by Sierra Hill
“Can I touch you here?” Cam’s hoarse voice was reminiscent of how it was last winter when he had strep throat. Deep and husky.
All I could do was mumble an invitation into Sage’s mouth for Cam to continue, as he pressed a finger into the damp cotton covering my sex.
This is all uncharted territory for us. Despite the kiss Cam and I had shared at the river, he’d never touched me so intimately. I knew it wasn’t his first rodeo, though, as he’d made out with many girls since hitting puberty. He’d had his pick of any girl in school. It had just never been me before, except for that one kiss.
A moan escaped my mouth when Cam’s thumb slid over my core at the same time Sage’s fingertip found my sensitive nipple, flicking at it over the material of my shirt. My legs parted wantonly on their own accord, as I leaned back against the seat of the truck to give both boys more access to my hungry, needy body.
Could this be any hotter?
Craving everything and more, I became theirs to do whatever they want with me. In that moment I wasn’t worried about my grades, or my upcoming dance recital, or my college applications.
All that fell to the back burner because in their arms I became an incendiary device, with no other goal but to burn eternal.
Unfortunately, the loud slam on the hood of Cam’s truck threw a bucket of ice-cold water over our steamy make-out session, as Booker Holden, one of Cam’s football buddies, yelled out his warrior cry.
“Let’s go get some pussy, dawgs!”
Chapter 8
“Oh my God, do you think Booker saw us? Does he know what we were doing?” I practically screeched like a siren.
Flinging the boys’ hands off me, I tugged my skirt back into place, brushing at the strands of mussed hair. I took a quick glance at my image in the rearview mirror.
My lips were a nice swollen pink and my neck had a dark, angry red hickey at my collarbone. What the heck? How in the world did that get there?
I snapped my head to where Cam sat, a naughty smirk across his face, as is finger outlined the mark.
“Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed,” I mumbled, with my hand covering my face, wishing away the fact that I was just caught making out with two boys.
When neither Cam nor Sage said anything, I looked between them, their cat-that-ate-the-canary smiles telling me they did not share the same sentiment.
Cam cleared his throat and spoke first. “Booker is clearly drunk and probably didn’t see a thing. Plus, it’s dark and the windows are fogged up.”
Sage chuckled next to me and I elbowed him in the ribs.
I glared at him until the smile left his face in a contrite apology. “You…zip it.”
Cam, always the sensible one, cupped my cheeks in his hands.
“Don’t worry, London. Booker won’t even remember his own name in an hour if he even does now.” Cam pointed out the window where Booker stumbled down a ravine across the field toward the bonfire. “It’ll be okay. I promise. And if anyone says anything, I’ll handle it. I won’t let anyone say shit when they don’t know a damn thing about it.”
Always my guardian.
Sage rubbed my back and I purred at the sensation, leaning against his hand. Cam knew how to calm me with his words of assurance, and Sage simply had to touch me with a reassuring gesture and I was calmed.
“Okay. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Cam jumped back into action-mode. “Sage, grab your guitar. I’ll bring the blanket and the cooler. Let’s go have some fun.”
He winked at us both and the doors flew open, but I stopped them both in their tracks.
“Guys, should we talk about what just happened?”
I could feel my face flaming red under the yellow interior light of the cab. I knew boys, in general, didn’t like to “talk about feelings” or whatever, but I felt it was important to determine if that was a one-time thing or something we might do again.
Because I knew I wanted that.
“Uh…” Sage rasped, unable to complete the sentence.
I looked toward Cam, who had one foot out the door and his hand tapping at the steering wheel.
When he said nothing further, I bit the bullet and made my desires known.
“I want to do that again sometime – with both of you. I liked it. A lot. But maybe more privacy next time.”
I bit my lip and smiled when their mouths dropped open in utter shock. I’d always heard how easy it was to shut up a boy by using your body, but who knew you could drive them speechless with just a suggestive idea?
“Yes, ma’am,” Cam politely responded, with just an edge of desire laced within the words.
And Sage agreed, “I’m good with that, too.”
Agreements made, we each gathered our things from the bed of Cam’s truck and trekked into the wooded area until we came to the open field where at least thirty people drank, smoked, laughed and partied.
Although we each separated several times throughout the night, their sheer presence lingered on my lips, my tongue and my body. The ghost of their touches and kisses consumed me and made me hotter than any bonfire could ever do.
With heated gazes shared throughout the night and friendly touches and gestures given, we remained connected as the evening progressed and people began leaving the party.
At one point, as I chatted with my friend, Chloe, Booker stumbled into me, wrapping an arm around my waist and nearly taking me down to the ground with his wobbling stance.
“So,” he slurred, spittle flying out of his mouth with the smell of beer and maybe vomit. “Our own sweet goodie-two-shoes likes to be gangbanged. Isn’t that right, London?”
Due to his incoherent speech, it was hard to decipher what he said unless you knew what he meant. Chloe gave him a disdainful glare, probably because she was used to his idiocy when she dated him a few years earlier. I immediately scanned the party to locate Cam and Sage, hoping they’d come to my rescue and dispose of Booker’s gross and raunchy behavior.
My eyes locked on Cam’s, who was standing on the other side of the bonfire talking with a few of his football buddies. I opened my eyes wide, biting my lip in the hope that he’d get the hint.
There was no way I was going to get Sage’s attention. He was sitting on a log, hunched over his guitar amid playing Stairway to Heaven, his favorite tune. He was also surrounded by several girls, so he was in his element.
Booker began to cackle in husky, drunken laughter, talking about some porn movie he’d watched and how maybe someday he’d see me in one of those ‘sexy librarian’ films. It wasn’t until one of his hands landed on my shoulder, a way to keep himself upright, that he tripped on his own two feet, grabbing hold of my T-shirt at the collar and ripping it with the force of his fall.
I screamed in horror as Booker toppled to the ground, my shirt dangling open to expose my shoulder, arm and bra. Chloe jumped out of the way and my head popped up to see Cam charging toward us.
My worried gaze then moved to Sage, who immediately laid his guitar on the ground and jumped to his feet, aiming in my direction, as well.
I sloppily adjusted my clothing, trying as best I could to cover up my nakedness, as my face heated with humiliation. Cam got to me first, confirming that I was okay, Sage stepping in behind me, covering my shoulders with his jacket.
All the tension and turmoil immediately dissipated with just the scent of Sage’s warm, leather against my skin. The scent of spice and something just him calmed my nerves and relieved my embarrassment as the gawkers around the fire stared at us and snickered. Like we were some kind of circus, parading in front of them for their entertainment.
In that moment, I hated everyone in our class and couldn’t wait until graduation and then I could leave this small-minded town and could get out of here for college.
Although that thought should have made me happy, it turned into a sad realization. I’d not only be leaving a town of gossips and backstabbers, but also my two loves. My best friends and confidants. The two I rel
ied on for more than half my life.
“Get up, you piece of shit,” Cam snarled at a confused Booker, who was seriously too far gone to even realize what he’d done wrong. “Don’t you ever grab her like that again.”
I reached out and placed a trembling hand on Cam’s solid forearm, pleading with him through touch to let it go. It wasn’t worth it. The damage had already been done and all I wanted to do was go home and leave this crowd of unworthy people behind.
Sage moved to my side, adjusting his arm around my shoulder as I leaned into his embrace – warm and safe.
“Come on Cam, just leave him. He didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. Let’s just get out of here.”
As he spoke, Sage’s voice shook. I didn’t know if he’d feared for my safety or if it was something else. Either way, when I spoke, my words were meant for both of them.
“I’m fine. Really. I just want to go home.”
Without another word, we left the lingering crowd behind us, the heat of the roaring fire, and the whispered gossip and headed back to Cam’s truck, side-by-side.
We may have left the bonfire, but the fire between us had just begun to burn. And it would soon blaze hotter than the sun in a Tennessee July.
Chapter 9
Sometime over the weekend, Booker’s recollection of what he saw in the truck became the town fodder for gossip and the salacious undertones related to the “dirty slut girl who liked to gangbang.” Although we’d all grown up in the same town and everyone knew us; it quickly turned scandalous. By the time I returned home Sunday night and checked my social media accounts, it had spread like wildfire.
The following Monday at school, the rumors were rampant. Like a cyclone that had picked up speed over the weekend and now swirled heavily through the school corridors; our classmates the whips and waves and thunder that spread the tasteless tales around.
All I could do was hold my head high as I walked the hallway to my classroom, even though inside my spirit was crushed flatter than the Kansas plains.
The boys had dropped me off at my house on Friday night and I’d kissed them both goodnight. Although it began as chaste kisses, it soon grew fevered. We’d gotten ourselves worked up again, just from the touches and kisses that stoked the flames of that fire.
The rest of the weekend I was out of town on a college visit with my parents. I hadn’t yet applied to any schools yet but had narrowed it down to a few. We visited Emory University in Atlanta, which was high on my list of potentials. It was my goal to be far enough away from home to learn to live independently; but close enough to be near my family, Cam, and Sage.
Cam had already been accepted into Vanderbilt, which was in Nashville, and not too far from Atlanta. His father, however, was pressuring him to enlist into the Air Force, something that his father and grandfather had all done. Cam had admitted to me on more than one occasion that he was torn between feeling obligated to his family, and his desire to go to college.
Sage, however, wasn’t looking at colleges. It wasn’t his thing, he’d said, and would leave to conquer the music world in some way shape or form.
The indecent rumors made it sound like we had some forbidden love triangle going on. That Sage and Cam were fighting over me and that I was their sex slave. It was utterly ridiculous. So, I paid it no mind and kept my head held high.
The same didn’t hold true with Cam and Sage. They seemed to crack under the weight and pressure of the heavy implications within the made-up stories. While there was only the tiny kernel of truth to the sordid tales that were sown, the lies were so outrageous and egregious that the boys couldn’t turn the other cheek.
And it led us into a heated argument later that week. I had hoped by the end of the week the rumor mill would have died down, but it hadn’t. The stories only grew bigger and more vibrant, leaving Cam ready to forgo the football game that Friday night.
“It’s utter bullshit and I won’t allow people to say the things they’re saying about you, London.”
Cam paced in front of his truck that was parked in front of my house after school. He’d ditched football practice in favor of meeting up with me and Sage.
Sage sat on the soft grassy yard, picking at the blades of grass that were still brown from the heat of the summer sun. His head was bent, either silently contemplating the situation or to avoid the conversation entirely.
“What exactly are they saying that’s so terrible? Who cares what they’re saying? It shouldn’t make any difference.” I softly stated, hoping my bravado sounded believable, even though on the inside I cringed at being the talk of the town. Like I wore the red A across my breasts.
Cam scoffed, pacing and pacing and pacing like a caged lion.
So serious. So intense.
“They are all mother fucking lies.”
“Just tell me what they’re saying, Cameron. If they are lies, then it shouldn’t matter one bit.”
He bent at the waist, pressing palms against his thighs, huffing out a stubborn protest.
“They’re saying you’re a slut who likes DP. And that the only reason we hang with you is because you’ll let us do anal.” He coughed out the last word and I let out a high-pitched squeak.
“What? Oh my God, that’s so…ugh,” I squealed, covering my mouth with my hand. I turned and stomped off two steps before returning to Cam.
Lowering my voice, just in case the neighbors or my mom, who was inside the house watching her soap opera, can hear our conversation.
I didn’t want to sound stupid, but I needed clarification. “What’s DP?”
Sage choked out a noise, his voice scraping like metal. I looked down at him as his gaze snatched mine, his cheeks coloring with red.
“Double-penetration.”
Sage gave some weird hand gesture with his fist and fingers, lifting a shoulder. My mouth opened as I took in its meaning, and the nasty suggestions from small minded people.
“Oh.”
It made sense that people outside our circle wouldn’t fully comprehend the friendship Sage, Cam and I had together. Or how tightly our bond connected us in ways that were mind-blowing. Maybe we were some odd love triangle or had an unconventional love for one another that others just couldn’t understand so they justified it with explanations that weren’t accurate.
But to create lies and stories about us was inconceivable to me. How could they do that? Where did they get off casting those stones when they weren’t infallible?
The anger bubbled up inside of me and I felt like a volcano ready to erupt, steam rising and climbing from my belly as my fists clenched.
“Argh,” I belly-ached with a loud grunt, kicking at the ground with my Sketcher shoe.
And at the same time, both Sage and Cam threw their ideas in the ring.
“We could just do what they claim we’re doing…” said Sage, a wry smile across his face, just as Cam said,
“We should lay low for a while until this all fades away…”
I stared at them both, my head reeling, blinking in rapid succession as I worked through their suggestions.
Throwing my hand up in order for them to shut up, I heaved a deep breath.
Glaring and pointing at Cam, I gave him the what-for, stuttering with condemnation.
“I’m surprised that you of all people would suggest we tuck tail and hide like we’re guilty of some crime. You would allow their ignorant comments to ruin our friendship? Ruin what we’ve had together for thirteen years?”
Cam’s shoulders drooped in despair. “I don’t know. Yeah, maybe. Just for a little while. Give us a break to hang out with other people.”
A tear escaped and dripped down the side of my nose. Sage jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around my back, pulling my head into his shoulder.
I sniffled into him. “I don’t want to hang out with other people. I want you.”
“Don’t cry, sweetheart. You know I can’t stand it when you cry.” Sage turned to speak directly to Cam.
�
�That’s the lamest fucking thing I’ve ever heard you say. You’re just gonna roll over like some pussy because some people are talking shit about something they know nothing about? Fuck ‘em all, I say. They can all go to hell right along with my asshole dad.”
I snapped out of my funk and giggled, my body shaking against Sage’s chest. Sage slid a hand down my hair and the column of my neck, kissing my forehead sweetly. Wrapped up in Sage’s arms, I couldn’t care less about what anyone else thought, as long as we had each other and stayed together.
When Sage’s mouth landed on mine, I knew he was thinking the same thing. It was the three of us against the world, and this was our last year together before we went off in different directions.
For Cam and me, the future didn’t feel like such an unknown, because we both knew where we were going, and we’d always have homes to come back to.
But for Sage, it wasn’t like that. His father had been promising him for years that the minute Sage graduated high school he would be kicked to the curb and would be cut-off financially. Not that Sage got anything from his dad that constituted as parental support, anyhow.
Sage’s kiss turned drugging, his tongue slipping inside my mouth sending prickles of heat to ignite my body. His palm landed on my backside, grabbing at the flesh of my butt and squeezing hard, a deep, masculine sound exploding from his lungs. I had no more control over myself kissing Sage than I did breathing. It was a necessity. It was pain and beauty and comfort.
I let my fingertips trace the edge of Sage’s square jaw, the bristle of his dark short scruff sexy and tantalizing, shooting lightning bolts of pleasure between my legs.
A car drove by and honked, jeering voices of several boys in our class throwing out rude obscenities from the car window. I could hear Cam growl as he called after them, “Assholes!”
Sage broke the kiss and we stepped away, me licking my lips and he running a hand through his hair.
“London, it’s up to you. I’ll do whatever you want,” Sage muttered, but I could tell from the glint in his eyes and the tightness of his mouth that he knew we belonged together.