by Kira Barker
I fell asleep cocooned by warm, sweaty bodies, the guys exchanging a few words before they settled down, but I was too out of it to catch them. The last thing I remembered was thinking that this was paradise, then my mind sunk into the dark land of dreams that, this once, couldn’t hold a candle to reality.
Chapter 20
I woke up the next morning alone in a bed that reeked of sex and sweat, a bright smile on my face. The sheets next to me were still warm, so whoever had spent the night heating up my back couldn’t have been gone for long, but I didn’t go forth to investigate until the heavenly smell of coffee gave me a good reason to abandon the languid laziness of just lying in bed and not giving a shit about the world.
I did hit the bathroom first, and then the shower because my own body grossed me out a little, before I made it into the front of the house. I didn’t bother with grabbing any clothes, which was convenient, as Jack barely gave me enough time to grab a mug and fill it before he dragged me over to the couch and started going down on me.
Suffice it to say, I did not finish that cup, and by the time I remembered its existence, it was two hours later and I was in dire need of another shower as I climbed off Simon, Jack still leaning into my back. I was sore all over from simple physical friction and exertion, but didn’t protest for a second when Simon joined me in the shower and did way more than just offer to wash my back. Although he did that, too, after making me tremble and clench and shout, and I was only too happy to stumble out of the stall to let Jack have the stage. At least then I finally got to drink my cold, stale coffee.
It was still the best coffee I’d ever had.
The doorbell rang when I was halfway through that cup, and I wondered if the universe was out to get me. Sighing, I ducked back into Simon’s room and grabbed the first clothes I found—luckily my own panties, but the shirt I’d thought was Simon’s turned out to be Jack’s, and what could have been just an oversized tee pretty much dwarfed me. The bell rang again, decidedly unfriendly now, and I figured that whoever was intruding had it coming to need brain bleach after being confronted with my “outfit.” In passing, I pounded on the bathroom door and yelled inside that someone was at the door, but the “I’m coming!” I got for a response could have meant anything, really.
With a smirk on my face I finally opened the door, coming face to face with a considerably startled looking Kara.
The range of expressions her face went through was so comical that it made me crack up before she even had a chance to say anything. She’d clearly come prepared to interrupt Simon’s pity party, coffee in hand and a sympathetic look on her face. Then she saw me, and a line appeared between her eyebrows. Then she really saw me, making her eyes widen while a lazy grin curved her lips up.
“Hey, bitch. I feel like I should say I’m surprised to see you here, but I really am not.”
Ignoring her brief scrutiny of the state I was in, I leaned out further to divest her of the coffee. It was strong, black, and scalding hot, an acceptable substitute for my now-abandoned cup.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
She watched me gulp down the better part of the cup, never minding the temperature, while a bemused look came to her face.
“I assume you’re not alone?”
Just then shouts rang out behind me, thankfully not of an amorous nature, and a few seconds later Jack came barreling into my back, only the arm he wrapped around my middle keeping him from shoving me straight out the door. A moment later Simon followed, wedging the door open far enough to look out around us. Kara took the display in stride, her eyes flitting from one of us to the next before she regarded all three of us with something akin to satisfaction—as if she’d had anything to do with us getting things halfway sorted out again.
“I don’t even dare to ask, but do you know what day it is?”
“Saturday, presumably,” Simon offered, his eyes narrowing. “Why?”
“Because you’re already one hour late for the brunch-slash-garden party your mom is holding, in honor of your big accomplishment. The book, not losing track of time screwing each other senseless.”
“Oh, right,” Simon muttered, scratching his head.
I vaguely remembered that Kara had said something about a party yesterday, but I had been too busy thinking about what to say to Simon once I got my hands on him to really listen. She always prattled on about parties and soirées, so it was hard to keep track of. Jack looked vaguely concerned, maybe because he was the only one of us who kept track of such things, and when he gave Simon a hard look, Simon shrugged.
“Forgot to tell you, too. It wasn’t really important at the time.”
“Anyway,” Kara interrupted before Jack could do more than open his mouth. “Linda sent me over, telling me explicitly that I’m expected not to come back without you, but I’m not setting one foot into this house before it hasn’t been thoroughly sanitized, so you can take yourselves over there on your own time. I’d advise soon—there’s delicious, home-made punch, and Linda’s excuses for why you’re late might get more creative by the hour in direct relation to the disappearance of said punch. Oh, and you should shower, Erin. You have cum in your hair.”
With that, she turned on her heel and sashayed back to the car that I just realized had been idling at the curb, a guy about five years younger than us giving us quizzical looks. I quickly shoved Jack back so I could close the door, then critically patted my hair down. There was something sticky up there, and I really didn’t want to investigate what it was as I rolled my eyes and stalked toward the back hallway.
In passing, Jack leaned down to quickly tickle my sides, making me jump and shriek. When I glared at him, he just grinned at whatever was stuck in my hair.
“Ew.”
“Yeah? Guess who put that there?”
His expression was completely innocent as he turned away, and I beat it to the bathroom. Just before I could close the door behind me—alone this time, to make sure I actually got some cleaning done—I heard Jack exclaim, his voice horrified, “What the fuck is this?”
“Judging from the consistency, it seems of a similar origin than whatever is matting Erin’s hair,” Simon observed, then started laughing at what I figured must have been Jack’s horrified expression.
“I have to clean this up before we go or I’ll never get the stains out.”
“At this rate, we should just burn the couch and get a new one.”
I silently agreed with Simon, although for sentimental reasons alone I hoped they’d opt to just have it deep cleaned or fitted with a new fabric, then closed the door before anyone could get between me and my shower again.
As I stepped under the hot spray, I couldn’t help the smile spreading on my face.
Was everything perfect? No, of course not. Not by a long shot.
I knew that things wouldn’t always be as easy as they were now—and we hadn’t completely gotten over this first bump in the road yet, if I was honest and stopped the lingering feeling of resentment deep down in my chest. It was easy to ignore that we had a long road ahead to make this work when right now, just being together and forgetting about the world was so much easier.
Would our budding relationship last? I hoped so, but who could say?
The only thing I knew was that there was no one else in the world I’d rather spend my life with than Jack and Simon. And for now, that was enough.
THE END
Look out for book 2 of the ‘We Kinky Three’ series in winter 2014/15!
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About the author
Kira Barker has always enjoyed telling stories. It has kept her sane through high school and college, and has become a true passion since. A geek gamer girl herself, she feels at home reading sci-fi and fantasy as much as writing romance. She likes her plots gritty, her smut realistic, and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty when it comes to research. When she’s not writing, she loves annoying her cats or cruising country roads on her motorcycle.
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Acknowledgements
I couldn’t have done this without the help and support of more people than I can mention here. My trusty pre-readers—Christina, Tina, Izzie, Anca, Holly— because I’d be lost without you! My cover artist, my editor, my street team (I love you!), but also all the wonderful people who have been cheering me on for a long time now to embark on this crazy journey! Without you, Erin, Simon, and Jack would still be figments of my imagination that have kept me awake way too many nights. THANK YOU!