Page 65 of Virgin Skin

“Like you wouldn’t believe.” I smirk. “You guys want something to drink?”

They both say yes and then follow me into the kitchen. While I rummage for glasses and booze, Luther hops up onto the counter, swinging his legs, while Zeke sits backward on one of the chairs near the table, folding his arms on the back of it and resting his chin on top of them.

“If you want my ten cents…” Zeke says.

“Ten cents?”

“Inflation,” Luther says dryly.

I snort. “Alright, why not? Give me your ten cents.”

“It makes sense to explore things before you put pressure on asking all the questions. Why stir shit up if you’re not even sure there’s something there beyond monkey lust? But at some point, you’re going to need to figure out whereyoustand on everything. Otherwise, he’s going to end up stringing you along, hoping all the complications just disappear or work themselves out.”

Luther nods in agreement as I hand them both rum and Cokes.

“He’ll end up keeping you in the friends-with-benefits zone if you let him, because it’s easier,” Luther says. “And that’s fine if you’re cool with it.” He looks over at Zeke, who winks at him. “But don’t settle for it if it’s not what you want.”

I take a sip from my drink and lean against the counter next to the refrigerator.

“Ugh, why are relationships so complicated?” I complain. “This is why I ended up a twenty-eight-year-old virgin.”

“Peopleare complicated, babe,” Luther says wisely. “Take Zeke and me. We’ve tried dating and it was a fucking disaster,we tried just being friends and that was impossible, so now we just roll with it. We fuck each other, we fuck other people, we avoid labels because they only seem to make us both the worst versions of ourselves, and somehow it works.”

This time Zeke is the one who nods, raising his glass in a wordless toast. Luther pretends to clink glasses from across the kitchen and they both drink to their arrangement, which to me sounds even more complicated and head spinny than the mess Piston and I are in. But hey, if it works for them, more power to them.

“Do you want more than just fooling around with Piston?” Zeke asks.

My stomach flips and my heart starts pounding immediately. Just like the highlight reel of sex my brain treated me to a few minutes ago, this time I get a barrage of different moments: Piston listening patiently to my rambling trains of thought and laughingwithme rather thanatme, Piston painting my toenails with that adorable look of concentration, Piston holding on to me like his life depends on it in his sleep…

Fuck yes, I want more than sex with him. I don’t think that’s ever been a question.

There are a hell of a lot of other questions though. Even outside of ‘how will my dad react?’ and ‘what does Piston want?’ there’s the big unknown of how long I’ll stay in Fall Crosse and what the rest of my future looks like. There are all the logistic questions of whether it’s too soon for us to be living together if we start dating and whether our age difference will cause problems.

But none of those things change the ‘yes’ my heart is tattooing with every hard beat against my rib cage.

“Mi, what are you—” Piston’s voice cuts through my train of thought. He stops in the doorway, words dying on his lips as he looks between Zeke and Luther, then finally at me.

Is it bad that my cock responds to the spark of jealousy that heats his eyes and makes his jaw tick? I didn’t invite them over to get him to get all bitey and possessive later, but I will definitely take that fringe benefit.

“You remember Zeke and Luther.”

They both greet him politely and he grunts in response.

PISTON

Of course I remember Zeke and Luther. I try not to glare at them as memories of their hands all over Milo and the three of them grinding on each other flood my mind. If I hadn’t snapped and dragged Milo home that night, would he have gone home with them? A possessive feeling tightens my throat and it’s all I can do not to throw him over my shoulder and haul him to my bedroom to lay claim to him all over again. I want to suck bruises onto his skin somewhere visible, where Zeke and Luther and everyone else would see them and know Milo is mine. I want to make him come so hard he can’t remember that anyone else even exists.

My thoughts must be written all over my face because a light blush rises in his cheeks and Luther clears his throat then fans himself.

“Oof, okay, if you two look at each other like that at work I can pretty much guarantee Daddy already knows you’re banging.”

I rear back like he just slapped me. My pulse thunders in my ears and I look over my shoulder to make sure Hero didn’t just happen to come in behind me and hear that. Luckily, the hallway is empty behind me, the sounds of the party going on outside getting loud enough that I don’t have to worry about our conversation carrying through the open windows.

“I don’t look at him like that at work,” I say gruffly, schooling my expression into one I hope is more neutral, even if there’s apparently nothing to hide here.

Milo gives me a sheepish look. “Sorry. I swear I’m not blabbing to everyone about…” he makes a sweeping gesture and bites his lip. “You know.”

“We’re his besties, so it’s natural he would tell us,” Zeke says, tipping his glass back to gulp down half of his drink at once.

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