“Hey, Emma, you gotta turn on the TV!” Julie flopped down in the chair next to Emma’s desk and grabbed the remote.
“What’s going on?” Emma asked. Julie’s eyes were glued to the television as she flipped through the channels, finally stopping on the twenty-four-hour news station.
“Look. Your boyfriends are on TV,” Julie said.
“They’re not my boyfriends,” Emma said absently. She still hadn’t told Julie anything other than that she’d been sick the past few days but Julie wasn’t buying it. She’d been teasing Emma all morning. What could be happening that Duncan and Jake were on CNN? The last she knew they were taping an interview for a morning talk show and just a moment ago they were eating pizza. She focused and realized that both men had finished eating several minutes ago. She frowned, trying to figure out where they were. A hallway? No, a lobby. There was a huge crowd in front of them and she felt Jake’s irritation like a burr under her skin. What was going on? She concentrated on the TV.
“...now we’re live at Z100’s studio in New York where Duncan Green and Jake Mackenzie just finished a morning interview and lunch. Neither man realized they were being recorded while they ate and cameras caught tattoos on Jake’s arms that match the new tattoos on Duncan’s forearms. Fans have been talking about Duncan’s new tats for the past week. Apparently, the friends have bonded, though no one yet knows why the men have two tattoos instead of one. This is the first time any celebrities have bonded, and we believe it’s the first report of a same-sex bonding.”
“Holy shit, Emma, do you see that?” Julie pointed at the television where cameras were zooming in on Jake’s arms. He wore his customary leather cuffs, but the swirls of color and the black design of his bonding tattoos were visible above the upper edge of the bracelet. He wore the T-shirt she remembered him putting on that morning but his plaid button-down was missing. What had happened? Emma caught a vision of spilled coffee from Jake’s mind. Now that they no longer itched, he didn’t think about the tattoos when he took his outer shirt off. He didn’t realize the cuffs didn’t cover everything anymore. Ever since they’d completed their bonding, the colored swirls were visible just outside the edges of the bracelets. He looked angry, Emma thought, watching the screen. She sent soothing thoughts his way and watched his face relax minutely.
“Did you know?” Julie asked, her voice rising. “They bonded? That is so hot!”
Emma turned to her friend, wondering what she should say. Before she could think of anything, the reporter stopped talking and the camera focused on Duncan. He was answering questions, his voice flat with displeasure, but clear and steady. Emma made a shushing motion with her hand and Julie pursed her lips. Emma didn’t care. She wanted to know what the hell was happening. She tried to focus on Duncan and Jake’s thoughts but the connection was tenuous at this distance. At most, she could only receive or send emotional impressions and some visual cues. They’d already figured out that they needed to be at least within one hundred miles of each other to use their telepathy, but the empathic bonds stretched further. She picked up the remote, turning the volume on the television up a notch.
“...and when we realized what was happening, we decided to keep it under wraps for a little while as we got used to the bond,” Duncan said on the TV, obviously in response to a question. Emma frowned, wondering why this revelation had sparked such a frenzy. She felt Jake’s reminder that Duncan was insanely famous and she sighed. She kept forgetting.
“Isn’t Jake straight? How did the two of you end up bonding?” a small woman asked the men. Emma leaned forward, wondering how Duncan was going to answer this question. She was surprised to see Jake move to the microphone.
“Yes, I’m straight. Mostly. When people bond, the emotional connection takes precedence. It’s not a hardship for me to be with Duncan. I already loved him. He was my best friend since we were kids. And I know from hanging around with him so long that sexuality is a lot more fluid than most people like to admit.” This comment sparked a wave of conversation and Jake held up his hand to quiet the crowd of reporters. “Yes, I like women, but I don’t have a hard time admitting that a man can be attractive.” Emma nodded, understanding now how he was able to accept the bond with Duncan relatively easily. She’d wondered about that. Even being inside his head and knowing that he was okay with it didn’t really explain why he was okay having sex with Duncan. The bond might trump natural inclination, but she imagined that even so, a man who wasn’t honest with himself would’ve had a much harder time with the situation than Jake. She focused her attention back on the interview.
“Why do you have two bonding marks?” a male reporter asked.
Duncan blinked for a moment, and Emma felt his apprehension and sense of apology a moment before he began to answer. She sent him a wave a reassurance and saw his face soften for a moment.
“Do you want the long answer or the short answer?” Duncan asked, joking with the reporter. Emma knew he was trying to buy some time to think. She tried to make it clear that it was okay if he mentioned her. She knew that she was going to have to deal with his fame at some point, and the fact that the three of them didn’t have time to talk about it before Jake and Duncan left didn’t excuse her from facing reality. She felt a wave of thanks flow into her from them and smiled. She knew Julie was eyeing her speculatively but Emma did her best to appear oblivious.
“You’re avoiding the question!” someone yelled from the group of reporters and Emma watched Duncan wince.
“Ok, here’s the deal. One tattoo means you’ve bonded with one person. Two means—” Duncan broke off as all the reporters started shouting questions at once. Jake smirked despite the gravity of the situation and even Emma had to laugh at the mix of outrage and excitement sweeping over the crowd. Duncan ran his hands through his hair and Emma felt a pang of sympathy for him. It couldn’t be easy standing up in front of a crowd of people yelling questions about something so intimate. Despite the suppression of information about bonding, everyone knew it existed and that it involved sex. Emma wondered what this impromptu interview was going to mean to the people responsible for the information blackout. She felt Jake’s sudden apprehension as he caught the direction of her thoughts and watched his face lose its smile as the reporters continued shouting. They wanted to know who the third person in the triple bonding was. She felt Duncan’s anger and Jake’s concern and knew neither man would mention her name.
“Holy shit,” Julie breathed. Emma tore her eyes from the news just as Julie snatched up her arm, shoving Emma’s sleeve up to her elbow. The bonding tattoo gleamed innocently on her skin as Julie stared at it. Then she pulled up Emma’s other arm and shoved up that sleeve as well.
“Um—” Emma tried to think of some way to explain but Julie cut her off.
“Oh, my God. You bonded with both of them?” Julie asked, excited. Emma nodded, trying to pull her arms away. “You had sex with Duncan Green!” Julie shrieked, squeezing Emma’s hands.
“Shhhh!” Emma looked around the office, grateful there were no students around. “Julie, you have to calm down!”
Julie released Emma’s hands and jumped in her seat. “Are you kidding me? You bonded with Duncan Green and you didn’t tell me?”
“Technically, I bonded with Jake and Duncan,” Emma said, hoping Julie would get a grip before anyone came in and saw her freaking out. She looked at the TV, noting that the interview was over. She hoped Duncan and Jake were okay.