“We missed it here,” Lennox says, looking at me. “And we missed you.”
I busy myself with the rest of my sandwich. I missed them too, of course, for several years — until I finally told myself to let it go.
I make moves to go home after we all finish eating, but I already know I’ll cave if they try to convince me to stay, and they do. I don’t really feel like driving, and seeing them in their sweats, with their hair all messed up like they’ve just been fucked, makes it really hard for a girl to leave.
We return together to the same room upstairs, where we all go another round. It’s nothing adventurous, no two-at-a-time, no butt stuff. Instead, it’s the sleepy, lazy variety of sex, which somehow makes it feel all the more intimate.
18
Complicated
The next night, as soon as I arrive at Rusty’s, Christine studies my face.
“Did you get a haircut?” she asks.
I shake my head.
“New makeup?”
“Nope.”
She narrows her eyes and frowns, but eventually shakes her head. “Something looks different about you,” she says. “You look happier, actually.”
I shrug, not wanting to give anything away. I must have really needed to get laid. I’m still exhausted, so I’m surprised she’s not telling me I look like hell.
I avoid the Stone brothers even more than usual. I don’t want to be the subject of gossip, and I neglected to have a conversation with them about privacy last night.
Later in the evening, I’m in the supply closet getting a fresh stack of bar towels for Christine when Barrett and Bronson come in. They close the door behind them, even though the three of us barely fit in the small space.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking the opportunity to be alone with you,” Barrett says.
I look for a way to get past them, but there isn’t one. “I don’t want to get caught in here with you. Surely you remember what a rumor mill this island is.”
“Come to our house again tonight,” Bronson says. “We’ll have privacy there.”
“I told you last night was a one-time thing,” I say, reminded yet again of how completely stubborn they can be.
“Did you enjoy yourself?” Bronson asks.
“Yes, and I enjoy cake too, but that doesn’t mean I should eat four giant pieces every night.”
Their eyes go dark. “If you’re going to talk like that, you’re definitely coming over tonight,” Barrett says.
Bronson sets the towels I’m holding back on the shelf, takes my hand, and places it on the front of his jeans, where a bulge is growing. “Tell me you’d rather be alone tonight,” he challenges.
“Who said I’ll be alone?”
He brings his face an inch from mine, his eyes blazing. “Don’t even joke about that, Caroline.” He has absolutely no right to be possessive, but he’s actually turning me on, much as I resent it.
“Why do you refuse to call me Caz?” I ask, pushing back from him and bumping into the shelf behind me.
“I’ve called you Caz a few times,” he says. “I like it, actually, and I think it suits you, but I’ve been thinking of you as Caroline all these years, so it’s hard to change.”
“Were you,” I ask, “thinking of me all these years?” I hate that I sound all flirty and coy, but the question comes out before I can think better of it.
“Of course we were,” Barrett says, brushing my hair back from my face and holding my gaze.
“And we hate that you doubt that,” Bronson adds.
I follow them home after work, because of course I do.
They pour me a glass of wine again, and we sit out on their back deck for a while, as it’s an unseasonably warm night.
At my little apartment, I can sometimes hear people fighting, or kids crying, or someone’s too-loud music. Here, there’s just the sound of the ocean. It could nearly lull me to sleep, if I weren’t buzzing with anticipation about spending another night with the men.
Apparently, one night wasn’t enough to get them out of my system.
“Ready to go upstairs?” Barrett says eventually.
“Hmm?” I feign surprise. “I’m just here for a grilled cheese sandwich.”
He laughs out loud as he scoops me up, throws me over his shoulder, and carries me inside. I pretend to resist while he hauls me upstairs, but no one’s buying my act.
The four of them fuck me one-by-one again, but not before I go down on each of them, doing the best I can to take their massive cocks in my mouth. It occurred to me that I wasn’t much of a “giver” the night before, probably because I was so stunned by everything that was happening. They gave me all kinds of pleasure, and I just pretty much lay there and enjoyed it.
So tonight I suck their cocks, and as they each recover — which doesn’t take long — we enjoy more languorous sex, since we’re all still sleep-deprived from the night before.