Page 58 of Dare to be Different

“Of course he fucking came,” Hardin butts in. “Zahn’s been wanking since he was too young to know what his dick actually did. He knows how to jerk a cock.”

Well, true. I thought they might give me a bit of a hard time about doing this with Remy and risking our business and our bond, but they don’t even seem that surprised. I’m also not ashamed of it or embarrassed by it. If they got to feel the tension and get swept up in the chemistry, they’d do the same damn thing.

Jed hands me new weights and shows me how to squat properly. “You can lift more than that.” He takes the lesser weights away. “When did this shit start?” he asks.

Workout can’t even pause for this chat? No? “Well, we’ve been running a random hookup thing for years, but a while back, Remy admitted he feels weird going to strangers' houses for awkward hookups.” I laugh at that. Love Remy and his weird mind. “So, I agreed to do it with him so he didn’t have to be alone, and he kind of jarringly found out I was into guys too, so that… opened things up.”

“He didn’t know before?” Ry asks.

“I mean, maybe. But we’d never been with a guy before when we went off together, and I honestly didn’t think it was something I had to tell people. Like… shouldn’t you all just know?” I look at them all.

“No,” Jed scoffs. “I mean, we’ve guessed, but you never outright said anything and we didn’t want to pry.”

I bark out a laugh. “Fuck off! You assholes pry about everything!”

“Not sexualities,” Kade says. “That shit is personal until you’re ready to make it a thing.”

“Shit,” I mutter, feeling shitty about that. “Guess I get why Rem was so butthurt over it now.”

“You bi?” Hardin asks.

“I don’t know. Pan, maybe, but don’t want a label. Just open. That’s it.”

“He just likes to fuck,” Ry clarifies, and I finger gun him. “Anything and everything.”

“What he said.” I grin.

“Yeah, but Rem?” Jed moves us on to the next round of leg presses. “You worried it’s gonna fuck shit up between you two?”

If anyone would know about strained relationships over sex, it’s Jed and Kade. “I mean, a bit, but there’s no stopping it now. We’ve already crossed a fuck ton of lines, and… I’m hooked, man. I don’t want to stop.”

Four walks into the gym with Jed’s order of protein shit and electrolyte drinks. He drops it all on the floor, pulls off his shirt, switches out his boots for shoes, and joins us. “You kiss him without the heat?” He jumps right into the conversation, and everyone gives him shit for knowing more than them.

“Yeah.” I turn away, hiding my face. This is the only part of the whole thing that puts me off a little. It’s feelings. Real ones. Ones I swore I’d never have and didn’t want. Things are changing inside me, and Remy is the root and the reason.

“That means it was sexy,” Hardin says, laughing at my back. They think I don’t want to admit to the kiss being hot, but it’s not that. And I won’t tell them the truth yet.

“He’s got a stiffy over Rem,” Kade shouts. “Remember all those times you called me out on my Laken boners? Huh? Sat on my bed and made me feel like a fucking loser. Payback, bitch.”

I grin. Guess I deserve that.

“He hard right now?” Jed asks while someone else spins me around.

“Oh, he’s hard!” Four barks.

And just like that, the intensity of the conversation lightens, switching to good-hearted fun rather than deep-seated feelings.

“Alright. No more Remy talk! This idiot can’t handle it,” Rydan mocks the shit out of me.

“Rem coming over tonight?” Hardin asks. “I’d be down to see you two get down.”

I throw my water bottle at him, but can’t fight my smile. The workout gets abandoned for this bullshit, but I can’t say I’m unhappy about it.

“Ask Dom for tips,” Kade says. “He knows how to suck a dick. Or do you already know?”

“Remy knows,” I fire at him. “Best head of my life.” I hop on Kade’s shoulders and take his knees out, finally getting the jump on him. I pin him to the mat and straddle his disgustingly toned body. “Maybe me and Remy can win Lakes over to our side.”

Kade laughs but punches me in the gut. “Good luck. The twins are already trying.”

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