“They’re called triads, I think.” He smiled.

I knew the goddamn term.

“Don’t you have a few buddies who’re in triads?” he asked. “The concept can’t be that foreign to you.”

“It’s not.” I furrowed my brow. “I don’t think you and I are on the same page here, Nicky. There’s no relationship to speak of.”

“Uh-huh.” He scratched his nose, not believing me for shit. “You can’t tell me you don’t want a relationship with them, though. None’a youse can. Fuck’s sake, you couldn’t go ten minutes without checkin’ in with one another yesterday. If August wasn’t coming over to you, you were going over to wherever he was. And you both sought out Camden.” He paused and tilted his head. “There’s kink involved, isn’t there?”

I reckoned we hadn’t done the best job hiding that fact. Plus, Nicky had his own kink dynamic with Gideon, though I didn’t believe it ran as deep, but it was probably enough for him to see the signs.

“Yeah.” The confirmation was only for the last part. “As for the rest—it’s too soon. It’s been a week.”

He found that funny. “Don’t bore me with that bullshit. Chemistry’s pretty much instant, Anthony. Either you want more, or you don’t. You don’t gotta promise your undying love just because you admit you want more with them.”

I shot him an irritated look and felt frustration building up. We didn’t have time for this discussion. The next band had their rehearsal in half an hour.

“Of course I wanna see them again,” I said impatiently. “We’ve talked about it.” Kind of. “We don’t wanna rip off the Band-Aid. We’ll visit each other or something.” Then I had to be honest. “But you know the reality too, Nicky. These things never last. I already went through it with Charles. Eventually, you return home.”

He wasn’t satisfied with my response, though he had nothing to say at first. He hugged his knees loosely and rested his chin on his shoulder, and he looked out over the festival area.

I handled his arguments a lot better than his silence, and I felt the need to defend myself.

“I’m not shy or insecure, bambino,” I told him. “If we’d lived in the same city or I’d seen things working out somehow, I woulda said so. I’ve got no issues taking initiative. But they have their own busy schedule, and I can’t leave New York. Even if I wanted to. I can’t make compromises with the school. I have classes every day. Piles of bills to pay.”