Chapter 4
four
. . .
Thursday
Hearing faint voices, I begin to wake from my slumber, my eyes slowly fluttering open. A content grin spreads across my face. There’s no better thing to wake up to. Pretending I’m still asleep, I listen in.
“Shotgun to the dome,” Lucien utters dryly. “I’m dead.”
“Fuck,” Kaelum lets out anxiously.
“It’s fine. You got this.”
“No, the fuck I don’t.”
“Hey. Listen to me,” Lucien instructs, his voice calm and steady. “You need to focus. Play this smart. Stay on objective.”
Kaelum lets out a quick breath. “On it.”
“Good. You have your ult here if you need it.”
After quickly unlocking my phone, I click onto their stream so I can listen and watch as this unfolds. I know they like to practice together in the mornings and I’ve told them not to mute. It’s fun waking up to them gaming.
“Get them,” their teammates impulsively order Kaelum. “High ground, on your left.”
“Fuck,” he rushes out, conflicted.
“Forget about him,” Lucien coaches in a smooth, reassuring tone. “That will end badly. Remember you don’t have any supports with you.”
“True,” Kaelum sighs.
“We’re in overtime. Keep holding objective.”
“Holding it.”
“That’s it,” Lucien breathes softly. “Good boy.”
“Jesus,” he chokes out in response. “It’s like I can feel your voice in my balls.”
“Mmm. You got this, pup.”
“Not now, Luce, fuck,” Kaelum groans.
“I’m nearly back. Almost there. So close.”
Holy fuck. Their platonic flirting. What a beautiful thing to wake up to first thing in the morning.
“I’m here, I’m here,” Lucien calls out. “Let’s combine ults. Now.”
Both of their supports are also back just in time, so with their combined ultimates, they’re able to easily take out the other team.
“Good fucking shit!” Kaelum exclaims, then lowering his voice immediately after, as if trying not to wake me. “We just won the fucking game. Holy shit.”
“No. You won us the game,” Lucien corrects. “That was a really great hold, Kall. I’m so proud of you.”
Kaelum bursts into panicked laughter. “Dude, shut the fuck up.”
“Please, don’t,” I quietly croon.
“Oh, hi, baby,” Kaelum says happily.
“Morning, sunshine,” Lucien adds. “Sleep well?”
“Did we wake you?”
“In the best of ways,” I tell them, exiting out of their stream and clicking back into the video call.
They're both at their desks, shirtless, their skin rippling with muscles and tattoos.
Although Lucien is basically covered in ink, Kaelum also has a decent amount.
I remember him being a few inches shorter than Lucien, but still easily past six feet and also hot as fuck.
A fantasy of being with both of them crosses my mind briefly until I shake it away.
“Hop on your PC, Lenny,” Kaelum calls out. “Let’s play.”
6:09PM
The front door slams behind Jasmine. She enters the living room chaotically, kicking off her shoes and tossing her purse onto the kitchen counter along the way. Once she meets my eyes, I notice the anticipation aflame within her gaze.
Plopping beside me on the couch, she places her phone screen down and leans toward me with a crazy stare.
“Uh, are you good?” I ask, hiding laughter.
“The tea, Nor!” she exclaims enthusiastically. “Spill! I’ve been waiting all day to get home so you could give me the tea!”
Turning my body towards her, I reveal a cheeky grin.
“Oh my fucking god, bitch, now!”
“We had the session,” I announce vaguely, ignoring her excited screeches. “It was so awkward at first, but I think he caught the vibe and offered to do it before I could even ask.”
“Told you. Continue.”
“It was hotter than I thought it would be. I literally have no words.”
She grabs a slice of pepperoni and mushroom pizza from the opened box on the table and giggles. “This is exactly what I needed. Tea and pizza.”
“I grabbed your favorite seltzers too,” I mention. “They’re in the fridge.”
“Ugh. Love you to pieces. Anywho,” she rushes out, waving her hand for me to keep talking.
“I don’t know where to begin! I didn’t expect for the call to have any affect on me, but it did. It was like I was talking to one of my book boyfriends. The ‘good girls’ and ‘dirty little cum slut’s did unspeakable things to me.”
“Holy fuck,” she says mid-chew. “So his dirty talk game is on point?”
“Hell yeah.”
“You had fun?”
“A fucking blast. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would,” I admit, grabbing my third slice. “It just feels easy with Luce. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Probably because you’ve been friends for so long,” she remarks, wiping a small dab of sauce off her cheek with the back of her hand. “This pizza might be better than sex.”
Suddenly, Lucien’s face comes to mind.
She blinks at me. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
“No,” I lie.
“Just fuck already.”
“We had one spicy phone session,” I say dismissively. “He asked where my hand was at one point, and I told him how it was on my thigh. He asked if I wanted to move it closer.”
“And you did, right?”
“Absolutely not. I ended it there.”
“Because you wanted to move it closer,” she guesses, eyeing me suspiciously.
Unable to lie again, I sigh. “So badly.”
“You could’ve just flicked the bean on mute, you know.”
With that, I toss a crumpled-up napkin at her. She laughs hysterically as a small string of cheese falls onto her lap.
“Well, you have more self-control than I do,” she adds humorously. “If it was me, I would’ve pulled something out from my chest of treasures and had the time of my life.”
“It was fun, and I actually learned something about myself in the process.”
She looks at me and says nothing, not wanting to be pushy, but I know it’s hard for her.
“I learned how important it is to be with someone who actually cares about you in the bedroom. If it’s only one-sided, then something is wrong. You don’t have to tolerate that shit.”
She clicks her thumb and pointer finger together. “Preach.”
“None of the guys I’ve been with have ever gotten me off. I’ve always just faked it to make them feel better about themselves, so I wouldn’t feel awkward,” I admit to her.
“Same. I don’t fake it anymore, though. ‘Did you come?,” she says, roleplaying the dialogue. “‘Fuck no, I didn’t come, Johnny.’ He didn’t seem to give a shit, though. They just assume two minutes of missionary will get the job done.”
“The session reminded me that there are guys out there who do want you to come.”
Her eyes widen. “If you tell me he’s a pleasure dom…”She trails off. “You flying there, or is he coming here?”
Rolling my eyes, I stand up and head toward my room. “I’m going to bed.”
“No, you’re not,” she calls from over my shoulder. “Time for spicy session number two!”
Once my bedroom door is shut behind me, I lean my back against the frame, considering her suggestion. Maybe one more wouldn’t hurt.
11:23PM
“I’m bored,” I admit, their intent gazes burning through the screen of my phone.
“Same, actually,” Kaelum agrees.
With my elbow on my knee and my face in my palm, I grin. “Really?”
They both nod.
“We can get back on and play something else if you want,” Lucien offers.
“I wish we lived closer,” I sigh, rolling onto my back and staring up at the ceiling.
“Felt,” Kaelum agrees. “I mean it’s definitely not the same, but we could go into VR? It does give that sense of being in the same room.”
“Does it?” I ask.
“Yeah. We used to hang out in Chatworld a lot. Haven’t really been on recently, though.”
“Yeah, I think I watched you guys,” I say. “I kind of remember it. It’s those avatar looking things, right?”
“Yup,” Lucien replies. “It’s like the games you play in virtual reality, except Chatworld is more so just visiting worlds and hanging out.”
I nod in approval. “That actually sounds fun.”
“Let’s do it,” Kaelum urges. “Plugging in my headset now.”
Lucien props up his phone on his desk, leaning back in his chair. “So, you’re hopping on?” he asks me, smirking when he notices my gaze is directed straight at his lap. “VR, I mean.”
“Hopping on now,” I say.
VR. Him. Both works.
Rushing to my desk, I smile. “See you both soon.”