of his Christmas cards. The cut-off date for mailing was a week away, and Dean had never left things so late before.
He blamed Robin.
Not that Robin was at fault. He was simply the reason why Dean was so distracted lately. And let’s face it, he’s a gorgeous distraction. But right then he had other things to think about, such as informing his little gang of friends that he was changing the date for their next soiree.
Dean had a feeling he already knew what the first topic of conversation would be when they got to his place.
Ryan’s text came through as Robin was trying to work out what he was going to wear.
Whatcha doin?
Robin wasn’t about to waste time typing. He clicked Call and then put it on speakers. “Going out. Keep your voice down, okay? I’m in my closet—”
“I thought you came out of that at Thanksgiving,” Ryan said with a snort.
Robin groaned. “I’m trying to decide what to wear to—” He lowered his voice. “Dean’s. I’m going over there.”
“Black.” Ryan responded promptly. “Black is always sexy as fuck. But you can talk to me while you look. How’s it going?” Robin told him about the New York City trip, and Ryan snickered. “Yeah, right. You’re really going there to watch some guy dance.”
“No, we are,” Robin protested. “There are photos in Dean’s hallway of him dancing with this Adrian.”
“Seriously?” There was a pause. “Yeah, I can see how Mr. Q would be hot as fuck as a dancer.”
That did it. Robin didn’t care that it would eat up his time‒he had to talk about this. “Ryan, can I ask you something kinda… personal?”
“You can ask, sure.”
“It’s just that… you say things like Dean is hot. You watch gay porn and jerk off to it. You watch videos to decide which ones you’re gonna send to me. Because no freaking way are they random.” Robin took a deep breath. “Is there something you wanna tell me?”
Crickets.
Aw fuck. Apparently Ryan did not want to discuss it. Robin backpedaled quickly. “Forget I asked. I’ll go back to looking for a black shirt, seeing as you think that’s the way to go.”
“Robin.”
Ryan said the word so softly, Robin hardly caught it. “Yeah?” He braced himself for Ryan’s rebuke.
“You know all those girls I said I’ve been with?”
“Yeah?”
“Well… a few might have been guys.”
“Might?” Robin’s heart raced. Oh my fucking God. Okay, so Ryan’s actions had seemed a little suspect, but no way had he expected this.
“Okay. I’ve fucked a few guys, all right? But I’m not gay.”
“You’re not—” Robin was shocked into silence.
“Remember I told you about my roommate, Kyle? Well, he likes… oh geez… When he jacks off, he likes things stuck in his ass, okay? And this one time, he asked me to help him out.”
“Okay,” Robin said slowly.
“Well, since he’s my bro, I told him I would.”
This was getting interesting. “And?”
“Okay, so it started out with this dildo he has, but then he told me it wasn’t reaching… you know… that spot?”
“Oh yeah, I know the one.” Robin tried not to laugh.
“So he wanted to know if I’d be willing to… in the ass… and… I said yes.”
Robin stilled. “You said yes to having sex with a guy?”
“I was helping him out!” Ryan protested. “It’s not like either of us is gay.”
“That’s one guy, Ryan. One is not a few, which is what you said.” His head was spinning.
“Yeah, okay, so there were others. But that doesn’t mean I’m gay. I’m doing a favor for some buddies, is all.”
Robin didn’t have time to unpick Ryan’s argument. That would have to wait. “We’re gonna discuss this tomorrow when you get home, you got that?”
Ryan groaned. “Jesus, I knew I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth. I knew you’d get the wrong idea.”
Robin thought it was Ryan who had the wrong idea, but that was a conversation for another time. “I’m glad you told me.”
“And I’m glad you told me about Mr. Q dancing. Because that gives me an idea. Later, bro.” And then he was gone.
Robin wasn’t fooled for an instant. He saw Ryan’s quick exit for what it was—he was running away from the conversation. He went back to looking through his clothing, letting out a shout of triumph when he found a clean pair of black jeans and a black shirt.
His phone pinged. Wear a black T-shirt under your shirt.
Robin sighed. Fashion advice from my not-gay brother. He yanked open the drawer when he kept all his tees, and