19 | Eating the Crust #2
Kadir lowered himself beside the coffee table and separated the edge pieces from everything else.
“There are… eleven.”
The full puzzle required at least eighty.
“Good start,” Wesley said.
“It’s not.”
I sat between Kadir and the couch, knees folded beneath me. Wesley stretched out beside the table with his feet pointed toward the fire. Leo remained opposite us, already building a section of sky that had no connection to anything else.
The puzzle became more difficult the longer we worked. We built a partial tree, a strip of lake, and one small section of red cabin wall. None of the areas connected.
Leo insisted the disconnected sections gave the composition emotional complexity.
Kadir told him it gave the composition gaps.
Wesley shifted closer until his head rested against my thigh. He had been moving around the room for most of the evening, but eventually the half-party had finally reached the stage where remaining upright became optional.
I ran my fingers absently through his hair.
Leo noticed and moved to the couch behind me, stretching one arm along the back cushion. His fingers brushed the top of my shoulder.
Kadir’s knee stayed pressed against mine under the coffee table.
The four of us continued working.
Or pretending to.
The kitchen remained messy behind us. Plates sat beside the sink. Half the cake still waited beneath a plastic cover. Empty beer cans occupied the island, each one visibly lighter than common sense required.
Music played quietly from a speaker near the fireplace. One of Midnight Theory’s older songs came on, and Leo complained about the mix before the first verse finished. Wesley argued that the drums sounded good. Kadir identified the exact section where his bass had been reduced.
They no longer sounded angry about it.
The recording belonged to an earlier version of the band. The problems remained audible, but they had stopped treating them as permanent facts.
I watched Wesley lying across my legs while he tried to place a green piece into the blue lake.
Leo rested behind me with his fingers moving idly over my shoulder.
Kadir studied the puzzle with the same focus he brought to bass lines, his black nails catching the firelight whenever he reached for another piece.
The lodge no longer felt like a workplace after hours.
It felt lived in.
Our shoes collected beside the entryway. Someone’s sweatshirt always ended up on the couch. My laptop charger had migrated permanently to the island because all four of us used the same outlets.
I had stopped counting the nights remaining.
The retreat had an end date. The label expected the demos, a progress report, and eventually the band’s return to normal life. My rules still existed somewhere beneath everything we had built.
What happened at the lodge stayed at the lodge.
I had believed that sounded manageable when the arrangement consisted of kisses, teasing, and the expectation that temporary pleasure could remain uncomplicated.
The rule clearly never accounted for half-parties.
It hadn’t accounted for Kadir remembering how I liked my coffee or Wesley resting his head in my lap while Leo argued about a puzzle piece.
Sex could end when we left.
I wasn’t sure what to do with the rest of it.
Wesley attempted another incorrect connection.
I removed the piece from his hand.
“This was a stupid idea.”
He looked up from my thigh. “You’ve been smiling all night.”
“I can smile at stupidity.”
Leo leaned forward over my shoulder. “You think we’re cute.”
“I said the party was stupid.”
“With affection.”
Kadir glanced toward me. His expression stayed neutral, but the slight curve at one corner of his mouth betrayed him.
All three men waited.
“Fine. It was cute.”
Wesley sat up so quickly he nearly hit my chin.
“You think we’re cute?”
“I’m already regretting this.”
“All of us?” Leo asked.
Kadir remained quieter.
That made me look at him first.
“Yes. All of you.”
Leo’s eyebrows lifted. “Individually or as a group?”
“You should know that by now.”
Wesley wrapped both arms around me from one side and began kissing my cheek with obnoxious enthusiasm. Leo moved in from behind, trapping my shoulders against the couch while demanding I rank them.
“I’m withdrawing the compliment.”
“Too late,” Wesley said against my face.
“Maybe I should write a song about it,” Leo added.
Kadir caught my ankle when I tried sliding away from them.
I looked toward him for help.
He pulled me back instead.
Traitor.
His hand moved from my ankle to my calf, guiding my legs across his lap while Wesley continued crushing me against his chest. Leo leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the other side of my face.
“You’re all proving me wrong.”
“You called us cute,” Wesley said.
“I was impaired.”
“By half a beer?”
“By prolonged exposure.”
Kadir leaned close enough to kiss my temple.
His affection was quieter than theirs, but it landed with more precision. The brief pressure of his mouth made my complaints lose whatever conviction remained.
Leo noticed.
He turned my face and kissed me properly.
Wesley objected to the unequal distribution of attention, then kissed me as soon as Leo moved away. Kadir remained beneath my legs with one hand resting warmly against my ankle, watching the chaos he had chosen not to prevent.
I ended up half-reclined between the couch and the rug, surrounded by bodies, laughter, and several abandoned puzzle pieces.
Wesley settled against my side. Leo put his head in my lap as though he had won the position through official competition. Kadir stretched out beside the coffee table with my feet still resting across him.
The party was stupid.
The puzzle was impossible.
The kitchen was a mess.
Wesley’s hand rested across my stomach. Leo’s curls spread over my thigh. Kadir’s thumb moved slowly against my ankle while the fire warmed the room.
I had never felt less interested in fixing anything.