Chapter 18 – Age 30 #2
“I didn’t come up with that, I actually saw it on Instagram,” she admitted. “But it’s true! Also, when he takes his vitamins, he puts water in his mouth before the pill. That’s unhinged behavior.”
“We have a very different viewpoint on people being unhinged,” Tor said. “Speaking of, how was the sex?”
Jule coughed out a laugh.
Lydia’s cheeks reddened. That wasn’t a typical conversation topic for them and probably for Lydia in general.
But Tor’d always had a way of making people feel comfortable saying and doing things that were usually outside their norm when he wanted to.
It was his bone-deep calmness, an absence of judgment, and a safety he had exuded even when he’d been six years old.
He had a way looking at you, really looking at you, that made you feel genuinely seen, understood.
People always felt free to be themselves when Tor focused that gaze on them.
“It wasn’t good,” Lydia said, nose scrunching.
“That should have been the end of it,” Tor responded.
“I hoped it would get better.”
“Did it?” Tor asked.
She shook her head.
“It never does,” Jule said. “When it’s right, it’s fireworks from the start. And when it’s not, it’s gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, flavor-free dessert forever.”
“Doesn’t sound like that’s something worth eating.” Tor looked at him in amusement.
“It’s not. Thank fuck that’s in the past. Oh, that reminds me.” He twisted to the side and smiled at Lydia. “We’re getting married.”
“Really? Oh my God!” She beamed at him. “That’s so exciting, Julian! Congratulations. Have you picked a date?”
“Sometime soon. Very, very soon. Dealing with the new house has already set us back longer than I wanted.”
“The good venues book out more than a year in advance,” she said. “I haven’t received a save-the-date card from you. I don’t think very, very soon is an option at this point.”
“And you won’t receive one.” He shuddered. “It’s not going to be that type of wedding. I’m deciding between going to the courthouse and having a ceremony, but even if we do, it’ll be super casual. I’ll text you details when I figure it out.”
“Text?” She blinked at him a few times. “That’s how you’re throwing a wedding? Barbara Sterling has to be losing her mind.”
“My mom offered to have a party planner handle it, but if that happens, I won’t want to go and Tor would make a run for it, so she’s not getting a say.”
“I can’t believe your mother is letting you get away with that. Mine would claw her pearls off if I tried it.”
“I told her Tor doesn’t have any say in it either. I think that took the edge off.”
She looked back and forth between them, eyebrows arched.
“He’s serious,” Tor confirmed.
“This is an unusual relationship,” she finally said.
“Yes, it is.” Jule nodded. “And the sex is fantastic. Win-win. That’s why I’m locking him down. Very, very soon.”
***
“Isn’t it, you know, dirty? I mean, you shit from there, man.”
Tor shrugged, not looking away from the game. “Not usually but, yeah, that sometimes happens.” He tipped his bottle against his mouth and took a swig of his beer. “It’s not a big deal. Like with any other shit, you handle it and move on.” He rubbed his hand over Jule’s inner thigh.
Titan scrunched his face in a disgusted expression.
“Oh, come on. When did you get so delicate?” Laughing, Tor lightly punched his brother’s shoulder. “Sex is supposed to be messy, princess. All the fun things are.”
Beside him, Jule chuckled.
Arms crossed over his chest, Titan grunted and stared at the television. “This screen is huge and you have a million channels. We’re all going to come here to watch shit from now on.”
“Good.” Jule took the beer from Tor and finished it. “Once the floor’s done, we’ll get more furniture. Didn’t make sense to do it now when we’d have to move it around, so we just got the critical stuff.”
“A huge ass TV and a giant couch?” Titan said sarcastically.
“And a mattress. That was the top priority,” Jule said.
“Want another beer?” Tor asked him, laughing.
Jule nodded.
He squeezed Jule’s knee and stood. “Tan?”
“Yeah, Sure.” Titan got up. “Actually, I’ll get them. Be good to stretch my legs.”
Tor sat back down and propped his feet on the boxes they were using as a temporary coffee table, left ankle over right. Then he put his hand back on Jule’s knee.
They quietly watched the game until Titan returned, stood directly in front of them, and handed them each a beer. Jule tilted to the side, trying to see around him. Tor took the bottles, opened them, and handed him one.
“Thanks,” Jule said.
“Does it hurt?” Titan asked, looking at him.
Tor turned to Jule and arched his eyebrows.
“Only if you’re really lucky,” Jule said. “Sit down, man, you’re blocking the game.”
Tor laughed. “He’s kidding.”
“I’m really not.”
Titan sat.
“It doesn’t have to hurt at all, and even if you’re into that kind of thing”—Tor nudged Jule—“it’s still not that kind pain.”
“The fuck does that mean?” Titan asked.
“It’s sort of like how your muscles can ache after a workout,” Jule said, still watching the game. “You know, the good kind of pain.”
“No, I don’t know.”
“Bummer for you.” Jule drank his beer.
“You always seemed to like it when Tor got on you,” he said to Jule.
“I do and why were you watching us fuck?”
“I wasn’t watching. You assholes used to bang any chance you got.
There’s one bathroom in the house and Tor had you bent over every surface of it.
You think none of us ever walked in? And if you thought you were discreet in the bedroom, you’re wrong.
We were all, what, like five feet from each other in there?
A blanket is not an invisibility shield. ”
“In that case, you shouldn’t need to ask all these questions. We’ve already educated you,” Jule said.
“What’s up, man?” Tor asked. “Is there a chick you’re into who wants to get it from the back?”
“Not exactly.”
“You thinking of getting with a dude?” Jule asked.
“No,” Titan said. “You know that woman I’ve been seeing? Carla?”
“The woman you took into your trailer without an introduction and then pushed out the door the same way a couple of times last week?” Jule clarified.
“Yeah.”
“Is that how we’re defining seeing someone now?”
“Not all of us can meet the love of our life as babies, man.”
That finally had Jule looking away from the television. He twisted to the side, curled his hand around Tor’s neck, and gazed at him. “Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey.” Tor gave him a soft smile.
“Love you.”
Tor leaned forward and kissed him.
“So anyway,” Titan said. “Carla wants to give it to me up the ass with a strap-on.”
Jule and Tor both jerked their gazes to him.
“Huh,” Tor said.
“Lucky you,” Jule said at the same time.
“You think so?” Titan asked, uncertain.
“Definitely.” Jule bobbed his head.
“Only if you’re into it.” Tor shook his head and bumped his shoulder against Jule’s.
“I’ll think about it.” Titan turned toward the television and focused on the game. “Who’s winning?”