Fuck, he’d forgotten about Gideon. He was a part of this, too, even if he didn’t know it yet. And Noel had been right once again. They needed Gideon on board. It was all or nothing. All in or bust.
Riley worshipped the ground Gideon walked on. He lived and breathed to please the male, and anytime Gideon doted on him, the poor kid would practically swoon. Watching them interact was as nauseatingly sweet as it was hilarious. Not many things could make Gideon blush, yet Riley had a knack for it. The male would blunder about like a human teenager on his first date.
Gideon—straight as an arrow, emotionless robot, relationship-stunted Gideon—liked Riley. He didn’t know it yet, but it was plain as day. They were awkward and bumbling, but they had a certain understanding, a weird chemistry. Riley got Gideon in a way not many people did, and Gideon offered things to Riley that Noel and Jai never could.
Jai didn’t know if Gideon was attracted to Riley—at least, not the way Jai and Noel were—but he cared about Riley, maybe even loved him. Jai had never seen Gideon look at anyone the way he looked at Riley, and it fucking hurt.
But it wasn’t as bad as Jai expected. Because he loved Gideon, too. They were family, the four of them. It would just look different than what he thought.
But Gideon was… complicated. They didn’t talk about emotion or gross feelings. Just considering starting this conversation made Jai sick to his stomach. But they needed to talk about it at some point. Gideon had been in a pissy mood all summer. Probably had something to do with Riley leaving them because Jai couldn’t keep his cock in check. Yeah, something like that.
Grabbing his discarded shirt, Jai mopped the sweat from his face and neck. The tattoo on his back rippled, and he felt a few flowers bloom on his shoulder. Riley was happy. Jai chuckled under his breath.
Gideon returned and hoisted another chunk of plaster onto his shoulder, and Jai leaned his arms on the handle of his sledgehammer. “Don’t worry about the mess,” Gideon puffed irritably. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay, good. I figured I deserve a break.” Jai laughed as Gideon chucked the heavy piece of wall out the door to join the rest of the rubble from the destruction, but the humor faded as he swallowed the nerves fluttering in his throat. “So, uh, Noel and I were talking.”
With guarded green eyes, Gideon straightened, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. “Were you?”
“Yeah. About what happens when Riley comes home.” A dark blond eyebrow arched, and like the coward he was, Jai looked away and scratched the back of his head. He was never one to be delicate. He was about as subtle as a bulldozer. So it was no surprise when he blurted, “Noel wants to date him,” inadvertently throwing his Other under the bus.
Gideon’s hand tightened on the handle of his sledgehammer. “Oh?”
Fuck, why hadn’t Jai waited until they weren’t surrounded by heavy machinery that could easily kill him? Gideon was going to murder him and bury him in the flowerbed.
Never one to give up easily, Jai cleared his throat and powered on. “He’s not our ward anymore. And Noel thought… we thought that we could, you know, date him or whatever?”
“Date him or whatever?”
“Uh-huh.” Jai drummed his fingers on the wooden handle of his own sledgehammer, his courage shriveling in the face of Gideon’s cold, emotionless mask. “It’s not against the rules now, since we’re not his Guardians. So we thought why not?”
“Why not?”
“Are you just gonna copy everything I say?”
Gideon’s mouth pinched into a thin line. “Until you start making sense, yes. Because right now, I can’t understand a word you’re saying. I must be mishearing you.”
Well, here goes nothing…
“Noel loves him, and so do I. We happen to think Riley might love us, too. It hurts all of us when we fight over him and force him to choose, so Noel thought—we thought—why choose?” Jai refused to cower as Gideon swelled, but he did tighten his grip on his sledgehammer. “We could just share him, you know?”
The glass windows and light fixtures clinked as Gideon’s skin started to glow. Jai’s power flared in response, and he adjusted his stance in case Gideon really did try to smash his face in. He wanted to—Jai could tell—but he didn’t.
“Share him?”
Great, they were back to the parroting act.
“Yeah, like Cain and Abel. It’s not exactly normal, but it could work for us.”
Stepping forward, Gideon pointed a thick finger in Jai’s face. “He is your ward!”
“Not anymore he isn’t,” Jai said.
“He is a child.”
“No, he’s not!” Jai stepped toward Gideon, going toe to toe with him. “Riley is not a child. He is of legal age in the human world, and he’s grown up a lot in the last year. He knows what he wants and what he doesn’t. And he has the right and mental capability to choose for himself. You can’t keep treating him like a kid.”
With a scoff, Gideon raked a hand through his shaggy hair. “He is barely twenty years old! Two hundred years your junior. You may not act your age, but for Trinity’s sake, Jairus, he is centuries too young for either of you. It’s sick.”
“If Riley was an angel, you wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the age difference. Raphael’s Committed is three centuries younger than him, but I recall you congratulating him when they bonded. This is because he was raised human.”
“This is because we raised him!” Gideon bellowed, and electronics in the kitchen squealed. “How can you look at him—”
Jai patience snapped. “The same way you can!”
Silence stole the muggy air from the room as Gideon froze. His mouth moved, but no words escaped. Jai fisted his hands at his sides and inhaled deeply to rein in his temper.
“I know you feel for him, Gideon. It’s why we want you with us. You can be involved in whatever way you’re comfortable, however you and Riley decide. We wouldn’t cut you out of this.”
Gideon didn’t speak.
Jai sighed. “Riley loves you, Gid. He hangs on every word you say, and when you give him attention, when you teach him something new or compliment him on a job well done, he lights up. He lives and breathes for your approval.
“And I see the way you look at him, the way you talk with him. You let him cook dinner with you and help in the garden and sleep in your bed. You’ve never shared your bed with anyone. Don’t tell me that’s nothing.”
“It’s not like that,” Gideon denied, looking oddly small. “It’s not… I’ve never…”
“I’m not saying you want him the way Noel and I do. But that’s okay.” Jai hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “Because Riley needs you to love him the way you love him. Not the way we do. If we loved him the same, he wouldn’t need all of us.”
“He doesn’t need any of us, especially not like that. We are his family. We want what’s best for him, which means putting aside selfish desires for his betterment.” Gideon shrugged off Jai’s touch, his features hardening. “Which means letting him go so he can pursue wholesome passions and interests. He deserves more than some perverse relationship.”