Chapter 12 #2
Later, after we’ve cleaned up the remains of dinner, Seth and Sabrina — um, Bree — head upstairs, and Cole catches my eye, nodding toward the back door.
The sun is just setting, and the sky is a tapestry of pink and purple and gold, wispy violet clouds painted with orange.
I’m still a little buzzed from dinner, not enough to cloud my judgment, but just enough to feel grateful when Cole leads me to a conversation pit down by the water and drapes an arm around my shoulders.
Still, I glance back up at the house, my eyes searching the second floor. “Are you sure they won’t, um —”
Cole laughs. “Didn’t you see the way Bree was looking at Seth all through dinner? They are going to fuuuuck —”
“Okay okay, I get the idea.” I shudder involuntarily. “That’s still my brother.”
“God, you are such a prude —”
“Who are you calling a prude?” I slide my hand around his neck and pull him down to press our lips together.
Fuck, it feels good to kiss him. He’s been close by all evening, but just out of reach, handsome and charming and rumbling against every one of my nerves.
It’s not long before he’s straddling my lap, my hands pushing his shirt up so that I can touch him, every one of my senses turned up to the highest possible degree, the air and the sky and his hair and the salt marsh, the taste of him on my tongue, the gravitational pull that always drags me towards him.
And so when he slides to his knees, when he draws me out of my jeans and presses his face into my lap, I lean my head back and sigh, my cheeks painted in twilight, and I rest my hand on his hair and I think there has never been a moment that was this perfect.
***
“Guys, where are you? There’s like a whole army of goblins in here and I’m getting slaughtered — could really use some backup —” Seth is sitting on the edge of the couch, his fingers flying over the buttons on his controller.
“Sorry, I’ve got troubles of my own —” My eyes are fixed on my portion of the enormous TV screen, where I’m fighting off six opponents at once.
“Don’t worry, babe, I’ve got you —”
I catch a glimpse of Bree’s Elvish warrior maiden sprinting by at the edge of the screen, and suddenly the entire battlefield is lit up with a massive fireball.
Seth laughs, resting his controller on his knee as our battle stats flash up on the screen. “Well, that’s certainly one way to do it.”
“So, is this what we’re doing all day?” Cole is sitting cross-legged on the couch between Bree and me, flipping through one of the gossip magazines that had been spread across the coffee table before we arrived.
“Just for a little bit, honey,” Bree coos. “This game just came out and it’s fun to play it together.”
“Might as well get comfortable, then.” Cole lies down on the sofa, resting his head on Bree’s lap and tucking his feet underneath my thigh.
“You’ll have to excuse him,” Bree says to me as she runs her fingers through his hair, smiling indulgently. “He thinks that just because he’s tall and gay and fabulous, he gets to drape himself wherever he wants, and everyone will just let him.”
I shrug. “Seems like a good enough reason to me.” I pull Cole’s legs into my lap so that he has room to stretch out comfortably, and he grins at me. His shirt is mostly unbuttoned, as usual, and I let my eyes linger, dragging along his bare torso before I look away.
We play a few more rounds, and I can tell Cole is restless, wiggling in place to find a comfortable position, making sure to rub up against me when he does. Finally, he stands up, stretching luxuriously.
“Well, I’m going to go jump in the pool,” he says. “Anyone want to join me?”
Bree stashes her controller on the table. “I’ll come with you, babe.”
“It’s crazy that this place has a pool and a hot tub, and the Sound is right there,” I can’t help musing. “I mean, I guess you guys are used to it, but for me — it’s a little nuts.”
Bree laughs. “Well, Maximum Overkill 1 and 2 paid for the house, and 3 paid for the pool, I’m pretty sure.”
“Oh man, we saw Maximum Overkill, remember?” Seth leans around Bree to catch my eye. “It was right before I went to college, I’m pretty sure.”
“And we saw the third one,” Cole chimes in, a glint in his eye as he looks at me. I suddenly have a vivid memory of exactly where Cole’s hand was during the movie, and I hope nobody notices me blushing.
“Well, now you can all get your money back when you get in the pool,” Bree quips. “Seth, want to join us?”
Seth glances over at me. “I wouldn’t mind doing another battle or two, if that’s okay with you.”
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
We shuffle a little closer together on the couch as Bree and Cole leave the room. As he cues up the next round, Seth bumps me with his shoulder. “Hey, I like this whole thing. You and Cole. I always thought maybe you were alone too much, but you relax around him. It’s cool.”
I keep my eyes on the screen and my voice steady. “Yeah, he gets me, I guess.”
We’re only halfway through the next round when we hear voices on the stairs. And when Bree and Cole walk into the room, Seth pauses the game.
Bree is wearing a tiny purple bikini, the halter top and skimpy bottoms barely containing her curves.
And Cole, fucking Cole, is walking by in nothing but a hot pink Speedo, a towel slung over his shoulder, his long limbs and trim torso more than a little mouthwatering, the suit leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.
I’ve seen him fully naked on many occasions, and I’m still sitting here feeling like I’m going to have a heart attack.
Bree links her arms through Cole’s, a slow smile spreading across her face as she meets Seth’s gaze. “We’ll be outside when you get bored, boys.”
When they leave, Seth clears his throat. “I, uh — I think I want to go swimming.”
“Me, too,” I agree, and we race for the stairs to change.
***
“Anybody else want anything while I’m up?” Seth is bent over the cooler, the firelight flickering across his shoulders, and I can hear the soft clink of bottles and ice as he rummages through it. We’re sitting down by the water, relaxing after a day spent in and out of the pool.
“I’ll have another one,” I reply, waving my empty bottle. I’m slumped on one of the couches around the conversation pit, my feet stretched towards the fire, typing a long string of eggplant emojis on my phone.
“Are you sure?” Seth chuckles. “You look like you’re more liquid than solid.”
I hit send, and a moment later, I hear a snort of laughter from Cole.
“Aren’t we all 75% water anyway?” I ask as Seth slides the cold bottle into my hand.
Cole gives me a withering look, the corner of his mouth twitching. “That’s the earth. The earth is 75% water.”
“Never said I was a fucking scientist.” I take a triumphant swig of my beer, and Cole hides his face in the cushions, his shoulders shaking with mirth.
Across the fire, Bree appears to be conducting an imaginary orchestra with the neck of her beer bottle. When Seth sits down beside her, she snuggles against him, then turns her eyes toward the two of us.
“Never have I ever —” she begins.
Cole groans, running a hand over his face, and I sit bolt upright.
“This is a terrible idea,” I announce to no one in particular.
“Yeah, and you already know all of mine,” Cole agrees.
“But I don’t know Ezra anywhere near as well as I’d like to,” Bree pouts. “And you don’t know Seth! Plus it’s fun and we’re too drunk to do anything else.”
“This — is true,” Cole intones. He glances over at me, and I shrug. “Okay, do your worst.”
“Never have I ever —” She taps her bottle against her chin as she looks the two of us up and down. “Never have I ever been cosmically reunited with the long-lost best friend that I neglected to tell any of my friends or loved ones about.”
Cole and I both drink, and Cole starts to laugh. “You keep harping on this —”
“I am not harping —” she says loftily.
“You are, it’s almost like you’re —” He sits forward with a speed I didn’t know any of us were still capable of. “Bree, are you jealous?”
“No —”
“Babe,” Cole says seriously. “Do we need to go talk?”
“No, it’s just —” Bree waves her hands. “Never mind, let’s just play. Coley, it’s your turn.”
Cole stares at her for a moment, but then settles back into his seat, his eyes wandering around the circle. “Never have I ever gone down on a woman.”
I toast Cole and take a deep swig, and Seth does too. A moment later, Bree takes a small sip.
I raise an eyebrow, but neither Seth nor Cole seems remotely fazed.
“I went to art school!” Bree exclaims. “Everybody has a bicurious phase.”
“Being bi isn’t a phase.” I’m surprised that the words make it out of my mouth, but I guess I’m pretty fucking wasted. Beside me, Cole shifts just a little closer to rest his knee against mine.
“Yeah, I know,” Bree agrees, and stares into the fire.
Seth puts his arm around her, then clears his throat and looks across the fire at Cole. “I’m actually a little surprised you haven’t.”
“What can I say? When I was in preschool, the teacher asked me what my favorite color was and I said it was glitter. I never needed to do anything to confirm that I felt the way I did. But hey, I don’t need those skills like you do.
” He nods over at Bree. “I know this one is probably keeping you busy.”
Seth blushes all the way to his roots, but Bree brightens, leaning her head against Seth’s shoulder. “You know, I’m pretty sure that’s how I knew I wanted to marry you.”
Seth peers down at her, an indulgent smile on his face. “Really, now?”
“Picture this —” Bree says to us, and I’m not sure I actually want to.
“It was the first day we met. I’m in the sound booth recording my lines, and this adorable guy comes and sits in on the session.
We get to talking afterwards, and then we don’t stop talking, and we order takeout and stay until long after everyone else has left for the night.
And then he brings me back to his office and gets me up on the desk, and well — I heard wedding bells. It hadn’t even been a day!”
I bury my face in my hands, and I’m pretty sure my entire head is on fire. “Jesus fucking Christ, you guys, we are brothers —”
Then everybody erupts at once. Bree is miming something with her fingers that I don’t want to think about in context, and Seth is grabbing her hands and giggling.
I’m still covering my face, and Cole is right next to me, trying to peel my hands away.
Suddenly he straightens up, the picture of mock decorum, and we all do our best to imitate him.
“Excuse me, you miscreants,” he says archly. “ I believe we were playing a game. Ezra, it’s your turn.”
I try to imitate his posture, my mind racing for something to say. I’m already feeling like I’ve put myself out there a little too much, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Um — never have I ever had a threesome.”
It doesn’t necessarily surprise me that Bree and Cole drink, nor that Seth doesn’t. When I look over at Cole he shrugs. “It was hot when it was happening but it got complicated afterwards. I don’t think I would do it again.”
There’s something odd in his voice, and he looks at me steadily, the firelight reflecting deep in his blue eyes. I feel like something is passing between us, but I’m not sure what. I can hear the music, but not the words.
“My turn?” Seth asks, and we all look at him. “Never have I ever — Never have I ever felt more like I have a real family than I do right now.”
We all stare at him for a beat, and I’m puzzling out whether or not he has the syntax of that statement right as it pertains to the game.
But then Cole is raising his bottle, and so is Bree, and I do too, because he’s right.
Something is shifting, something I can’t name, and it’s a field of liquid gold, spreading across my mind.
We’re all looking at each other, and the mood is impossibly soft. But then Bree grabs a couch cushion and thwacks Seth across the middle.
“You’re supposed to say something horny! Like never have I ever had sex in a pool, or never have I ever hit on my teacher —”
“Sex in a pool doesn’t work —” Cole interjects.
“— You’re not supposed to make us all cry,” Bree finishes, but they’re both laughing.
“Okay, okay —” Seth tosses the pillow to the side and wraps his arms around her, giving her a bear hug. “Never have I ever had sex in public.”
All three of us down our bottles, and the game continues on, long into the night.