Chapter Twelve

Adam

Oh gods. Is this what I've been missing out on all these years? Fighting the tides of toxic masculinity so some men would think I was cool? I"m downright giddy as a baby panda with bamboo. Even Delaney"s clear confusion and bewilderment can"t touch me. I just need to get her on my level, which shouldn"t be hard considering the amount of pounding her body just took from one of her other men. "Delaney, Delaney, Delaney," I trill, so relaxed as I sink into her couch. "How are you doing my love? You want me to fix you an ice pack for your cunt?"

Her footsteps get closer, but honestly I'm just too comfortable to move. "Why don't you sit on me and we'll have a proper snuggle sesh?" I pat my lap just in case she gets any funny ideas about putting my facemask inside her labia.

Cory starts giggling next to me, making my lips twitch. "What"s so funny, baby?"

My partner gets up off the couch and then they start a whispered conversation with Delaney, then she starts giggling too. I want to see them giggle together. I can do that, can't I? This mask is nice, but it doesn't cover my eyes. I open them.

"You feeling okay, Adam?" Delaney asks, trying not to laugh.

"So good, sugar cheeks. Fuck, you look beautiful after you've been ravaged. Have I ever told you that? I don't think I've ever seen you post-ravaging. It's a good look. We should do this more often." I get my fill of the two of them together before I close my eyes again, a happy smile still draped on my lips.

"My brother must have dicked her so good. Did he Delaney? Did August dick you really good? I hope he did. You're special, you deserve that," Jackson says with a smile in his voice.

"Cory, I think I love you," Delaney giggles some more, making a warm feeling rise up within me. She"s downright magical when she"s happy like this.

Mr. Wilder sounds slightly amused, but also maybe a bit jealous of her easy affection? "You said you loved the guy that was here last night. Now you're saying you love my TA. What about me, huh? I'm your mate. Do I get a little love? How about a little smoochy kiss?"

"Oh my gods they're adorable. Can we keep them like this?" Delaney pleads.

"Might have to get creative; not sure the face mask thing will work again. They're going to be suspicious," Cory replies.

Bah. "Suspicious? Over what? Self-care is so important, Cory. Isn't that what you always tell me?"

"I do…" they trail off, getting closer to me now. I feel them kneel between my legs on the floor and my dick gets real excited.

"You going to suck me off now? That would make this experience just that much better." I squeeze a hand into my jeans before deciding it would be much easier to just unbutton them, so I do that then pull myself out. No need to be shy. "You know you want it, baby. Can't wait to feel your hot mouth all over me."

"Whoa there, Adam," Delaney chastises, "let's put that away for now okay? I think you forgot you"re not alone with Cory right now. There are lots of people in this room."

I pout. "You don't want to see it? It wants to see you. In fact, I think you two should get to know each other. Cory, why don't you show her how I like it?"

"It"s a very nice dick," she reassures me as she clears her throat. I peel open my eyes again to see her cheeks are flushed and she's staring at the ceiling.

"If it"s so nice then why won't you look at it?"

Delaney covers up her red face. "Cory, I rescinded my previous statement. Now you're killing me."

"Don't feel bad about it," they say to Delaney. But I"m not sure what on earth she feels bad about? Is my dick really ugly or something? Nah, Cory would have told me if it was.

"All the face masks are doing are allowing them to voice what they really want. It doesn't make them do something they wouldn't. It just breaks down all inhibitions to stop the complicated thoughts, removes their filter. Anything he says now you can trust."

Delaney doesn"t sound convinced, and I"m two seconds away from breaking out an impromptu tap dance routine to cheer her up.

"Yeah, but how much is he going to be disgusted with me later? No, I can't. If he doesn't want me when he's sober, he doesn't want me."

My dick deflates because it's sad now. I open my arms. "Come here, girl. I said mean things, didn't I? I was adamant that I didn't want you. Cory, I lied." I giggle. "I didn't want to lose you," I tell them as I palm the side of their face, mooning over them through my awesome mask. My thumb rubs against their lips, and then I slip just slightly inside to feel the pink tongue in there laughing at me. It's not as good as something else being in their mouth, but still nice.

"I'm so scared of her," I tell Cory in confidence. "She's like super pretty, and super cool, and super nice, and super…a lot of things. Have you seen her boobs? They're fantastic. And she's so tall," I say in a daze. "She's like this living sculpture of art that you just want to plow into."

"Can confirm," Jackson interjects. "You should feel how hot her cunt is, how good she is at sucking anything into it that you give her."

"See?" I ask Cory. "We could have that. You had a good idea when you said we should share her, when I freaked out. I didn't think you liked women."

Cory looks back to Delaney, their eyes a bit worried. But I turn their head and make them look at me again. "It's only me, sugar. I've already claimed you, you're mine."

"It doesn"t work like that, Adam," they say softly. "I can't compete with her; she is pretty fantastic."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't want to compete with anybody," Delaney nearly yells. "Adam, you don't like that I'm a conduit. You don't want to share me with other people, and you don't like that I"m always going to be in the spotlight. Those are pretty big differences to reconcile. I just wish you had told me that before I started hoping."

"Why? So you could cut me out of your life sooner? I love you, Delaney."

Her face gets sad. "I know, but it"s not in the way I really need you to. And that's okay; I read more into what we had than I should have. You'll always be special to me."

"You can't break up, you're so cute together!" Jackson protests. "I hated you when I met you bro, you were such a douche bag. But you do make her happy."

"I'm nobody though," I say on a sigh. "And then Cory found me, and things got so good. Cory's fun to plow into also."

"I don't know," Cory entertains, their hand on my leg. "How do you feel about Delaney? If we take away the spotlight factor, could you get used to sharing her with other partners?"

I shrug. "Doesn't bother me that much. I mean, sure, I worry I won't be enough, but maybe if you don't feel scared like that, you're not really in love."

"That's true," Jackson adds. "I'm terrified of her, so I know I'm in love. I think I've had nightmares actually, so I must be extra in love."

"I'm not sure it works that way, big guy," Cory tells Jackson.

But Cory knows what to ask next. "Jackson, why did you stop having feelings for Delaney?"

I hear sobs and I turn my head to see Jackson crying. "I'm such a waste of space!" he wails. "I planned a meet-up with my ex-girlfriend and tricked my brother into going. Oh he was pissed. You should have seen his face.

"Anyway, I told myself if I didn't stop caring about Delaney first, she would hurt me, and then where would I be after knowing what it was like to be with somebody so perfect for me? I had to make myself stop thinking about her because I was obsessed and I didn"t know who I was. She was all I thought about, the only thing I wanted to think about. She had the ability to completely hollow me out if she chose; I didn"t know a relationship could be so all-consuming like that.

"It scared me, so I sabotaged it. I needed to get control of my life again, but now my life sucks because I think I drove away the love of my life for basically no reason." He gets on his knees and crawls towards her, tears streaming down his face. It's refreshing to see a man humble himself to tears and be honestly vulnerable. He"s cool in my book.

Delaney looks to Cory, panicking and on the verge of a breakdown. No one should be sad after the kind of sex she just had, though.

"I appreciate your attempt at helping, Cory, but I think they're beyond help. I just…I can"t do this. It"s not fair to make me listen to everything I"ve been wanting to hear when none of it matters because they had to be magically forced into revealing it. I"m going to get some water, and then I'm going to go back into my room, and I'm going to take a nap. The lot of you can sleep off whatever is going through your system right now, then head home."

"Adam," Cory asks as he gets to his knees, giving me that look that I can't say no to. "How would you feel about me kissing Delaney?"

There goes my heart. I smile, feeling wolfish. "Try it and I'll let you know," I say with a wink. They roll their eyes at me, but they don't waste time.

"My mask didn't have any of the chill out/relax/truth serum stuff on it," Cory tells Delaney as they walk up to her. "As far as I'm concerned, he wants me to do this. I want to do this. Can I kiss you?"

I lean forward, really excited. They're two beautiful things that are almost too much beautiful together.

"Why would you want to do that?" Delaney asks them.

I watch as Cory takes my best friend's hands, experimenting with how they feel twined with theirs. "Last weekend when you were over, you laid down between me and Adam, and it felt right," they say honestly. "Adam makes me happy. From day one, I sensed there was something he was hiding, something he was scared of. Something that he needed." Cory turns to me. "She needs you to be fully happy, and I can acknowledge that."

"You're the best partner ever," I tell Cory.

They turn back to Delaney but smile at me over their shoulder. "Thanks babe, but you're dumb, because you do need her. She's in your soul, and you can't get rid of her. Maybe you need me now too, but you're never going to feel balanced until you accept that you and she are tied together."

I decide to get up off the couch, the mask cool on my face as I walk across the room. Nobody wants to kiss somebody with a green and goopy face, so I peel it off and toss it in the trash before sandwiching Delaney between me and Cory.

I'm confused for just a second, taking in the room and then narrowing my eyes at Cory. "What the hell was that? You did something. That mask made me feel weird. Guys, take off your masks," I command.

"No friend, I love this thing," Wilder tells me.

"If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?" Jackson teases Ash.

"It doesn't harm them, Adam," Cory whispers.

Whatever. I"m over it.

Fuck. She does feel good between me and Cory. I shouldn't like the way her curves feel pressed against my front, because she's my best friend. She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and best friends don't want to thrust their erections into each other's asses.

"It was a good try Cory, but he doesn't want me."

I nearly choke. "Fuck; is that what you think?"

The words tumble out before I can stop them. I scowl again at Cory, sure they're to blame for my lack of filter right now. Their magic isn't super flashy, they just get premonitions sometimes about things they might need, useful tools to carry around. Apparently they felt that masks with the ability to breakdown inhibitions were on the agenda today.

"It"s not manufacturing any feelings," Cory says with an eye roll. "It's just allowing you to say what you'd normally be too scared to admit."

"You had no right—" I start, certain I should be angry. Not that I feel angry mind you, it just seems the sort of thing that should be done in this situation.

"No right?" Cory asks on a derisive laugh. "You're chasing away your best friend because you're too blind to see you guys are soul mates." They lift up her arm and there's another mate mark there that I didn't see before.

"Delaney?" I ask.

"Please don't make me do this," she pleads with me, her voice shaky.

I spin her so her front is to me. Need rages through me, possessiveness lighting up every inch of my DNA. "Look at me."

She shakes her head and closes her eyes hard. "You need to leave," she says.

I don"t take my eyes off of her. If I cross this line, I can"t go back. But Cory is right; I"m being nearly as dumb as Jackson. I fucking need her. "Cory, I think I need to kiss her."

"I understand, Adam." Cory makes an attempt to take a step back, but I grab their waist and pull them right back. "And then I need to kiss you. And then you need to kiss her."

"I think I deserve a say in who I'm kissing," Delaney says sarcastically.

She's not wrong, but I just don't give a shit right now. "Cory, are you going to feel betrayed if I put my mouth on her? Maybe slide in some tongue?"

Shocker, Jackson starts whining again. "Just kiss her already. You move so fucking slow."

"I've dreamt of this forever," I tell her. "The first time I ever got a hard on intentionally was because I was imagining you in that little polka dot swimsuit you used to wear. Remember that? The yellow one with all the bows and straps in the back?"

"That's more information than any of us need to know, Adam," Delaney says, trying to wiggle away from me. But that's not going to happen; not when she's here and she feels so good.

"Are we about to have an orgy in here?" August asks excitedly, making a sudden appearance in the doorway. "I'll make popcorn! Then we"ve got to get the lighting juuuust right." He"s standing in the kitchen, completely naked. He's got marks all over him from fingernails and who knows what else, but shit does he look happy.

Delaney ducks out of the hold Cory and I have on her. "Neat, a distraction! August honey, you're misreading the situation. I know you're on those happy feel-good endorphins right now, but let's find somewhere else to focus our creative attentions, mmkay?"

I look at her, trying to figure out where her head is at. This guy fucked with her head and I"m not so sure he should be allowed to just come waltzing back in and play the part of the boyfriend again. "I think we need to talk about this, Delaney. August needs to work a little bit harder to get his spot with you back."

Delaney is only wearing what must be August's T-shirt, her bare legs way too damn tempting. She pulls out her destroyed ponytail of wet hair from the shower, shaking her hair out. As she reaches up, the T-shirt inches higher, showing even more of her leg, and I find myself leaning forward hoping it'll keep going so I can see the goods. Cory elbows me, but I'm not sorry.

"Be less obvious," they whisper to me.

"Good call," I reply.

"You let me worry about my relationship with August, and you just worry about figuring out what it is you actually want. It's far too crowded in this dorm room. I'm glad you're all playing nicely, but all of you here together? It's coming on a bit strong.

"Wilder, I am so sorry that we got interrupted. Really, I am but we're going to have to continue our conversation later. I think we owe it to ourselves to take things slow and give this the attention it needs, and I really don't think I'm in the right headspace to do that right now. Thank you for taking care of me last night, and for coming to check out the rock situation today. I'm sure it's nothing, but I'll let you know if that changes."

"Nothing?" Wilder sputters. "Your window is cracked, and there are creepy stone words on your patio!"

Delaney taps a glittery blue fingernail against her mouth. "Yeah, that's a good point. You all stay in here; I just want to check something." She climbs through the window, and I feel like I need to high five somebody when a bit of her ass cheek pokes out of her shirt. She shuts the cracked window behind her and I have no idea what she's doing, but I hear a happy squeal and then she climbs back in through the window with her cheeks flushed and her eyes twinkling.

"Not a problem. Promise. But August and Jackson are here so I'll be safe. Cory, thank you for this—" she says, waving her arm around the room. "I appreciate the thought; now get out of here so I can get ready for my week."

She starts herding us out, but she hasn't even addressed anything I said or attempted to do to her yet. I have to hook my hand around the door frame to prevent her from throwing me into the hall. "What about me?"

She looks at me, and there's such hurt on her face I feel like I need to go throw myself in a dumpster for some time out.

"I'm sorry Delaney," I tell her honestly.

"All this time I thought we were such good friends."

"We are!"

She shakes her head. "Best friends don't want to talk like that about each other. I'm glad you found Cory, but I need some space for a bit. Some time apart, because I can't find my place at Hemlock if you're going to be thinking things like that whether they're internal or external thoughts. I'm not even mad at you, I'm just disappointed. With myself mostly, for trusting you to be a better person. I thought the way I felt for you was unconditional, but it turns out that's not true. I have limits, and they involve being treated the way I deserve. It"s not the fact that you didn't want me, it's the things you had to say to justify that decision."

"But those things were all bull," I plead.

"Doesn't matter. You still said them, which proves I don't know you as well as I thought I did. Just go, alright?"

"But—" I dare a step closer. I feel like if I can just get her to kiss me, she'll know how I feel.

"Don"t touch me," she quickly tells me. "I mean it. You need to go."

I give her a nod, and then the space she so desperately wants. "Text me, I guess, when you're ready to talk."

She gives me a fake, placid smile, before shutting the door on me.

"Come on Romeo, things will get better. That was probably the worst thing she could have overheard, but I'm glad she did if it made you take the blinders off your eyes."

I know Cory and I need to have some conversations now, have to figure out how I feel about Delaney, but I need them to know something, so I stop them in their tracks and pin them to the nearest wall. "I'm not giving you up. Am I clear?"

"We'll see," is all they say. Then they kiss me in a way that makes me feel like somehow everything's going to work out eventually.