Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Ash

Early summer

L ance and I set up a fold-out table in the yard at Mom and Steve's place, while everyone else tends to their pre-party duties. Several Alpha Theta Mu guys are in attendance, but we're not prepping for a frat party—it's a surprise birthday party for Atlas.

Once Lance and I get the table up, we put a black cloth over it and place on top the speakers we borrowed from Payton.

"Okay, so the DJ stand's all set," Lance says as he syncs his phone up with the speakers. "Crisis averted."

"This is what happens when you Uber," Marty calls from the bar as he frantically pulls liquor bottles from a box he brought with him.

He and Lance ran a little late, and though it's not a huge deal, I'm sure this is like the apocalypse for Marty's anxiety. Lance and I don't intend to make him suffer, so we hurry over to help him through his mini crisis, unloading the box.

"That was cool of your mom to let Ellie have Atlas's surprise birthday here," Lance says as he passes me some mixers.

Ellie is Troy's mom and Atlas's stepmom. She's been friends with our parents since we were in high school, when Troy and Colin played for the football team.

"Yeah, it is. I was surprised my mom suggested it—she tends to be a bit oblivious to this kind of thing. And Ellie can't really do something like this at her condo, while we have the perfect yard for it."

"Can we have more work and less chitchat?" Marty says.

Lance glares at Marty, then shakes his head. "No."

Marty rolls his eyes.

"Troy just texted!" Ellie calls to us from the back deck. "They're almost here."

"Fuck," Marty mutters.

"Language, Mart," Lance says. "There are parents here." Marty's brow creases before Lance adds, "You self-centered bastard."

That gets us all laughing before Ellie says, "Oh my God. You guys, this is really too much. I can't believe you're doing all this."

"We're Alpha Theta Mus," Payton calls from the volleyball net he's setting up with Colin. "This is what we do."

I mean, it's a far cry from the usual parties Alpha Theta Mu guys are accustomed to. Atlas doesn't exactly have a ton of friends, though he's made more at our frat since he and Troy became an item. So really, it's those of us who are local, who live within a few hours of Mom and Steve's place. Ellie also invited Taylor's mom and Brenner's dad. Atlas is cool with them since Brenner and Taylor have been his crew since freshman year, but Ellie probably thought it'd be nice if it wasn't just her, Mom, and Steve hanging out with a bunch of frat guys all day.

And I'm sure Ellie was thinking it'd be low-key with just a few of us here, but like hell we're not gonna fucking bring it.

As we all head to the deck, Colin sidles up beside me. "How's the bar coming along?" He hooks his arm around me and kisses my cheek.

This kind of shit has become the norm for us. Shamelessly grabbing each other, kissing, holding hands in public. We're probably that annoying PDA couple who have our tongues down each other's throats a little more than we should, but it's probably not surprising that I enjoy that kind of thing.

Despite the little hiccup drama right before finals, I've been relieved with how things have gone right back to normal. No, better than normal.

The future is scary, neither of us knows what it holds, but I can't spend all my time stressing about what may or may not happen. I don't have all the answers, and I don't need them, not with Colin.

We head inside with the rest of the gang and gather in the living room. Colin's right behind me, his hips tucking close to my ass, his arm around my waist. I rock my hips back slightly, glancing over my shoulder, and he fucking beams but remains cool, not drawing any attention to us being a little naughty.

Brenner glances around. "Isn't Atlas gonna know something's up when he shows up here and there are all these cars?"

Taylor winces. "Bren, you think Troy told Atlas that it was gonna be a nice, quiet dinner over here?"

"He told him it's for Steve's birthday," Ellie explains.

Brenner chuckles. "Right…that makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah, it does," Taylor teases, and Brenner elbows him.

"Now that Brenner knows how surprise birthday parties work," Colin says, "can everyone shut the hell up because he's definitely gonna be suspicious if they get close and hear Brenner and Taylor running their mouths."

"And that's why we didn't drive here, right?" Brenner asks, which earns an eye roll from Taylor. "Kidding!"

We quiet before the door opens, and Atlas and Troy step inside .

Atlas's eyes widen as he glances around the room before we all shout, "Surprise!"

"Oh God," he says, needing a moment to take it in, and I can tell he's recovered when he shoots Troy a playful glare. "You sneak."

Troy shrugs innocently. "It was all Mom's idea."

"Thank you, guys," Atlas says. He hugs Ellie, then makes his way around the room. "You guys I can forgive," he tells Colin and me before he reaches Brenner and Taylor. "You guys, I don't even know how you were capable of keeping this a secret."

"You never know what you're gonna get with us," Brenner says before Atlas pulls him and Taylor in for a group hug.

After some food, drinks, games, cake, and presents, Lance blasts the music—at a more reasonable level than usual because of our parents—and we play some more games and enjoy some pool time.

Marty covers the bar. Payton ropes everyone into pool cornhole, including Mom and Steve, which is a fucking riot. This is so not Mom's scene, but she's doing her best to let loose.

Once things have settled down, Colin and I make our way over to the love seat, and I relax in his lap.

"Mom was texting earlier, asking if we could hop on a Zoom tomorrow," Colin says, and I can hear the affection in his voice. How much he adores Lacey .

"That'd be nice," I say.

Even though she brought up things we needed to consider, we both know it was from a place of love, and she's been nothing but amazing and supportive since, which is all either of us could possibly hope for. My dad was also supportive when we had a chat with him, but in his own way—as if telling him I was dating my stepbro was the same as telling him I won a TaskFrat Challenge. He's happy I'm happy, even if he doesn't totally get it.

"Gonna be a lot of Ubering tonight," Marty says as he approaches the pool with Brenner and Taylor, all still in their bathing suits.

"Hey, Bren, Tay," Atlas says as he and Troy swim over to us. "You guys conspiring to join the club?"

Brenner and Taylor glance at each other, obviously unsure what the hell Atlas is talking about, but Colin and I check over our shoulders—on the pool deck, Taylor's mom bursts into a laugh at something Brenner's dad said. "You are ridiculous, Keith," she says, her smile all teeth as he bows his head, snickering.

"My mom enjoys her single life too much for that," Taylor says, clearly unfazed by what appears to be a somewhat flirtatious exchange between their single parents.

"What?" Brenner asks, his face twisting up. "You wouldn't want to be my stepbro?"

Taylor glares at him. "You know that in order to join their club, we'd have to be more than stepbros, right?"

That gets all of us laughing.

"You're right," Brenner says. "Wouldn't work at all. You'd be so clingy, and I need my space."

" I'd be the clingy one?"

"I know your straight ass doesn't get this, but in Queerlandia, I'm a fucking catch."

"Nothing a trip to the clinic can't fix," Troy quips.

"It'd be worth the antibiotic," Brenner claps back, earning some groans.

"Dude," Taylor says. "You're done."

"I think we're just getting started."

"Nope." Taylor tackles Brenner, diving into the pool with him, and they start wrestling around.

"Now this is my idea of a party," I tell Colin, who plants a kiss on my temple.

We celebrate into the night, catching up about how we've been spending the summer and chilling by the firepit for a while. Then everyone helps us clean before they start heading out. It's about one in the morning by the time Col and I make it upstairs to get ready for bed.

I hop in the shower first, and after Colin brushes his teeth, he joins me under the stream. He pulls me close, offering a kiss, and I can taste the fresh mint mouth rinse.

"Can't believe I had to keep my greedy fucking hands off you all day," Colin says when he pulls away briefly, before his lips attack my neck, licking, biting, kissing.

"You had your hands on me plenty."

"Not enough." As he says the words, his breath slams against my skin, making it prick to life.

I must agree with him there. As nice as it was to see the guys, it was cruel to see Colin running around in his board shorts for the past few hours.

"We might need to make a quick stop by the bathhouse in the next few weeks," he goes on. "You've been without an audience long enough."

My cheeks warm. "Can't disagree with that."

"Maybe next summer we go on a cross-country trip, and I take you to all the bathhouses we come across." I chuckle, but—"Oh, you like that," Colin says. "Well, guess we know what we'll be doing next summer."

Fuck, this guy knows me.

When I first became interested in the live stream stuff, I remember judging myself, but seeing Colin not just approve, but explore it with me has made it easy to leave all those silly judgments behind. Just fully enjoy the experiences I'm lucky enough to share with him.

"I like you all horny like this," I say, grabbing his stiff cock and stroking. "Wonder what you'd be like if I waited until tomorrow morning to let you fuck me."

Colin pulls away, and I see the flash of concern in his eyes before he smirks. "Don't be cruel. You need it too. "

I nibble his bottom lip. "I don't know that I'll be able to sleep if you don't."

He beams and takes my mouth again.

I stroke his cock, but he pulls it away. "What is this?" I ask.

"Uh-uh. We're not fucking in the shower again. I want you in my bed."

"Now who's being cruel?" I tease.

We finish up, dry off, and head to his bedroom at our parents' place, where we're staying for the summer. "Hey, Frat Cat," I say as we enter, and our baby walks over, requesting scritches, which we both give.

Since we took him in, he's grown so much, and his coat's shiny and smooth, his little personality as spoiled as it should be. After we've shown enough affection, he heads out of the room.

"Fuck, he really knows our nightly routine, doesn't he?" Colin says because we both know that as soon as we're finished up, he'll be scratching at the door to get in.

"Smart like his daddies," I say, loosening the knot in Colin's towel, pulling it away and tossing it onto the swivel chair at his desk. I push him back onto the bed.

"Oh, Ash is feisty tonight, isn't he?"

"With how you teased me in the shower, you're gonna get exactly what you deserve."

I nab the lube from the nightstand, then crawl on top of my man, my knees on either side of him as I lube myself up, then his cock, before guiding him inside me.

Colin just lies there, letting my ass serve him. He moans softly as my body welcomes him.

"You've really trained me to take you," I say. "I love the way I just open up for you."

I lift up on my knees, then slide back down, rocking as I clench my ass, watching his expression, the way he rolls his eyes and opens his mouth. He starts to thrust, but I push my hand down against his chest. "No, no. Not yet."

He obeys, growling like it's taking strength and willpower to restrain himself.

I keep up my work. I know where I want to get him to. We've learned each other's bodies since we started messing around. I know every twitch of his brow, every shift in his expression. I've learned the little moves I can make to drive him wild, just like he's learned the ones that drive me wild. I can even tell by the way he fucks when he's about to blow.

As I rock on his hips, I lick my fingers and play with his nipples.

"Oh, Ash," he moans. "You feel so fucking good."

"You gonna be ready when I tell you to fuck the cum out of me?"

"Yes."

I feel him firm even more inside me, and a grin sweeps across my face. "Like an animal," I tell him. "Like I'm just a fucking hole and you need to get the fuck off. Is that how you'll treat me?"

"I will. I promise."

I don't have any reason to doubt him; he's fucked me enough for me to trust he'll do just that.

"Now," I tell him, and that familiar storm sweeps me away as he sits up, hooking his arms under my legs, spinning me around. He's a fucking machine as he takes me on my back, hammering away. We make up for the lost time today, our moans and heavy breaths pushing through the brief moments when he doesn't have his tongue down my throat. Our fuck reminds me of wrestling matches we'd have when we were younger, as we toss around on the bed, though this is so much more thrilling.

Feels like he's taken me from every angle before he guides me onto my knees so he's fucking me from behind. With my hands on the headboard, precum dripping from my shaft, he doesn't hold back, really nailing my prostate.

As his movements speed up, I say, "I can fucking tell how close you are."

He reaches around, gripping my cock as his body pushes up against my back. "You're fucking close too, aren't you, my little perv?" He whispers the words into my ear, still thrusting and pumping my cock. His other hand slides around and toys with my nipple.

I'm overstimulated, struggling to think straight through the erratic sensations sparking off all over my body.

Heat radiates in my face as he whispers, "I'm gonna make you shoot when I do."

"I might be too close." I'm right on the edge, the pressure so intense, I can't imagine how I'm not blowing already.

"I fucking know you are. I'm just getting you right where I want you."

"You already have that."

Colin snickers, like he knows how true my words are, not about what we're doing, but about everything he means to me.

The pressure builds even more. Feels like my sensations are about to burst through my skin.

"Colin, it's too much. Please."

"Kiss me."

I turn as fast as I can before I feel his lips press against mine, and he fucks and pumps me, twisting his hand at the same time as he pinches my nipple just right.

The explosion sets off, a fucking hurricane of nerves tearing through me. I can't hold in my excitement as I start to moan, loud enough that Steve and Mom might hear, but Colin knows me well enough that he releases my nipple and places his hand on the back of my head, keeping me in place so that my moan enters his mouth, blocking the sound as I feel his final, powerful thrust slam up into me. As my moan settles, he grunts gently into my mouth while continuing to drain my load. The frenzy calms as we stay there, on our knees, our bodies puzzled together, our lips unwilling to rest with the rest of our bodies. I relax into the sensations of heat and tingling, staying with it as long as I can.

After we come down, I realize I made a mess on his pillow, so we change the case before slipping under the sheets. He cuddles me, my big spoon keeping me as close as he can.

"Another night fucking in our parents' place," I say, rolling to face Colin.

"Naughty boys that we are."

"Making up for all the times we weren't naughty." I position my hand near his chest, tracing my finger along his flesh. "All the times we were goofing around in high school when you should have been sticking that dick in me."

It's not the first time I've had the thought, especially since summer began and we started fucking around in this familiar house.

Colin studies my expression. "I think about that too. Like what if we had figured out all this shit sooner? We would have had fun, but then…"

"Then I realize it was perfect the way it was." As I say the words, I finish drawing an imaginary star on his pec, and he grins, nodding. "Exactly."

"I—"

"I love you too," Colin says, making us chuckle.

I hook my arms and legs around him, pulling him close, rubbing my nose against his.

It was perfect the way it was.

Weird as we are, strange as our journey was, if we had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn't change a damn thing.

THE END