Page 32 of Dare to be Different

I laugh. “I’d get my shit together pretty quick for that, too.”

“Bossy,” Kade comes up behind us. “I gotta walk Maeve to her car so she doesn’t get mauled. Don’t leave his side, got it?”

Laken rolls her defiant eyes, but it’s not to be rude and ungrateful. It’s them. Laken and Kade. The way they rev each other up is damn near hostile, but judging by the sounds that come from their bedroom, it’s all worth it. “Bye, Maeve! Love you!” she shouts.

“I’m punishing you for that eye roll,” Kade tells her, planting a blunt kiss on her lips. “Hands off my girl, fucker.” He smacks me on the cheek, and then we all say goodbye to Maeve.

“You like that pushy asshole, Lakes?” I do not keep my hands off his girl.

“Love that pushy asshole,” she agrees.

I can’t help but laugh. I love their weird ways. All three of them. I’ve never witnessed another person fall so deeply for two different men while understanding their differences so fluidly.

“Mmm,” I moan.

“What?” Laken asks, and then she looks where I’m looking and laughs. “Fucking Gar.”

“Yeah, but the Gar and Remy duo is top shelf, don’t you think?” I ask, eye-fucking Gar and Remy walking together ahead of us, laughing about something.

“The best blond duo,” she agrees.

“What’d I tell you about trying to play up the beautiful thing, Zahn?” Jed comes up from behind, yanking Lakes right out of my hold.

“Hey, she said it, and she meant it. I will die on that hill.” I wink at her. “Alright. Good luck with that eye. See you guys in a few days.”

I grab my boy, flirt with Gar for a hot sec, and then listen to everyone wish us a safe flight like they always do.

Chapter 14

We make it to St. Matthew with two full planes, get the cargo unloaded, and then help some of the locals with deliveries and stocking. We have nothing else to do but wait until the flights with our return cargo come in, treating this island as a midway checkpoint. We meet up with a few people we know for dinner at the lodge, catching up since we only see them once every few months.

I brought the whiskey. Zahn brought the extra whiskey. So I guess our night is set. There’s a good chance we’ll be here all day tomorrow, waiting around, so there’s nothing better to do than drink, chat, and play some cards.

I will admit, I was a bit worried things would get strained between me and Zahn after the weekend in Anchorage, but it hasn’t. Other than him incessantly going on about the ‘blindfold blowjob’, things have been normal between us. He’s still his blunt, funny self, and I’m still working through my head while he sort of helps me without even knowing he’s helping me.

Our friendship is still the same. Our business is still thriving. Our banter hasn’t lost its edge. The only thing that’s different since we started this fuck-pact is our openness to talk about it. Well, more like the comfort to admit that we like it and want to keep it going. It’s been fun to plot and plan future ideas of things we want to try with our next hookups, and it’s become a bit of a game. Naturally, Zahn takes the game to heart and wants to win by blurting out the most ridiculous shit, but I love him for it. He’s always got some crazy idea.

Like this morning, when he suggested we go for Gar together. I mean, I’m not as sexually open as Zahn is, but I’d get sexy with Gar. He’s everyone’s exception to the rule, and I’m not even afraid to admit it. Gar is one sexy, cute mix of a man, and he gets my dick jumpy whenever he’s around. I can be honest about that. So, of course, we spouted off a bunch of Gar fantasies, decided Laken would kill us, and called it a done conversation.

“Would you ever wanna bring another guy into it?” I ask him from my bed while he lounges on his across the tiny room. A scotch in each of our hands because someone gave us a bottle, and now we can keep our whiskey bottles as backups in case we get stuck here for longer than expected.

“Like just a guy? You, me, and a guy?” he asks.

“Yeah.” I laugh, shrugging. “Just wondering.”

“What would you do?” he asks, grinning. “You’re not into guys.” Am I not? “I’ve never actually messed around with a guy without a chick being there.”

“You wouldn’t?” I want to know because that’s the part that confuses me. He says it’s all about the vibe and the heat of the moment, yet he’s never found that heat in a situation with another guy? Why would gender matter if he says it’s all about the atmosphere? “You don’t want to know what it’s like to have guy-on-guy action?”

He shrugs, looking down at his lap for a second. Shyness? On Zahn? No fucking way. “I mean, I would, I think. I’ve just never… been in the right place where it was all set up for that. I think I’m easier to rile around a woman or something. So far, at least.” He looks at me, green eyes curious. “Why are you even asking me this? What would you do if it was just us and a guy?”

Watch. Maybe more. I’m sweating.

“Don’t tell me you’ve adopted my pervy ways.” He laughs, throwing his pillow at me.

“A little,” I admit, not ashamed of it. “It’s hot to watch. It was hot to watch at Cody and Cara’s sexy toy party night.” I shrug again.

“Hell yeah it is,” he agrees, tilting his scotch at me. “Did you…”

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