by J Bree
It starts out sweet, all light touches and gentle sweeps of his tongue on mine, but he’s been hungry for me for a long time and I’ve been starving for him for longer. He pushes and pushes until he’s pressed up against me, pressing me back into his sleeping cousin, and I’m shaking. I hold his wrists just so I have an anchor because I’m drunk on his mouth and rapidly forgetting that we’re supposed to be quiet. His thumbs stroke my cheeks reverently even as his mouth is a hot, demanding brand on my own.
“Avery is going to fucking murder you,” whispers Ash and I startle away from Harley’s lips.
Oh God.
I know they said they were going to share me but I don’t know if this was what they were intending. I’m tangled in Ash’s limbs and making out with Harley like his lips are an oxygen tank and I’m fucking drowning. My entire body flushes scarlet and I squirm with shame. Harley leans forward and breathes, “Shh…” onto my lips as he kisses me again. I wriggle to pull away from him but then Ash’s lips graze my neck and his arm across my waist tightens to keep me where I am. Harley swallows my sigh and Ash grins against my skin before sucking and biting the soft curve where my neck meets my shoulder. As he pulls my shirt collar to find more skin he mumbles, “I’m blaming you if she catches us.”
Harley only pulls away from me long enough to whisper back, “Fucking worth it,” and then he’s sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and dragging his hands down my throat possessively. It’s a move that would send me spiraling if any other person were to do it but with Harley it sets my blood on fire and I start to squirm all over again. Ash grunts and plants a hand on my hip to stop my movement and Harley pulls away again, panting.
“Fuck. I’m going to be late for training. I was supposed to be at the pool ten minutes ago,” he says, scowling and staring at my lips. I lick them without thinking and he groans.
“That sound had better be an oh-i-hate-waking-up sort of sound and not a my-dick-is-so-hard kind of sound, Harley Éibhear Arbour,” Avery snaps.
I am mortified.
The two idiots in my bed are not.
Harley rolls out and when Avery screeches at him and throws a pillow at him he stalks to the bathroom laughing. “I can’t help having morning wood, Aves. Better get used to it because me and my blue balls will be here all week.”
Avery levels Ash with a vicious glare and his face shifts into an innocent mask. I snort at his attempt to placate her.
“Don’t you dare get out of that bed until you have your dick under control or I will cut it the fuck off. I know how, Lips taught me,” she hisses and then throws herself out of bed and stomps to the coffee machine.
“Good morning, my beloved sister, I hope you’ve slept well. I’d love a coffee, thank you for asking.”
Avery starts slamming cups onto the bench and cursing us all out. I choose to plead the fifth and keep my mouth shut. Harley emerges from the bathroom dressed in his sports gear and kisses Avery’s cheek with a grin. She cusses him out too but hands him one of her reusable takeaway cups to take down to the pool. He ducks back to the bed and pecks me on the cheek too, with a wink, and then he’s out the door.
“What time is it and why the fuck are we awake? It’s the weekend, for fuck’s sake,” Blaise grumbles.
“How is your dick this morning, Morrison?” Avery says as she stomps into the bathroom and slams the door.
Blaise blinks and then turns to face us. “It’s too fucking early for this shit.”
He rolls off the couch and stumbles over to the bed, slipping into the side Harley just climbed out of.
“Getting in here is just going to piss her off more,” I say but I’m secretly swooning. Ash scoffs at me and kisses my neck again before untangling his limbs from mine and sliding out of the bed. He starts rummaging through Avery’s drawers and pulls out a pair of his jeans to pull on. It must be nice to have so many clothes you can just leave them everywhere, just in case you may need them. Sigh. Rich kids.
“I’ll walk her to ballet and then we can all meet for a late breakfast in the dining hall. Morrison, you have one hour. Use it wisely.”
Blaise is already snoring.
I laugh at him and stretch out like a cat in the sun. I’m content. I’m nervous as all fuck about…dating, I guess…three guys, the three hottest guys at Hannaford, but I’m still so happy I could scream.
I get up and drink my coffee, even though it’s on the colder side. Avery squeezes my hand as she passes with a little grin, which I return. I know she’s being a tyrant about the guys so they take things slow with me. She may be the master manipulator but I’m getting pretty good at spotting her work.
Blaise is still asleep when I’m out of the shower and ready to eat. If I were bold I’d go climb on top of him and wake him with a kiss. Or more.
I’m still pathetically nervous about this.
So I stomp around the room like a herd of elephants only to find that Blaise could sleep through the apocalypse if need be. Great. I send a message to the group text to confirm the time we’re heading down and he doesn’t wake for his phone either. Fuck’s sake!
I pull my big girl panties on and give him a little shake. He moans obscenely and I blush. He’s made that noise for me before but I was sucking on his tongue at the time.
“If you want to join us all for breakfast you need to get up now.”
He cracks one eye open and squints at me. His voice is rough and delicious. “Why can’t we eat here? In four hours like normal people?”
“I want French toast. Avery will have fruit and yogurt, Ash will get pancakes and you and Harley will have mountains of scrambled eggs and bacon. I’m not cooking four different breakfasts and Avery will stab you if you ask her to. Come on, we only have a week left of catered breakfasts.”
He pushes himself up and I have to squash the urge to run my hands through his hair. His arms flex invitingly as he leans back to look at me. He grins and jerks his head at me.
“Get over here. I want a good morning kiss, then I’ll get up.”
I scoff at him and arch an eyebrow but his grin just gets wider. I lean down to give him a quick peck on the cheek and he snaps his hands out to jerk me into his lap. I’m not at all proud of the squeal that comes out of me but I manage to tamp down my reflexes so I don’t punch him in the throat.
I should probably warn them all about that.
“A proper kiss, little Nightingale, don’t cheat me.”
We’re going to be late for breakfast.
Blaise tucks me under his arm as we walk down to the dining hall and I decide I’m never going to get used to being that close to him. He didn’t shower, just threw a pair of jeans on like Ash did, and yet he smells incredible. I kind of thought guys were supposed to be dirty and smelly but these three, my three, were obviously the unicorns of the species. Lucky freaking me. No, seriously.
We find Avery and Ash waiting outside the dining hall for us and when we slip into the line Harley texts to say he’s on his way. Ash grabs food for Avery, Harley, and himself and Blaise organizes ours. Again, it’s something I’ve seen them do for each other a hundred times and finding myself included is jarring but in the best way.
Avery scares the shit out of some freshmen sitting in our usual seats and we sit. By the time we have the plates set out Harley arrives, his hair dripping and his eyes a little red from all the chlorine.
“How are the blue balls?” Avery says sweetly and I groan, burying my face in my hands.
Harley gives her a haughty look. “I’ll worry about my own balls thanks, Floss.”
I abandon my French toast and grab my apple. Ash’s eyes narrow at me and he pushes the plate back in front of me. Great. More food police.
“Well, my balls aren’t blue. Harley will just have to learn to jerk off a bit more often,” Blaise drawls and Ash snorts at him.
Avery’s eyes reach subzero temperatures. “Not in my shower he won’t. Keep those activities in your room.”
Blaise grins and hands me hi
s iPod. I have a mouthful so I nod in thanks and scroll through the playlist. He’s titled it ‘Starlight, Starbright’, the cheeky asshole, and I kinda wanna throat punch him. He laughs at the face I pull and says to Avery, “It’s fine, we’ll just tempt Lips into our room for the rest of the week.”
Lord have mercy on my fucking soul.
I tense and Harley, who’s watching me carefully, kicks Blaise in the shin so hard his chair scrapes back. Blaise grunts and curses Harley with such vehemence that the students around us take notice. Ash joins Harley to glare at him.
“Are you fucking dense? We’re surrounded, there’s an ongoing bet, and Lips is still being watched,” hisses Ash, while Avery laughs so no one around us can hear him.
Blaise cringes and looks at me apologetically. I take pity on him because, well, I did let him walk me down here with his arm around me and we haven’t exactly talked about what we’re doing and the risks.
“Don’t bother. Lips has no interest in fucking a guy from Hannaford, she’s said it a million times. Find someone who’s actually up for it,” Harley says, loud enough that the students eating around us can hear and start whispering amongst themselves.
I shoot him a thankful look. Avery takes over and starts talking about her dance recital that we’re all going to on Monday.
When the room empties out a bit and we have a little more privacy I decide to address the elephant in the room, the third…wait, no, fifth wheel in our relationship. Fuck.
“I feel like we should be talking about the dangers of doing this. I mean, we can’t even sit here and have a conversation without my…baggage coming into it.”
Avery clears her throat, kisses my cheek, and then walks off with her phone. I was kind of hoping for her support and input but I guess this is technically a relationship conversation.
“We’re not in this for the bet and until you get the Jackal situation under control we’ll just be more… discreet about what's going on. Our only other option is to wait until he’s not a problem anymore and I don’t want to do that. ” Harley crosses his arms and stares across the table at me.
Ash hums under his breath, watching over Avery as she takes a call on the far side of the room. “Is there a plan to get him to back off? Do we have any idea of how long it will take?”
I shrug and push my empty plate away. “There is a plan but it’s not underway yet. It hasn’t been my focus. I’ve been working on more pressing issues.”
The guys all share a look and then Ash says, “I think it’s now the most pressing issue.”
I blush but I don’t let myself break eye contact with him. “I understand that it’s important but there’s still other things that need to be dealt with. Joey, Senior, the O’Cronin family, all of them are important to take care of as well.”
Harley shakes his head but Blaise answers for them all, “No, top priority is now dealing with the Jackal. Your life is the one at stake and the other situations are…survivable.”
Only because I’ve been working on them but I don’t mention it so instead I nod and try to blink back the tears prickling my eyes.
Avery having my back all year has been a totally foreign concept, even if I have loved every second of it but this is almost too much for me. These three have all just agreed that I’m the priority, that my safety trumps every other issue we have going on. My welfare and safety has never been a priority to anyone other than myself. It’s a terrifying, amazing thing.
Every night for the last week of school I go to sleep with at least one other person in my bed. There’s no more kissing because the guys all seem worried about Avery’s self-confessed castration skills but it helps me to settle into being close to them. I mean, they’re too fucking hot and I can’t think about them agreeing to share me without ruining my panties but I no longer blush at their mere proximity.
On Wednesday there’s an argument over dinner about who has to take the couch and Avery kicks them all out. I wake in the morning with my face smooshed into Harley’s chest and Avery yelling at him for breaking in. She rants at him all day until he finally admits he swiped her keys on the way out and then used them to get back in when he knew she’d be asleep. Sneaky little shit.
On Friday, Avery is getting ready for her end-of-year ballet party and tells the guys they have to clean out all of their clothes they’ve left behind. I’m sitting on my bed and stressing about leaving Hannaford tomorrow. I don’t know how to be in a relationship at all and now I’m trying to navigate a secret plural relationship long distance, with a mobster’s son, a murderous billionaire’s son, and a rock star. I try to be subtle about asking what the hell we’re doing but I’m not exactly a subtle kind of girl. Harley laughs at my attempts.
“Where are you staying in Mounts Bay? Like I said, I’m taking two weeks to visit Ma and then I’m staying in the Bay. I can get a hotel or stay with you, your choice.”
He’s folding shirts Avery left in a pile on her bed for him and shoving them in a bag while she throws things into her dance bag. Ash is digging through her closet and Blaise is raiding the fridge for beer. I take a breath and just drive in. “Look, Avery’s informed me that there's going to be… wooing.”
“What the actual fuck is wooing?” Harley sounds appropriately disgusted. Blaise roars with laughter, the type that makes him throw his head back and clutch his stomach. It's a good look. He hands Harley a beer and lounges on my bed as he drinks his own.
Ash sounds smug as he calls out, “Avery is secretly eighty years old and thinks that wooing is the current terminology for—”
“For what, Ash?” Avery cuts in sweetly. He pauses and she knows she's got him trapped. It's hilarious and anxiety inducing. Then he shocks the shit out us both by smiling at her and just laying it out there. “For starting something important.”
Right. I tug on the front of Blaise’s Vanth shirt to get his attention. It’s not the one I got back from Harlow for him but it’s still super rare. “I really don't care what we’re calling it. I'm taking this shirt. I'm also taking that black one of Ash’s, and Harley’s gray sweatshirt. I'll give them back after the break.”
Blaise stares at me, stunned, and then sits up to reach over his head with one arm and pull the shirt off in the typical hot guy way. When he hands it to me the fabric still warm from his skin. I'm getting better at containing my swooning but sweet lord. Fuck. Me.
No, seriously.
Fuck. Me.
He's all golden skin, colorful tattoos, and toned muscles. I struggle to focus anywhere other than his naked torso. I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen when I literally told him I wanted the shirt from his back but it sure as shit wasn't this.
“Thank you,” I squeak and he fucking winks at me before rooting around in his bag to pull on another one.
Avery side-eyes the shit out of me and then she grins. “How long have you wanted that Vanth shirt?”
I shrug. “Oh, you know, all my life. I'm totally lying, he’ll have to pry this from my cold, dead hands. I know at least eight Mounty girls that would gut me for it so I’m going to wear it to the next party I have to go to.”
I see the glimmer in Harley's eyes as he laughs with Avery and for a second I'm afraid he's jealous. When he tugs his sweatshirt over my head I instinctively inhale and take in a big lungful of his heady scent. He watches me and the glimmer turns into something predatory. I love it.
Avery waves at us all and then heads out for her party. Ash wanders back over from the closet with an armful of his clothes.
“You're taking our shit so you can smell us while we’re gone? That's horribly sappy, Mounty,” Ash drawls but he hands over the black shirt I requested and then neatly piles his clothes into a box.
“I'm weird. I wear guys’ shirts and sweaters with booty shorts and skirts. I listen to the same three albums on repeat. I like French toast, coffee, and cherry anything. I don't function my birthday or Christmas. I can kill a grown man eight different ways with nothing but my bare hands. I’m n
ever going to be normal.”
Ash grabs my chin and stares down at me, the blank mask gone and in its place a smoldering intensity. I can’t look away.
“If you're trying to warn us off it’s not going to work. We've never agreed to anything as quickly as when we agreed to share you. I'm not planning on wooing you, I'm planning on doing whatever I need to do to get to keep you.”
I swallow and he licks his lips.
“I want us to keep you. I don't want you all to myself, I want to share you with my best friends and I want you to love every fucking second of it.”
There isn't a lie in his eyes, only plain truth and desire. I nod and he eases up a little with a smirk.
“I won't get out of bed before the coffee machine is on. I hate blues music and listen to Vanth as religiously as you do. I run track because it makes me feel like I'm dying and sometimes I need to feel like that. I miss my mom and I hate my father. My brother is trying to kill me and my father is taking bets on how long it’ll take him to succeed. Finding Joey standing over Avery's lifeless body broke something in me that I don't think I'll ever be able to fix. I’m a bigger monster than you because I don't give a fuck who you've killed or why you did it. In fact, from here out I’m helping you bury the bodies.”
It’s totally ridiculous but I fixate on probably the least important thing he’s said. “I cannot believe you're a Vanth super fan and you've given me all that shit about it. You're a real piece of work, Beaumont.”
Blaise sniggers behind me like it’s some big fucking secret they’ve been keeping from me and Ash smirks as he says, “I told Blaise he should get you to sing on his next album. I'll listen to that on repeat, too.”
My heart stops beating.
That is the best, worst idea ever and you know what? I'm all fucking in.
“I’ll write you a song, Mounty. While you and Arbour are shacked up and loving every second of the break, I’ll mope around New York with my parents and write you love songs.” Blaise sulks and Harley throws an empty coat hanger at him. I pass him the iPod and he flashes me a gorgeous grin.