Chapter 17
Silas
Our girl is blitzed. We hailed a cab to take Lucy home and by the time we made it to the elevator, Noah had her cradled in his arms, and we weren't the least bit surprised to find an irate Matty when we got up to their apartment.
Leading the way, I step inside, with Noah right behind me, carefully navigating the doorway, holding her close. Matty leans in as if to take her from him.
"Let him hold her," I whisper. He nods, stepping back. He's still pissed, but a faint smile crosses his lips, seeing what I'm seeing.
With a mix of nervousness and elation, Noah holds Lucy close, like he can't believe in what universe this girl would end up in his arms. Noah has no trouble getting laid. Hell, most of the time I'm with him when he does. But this is different. Of the three of us, even coined the sensitive one , he's probably the only one who hasn't dated seriously before. This is new for him. All night it looked like he was trying to figure out where he fit. All that talk about our history of being together, being in poly relationships, and he still looks like a fish out of water, holding Lucy like she's previous cargo, but like he's just the delivery guy, not the pedestal to set her on.
"Where should I put her?" Noah asks quietly, not taking his eyes off her.
"Follow me," Matty instructs. They disappear down a hall, so I get comfortable on the couch.
"Lucy doesn't keep her phone on her these days," Matty says when they both return.
"She told us a little about what's going on online. I feel better knowing she didn't purposely ignore me yesterday," Noah sighs, sitting on the couch opposite me.
Matty sits beside Noah, then pins us with a glare. "Right. She's got a lot going on and doesn't have her phone with her. Which is why I expect at least one of you fucking assholes to answer your phone."
I wince, guilty of ignoring his calls all night. "You could have texted," I say weakly.
"I did."
"Ah… hah. Sorry about that. We were having fun."
"Is everything okay, Mateo?" Noah asks.
Matty glances down the hall where Lucy sleeps, then back at us, a troubled look on his face. He gets up and grabs his bag. Pulling out a thin, wide black box, he hands it over.
"This was waiting at the desk downstairs for me when I got home tonight."
Frowning, I lift the lid of the box. It's heavy, with layers of tissue paper. I pull them back and when I see the picture frame, I'm stunned. I cough, trying to lighten the mood.
"Your dick shrunk."
He grumbles, snatching the box out of my hands and giving it to Noah. Noah's response is much more appropriate. "This isn't you."
"Obviously. But someone expertly superimposed my face onto a naked body and delivered it in a frame with a bow to my home. That's creepy, right?"
"Fuckin' A," I nod.
"Yes, this is disconcerting. Was it addressed to you?"
"As opposed to Lucy?" Matty asks.
"Yeah. I mean with what her friend did, this seems kind of in line with that, does it not?"
"You think Delaney did this?" He growls.
Noah shrugs. "Who else?"
He grits his teeth, snatching the fake naked picture of himself out of Noah's hands and stuffing the box back in his bag. Unfortunately, it's a pretty close likeness. Even AI, or obviously doctored, if a picture like that started circulating online, it could hurt Matty's reputation.
We might not hide our wicked sexy time fun, but we don't advertise it either. We've never denied being into poly relationships. But no one's ever asked before. Matty has a serious job, he's the CFO of a major financial powerhouse, he's respected in his community. We also know excellent lawyers through Atrium—one of the owners, in fact—so he's never worried about his private life getting leaked and impacting his job security. He's got ammunition and discrimination fights locked and loaded.
But this is different. This is a personal defamation. Or… a trophy?
"Hey, what if what happened to Lucy wasn't about her?"
"What do you mean?" Matty asks, sitting back down on the couch, having hidden away the evidence of the fucked up gift.
"Well… we talked to Lucy tonight about what her friend said to her yesterday. She admitted to being involved. But said she didn't orchestrate it."
"Delaney is delusional. Lucy's too forgiving, too trusting."
"Yeah, yeah, I get that. But what if this isn't one of those things? I mean, Lucy said she doesn't trust Delaney… but she also didn't completely dismiss that Delaney had help with what she did to you two."
"And?" he asks brusquely.
"And," I sigh, annoyed with Mateo, "what if she was telling the truth?"
"This was Delaney. She's been a creep toward me since I met her. She stares, she hits on me, she tries to get my number, tries to get me to work with her." Matty shakes his head. "No, this has Delaney written all over it. Look, I don't want Lucy to know about that picture. I don't want to worry her."
Noah grimaces. "I don't like the idea of lying to her."
Matty snaps, "Did you forget she's my —" The words freeze in his throat.
I laugh, "Did you forget, Matty?"
Dejected, his shoulders drop. "It's been a while of just the two of us. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize, man. It's different this time, isn't it? It's not like Vanessa, or Alana…" I list off other women we casually dated together. We spent a little time with them one on one, but mostly, our relationship consisted of group sex and the occasional dinner date. None of our previous relationships got a chance to mature to the point Matty and Lucy's did.
This is new territory for him, so I don't give him shit for almost accusing Noah of forgetting she's not his girlfriend. She's ours . Which makes me grin.
"Noah asked our girl if she'd go on dates with us tonight and she said yes. So she's officially our girlfriend, too."
I shouldn't be surprised when Matty's shoulders relax and he asks hopefully, "Really?"
Noah smiles, remembering the conversation.
"And she was sober when she agreed to this?"
I laugh, but Noah answers, "Yes, this was before she drank her weight in beer."
"She doesn't get drunk that often. Did something happen?"
"No, I think she was just processing everything. She really didn't start pounding them until she started talking about Delaney and her online account. And about how she thinks she lost her income by not posting."
"I'm glad she has you two," he says sincerely, without looking at either of us. I get up and slap his back.
"Me too. Now, think I can sleep next to her or…?"
Both men glare at me, and I laugh. "Right, right… I'll ask her tomorrow. Hope you're ready for new roommates." I look at Noah. "We should take off, it's getting late."
He nods, climbing up out of the couch.
"Can you tell her well come by to see her tomorrow?"
Matty nods. On our way out the door, he calls out, "Pack a bag. If she's cool with it… I do miss you guys. I'm ready to try this again, for real."
I don't miss the look on Noah's face, and I definitely don't miss the tightening in my pants when I think about all this happening so fast.
Three weeks ago, Noah and I were still trolling Atrium, neither of us admitting the scene was getting a little old. That we were both looking for something different. Something new. Something with more meaning.
I follow Noah down the hallway, into the elevator.
We climb in, and he leans against one side, facing the front, while I lean against the opposite side, facing him. There's something different about Noah these days. I don't know what's changed. It's like I can feel his inner turmoil. But the words that come out of his mouth are still just as soft and docile as always.
Maybe it's Lucy coming into our lives. Mateo coming home.
The elevator dings and Noah steps out first. We flag down a cab and like at the bar, when he climbs in the back, I climb in after him, sitting a little too close.
At the bar, it was because I knew Noah was feeling a little left out. I had spent time with Lucy, so had Mateo, obviously. But I was clearly more comfortable with her. And I wasn't the one silently freaking out. He's so easy to read, I could tell he was scared Matty would leave us behind—worse, that the three of us would leave him behind.
So I pushed him to sit closer to Lucy, and it worked. What I hadn't anticipated was getting wicked ideas pushed up against him like that.
I've never been interested in men, never really thought about it. Okay, that's a lie. There have been times—moments, really, nothing more—over the years where I found myself getting a little bit harder watching Noah pound into someone's ass. But I've always just assumed that was the same as watching porn. I like women. I fucking love pussy.
Noah doesn't move away when I sit too close. I can feel his warm thigh pressing against mine. I don't know what possesses me to push him further. I turn and look him in the eye. We've been through so much together. Everything, really. I can look him in the eye, there's nothing unusual about that.
Noah's hair is tied back, low at the base of his neck. It's messy, strands fallen out, likely from his adventures carrying Lucy. Though she fell asleep in his arms, she didn't at first, and she was playing with his hair, telling him how pretty he is.
Noah's jaw tenses, his five o'clock shadow looks soft to the touch. I shave pretty close, but for whatever reason, don't have to shave as often as him, my hair grows in more sparsely.
I get the strangest urge to touch his face, to see if it's as soft as it looks.
I should analyze this, right? That's what Noah would do. Matty, too.
Humming to myself, I turn away, dismissing the momentary spark of curiosity to keep looking, wanting to touch. My best friend and life partner would never judge me for it because he's not that kind of guy.
That's all it was. Momentary. Fleeting. It's Lucy's fault, too. She brings up a lot of big feelings for me. I think she might be the one… I feel it in my heart. So do they. It's a heady thing, the four of us together. I'm excited. Ready.
That's why I look at Noah, again, and he's still staring at me, like he does.
I picture Lucy and him together. Sitting on his lap, riding him while he shoves his tongue down her throat. I can't tear my eyes away from the imaginary image.
I shift a little further away, giving us some space. For some reason, that doesn't feel right either.
On our way back up to our apartment, Noah breaks the silence.
"Do you think whoever sent Mateo that picture is trying to fuck with him, or her?"
Keys out, I unlock the door and step into our apartment. Which suddenly feels too small. Too quiet. Too empty.
"I don't know, man. Best we stick together, because it's one of the two of them, right?"
Noah eyes me curiously. But he doesn't voice whatever's on his mind. He just nods. "Im' going to go pack a bag."
"Me too."
Neither of us move. Has Noah ever looked at me like this?
Matty and I used to tease him about how he'd stare at me, like my face would instantly lull him into an alternate dimension. Like he gets lost in his head, forgetting it's weird to watch someone so unveiled the way he does.
It's how he's looking at me now. But the difference is, I'm looking back.
"Night, man," Noah finally says then walks away. His bedroom door clicks shut before I even move. That was weird.