Chapter 18 #2
The bartender comes over, flashing Gil a pretty smile again. “Hi, how are you guys doing tonight?”
“Good, thank you,” Gil answers, and hearing his accent makes her smile even more. “How are you?”
“I’m doing all right, thanks. What can I get for you?”
She doesn’t ask for IDs, thankfully. We order drinks, and right after they come, a band starts to set up near the bar. This is a neat place, a bit too hip for my taste, but a perfect place to take the guys for their first outing.
“This is good,” I say, taking another sip of my drink and offering a taste to Thomas, who’s almost done with his drink already.
“Why don’t you go out more?” he asks me after he tries my drink. “This is great.”
“I didn’t really have anyone to go out with,” I confess.
Gil takes a big gulp of his drink. “Now you do. We’re going to take you out. At least once a week. You need it.”
“I do,” I say as the alcohol starts to hit me. “Thanks, guys, for making me go out.”
“You’re an amazing woman,” Thomas starts, leaning in close. “And you need to have fun every once in a while.”
“Specifically with us,” Gilbert adds, making me laugh. We’re done with our drinks by the time we’re called to the table. The food is amazing, and we talk and laugh throughout our meal.
None of us are ready to call it a night once we’re done eating, and after checking my phone to see if Jacques or Hasan need anything, we head out, walking down the street.
“There’s a lot of American history in this city,” I say, fingers intertwining with Gilbert’s. Thomas wraps his arm around my waist, falling into step with me. “They have tours, but they’re mostly during daylight hours, so, uh, sorry.”
“I was never big on learning history,” Thomas says. “Our father insisted, which is probably why I hated it so much.”
“It is why I did,” Gilbert tells us. “I hated anything he told us to do.”
“That’s understandable. I didn’t really enjoy history in school, though now I find it interesting.”
“I enjoy it more now,” Thomas starts. “We missed so much while sleeping. It’s hard to fathom. Humans are worse than monsters.”
“I know, right? You should be glad you slept through some of history’s darkest days. It’s easy to think the world is doomed.”
“The world has you,” Gilbert says. “And you have us. Doesn’t seem so doomed that way, does it?”
“Promise me,” Thomas says, stepping in front of me as we walk along the river at Spruce Tree Harbor Park, “we’ll come back out tomorrow.”
I’m standing with my back to Gil’s front, and his hands are on my hips. “I’m not opposed to that idea,” I reply, shivering when Gil’s lips brush against the flesh on the nape of my neck. “This place is neat, and I can only imagine what you guys are thinking.”
“I’m thinking we were born into the wrong time,” Thomas tells me. “We were meant to be here. With you.”
“I agree.” Gilbert kisses my neck, and I’m very aware of people passing us by. I’m sandwiched between two gorgeous men whose hands are eagerly wandering over my body. “I used to think fate and destiny were a bunch of bullshit, but maybe this was how it was supposed to go the whole time.”
Thomas nods. “Having a shitty father, being forced into the shitty Templars…if it was leading to this, then it was worth it.”
“It was,” Gil echoes. “And don’t forget, we were shitty knights.”
We all laugh and Thomas inches in, cupping my chin in his hand. “You’re doing a good job talking me up,” I say, blushing slightly.
“I told you, Ace,” Thomas says, “you give us purpose, and we’ve never had that before.”
Gilbert gathers my hair into one hand, moving it aside. He kisses my neck again, getting a physical reaction out of me. My pussy quivers, sending a jolt through me that makes me start to grow wet.
“I know you like being out,” I start. “But do you want to go home?”
“To have sex?” Gil asks, lips still against my skin.
“Yes.”
Thomas puts his lips to mine, tongue slipping past my lips. “I want to fuck you now.”
“Public indecency is a crime. Was it back then for you? I’d think so, but your laws and beliefs were quite a bit different.”
“Are you asking if we could fuck on the street?” Gil lets my hair go.
“Yeah.”
“Depends on the street.”
I turn, catching his cheeky grin. Shaking my head, I take his hand and step forward, looping my arm through Thomas’s.
“How do you feel? I’m not sure how long the charm will last.”
“Fine,” they say at the same time.
“Good. Explaining why you suddenly got wings would be a challenge.” We slowly walk back along the river, and it hits me again how much I’m regretting not having a life before this. Though the more time I spend with the guys, the more I’m buying into this whole destiny thing.
Maybe I never had good relationships before because everything was leading up to this. If it was, does this mean things will last?
We walk by a group of people, and a single voice stands out to me. I slow, looking through the little crowd of people, and spot a black ponytail. She laughs, and I know exactly who that is.
“Gemma,” I call, and she turns around with a smile on her face. It disappears the second she sees me, and it’s like she was caught in the act or something.
“Hey!” she says, trying to recover before her friends notice. The older woman I saw with her at Lyra’s earlier today is there again, face sullen as she stares at me, unblinking. Then she turns to the man next to her, whispering something in his ear.
Gemma pushes through her group of friends and hugs me.
“Ace! How are you?”
“Good,” I reply, stiffening. I’m not a hugger.
“I take it your boyfriend is okay,” she says softly, stepping away. Her eyes go to Thomas and then Gilbert, and then she realizes that we walked up here together, with Thomas’s arm linked with mine and my hand fastened on Gil’s.
“Yeah, he is. I guess I should say they are.”
She widens her eyes and looks at Thomas and Gilbert again, trying to put it together. She’s nosey and admits it, but I don’t think she’ll flat-out ask me what’s going on. Not in front of the guys at least.
“This is Gemma,” I say, finding my manners. “And this is Tom and Gil.”
“Nice to meet you,” Thomas says, holding out his hand. Gemma takes it then immediately yanks hers back.
“You shocked me,” she laughs, shaking her hand. She’s trying hard not to obviously check them out when she notices the crystal hanging from Gil’s neck. “Pretty. I’ve always loved clear quartz for its simplicity.”
“It’s a nice night, isn’t it?” I ask, painfully aware that I’m awkward at small talk.
“It’s gorgeous out. Warm but not humid. We’re going to grab some food before the park closes. Do you, uh, want to join us?”
“We already ate, but thanks,” I say, noticing all of Gemma’s friends staring not at me, but at the guys. I get it, they’re attractive identical twins, but no one is looking at them with admiration or lust.
They’re looking at them like they know exactly what they are.