Chapter 36

Kendall

I was being suffocated.

We’d collapsed down on the couch and watched something mindless on the TV while munching on our chips, but things got awkward when it came time to sleep. I assumed we’d all just scratched that itch, but these three followed me to my bedroom door like this was a date or something.

“So did you want a kiss goodnight ,or…?” I asked.

Gage answered by pushing past me and walking into the room, then glancing back at the others.

“Need another mattress in here.”

“What?” They didn’t bother asking me, leaving the room again, only to return with a mattress and base. I watched numbly as my boxes were moved to one side then the other bed was set up beside mine.

“Need to make adjustments to the frame we were working on.” Connor nodded to himself before shooting me the most dazzling smile. And where the hell had that come from? “One that will fit two mattresses easy.”

“Or we get one of those custom made ones.” We all stared at Van as he shrugged. “I admit, I might’ve done a little research.”

“Hang on,” I said, feeling like the fire alarm was still ringing, because what else was that sound in my head? “What’re you talking about?”

“This.” Gage scooped me up only to lay me down in the centre of the bed. Van jumped on as well, arranging pillows behind my head as Connor flicked out a sheet to cover me. It was kind of like a kid’s night-time ritual, but y’know, sexy and adult. Gage settled down beside me, staring with a smirk as the others found a spot on the bed. “Been dreaming of holding you in my arms for too long. Not gonna miss an opportunity to do that now.”

They seemed so… settled, snuggling in one by one, while I started to stiffen.

“Hang on, I can’t go to sleep like this.”

“Can too,” Van argued sleepily.

“I need a shower. I’m all sticky.”

“Maybe… don’t?” I looked over to find Connor’s eyes staring into mine as he placed a hand on my stomach. “Gotta admit, the idea of you full of my cum—”

“Don’t fucking start talking about that.” Van’s voice was muffled by his pillow. “You’ll have me boned up and aching all night.”

“I mean, if it’s uncomfortable, then jump in the shower,” Connor continued.

“Thank you for permission?” I replied, my brow creasing.

“But if it’s not.” There was something almost sneaky about the way his hand slid up my thigh; though if he thought he was fooling the others, he was mistaken. Gage pulled my top leg up and over his, opening me up so Connor could slide a single finger up inside me, not to get me off but to collect some of the residue he’d left, only to pull his finger away so I could inspect it. “Nothing fucking hotter than knowing part of me is deep inside you all night.”

I didn’t know why I did it, licking his finger clean when he brought it to my lips. Probably because the complex mix of salt, sweet, and tang was a perfect reflection of what had gone on between us, and by consuming it, maybe I’d start to understand what the hell this was. He grinned when his finger popped free, kissing the residue off my lips before pulling me close.

“Sleep, Kendall. I’ll take you to work in the morning.”

“I’ll make you breakfast,” Van promised.

“And I’ll make sure you get clean before you get ready.”

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Gage’s wicked grin in the low light. He was like the monster I imagined lurking in the corner of my room when I was a kid: terrifying, but for entirely different reasons. Because when the light was flicked off and darkness settled over us, they moved in close, wedging me between the lot of them.

Like I belonged there.

But did I? They’d confessed to pining for me for all of these years, to planning a whole life for the four of us, but I… My mind raced, not ready to rest now, not when a post-mortem of what had gone down with Finn could be carried out. My brows drew down tighter and tighter as I recalled everything that had happened.

“Sleep, Kendall…”

Connor’s command was delivered in a drowsy tone, and I nearly snorted in the face of it. That was not how shit worked. He didn’t just get to tell me… I didn’t get to finish that thought, slipping into sleep, only to dream of frustrating, confusing struggles with my brother and my parents just looking on.

Havingthree guys in bed might be hot when you were having sex, but it was just sweaty and gross in the middle of summer. I jerked, tried to roll over, and found myself pinned completely to the bed by several heavy bodies. A groan, a wriggle, and then a judicially applied elbow had my captors finally freeing me, only for me to emerge bleary eyed from the sheets to the siren scent of bacon.

Holy morning glory, Batman.

Connor had flopped back on the bed, completely naked, and I saw exactly what had been whispered about in the girl’s change rooms all those years ago. Not quite as solidly built as Gage, but all of those lean muscles were thrown into sharp relief by the grey light of dawn filtering through the curtains. And there, curled along one thigh was the cock that I still felt an ache for.

Boy was hung.

Not as thick as Gage, thank the gods, but still long, hard, and getting harder by the second. It was as if it was partially sentient and it noticed me inspecting it and decided to put on a show. The veins along the shaft started to grow more prominent, the dark-red head starting to poke out from beyond his foreskin, more appearing with every twitch. I knew what it’d feel like if I threw my leg over his hips and decided to wake him up real nicely, all of the best spots he’d hit with every down stroke. Shit, I even knew what his sleepy smile would be like, his long lashes fluttering then flicking open as he saw what was happening. He’d shoot me this sweet smile, his grumpy shit coming much later, and that was what had me moving.

Not towards him, but off the bed.

A sleeping Gage sensed my attempt and reached out and hauled me back.

Shit.

I was busting to go to the loo, but the urge to get the fuck out of this bed was hitting me far harder. Last night was all anger and angst, but now, in the clear, hard light of morning, the need to run, run, run was hitting me right in the chest.

I’d had sex with my brother’s best friends. They’d confessed everything, what they had planned, how they felt, and rather than talk that out, I’d thrown myself into their arms, kissing, and sucking, and fu— A jaunty whistle from deeper inside the house let me know what the source of the bacon smell was.

Van was cooking me breakfast.

The nail in the coffin was the sleepy kiss Gage pressed to the back of my neck. He rocked his body against mine, making clear how he’d like to spend the morning, even if he wasn’t awake yet. A low groan, his hands moving restlessly, I sucked in a breath and then pulled free.

“Ken…?”

Whatever he was going to say, it was quickly lost as Gage buried his face into the pillow. I froze to the spot, not wanting to wake the kraken and hear its declarations of love, right up until the point I heard him snoring again. Then, like a thief, I slunk into the bathroom, locked the door behind me, only stopping when I paused in front of the mirror.

I looked freshly fucked.

Not sure exactly what that meant, I just knew it was true. Whether it was the wild sex hair, the wide-open eyes, the reddened, swollen lips or the fact that I glowed slightly, but to me it was unmistakable. I let out a low moan, then leapt into the shower, washing up in record time before emerging dripping from the bathroom. When I dried up and managed to get dressed without waking the two of them, I thought I was in the clear. I felt a pang of guilt as I snatched up the van keys left on the dresser and shoved them in my pocket, but beggars can’t be choosers. I opened the bedroom door with all the stealth of a cat burglar.

Only to be met by a shirtless Van.

He looked up and grinned at me as he closed the front door, toting the newspaper in one hand.

“You’re up! Come and have some breakfast.”

“Oh, I don’t usually eat much in the morning…”

Lies. I’d eat my damn body weight in breakfast if I let myself, but whatever. I needed to get the fuck out, find somewhere quiet, and just digest—

“Coffee then.”

The paper was tucked under his arm, his very sizeable bicep popping as he reached out with his other hand and then pressed a kiss to my knuckles.

“I can grab one on the way.”

“Kendall…” He said my name in a gently chiding tone, slapping one hand down above my head as he leaned in. Van smelled like sun and pine trees and some kind of spicy body wash, and again, I wanted to press my face into his armpit and have a good sniff… and what the fuck was that? My thoughts came in a hysterical tumble as he tilted my head upwards. “You’re freaking out.”

“What? No. No, I’m not.” I sounded just like I did when I was eight and was trying to stand up to my brother. Great.

“Yes, you are. I know you, remember?” Those blue eyes of his, they were soft and knowing and full of gentle amusement and right then I wanted to jump into those turquoise depths like I had his pool. “I know all your moods. The way you get this little line between your eyebrows when you worry.” His finger smoothed the skin there. “How the muscles around your eyes start to tighten.” Another light touch, forcing the muscles to relax. “And I know that things changing abruptly always makes you uncomfortable.”

“Does not.” I hissed and then shook my head. “Am I regressing? Is that what will happen when I’m around you guys? I’m going to turn into an eight year old saying ‘nuh uh!’ over and over. Maybe I’m having a bloody aneurysm.” The heel of my palm pressed against my temple. “Or—”

“You were forced to deal with three blokes who didn’t know how to treat you the way you deserved.” He shook his head. “Four, if you include Finn. You were left for years feeling like the people who should’ve been protecting you weren’t safe.” The newspaper dropped to the floor with a flutter. “That no one was in your corner.” Another arm came to rest by the other side of my head. “But that changes now. You know how we feel, what we want, but all three of us agreed we’d need to spend some time earning your trust then, and that’s still true now.”

He ghosted his across mine—just enough to make them tingle then follow his, wanting more. Instead, he just smiled.

“So come and have some breakfast and a coffee, and then I’ll take you to work.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I cut the hair off your favourite Barbie doll,” he said, “so yeah, I do.”

“That was you?” When I pulled myself to my full height, he just grinned. “I loved that Barbie! She had beautiful waist length hair and—”

“Promise to get you a new one if you come and have breakfast with me,” he said, pulling away to saunter down the hall. Those trim hips and that perfectly formed arse had my feet moving without thought.

“They don’t make them anymore.”

“Then I’ll find some collector edition one where someone bought it twenty years ago and never took it out of its box and will charge me the size of a house down payment to buy it.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Just come and have breakfast with me.”

A guy that offers to make amends by buying thousands of dollars’ worth of dolls, who could refuse that? I settled down at the breakfast bar as he pushed a steaming cup of coffee my way.

“Promise?” I asked as a joke, but I think he heard the edge in my voice just like I did.

“When I say anything you want, Kendall, I mean it.” A steely light flared bright in his eyes. “You want it, I’ll get it. Now, how do you like your eggs?”