Chapter Nine

Harlen

North carries Lily back to our place. She is out cold with her head resting peacefully against his chest. He can't carry her the entire way to her house, so we both get into his truck; I'm behind the wheel, while he keeps her tucked close to his body.

Eli split off somewhere around the cemetery—he won't want to be around for this conversation. He knows North is our voice of reason when neither of us can see straight. I don't speak, and I know North is still processing what just happened. If he tells us what we are doing is wrong, both Eli and I will believe him.

The drive to her house isn't far, and once we pull up out the front, I get out and race up the front porch, lifting the doormat and pulling out her spare key. After I've opened the door, I put the key back where I found it. While it's risky to bring her home without our masks on, it's one we are willing to take. As I told North, I'm not purposefully hiding my identity from Lily, but she literally told me she likes the fact she doesn't know who is chasing her. Besides, it makes it less complicated for her.

North carries her upstairs, and silently I direct him to her room. He raises a brow and I smirk; yes, I know where her room is. I move ahead of him to pull back her comforter, and he places her down on the white sheets, then slips her shoes off and pulls the comforter up, finally tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He motions toward the door and we both leave her room, closing the front door behind us on our way out. North twists the handle quietly to make sure it's locked.

"I don't see any harm in what you're doing," he says as I slide into the driver's side of the truck once more. "But I think it will complicate your friendship with her when she finds out you are one of the men behind the masks."

"You think so?"

He closes the passenger door and buckles up before answering. "I do. What if she thinks you betrayed her trust by not telling her it was you? For now, it all seems harmless, but consider telling her sooner rather than later."

"Does that mean you will not chase her again?" I ask, my eyes trained on the road as I drive away from my newest craving.

"I don't know. I think I want to pursue her outside of the mask—she's fun to be around. But I might talk to Eli first. He seems very into this whole thing, so I'll also keep that in mind."

North places his hand on my thigh, stroking his fingers along my jeans. My dick gets the memo quickly, and so does North, moving his hand so it sits over my cock.

"Don't fucking tease me. If you want to suck my cock, then do it. You can see how good she tastes."

North undoes my jeans and pulls my cock out. He closes his hand around me, stroking and playing until I'm so hard I could explode in his hand and be satisfied. We hit the back road to the hospital, since any other access is blocked off by the haunted trail bullshit. North undoes his seat belt and repositions his body. He leans over, not wasting any time, and sucks me straight into his mouth. North isn't like Eli. I can't force my length down his throat—he would nut punch me. North does things his own way, stroking me at the base in time with his mouth. I want nothing more than to fist his hair and guide his movements, but I can't because as I pull into the driveway, I narrowly miss the pile of fucking wood he stacked by the back entrance. After parking the truck, I lean my head back against the seat and close my eyes, feeling his mouth sucking and his tongue flat against my shaft. Within a minute, I'm lifting my ass off the seat and coming right down his throat.

North pulls back and wipes his lips on the sleeve of his hoodie. "Her pussy tastes sweet against your cock. I might not take part until she knows, but you better come fuck my mouth after you fuck her. "

The back door slams open, and Eli stands silhouetted in the doorframe. "Shit," I mutter. "I'll go talk to him before he gets antsy and does something stupid like setting Tom Morgan's wife's flowers on fire again."

North smirks. "I'm going to shower and go to bed. I promised Lily we would go to the hardware store together tomorrow."

I slide from the truck and head toward Eli. We have different dynamics; there is Eli and me, and North and me. While I know North has fucked Eli once before, they rarely do anything unless we are all together, and that hasn't happened in a very long time.

Eli turns to walk inside, and I run up behind him and jump onto his back, wrapping my arms lightly around his neck. He walks us up into the shower in his room. We don't shut doors often. If North joins us, then so be it—but he won't. I heard his door click shut, and that is where he will stay until he leaves bright and early tomorrow morning.

Eli shucks me off his back. I strip down naked while he turns on the water, and he holds his hand under the stream until it's the right temperature.

"Is he going to make us stop?" Eli asks, his back turned to me. Stepping up behind him, I wrap my arms around his middle. Grabbing at the hem of his shirt, I pull it up and over his head.

"No, but he thinks we should tell her. Especially if we plan to be her friend."

"Why would she want to be friends with me? Girls pity me." He spins around to face me .

"They do not. You are fucking hot, Eli James. So hot it's hard to fathom having to share you with her. I hope you don't forget who you belong to." I slide my hands down his abs, and he shivers under my touch.

"I will always belong to you, Harlen Cooper, but there is something about Lily and I don't want to let that go."

"And I would never ask you to. But you should give her a chance to get to know you. Come with us one day—when you're ready."

"People in town will stare," he mutters as he drops his pants to the ground and steps into the shower, with me right behind him.

"Who cares if they do?! Fuck them, Eli. We're allowed to be happy. I don't care what anyone thinks besides you and North."

He picks up the body wash and squirts it onto his hands, then rubs his palms over my chest. "They all hate me on behalf of your brother."

I snort. "And don't forget how gay you are as well."

That makes him smile. This backward-ass town hates three men living together, and it doesn't help how I flaunt the fact that I'm fucking them both in everyone's faces just to make them uncomfortable. But only if they say something to me first.

"Also, don't worry, Tom has made it his personal mission to warn Lily away from us. The poor guy doesn't know how to take a hint and Lily is too nice to tell him to fuck off."

"Fuck, I hate that guy. I don't know why he got married when he still constantly hits on women," Eli grumbles.

North and I see it all the time, normally when people from Willow Grove come for celebrations, as Maple Hollow goes all out for every occasion—not only the big ones.

After Halloween, the town square gets ready for Maple Hollow's annual cooking competition. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but the men drag out smokers and families compete against families. Then we jump straight into Thanksgiving decorations.

Once we finish in the shower and dry off, Eli drags me into his bed and wraps me in his arms. Some nights, he likes to share a bed, usually when he is feeling insecure.

"Do you think she would like me if she knew who I was?"

Rolling over to face him, I nod my head. "She doesn't seem like the type who would care, Eli. We talk about you all the time, and she asks me how you are. She knows you don't like to leave the house much and how you don't talk unless you want to. You really should come with us to hang out with her one day."

"Maybe. Do you wonder if she could be the one we are missing? I know North really wants a girl around."

"She could be, if we told her who we are. If we don't, then eventually she will meet someone and what we have will taper off into a distant memory."

The thought makes my stomach twist into knots. Is it possible to like someone this quickly and not simply because she lets us chase her? The more I get to know her, the more I enjoy being around her. Maybe North is on to something. But until Eli is ready, I won't tell her. There is no way I would betray his trust, and neither would North.