35. Future-me
Chapter 35
Future-me
CALLIE
“ S o three of them, huh?” Mila asked as we followed Juliet up the stairs after dinner.
A delicious dinner that I’d barely tasted because of an impending conversation I’d been assured would happen as soon as we got home.
Not to mention, the roaming hands.
And they weren’t just on me.
Cole had tugged Freddy’s chair right against his and positioned me so I was on both of their laps with Marco sitting close enough to drape his arm across my thighs. Thighs the other two similarly touched.
While they’d both also touched each other’s legs.
It’d been distracting and intimate and thankfully not out of place because Juliet and Mila were both positioned similarly on Maximo and Ash, respectively.
“Yup.” I kept it simple since I wasn’t sure where she was going with it. I’d only met Mila briefly.
I should’ve known I didn’t need to be guarded. If they were in that tight group, there was a reason for it.
She let out a soft laugh. “I feel like I should be offering you water. I only have one, and it’s a lot. You have to be dehydrated.”
Juliet and I joined her laughter, but mine tapered off first when I saw the way Mila looked at me.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Whether I should extend condolences or ignore the linen-wearing elephant in the room.
She spoke before I could decide. “I owe you an apology.”
I stopped in a hallway that looked like it was straight out of a hotel—including the fancy locks on some of the closed doors. “What, why?”
“When Ash told me he was pretty sure all three men were going to end up with you, I told him to warn them to run far, far away.”
Is she part of why they cut me out?
Well… This sucks.
“This was before you were attacked,” she continued. “When they were trying to stay away but still went into the restaurant when they knew you were working. Which, FYI, were almost all BS excuses, and it was just to see you.”
That made me feel a lot better—especially that they’d been just trying to see me.
“It’s true,” Juliet confirmed. “The excuses-being-BS part. Most of the time, they suggested cake. I only ate it as a sacrifice.” She made a panicked face. “Don’t tell Freddy I made that joke. He’ll never give me funfetti again, and I can not go back to the box stuff. He’s right. It’s crap.”
“Your secret is safe,” I said before looking back at Mila. “And you don’t need to apologize. They’d already stopped talking to me at that point. They only came around after I got hurt.”
I wasn’t mad about that. Sometimes, people needed a kick in the ass—or a stab to the side—to see what was important. If I hadn’t gotten hurt in a way that could’ve been much worse, I likely wouldn’t have gone for it with all three. If anything, I would’ve forced myself to choose and then lost them because what we had didn’t work unless it was all of us.
Nothing like a near-death experience to remind someone how short life was and that some risks were worth it.
“Just so you know, Ash didn’t say anything,” Mila added as we continued walking and turned into a sewing room. One I recognized from the monitors in Maximo’s office. “He said they’re grown men and can make their own decisions. But I still want to apologize. I assumed that if you were from that awful place and knew Veronica, you were like her. You’re not. At all. I’m sorry for making assumptions.”
“And I’m sor?—”
“If you’re going to give me sympathy, you can save it. It’s unnecessary. My mother was a bitch. She played stupid games and won the ultimate stupid prize.”
I didn’t argue since I didn’t know the woman well. But anyone who willingly followed Abraham—my own parents included—had to be at least a little dumb.
Instead, I changed tracks and joked, “And I’m sore. That’s what I was gonna say.” I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “I have three boyfriends.”
That didn’t get laughter. It was muffled snorts.
“Also,” Juliet interjected again, “you should know that you’re wrong. They’d already decided at the wedding to go for it. The night you were attacked but before it happened. I thought they meant each of them go for it, and may the best man for you win.” She shrugged. “But this is way better.”
She wasn’t wrong.
I’d never held it against them when they’d forced the distance. I also hadn’t minded when I’d thought my assault had re-kickstarted things. But I couldn’t deny that it made me happy to know that had nothing to do with it.
That they’d already planned on fixing things.
Juliet snagged a measuring thingy from a desk that was covered with different fabrics and approached me.
I took a retreating step away. “Uh, what’re you doing?”
“There’s a fight night at the beginning of March. After the football chaos but before the Saint Patrick’s Day green barf arrives.”
Ew.
But also, what?
“A boxing event at Moonlight,” Mila filled in. “Everyone gets decked out. It’s a whole thing. Juliet is making me a new dress that I’ll wear for the pre-party hoopla and then while I’m hiding out in a back office.” She grimaced. “I’m not a boxing fan.”
Juliet pulled out a big album. “I want to make you a dress, too.”
Oh.
Yikes.
This could be awkward.
“No, no, that’s… Wow ,” I whispered.
The page she opened to had a picture of a gorgeous black dress. It was on one of those headless torso things, but it was draped back to show slits that went way up the sides. The photo next to it showed an intricate woven back.
It kind of resembled thin braided ropes .
“That was mine she made for the one and only fight night I’ve attended,” Mila said, though I’d already guessed that.
I didn’t mean to. I was actively trying not to.
But my gaze ran over the brunette wearing ripped jeans and what was likely her husband’s hoodie because it was massive on her. When I met her startling pretty blue eyes—light ones, not dark like Freddy’s—they were thankfully lit with amusement and not annoyed at my intrusive perusal. “Yes, I am, and no, you may not. Not unless you want to see far more of me than either of us or any lurking Daddies would be okay with.”
“Got it,” I mumbled as I gave the book in front of me my full attention.
When Juliet made the dress offer, my knee-jerk reaction had been to decline because what if it was… Well, what if her skill level aligned with mine?
That being nonexistent.
But the more I flipped through the pages, the more I saw she was genuinely talented. I wanted a dress. I just had no reason for it.
“As beautiful as these are,” I said honestly and hoped she could hear it in my voice, “I don’t have a reason for one. You heard Marco. He doesn’t want me at work.”
“Fight night is different,” she assured. “It’s crawling with security. Cole and Marco work before and after, but they get to enjoy the matches. I don’t know about Freddy. But even if he’s also working, you would sit next to Maximo and me.”
“Maybe,” I said since that did sound like fun.
“Even if it isn’t for that, I want to make something. I am getting restless with specific orders. I want to just make what I feel like. And you’re shorter than me but with bigger boobs than her.” She glanced at Mila. “No offense.”
“None taken,” she said with a grin. “They’re small but mighty.”
Juliet looked back at me, and after a few long moments, I relented. “Okay, sure.”
“Awesome. Do you have a shirt under there?” At my nod, she grabbed a dozen pencils and shoved them in her high ponytail before ordering, “Great, take your sweater off.”
“Bet that’s like being at home,” Mila joked before amending, “or Marco’s home. Or… You know what I mean.”
“How’re you gonna handle that?” Juliet asked.
I pulled off my sweater without thought, and her eyes zeroed in on the hickey Cole left.
I started to feel self-conscious until she tugged her top to the side to show her own bite marks.
A lot of them.
“Bitey Daddy or bitey Freddy?”
“Daddy,” I said. “Cole, specifically.”
“Does that mean the hickey on Freddy’s neck isn’t from you like I thought?” At my headshake, she smiled. “Good for you all. Anyway, the house thing. What’s your plan?”
“No idea.” I looked between them. “Any advice?”
Mila shook her head. “Don’t ask me. I sought Ash out after I was mugged, agreed to stay temporarily, and now we’re married. And definitely do not ask Juliet.”
My questioning gaze moved to the redhead, and she happily filled me in on the twisted—yet somehow romantic—way she met Maximo before finishing with, “So what we’re saying is that you now live with them permanently, so get used to it.”
I had a feeling that was what they would say. It did bring me to another question. I scanned around to make sure no one was coming before I asked, “How do you handle the, um, birth control stuff?”
Mila tapped her arm. “Implant. Though I’m pretty sure Ash would slice it out of me as soon as I say I’m ready.”
“I’m on the pill,” Juliet said. “I, um, don’t think I want kids. My dad was awful, and I never knew my mom. I don’t know how much nature versus nurture factors into parenting skills, but with the examples I’ve had, I’m a little nervous to find out.”
Mila’s face softened. “What? You’d make a great mom.” She picked up one of the countless pairs of scissors. “Minus the death blades.”
“Yeah, says the woman with the implant for basically the same reason. And also, tell your husband to stop using those to open cardboard boxes.”
“I can tell him, but there’s no guarantee he’ll listen.” Mila looked at me. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m not on birth control.”
“Okay, so they use—” Her question cut off at my headshake. “And they know you’re not on birth control?”
“Marco’s exact response was”—I lowered my voice to sound deep and gravelly—“ good .”
They shared a look, but it was Juliet who spoke around the pencil in her mouth to go with the ones in her hair. “Then you’re basically already pregnant. Get used to that, too.”
Again, that was what I figured they would say.
“If you feel strongly about it, tell them,” Mila said after a stretched silence. “They’re bossy, not assholes. I mean, don’t tell him, but I used to think Marco was an asshole, and then I watched him cut your turkey for you.”
“Oh no,” I said. “He’s definitely an asshole. Just to basically everyone outside of his circle.”
“I thought he had the emotional range of a potato, but he’s so gentle with you,” Juliet noted.
She wasn’t wrong.
“Cole and Freddy, too. They’re happier than I’ve ever seen them. And the two of them together? That was a surprise.” She tilted her head. “But also not. Cole used to look so lonely when he crashed in the pool house. And Freddy was a workaholic. Marco, too. Now everything just seems…”
“Complete,” I filled in.
“Exactly.” Her gaze rose as she did another measurement, and it became clear why she had so many pencils in her hair. She kept setting them down while she was distracted, and instead of searching for them, she would just grab another. “But maybe with a little extra room if you think that’s what you want.”
I thought for a second. When that got me nowhere, I walked through it out loud as I told them about the way I’d grown up. It wasn’t like the awful childhoods they’d had. Not at all. I had parents who loved me. They just were who they were.
And the end result was still pretty damn lonely.
Rather than my experience putting me off having kids, talking it out made me realize it was the opposite. I wanted them because I knew what it was like to be lonely.
Because I’d learned from my parents’ mistakes and wouldn’t repeat them.
Because I was my own person, and Cole, Marco, and Freddy were their own people, and I was done letting anyone dictate my life.
Well, anyone but them. That part I liked. A lot.
There were logistics to it that might be complicated, but it was Vegas. I was sure any future child wouldn’t be the only one in their school with more than one set of parents. And, as always, future-me could deal with it.
“It kind of sounds like you already know what you want,” Juliet said pointedly. She didn’t make me confirm as she changed the subject, letting me off the hook. “So let’s talk about book club. Marco might not want you at the resorts, but we can meet in our penthouse. Or even here, though it’s kind of a drive.”
“Hanging out would be great, but count me out of book club,” I said. “Maybe it’s the potential ADHD, but I can’t get into reading. I bought a tablet. I swore I would read through the classics. I think I made it two pages before I threw in the towel.”
“The classics are classics for a reason, but that’s not the kind of books we read,” Juliet said.
Mila gave an eyebrow raise. “But they’re still educational.”
I don’t trust their laughter.
But I am intrigued…
“You’re not going back to work.”
I didn’t argue with Cole. I couldn’t.
I had a mouth full of cock.
The piercing clanged against my teeth as Freddy withdrew before pushing in until I gagged. I would’ve assumed that he would be the gentlest. He was in a lot of ways. But none of them were tender when it came to filling me.
On my hands and knees between the two men, Freddy used my mouth as Cole took my sex. There was a roughness to it that went beyond the other times. At Cole’s proclamation, it suddenly made sense.
It was the conversation I’d been dreading since before dinner. One I’d assumed was postponed—preferably indefinitely—since we’d gotten home and started doing much better things than talking.
It was also a punishment.
Because right as my orgasm was almost there, Cole slowed. “New rule, goddess. You don’t bring up leaving. You don’t imply you’re leaving. You don’t leave. Ever . Daddy Marco already told you that you’re here until one of us says you can go.”
“And news flash, baby girl, that ain’t gonna happen,” Marco put in from his spot on the chair.
It took all my strength—physical and mental—to release Freddy’s dick so I could talk. “I can’t stay here forever.”
“Says who?”
“Why the fuck not?”
“That’s what you fucking think.”
Oh hell.
Arguing with one of them was difficult enough. Keeping my head around the three of them—especially while one was still buried in me and one’s hard-on was right in front of my face—was nearly impossible. I closed my eyes and focused. “My side is healed. I need to get back to my real life.”
“This is your real life,” Cole said. “Did you think we’d start this up, then move out?”
“I mean, yeah. It’s Marco’s?—”
“It’s our house,” Marco corrected. “You don’t like it, we’ll find someplace you do.”
I looked up at Freddy for help, but he didn’t give it. “And as much as I love seeing you at the restaurant, I love having you here with us far more.” His eyes heated. “Especially like this, on your knees…” He shook his head and gestured between them. “Our schedules are shitty enough. If you went back to work, there’d be no time together.”
Cole pushed in. “No time for this.”
It was a compelling argument even without Cole using my body against me. I would miss them if we were trying to find openings that lined up between four people.
The point was already made, but Freddy added, “And it gives you time to figure out if there’s something else you want to do.”
That part also sounded good. I’d gone from living everyone else’s choices to serving at Parisian Crescent because that was where Tess had been working. Other than dating them, I’d never made a life decision that was just for me—about what I wanted rather than the limited options.
But it was a lot of dominoes to stack on a relationship that was only a few days old. “What happens if we break?—”
“I’d choose your next words very carefully, Calliope,” Marco bit out.
“Pretty sure I just made it clear that even suggesting you’d move out is breaking a rule. But planning for leaving us ?” Cole slid free. “Watch her teeth.”
What ?
Freddy filled my mouth again. Gripping my cheeks, he forced my mouth open so I couldn’t bite down.
“Five spanks each for even thinking about taking you away from us.”
I thought I knew what to expect, but the spanks in the kitchen were nothing compared to what Cole gave. He didn’t pepper them around my cheeks. He hit the same spot twice in a row, and it had to be deliberate. Then another two in a different spot, but still on top of each other. And then another one. I thought he would stop. Switch places with Freddy. Something to give me a small reprieve.
But at his pause, Freddy said, “Handle mine.”
Two each landed below my ass at the crease of my thighs so it would hurt to stand or walk or move at all. The last one went right between to hit my soaked sex, and I cried out around Freddy.
“ Putain ,” he groaned.
Marco stood, but he didn’t climb onto the mattress. He used the leverage to smack my ass with a paddle. A two-by-four. Hell, maybe a whole tree. All I knew was there was no way it was only his hand. Not unless he’d been seriously holding back the previous time.
The force knocked me into Freddy, and I gagged. The slow stream of tears turned into sobs.
But Marco didn’t stop. Freddy didn’t pull free.
And I didn’t try to make them. Not once did I even think about it.
For whatever twisted reason, their punishment reassured me. Calmed my doubts. Made it clear how desperately they wanted to keep me.
When his five finished, Marco slammed a finger into me. Then two. He roughly plunged in and out. “Are you going anywhere?”
I shook my head.
His fingers slipped free but were instantly replaced by Cole. He drove deeper, but I somehow knew his words weren’t aimed at me. “That goes for you, too.”
“I know,” Freddy grunted, his own thrusts resuming.
If anything more was said, I didn’t hear it. Couldn’t process it. My blood rushed in my ears as I came, my cries muffled around Freddy.
“Don’t. Fuck .” Cole sucked in a stilted breath and tried again, forcing the words in a rush. “Don’t come yet.” His last word was a groan as he did what he’d promised the night before. He came inside me.
That only drove Freddy on, and he shook his head. “Stopping isn’t happening.”
I didn’t have a lot of experience, but even I could tell he was close.
Cole and Marco traded places before my big mountain filled me, taking me off my knees. Literally. If not for his bruising hold on my hips, I would’ve fallen forward from the brutal force. My knees hovered above the mattress as he rocked me back and forth to meet each thrust.
Cole rounded the bed and stood near Freddy. “Pull out.”
“Fuck you.”
“Maybe next time.” His palm went flat to Freddy’s tattooed abs and ran down until it was right above his pelvis and my face. “Our girl could use another reminder of who she belongs to. Who owns her. Maybe if we make her sleep in it instead of wiping it off, she’ll remember.”
Freddy was already pulling out of my mouth before Cole finished speaking. He reached for himself, but the other man got there first and stroked hard and fast, his hand a blur.
“Open and stick out your tongue,” he ordered as he aimed Freddy’s cock. I did as he said right before the first bit launched to land on my lips and tongue. The rest hit my cheek and coated his hand.
“Fucking hell,” Marco grunted as I tightened around him, my orgasm crashing over me suddenly. His followed, his heat coating my insides and dripping down my thighs.
Leaving me covered.
Filled.
Full.
Complete.