Epilogue
Oli
I won’t say we didn’t deserve it after years of fucking while Jonah was home, but I also won’t say I quite enjoyed hearing Kai scream from the next room over. Truthfully, they were doing a decent job of keeping it down, but I didn’t want to hear even a whisper.
It had been two days since they’d arrived home from the hotel, and they showed no signs of emerging from bed. I was genuinely concerned for their safety, texting the group chat constantly just to make sure they were still alive.
Me:I’m so excited you guys are finally together.
Me:Now we can go on double dates.
Me:We heard a noise in the kitchen. Are you guys out and about yet?
Juni Sucks:Oliver, leave them alone.
Me:Juni, suck my dick.
Me:Okay, we heard the shower. That has to be you guys. I know Kai isn’t going that long without making Jonah clean up. Are you coming out of the room now?
Me:Are you guys alive?
June and I learned the safe zones pretty quickly. In our room with both doors shut, in the living room with the TV on. But a trip down the hallway to get to the bathroom or the kitchen required a strong set of hands over both ears. At least for me. June thought the whole thing was fucking hilarious, pinning her ear to their door every chance she got, marveling over how many times Kai screamed Jonah’s name.
“Hey, Juni,” I said, grabbing her ponytail and pulling her away from the door during one of her listening sessions. “Don’t be a fucking creep.”
“I just really didn’t think he had it in him.” She giggled, gazing up at me. “You have to admit, it’s honestly impressive.”
“Impressive?” Impressive? It seemed she was forgetting just how many times I could make her scream my name. Confident that our friends weren’t coming out any time soon, I pulled my Juni into the living room and bent her over the back of the couch, ripping her sweatpants down with one hand and shoving my cock inside of her without a second thought.
Some five years with this magnificent woman and I’d never tire of the way her ass bounced as I slammed into it, the way she looked at me with such desire as I fucked her.
God, I can’t fucking stand her. I love her so fucking much.
I flipped her around and sat her on the edge of the couch, letting her body fall upside down over the cushions, her hips resting in my hands. Our reflection in the black TV screen was my undoing. She snatched a couch pillow and screamed into it as I watched her tits rebound every which way. I filled her to the brim, and she sucked up every last drop.
I worked so damn hard to become the man I am, and I’m convinced June’s love was my reward. I’d never stop being grateful that she let me within inches of her, never stop honoring her for all that she’d given me in this life. So, I couldn’t really blame Jonah and Kai for their behavior. Was Jonah perfect? Certainly not. But he made more of an effort than anyone knew. And Kai? She’d been working hard to figure it all out. They deserved each other in the best of ways.
June panted as the pillow rolled from her face and onto the floor “What did that accomplish?”
“Nothing at all.” I bent over and kissed her lips, pushing her hair behind one beautiful ear. “I just wanted to remind you how much I fucking hate you.”
I kissed her again, wrapping her in my arms and pulling her upright on the edge of the couch. If our friends were going to fuck for days straight, then so were we.
It wasn’t until five full days post-hotel that Kai was forced away from Jonah. For a music video, surprisingly. She hadn’t danced in ages, but apparently Aaron had some friends who were trying to promote their music, and Kai agreed to do it as a favor.
I thought Jonah might follow her there, worried about her dancing in lingerie around a bunch of good-looking men, but he did no such thing. He let her go calmly—confidently—kissing her and telling her how beautiful she looked in her makeup until the very last second when the door clicked shut. I think he was just happy to see her returning to one of her lifelong hobbies. Besides, he was giving Aaron a chance, and their dynamic was making out to be pretty funny.
Jonah spent the entire day staring at the floor, undoubtedly imagining all he’d seen. I sympathized with that. I did the exact same thing for weeks—years—after I finally saw Juni undressed. I still did it. Often.
A year passed and we got a national tour under our belt. Kai and Jonah, Tiff and Noah, and June and I traveled far and wide on a bus that broke down only twice. June graduated from her master’s program, though she wasn’t working yet, and Tiff graduated from culinary school about a month in, so she met up with us in Seattle. My parents even came out to one of our hometown shows, and my dad cracked a smile at June and me. I could hardly believe it.
Just like I could hardly believe how much happier Jonah was, and how much more grounded Kai seemed. Life got better and better with each passing day. For all of us.
But tonight, Jonah, June and I were only thinking about one thing. One thing that was finally happening. A plan that Jonah had been developing since the fucking seventh grade.
Kai was off to a photo shoot, and we had the apartment to ourselves to plot. We purchased an atrocious amount of McDonald’s and spread it across the coffee table between the couch and the TV. We dimmed the lights, set up a camera to record, and took our positions.
Jonah, for once in his life, couldn’t stop smiling. Neither could I. Nor June.
He leaned against the arm of the couch waiting as June and I crouched in the hallway, peeking through the doorway into the living room. Kai’s keys jingled in the door, and she pushed it open, immediately rushing up to Jonah when she saw him sitting there. He received her with two hands around her waist, and they began to kiss as if they might never tire.
“They had to put makeup on my ass,” Kai said, hardly taking a moment to breathe.
“Because?” By Jonah’s tone, I guessed he already knew the reason.
“It’s bruised from how many times you’ve slapped it.”
He chuckled. I really wished I hadn’t heard that.
“Did you have fun, my beautiful girl?”
“Mhm.” Her mouth was too full of his tongue to respond properly. They fell backward onto the couch.
These two would just never fucking stop, would they? At least we weren’t still trapped with them on the tour bus. That was really something. I don’t know who was worse, Kai and Jonah or June and I. Tiff and Noah had long since mastered the art of subtlety. I suppose that’s what happens when you start hooking up at fifteen and there are parents around.
My forehead fell to my hand as I watched our friends. June snickered, and I flicked the side of her head.
“You’ve set something up,” I heard Kai say, finally lifting herself from their kiss.
“Ignore it.” Jonah pulled her face back to his eagerly.
June lifted her hand to her mouth to muffle her quiet laughs which were only growing. I shoved her shoulder with my palm and stood, walking to the kitchen to grab a drink for no other reason than to get my friends to stop and return to what we had so carefully prepared. “You know, Jonah, you left your camera out here on the counter.”
A single middle finger shot up from the other side of the couch.
“So, what are you guys doing? Besides being disgusting in a common space,” I continued, taking a sip from my newly poured cup. “Eating dinner?” I heard a groan before both of their heads popped up over the back of the couch.
“Oli, man,” Jonah said as if those two words told me everything he was thinking.
“I just think you might want to start eating.” I took another sip and walked toward the hallway to join June once again. “Before it gets cold.”
Jonah groaned again and sat up next to Kai, both facing the food in front of them and finally allowing our plan to unfurl. Kai asked why he’d set it up, and he played it off as loving her and wanting to hang out with her. But it was much more than that, and it was perfect.
Honestly, he would’ve plucked every last star from the sky just to start what he was about to do, but Kai wouldn’t have wanted that, and he’d been dreaming of obliging her in this particular way for over a decade.
She reached for a sauce packet—her favorite kind, placed strategically in front of her so she’d pick it up first—and something knocked inside the plastic as she lifted it. Her eyes jumped to Jonah with such wariness it was as if she believed someone had poisoned their food. He just smiled, his lips melting across his face as he watched her, as he watched his life unfold before his very eyes.
She peeled back the top of the sauce packet and slapped the cover on the coffee table, eyes brimming with silver as she peered in. June and I held each other’s hands tightly, watching our incredible friends.
“I know you haven’t always known, but I have,” Jonah said, his voice breaking as his tears began to well. “I used to dream about being able to get you a nice engagement ring.”
She began sobbing. “Jojo, I… When… How’d you…” She sucked up an ugly sniffle and paused for a moment to calm herself down. “How’d you get the cover back on the packet?”
June and I giggled silently. Kai would ask that. Jonah chuckled as well, pushing a tear from his cheek with a flat palm. “Clear nail polish.”
She wailed, throwing herself over him. “You’re so smart!”
They held each other so tightly, it was as if they were each other’s lifeline, as if they hadn’t seen each other in centuries though it had only been a couple hours. I knew the feeling, and I whispered to June to let her know that my proposal was going to be far more annoying.
For the record, I’m going to take her to her favorite restaurant, get her riled up with some historical debate I haven’t decided on yet, and yell at her to marry me until she snatches the ring from my fingers. Then, I’m going to drag her to the bathroom, sit her on the counter, and kiss her everywhere until she’s no longer upset with me. But that’s a story for another day.
Our teary-eyed friends pulled away from their embrace, keeping their noses close. Jonah cupped Kai’s cheek and finally, after all these years, said those fucking words to her. “Will you marry me, Kai?”
“Yes. Oh god, yes.” She squeezed his head in her hands and kissed him, wrestling him back down to the couch as he somehow managed to get the ring from the plastic case and push it onto her finger.
I sighed. I knew exactly where this was headed. Jonah ground his hips up into Kai and began ripping off her sweats. Her long-sleeved T-shirt unveiled a black sports bra, and her sweatpants uncovered those fitness shorts that were far too revealing for my attention. And that bruise on her ass.
June nudged me. “That’s our cue.” We both stood from our crouched positions and made our way into the living room.
“Nope!” I said, snatching the camera off the counter and ending the recording. “There is no way you guys are doing that right now! You’ve both had enough for one lifetime.”
“We’re gonna celebrate!” said June, moving to shake Kai’s shoulders. “Finish your food and get ready. We’re going out.”
Kai shot up with an enthusiastic “Yay!” while Jonah whined and rolled his head into the couch cushion.
Some things never change.