I dragged her down as I fucking burst everywhere, cum splattering her skin as well as mine, then becoming a kind of lube to allow her body to slide against me. I rolled her over, pinning her to the bed, rutting against her soft stomach until finally everything was emptied out. There was nothing more to do but press my forehead to hers as I kissed the tip of her nose.

“Jesus, what the fuck was that?”

“Good, I hope.” She grinned up at me. “Enough to make you relax, if just for tonight.”

“I am fucking cooked,” I told her, already feeling my eyes start to close. “But you’re not. Gage, Van, look after our girl.”

“Like we weren’t here waiting for you to get over yourself,” Gage replied.

I dimly heard the sounds of kissing and smiled to myself, right before I fell asleep.

Chapter 50

Van

The others were going about everything wrong.

Like I got they were pissed when the parents started behaving badly, but that was the point when you pushed back, told them how you were feeling. I knew Connor’s dad had a pole jammed up his arse, but the rest? Gage and Kendall’s parents weren’t complete raging arseholes. They’d understand what was going on between the four of us once they got over the shock. I was determined that was what was gonna happen when I woke up the next day.

A kiss for Kendall on the tip of her cute little nose and then I pulled away, watching her roll towards Gage. He sleepily pulled her closer and breathed in her scent. They’d sleep in, wake up in a better mood, and I’d come home with fresh croissants and good news; I was sure of it, so I got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. I suppressed my whistle until I was out the front door and in the van, heading over to Mum and Dad’s.

“Hello, love.” Mum’s smile looked a little strained but that was probably due to her nursing a hangover. I plonked a to-go cup of her favourite coffee in front of her. “Oh, you’re a good boy.”

“Who’s a good boy?” Dad’s muffled voice said. “Me? Because, honey…” My father was halfway through undoing the towel wrapped around his waist to flash my mother when he saw me. “Van! What the fuck are you doing here, kid, and where’s the rest of your merry band? Don’t tell me that if you’re in a relationship with three other people you still can’t get a root?”

See, this was why we needed to talk.

“I’m not bi,” I told him.

“Nah, you’d be tri, wouldn’t you?” Dad smirked at Mum. “Try-sexual. Pretty sure he’d give anything a try once.”

“Stop it, Dean,” Mum said, slapping him on the shoulder, but she was smiling when she turned back to face me. “So, you decided to come back and talk us through what the hell is going on? I admit, everyone was a bit surprised, but I don’t think you needed to storm out like that.”

“Mark was being a dick, though,” Dad said. “Told you not to invite him, Heather. Thinks his shit doesn’t stink, that prick, and he’s shit at cooking on the BBQ.”

“Mark was being a dick,” I agreed. “He’s threatening to pull all the seed money he gave us to set up the company.” I settled down on one of the dining room chairs.

“So what does that mean, mate?” Dad asked, settling down beside Mum and reaching for her coffee. She slapped his hand away, but I had all of their attention.

“We could lose the house, the business, everything.”

I’d come in here all optimistic, thinking if I bounced through the door and explained everything, we’d sort this situation out, but how was I going to do that again?

“What?” Dad’s back jerked straight. “You boys have been doing very well for yourselves. Business is booming, and you have that nice house of yours. How much do you guys owe Mark Woods?”

“One hundred thousand.” I said it with a wince. When we’d taken the loan, I’d just said yes, not really thinking it through. Mark said it would be a no-interest loan, that we could take all the time we liked to pay it off. I knew Connor was making regular, sizeable repayments, especially when we sold a house for a really good price, but hadn’t thought too much beyond that.

“Shit…” Dad hissed.

“But you make regular repayments?” Mum said.

“Regular as clockwork,” I told her.

“And that’s not enough for Mark bloody Woods,” she spluttered.

“Now, Heather—”

“No.” Mum shook Dad’s hand off, getting to her feet. “I knew it wasn’t a good idea, getting money from Mark, but…” She frowned, then turned to me. “I’ll be back in a second.”