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The three of them watched Fallon cross the conservatory and lower her nose to the nearest croissant. She sniffed it twice, considered the matter thoroughly, and walked away.

“Even Fallon won’t eat them,” Cassian said.

Felix looked at the tears tracking down Cassian’s face, then he stood up and pulled him into his arms.

Cassian went rigid, his forehead dropping to Felix’s collarbone. Felix held on stiffly, chin tipped up and away, maintaining plausible deniability about the entire interaction.

Ivar reached over and patted Cassian’s head twice, firmly.

“Thank you,” Cassian said, into Felix’s shoulder.

Felix’s hand moved from Cassian’s shoulder blade to the back of his head, and stayed there.

“You’re ruining my Loro Piana jumper,” Felix said, even as he allowed Cassian to press closer, and didn’t let go.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Cassian lay in his bed at Ledbury Road with the duvet kicked to the floor and his hand between his legs, working himself the way Ruari had taught him: slow circles with the heel of his palm, two fingers pressing inside where the slick made everything frictionless and easy. The orgasm tightened behind his navel and broke, and left him gasping at the ceiling.

It felt nice. But there was no weight across his hips pinning him to the mattress while a laugh rumbled through the chest pressed against him. His fingers were fine, but they didn’t reach as far, or stretch him out anywhere near as well as Ruari did.

He wiped his hand on the sheet, rolled onto his side, stared at the wall and thought about how to check that his body hadn’t been broken by his wanting of Ruari.

Gavin from next door had been smiling at him for weeks.

He carried the recycling bins in on collection day and always stopped to say hello if Cassian was on the front step. He was tall, alpha-broad in the shoulders, with dark hair and parents who were something important in banking. He smelled like clean cotton, and when he smiled at Cassian over the garden wall, his whole face committed to it.

These were good qualities in an alpha. Cassian had liked them very much in Ruari.

So when Gavin leaned on the garden wall the following Saturday and asked if Cassian fancied a drink sometime, Cassian said yes, and meant it. Then he went back inside the house and immediately told Colin about it.

“You’re going on a date,” Colin repeated. “With the lad next door?”

“Yes.” Colin’s face puckered. Cassian pressed on. “And don’t worry. I know about the three-date rule. Felix told me about it, and Ivar confirmed.”

Colin set his mug down. “What exactly is this three-date rule?”

“I can let the alpha in me after three dates. I counted with Ruari, and he took way longer than that, so I’ve actually been very well behaved this whole time without even knowing there was a rule.”

Colin turned to Diwa, who was placing pieces of cut-up banana into Tala’s mouth. “Diwa. I’m going to delete that group chat off his mobile.”

“No, Colin.” Cassian folded his arms. “I’ve decided Ivar and Felix are my people.”

“Your people are giving you a shagging countdown, Cass.”

“It’s not a countdown. It’s a rule. We both know how I am with rules.”

Diwa licked at his lips nervously. “Cass, I think what Felix and Ivar described is more of a…it’s a threshold. A minimum. Not a target. The idea is that three dates is the earliest point at which you might have enough information to make an informed decision, not that you’re required to…it’s not a timer that goes off and then—”

“What was your minimum with Colin, Diwa?”

Colin answered for Diwa. “One hundred.”

“One hundred dates?” Cassian’s eyes went wide.

“One hundred.”

Cassian turned back to Diwa. “Diwa. That’s so romantic. You waited one hundred dates to have sex with Colin?”