Epilogue
TWO MONTHS LATER
The sun is brutal. I’m sitting on the edge of the pool with my feet in the water and a beer sweating in my hand when Rebecca drops down next to me. She’s in the tiniest bikini I’ve ever seen, sunglasses pushed up on her forehead.
“Hey, Tate. Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to say sorry. I know it’s been a couple of months, but I’ve been feeling bad. At that bar. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that. I was way too aggressive, and you were clearly not into it.”
I take a sip of beer. Some dude cannonballs into the shallow end and soaks my shorts. “It’s okay. Really. Don’t worry about it.”
“No, I do. You’re a sweet guy. I misread things. And I’d had a few too many—”
“It’s forgotten,” I say. And I mean it. That night feels like a different life. A different Tate. Back then, I was still trying my hardest to be someone I’m not. “No hard feelings. Seriously.”
She nods. “Cool.” She adjusts her top, her gaze drifting across the pool. “So, I have another question. And you can totally tell me to mind my own business.”
I brace myself.
“Is Brody seeing anyone? Not for me. But my roommate thinks he’s a total babe. And since you’re, like, his best friend, I figured you’d know.”
Before I can answer, a splash from the deep end. Brody pulls himself out of the water, rivulets running down the planes of his chest. He stands on the deck, shakes out his hair like a dog, and scans the crowd until his eyes find mine.
“Look at him,” Rebecca sighs.
“I know.”
Brody grabs a towel off a lounger and slings it over his shoulder, then makes his way around the pool toward us, stopping to fist-bump Kyle, dodge a flying ball, and step over a couple making out on the concrete.
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” I say when he’s within earshot.
“Ask what?” Brody is standing over us, dripping.
Rebecca’s face turns pink. “Oh. Just, you know, my roommate was wondering if you have a girlfriend.”
Brody grins. “Nope. No girlfriend.”
Rebecca lights up. “Really? Because she’s great. Super smart, funny, sweet. I think you two would—”
Brody drops down between us, his wet thigh pressing against mine. “I’m sure she’s great,” he says, draping his arm over my shoulders. “But I’m off the market.”
“Oh, but I thought you said—”
“I said I don’t have a girlfriend.” He pulls me closer and presses a loud, wet kiss to my temple. “Didn’t say anything about a boyfriend.”
Rebecca’s eyes bug out of her head. She looks from Brody’s arm around my shoulders to my face, searching for a punchline. All she sees is me grinning.
I wrap an arm around Brody’s waist and lean my head on his shoulder. “Sorry,” I say to her. “This one’s taken.”
Rebecca’s jaw hangs open for a second. Then she snaps it shut, a smile spreading across her face. “Huh,” she says. “Well. I’ll be damned. Good for you guys. Seriously.” She gets up, her bikini barely containing her. “I’ll let you two… you know. Enjoy the party.”
We watch her walk away, hips swaying. She’s going to have a hell of a story for her roommate.
I can still hardly believe it myself. That second night at the cabin, we didn’t sleep at all.
We fucked until the blanket was soaked with sweat and lube and cum, then fucked some more.
We talked too. About a decade of friendship and how neither of us ever saw this coming.
The next morning, we were supposed to drive home.
We made it forty minutes before Brody pulled over on some dirt road, and I rode him in the driver’s seat until the windows were steamed up and the truck was rocking on its axles.
“Nice delivery,” Brody murmurs into my hair.
“Learned from the best.”
“What do you say, Tate? Should we get out of here?” His hand travels from my shoulder to my neck, his thumb stroking the sensitive skin there. My swim trunks suddenly feel a lot tighter.
I look around the pool. Kyle and Travis are stuffing hot dogs in their mouths, a group of girls taking a selfie in the shallow end. The thumping bass is already giving me a headache.
“I say we take this party somewhere more private.”
“Oh yeah?” His thumb slides up my neck, into my hair. “What did you have in mind?”
“I was thinking about that thing you did last night.”
“Which thing? I did a lot of things.”
“You know which thing.”
He grins. “Say it.”
I turn my head and put my lips right against his ear. I tell him exactly what I want, in exquisite detail.
Brody’s breath hitches. “Damn, you’re an animal, Tate.”
“You’re the one who made me this way.”
“Nah. It was in there all along. I just let it out.” He stands up, grabs my hand, and pulls me to my feet. I can see the outline of his hard cock straining against his swim trunks, and I know we won’t make it back to our dorm.
“Lead the way.”
The End