is going to suck to explain to my parents."
"Least they still talk to you," Braden reminded him. "Just tell them it's an open relationship, and you're dating a woman who has another boyfriend, and we all know about it. Just tell me they aren't going to freak out that I'm bi or she's trans?"
"No," Psyc promised. "Nah, my folks are cool. Dad does the hug line at the annual Pride parade and shit. So, pretty sure that's not a problem." He turned his glass in his hands one more time. "We're cool?"
"We need like a fucking system," Braden told him. "Some way to know when the other wants company or not. I dunno..."
"Open door policy," Psyc said. "If the door's open, you can come in. That's why I left it like that last night."
"That works," Braden said. "I guess this means we get to be like partners in crime, right? You ask me if she's busy on a day, I make sure she's not, and shit like that?"
"I'll do the same in return," Pysc assured him. "And I'm calling you my boyfriend-in-law."
"What?" Braden did not expect that.
"It's from a meme I saw," Psyc explained. "I always thought it was a great explanation for something like this. You know, because we're not strangers, and