4. Dexter
“I’ve been thinking.” Lock’s hands are on my hips as he kisses my neck from behind.
I grip the bathroom sink to steady myself as his cock presses against my arse. “Sexy thoughts?”
He sweeps his left hand over my hip and squeezes my cock. “I always have sexy thoughts about you, babe.”
My pulse kicks up. “Are you going to keep me in suspense?”
“It’s been nice. Spending time with Avery. The three of us chatting, having fun, and laughing on an equal footing.”
He’s still caressing my cock, which makes it hard to think straight. “Yes. He’s sweet. And the way you look out for him online is adorable.”
“The way I look out for him? Babe, you do your fair share of taking care of him.”
I chuckle. “I suppose I do.” My crush on Avery’s internet persona is nothing compared to the one I have for the real him.
We’ve been chatting for two months. I look forward to getting online more than I ever have, even though Lock and I spend more time in our shared house with Avery than we do actually playing Eventide. Come to think of it, that’s probably why I look forward to getting online so much.
“Spending time with Avery has made me realise how much a third might complete us. Especially if it’s someone we click with. Someone easy to talk to. Someone with a shared love of gaming,” Lock says.
“You’re describing Avery.”
“Am I? I don’t mean to.”
“Don’t you?”
Lock sighs against my neck. “Maybe I am a little infatuated with him.”
“A little?” I lift my hand and stroke Lock’s dark, thick hair.
“Okay, a lot. But I’m not talking about him. I swear. I’m talking about a hypothetical future partner.”
“You want to be part of a triad?”
“Yes. I want to be with someone who loves you as much as I do.”
I turn and loop my arms around Lock’s neck. “I know.”
“Is it something you might want?” Lock’s voice wobbles.
“With the right guy.”
Lock bows his forehead to my shoulder, wraps his arms around me, and squeezes me tight. “Thank you.”
I return his embrace. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Eddie. I wanted them to.”
“It’s not your fault. Or his. We wanted different things, so it didn’t work out. It happens.” Lock lifts his head and stares into my eyes. “What do you see in our future, babe?”
“You and me, happy.”
“Dating other guys?”
“Maybe. Or maybe settling down with one special guy.”
Lock’s eyes brighten. “Really?”
“It would have to be a really special guy.”
“Agreed.”
“Someone who adores us equally. Who wants us equally. And we’d have to want him as much as we want each other. Of course, I might be describing a unicorn.” Or hoping for a cute, pastel gamer who dresses in unicorn colours.
Lock kisses me softly. “You’re not. We’ll find someone like that if we put our hearts out there.”
“How can you be so sure?” I return his kiss, savouring the taste of his lips.
“Because you’re the sexiest man alive.”
I snort-laugh. “We need to agree to disagree on that.” I move away.
Lock slides his hands to my arse and squeezes as he pulls me against him, rubbing our cocks together. “You are. Fuck, you drive me insane you’re so sexy, babe. I hate that anyone has made you doubt how beautiful you are.” He pushes me against the sink, ravishes my mouth, and grinds against me.
“You’re the sexy one,” I say in the brief gap between kisses.
“Let’s agree we’re both sexy.”
“Okay.”
The electronic tone of a video call request pings from our adjoining bedroom.
“Avery?” I ask, chest heaving from the attention Lock is lavishing on me.
“Are you expecting a call from anyone else?”
“No. You?”
Lock shakes his head.
“We could ignore it.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Do you want to?”
If it were anyone else, I would ignore the call and keep making out with my husband. Avery is different.
I rake my teeth over my lip. “No. I want to talk to him. Do you?”
“Yes.” Lock’s voice is husky.
“He’s not ours to want.”
“I know.”
But it isn’t stopping either of us from fancying him. We throw T-shirts on as we go to the bedroom. Lock sits at the desk, puts his headset on, and accepts the video call. I stand behind him, leaning on the back of his chair.
Avery appears on the screen, smiling brightly. He looks especially pretty in a T-shirt that’s the same green as mint-choc-chip ice cream, with matching sparkly eyeshadow. “Hey, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
My cheeks flush.
“Oh, shit, I am. I’m sorry. This can wait.”
Lock chuckles. “You’re not. We like talking to you. I hope you know that by now.”
Avery’s cheeks glow red beneath his make-up. “I do.” He flutters his lashes, which are heavy with black mascara. “I have some exciting news, but it can wait if you’ve got better things to do.”
I rest my hand on Lock’s shoulder. “We like talking to you,” I say in a kind but firm tone.
Lock puts his hand over mine. “What’s your exciting news?”
“I’ve been invited to the Eventide Fan Convention. You’re going, aren’t you? It would be amazing to meet you finally. In person, I mean. I’d like to meet you.” His cheeks become redder.
I want to meet him too, more than I should let on. There’s just one problem?—
“We couldn’t get tickets,” Lock says.
I smile apologetically. “They sold out in record time.”
We’ve wanted to get tickets for the fan convention every year since we began playing Eventide, but with tens of thousands of other players all wanting tickets too, we’ve never been able to. This year, the tickets went on sale while I was teaching. Lock had been on the night shift, so he’d stayed up rather than going to bed. Even that hadn’t been enough to beat the insane queues.
Avery’s expression drops. He chews his lower lip.
“Maybe next year,” Lock says.
“It’s amazing that you get to go.” I make my voice upbeat, even though disappointment snakes around my gut.
Avery stares at his camera, which feels like he’s looking directly into our eyes. “Let me see what I can do. We’ll talk later, okay?”
“Avery—”
He exits the video call before Lock has finished.
Lock stares at the monitor. “It would be nice to meet him.”
I wrap my arms around Lock’s shoulders and press my cheek to his. “It would.”
Would I be able to keep my attraction to Avery a secret in person? Would Lock be able to? Would we need to? Of course, we would. Avery is our friend. He doesn’t see us as anything more than that. Does he? Could he?
“Now you’re thinking,” Lock teases.
“Yup.”
“At least tell me they’re sexy thoughts.”
“Yup.”
“Why don’t you tell me about them while we snuggle together?”
“Just snuggle?”
“Oh, there will be sex too. Don’t you worry about that, babe.” He stands, turns me around, spanks my arse, and pushes me towards the bed.
I love it when my sexy husband takes charge.
* * *
Lock and I are hot,sweaty, and dozing together when another video call request comes through.
“What time is it?” Lock asks.
“Almost midnight.”
He wipes his hand over his face and gets out of bed.
“Um, sexy, you’re naked.”
“So? He’ll only be able to see me from the chest up.” Lock doesn’t reach for his T-shirt.
“You think it’s Avery?”
He flashes me a grin. “Don’t you?”
I hope it is. As Lock answers the call, I wrap the quilt around my waist and stand behind him. When Avery appears on the screen, he is practically bouncing. He widens his eyes, and his cheeks turn a luminous shade of red.
“Oh, shit, you guys were in bed. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. We weren’t sleeping,” Lock says.
Avery’s mouth forms an O, and his eyes get even wider. He snaps his mouth shut and visibly shivers.
“Forgive my husband. He’s the king of too much information,” I say.
“No. It’s fine. You’re married. Of course you—why wouldn’t you be—especially at midnight, umm.”
“You’re excited about something,” Lock says with a chuckle.
“Oh, right, yeah. So, I talked to some people and pulled some strings, and I’ve got you tickets for the fan convention.” An adorable grin splits Avery’s face in two.
“You—?” I can’t speak properly.
“Got you tickets for the fan convention,” he says more slowly.
“Wow,” Lock says.
“You can come, can’t you? I really want to meet you.”
He—? Wow is the only sensible reaction. Avery wants to meet us so badly that he got us tickets. The recurring fantasy of him sandwiched between Lock and me plays through my head as I fail to find appropriate words that don’t involve blurting out how fucking gorgeous and amazing he is.
“Thank you,” Lock says, saving me.
“Yes, thank you.”
“I don’t know what I’d have done without chatting to you over the last two months. You’ve been good friends. This is my way of thanking you.”
And that’s the bottom line. He sees us as friends. It’s all he’ll ever see us as. It’s okay. I’d rather be friends with Avery than not have him in my life.
I run my hand through my hair. “I don’t know what to say.”
Avery giggles. “You could give me your address.”
“Our address?”
“So I can get the tickets sent to you.” His excited expression falls a little. “I’m going to be busy at the convention. I’ve been invited to talk on some panels. But I’ll make time to meet you, I promise.”
“It’s okay if you can’t. You’re a celebrity. We’ll understand,” Lock says.
I nod in agreement. Although it would be amazing to meet Avery in person, I’m under no illusions that we will. He’s likely to be busier than he’s anticipating. Even when he’s not doing official stuff, he’ll be swamped with adoring fans who want to talk to him, get his autograph, and have their picture taken with him. For fans of Eventide, he and other streamers like him are the equivalent of rock stars. I hope the convention won’t be too tiring for him. He deserves to enjoy it as much as everyone else.
“I will.” Conviction blazes in Avery’s voice.
“Then we’ll see you there,” Lock says.
Avery punches the air. “I’ll get to meet you. I can’t wait.”
Honestly, nor can I.