#partatoswoops?

[zombizombi]

3 -- for the Kent Parson Birthday Bash

“Nobody is know,” said Alexei. They were having Thai food before he left for Providence after spending a week in Las Vegas. “I’m sure. Everyone think I’m the man on your instagram -- why you put those, anyway?”

“Well --” Kent flushed. Alexei was referencing some particularly ravishing photos of Jeff’s mostly naked body. “He looked good. I couldn’t help it. You saw that ass, obviously.” He took a bite of his pad kee mao. Alexei had green curry, but it was almost gone.

Alexei laughed. He had such a nice, warm laugh that Kent couldn’t help but smile in response to it. Alexei ruffled Kent’s hair a little. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “My abs better, but if people have to think I look like someone else naked, is not a bad choice. He looks good.” He swirled some of Kent’s noodles around a fork, stealing a bite.

Kent laughed. “I should put you both on there, keep people guessing.”

Alexei raised a brow. “What, not enough drama for you in last year?”

He had a point.

Coming out had been messy. Kent had known it would be, but he just -- couldn’t take it any more. He’d done it in the least flashy way he could think of, coordinating everything with the front office and keeping his therapist’s number on hand at all times. He’d taken all sorts of questions and dealt with a lot of homophobia, which was… exactly what he’d expected. And honestly? It hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought it would be. Mostly. He didn’t have to pretend to have a girlfriend anymore, for one thing.

And once one person caught Kent and Alexei having a friendly coffee together and posted it to Twitter? There was no convincing anyone that they weren’t madly in love. There had always been pictures of Kent and Alexei together, ever since they’d met at a training camp, and quick-thinking fans immediately tracked them down as “proof” of a long-standing relationship. The internet exploded. Kent’s call to Alexei, originally meant as an apology, took a twisting turn into a plot to cover up his real boyfriend with a fake one. 

Over the last year, Kent and Alexei had gone on some very public dates. They were seen at big-name restaurants in Vegas, took each other to the NHL awards, and made sure to get caught having pie in a bakery in Providence, just the two of them. It was fun and hilarious and, once they’d figured out that nobody really noticed anything if Jeff came along, too, their dates often included Kent’s actual boyfriend.

The more time he spent with Alexei, the easier it seemed to get. When he visited in Vegas, he stayed with Kent and Jeff, taking their guest bedroom. When the Aces came to Providence, Alexei always took them some place he really liked -- in addition to his one-on-one publicity stunts with Kent, of course. 

He never said anything about wanting to end their arrangement, despite the fact that it had been going on for a while. Alexei wasn’t actually seeing anyone that Kent knew of, and he always seemed content with his time with Kent and Jeff. They’d only staged one or two kissing pictures, nothing too risque, but both times Kent had come away with the feeling that they could’ve gone a lot further. He couldn’t deny that Alexei was just his type -- tall, dark hair, hot as hell. He was the kind of guy Kent wanted to climb like a tree, and the idea of seeing him in bed with Jeff only made it worse.

 That was the feeling he was going home with that evening. Alexei’s crushing hug in the airport stayed with him on the drive home. They had fun together, didn’t they? And they’d only gotten closer over the last year. Kent couldn’t help but wonder how much more fun they could be having. When Alexei was over to their house, they always laughed and stayed up too late and just generally… enjoyed each other’s company. They’d all fallen asleep on the sofa together more than once. 

Honestly, it wasn’t the first time Kent had considered asking Jeff what he thought about Alexei. They got along just fine, and Kent knew that Jeff was thankful for Alexei’s help in covering up their relationship -- not because they were worried about being out, but because they were on the same team. It was a PR nightmare. 

Not that Kent publicly dating a man from another NHL team was without its own problems. Still, it was easy to deal with, much easier than speculation about Jeff’s role on the team if everyone knew he was the captain’s boyfriend. It would’ve been even worse if everyone knew they’d been dating for three years.

Coming home, he tossed his keys down by the door. “Babe?”

“What?” Jeff’s voice came from the kitchen. “You back already? Have fun?”

“Mmm.” Kent found Jeff washing dishes. He slid his arms around Jeff’s waist, leaning his cheek against Jeff’s bare back. He smelled like Irish Spring soap, clean and comforting, and his hair was still wet. Kent closed his eyes.

“Miss me?” Jeff rinsed the last plate. “Not ready to replace me with Alexei?”

Kent laughed. It was a running joke between them, either Jeff’s being replaced or their adding Alexei to the relationship and sleeping in a giant hamster pile. “Never,” he said. Pressing a gentle kiss to the back of Jeff’s neck, he opened his eyes again. “But we can add him in if you want.”

Jeff laughed, too. “Yeah, all right.”

Wait, for real? They’d never discussed an open relationship seriously before -- at least, Kent thought they hadn’t. They’d talked about it in very casual terms, mostly in reference to Alexei. Jeff was fond of the term ménage à trois. “Are you joking?” Kent asked.

“Are you?” Jeff twisted in Kent’s arms. “C’mere.” He leaned down, catching Kent’s mouth with his. “I was wondering about that, myself. We say it often enough.”

Kent pulled back. “Were you?”

“You like him,” Jeff said, voice soft. He grinned. “Not as much as you like me, but let’s face it -- I’m amazing.”

Kent rolled his eyes. “I do not --”

“Yeah, you do. You guys have fun, he’s great. I like it when he’s here. Every time he’s come over, it’s chill.”

“And he’s hot,” Kent said.

“And he’s hot.” Jeff rubbed at the back of Kent’s neck. “It’s no big deal, babe. I just, y’know. I wanna have fun, too.” He paused. 

That was fair. 

“Does that make this an open relationship?” Kent asked. He wasn’t really sure he could stomach the idea of Jeff going out and finding someone else. That’s what an open relationship would entail, wasn’t it?

“Uh,” said Jeff, “no. That makes this an I’m okay if you want to look up polyamory and talk to Alexei specifically relationship.” He kissed Kent’s forehead.

Oh, good. “Cool,” Kent said.

Their bright idea to get that ball rolling was to have Alexei come by and spend more time with both of them. Kent made sure to imply that he wanted to see Alexei just because he wanted to, turning down any ideas of public places they could be seen. “Nah, we just wanna hang with you,” he said, careful to use the plural “we” instead of “I.”

Jeff opened the door, letting Alexei in. “Hey, man.”

“I bring you a wine,” Alexei said.

“Classy as fuck,” said Jeff, “okay. C’mon, I’ll put that in the kitchen and we can finish that episode of House of Cards we were watching last time you were here.”

“You don’t finish it already?”

“Nah, man, I waited for you.”

Alexei’s laugh melted the ice off Kent’s nerves. “You are too good to me,” he said.

“I get that a lot,” said Jeff.

The wine was a perfect match for the pasta Jeff had cooked.

“So,” said Kent, fidgeting a little. “I know, um. We’ve been seeing a lot of each other lately, and, uh. That’s been nice. But --” He paused, not sure of how to say it. How were you supposed to ask a guy if he wanted to date you and your boyfriend?

“Spit it out,” Alexei said, after a long silence. “You are like -- jumping beans?” He patted Kent’s thigh.

Jeff laughed.

“I just, um. I was wondering if we could, uh. If we could maybe not fake date any more,” Kent said. 

The smile slid off Alexei’s face. “Oh,” he said. He swallowed, pulling his hand away from Kent’s leg. “Ah. I’m sorry.”

Jeff frowned. “I think that came out wrong,” he said. “We’re trying to ask if you wanna date us. Both, I mean.”

Alexei stared.

“For real,” Kent added. “Boyfriend-style. Not fake dating, I mean. Like actual, real, all sleeping in bed together dating…” Alexei’s face was unreadable. That meant he needed to backpedal, right? Big time. “If not, it’s cool, so don’t --”

“Yes,” said Alexei.

“Oh,” said Kent.

“Cool,” said Jeff. “I get the left side of the bed. No debate.”

Alexei laughed.

( here it is on AO3 -- part of the @kentparsonbirthdaybash collection! )