Page 25 of Ticket to the Stars: Part Two

Priest didn’t seem to care we were in a bathroom. He shrugged and said, “That’s when you know we’re all serious. We’re willing to get on our knees in a bathroom for you,Angel. Well, Bishop and me, anyway. Not that asshole over there, who’s still standing.”

“Who you calling an asshole, you asshole?” Deacon harrumphed.

“It helps that my bathroom is a lot cleaner than yours,” I said, speaking to all of them at once. I hadn’t spent much time in any of their bathrooms, but I’d seen enough. Oh, I’d seen plenty. My space was spick and span compared to theirs.

They were guys. What did you expect?

“Maybe,” Bishop spoke, his hands on my knees, “we should, for the sake of it, take the rest of this conversation out into your room?”

I supposed that was a good idea. It’d get us out of the bathroom, at least. Never thought I’d get any declarations of love while sitting on a toilet surrounded by three guys, nor did I think I’d ever tell said three guys that I was in love with them while sitting on a stupid toilet.

Leave it to me to make everything weirder than it had to be.

Bishop and Priest stood—the latter of which never let go of my hand. Priest led me out into my bedroom, Bishop and Deacon behind me. We crawled onto my bed, all three guys turned toward me while my back leaned against the headboard.

Now I was aware we were, the four of us, on my bed, after we’d just exchanged I-love-yous. If I said my mind wasn’t in the gutter, I’d be a lying liar from Liarsburg.

“So… what now?” Bishop was probably asking me that question, but I had no answers. I mean, I didn’t know what now. I didn’t know what came after. Everything was a little different for us, in every way, so I had no clue what came next.

Priest smirked. “I think it’s obvious.” He must’ve thought of himself a comedy genius, because he waited a moment before suggesting with the most serious tone I’d ever heard from him: “It’s time to do the midnight tango. Put a bullet in the chamber, cock it back, and shoot the shot. It’s homerun time, baby.” When no one said a single word, he went one step further by saying, “It’s time to fuck.”

Bishop whacked him on the shoulder, but Priest didn’t even flinch. He was too busy smirking at me, like he knew what I was thinking—and I hated the fact that my dirty thoughts were evident.

It’s not like I was imagining all three of them having me at once… it’d be hard to imagine something like that when I didn’t even know what being withoneof them was like.

“What?” Priest apparently didn’t see the big deal. He ran a hand through his blond hair, once again using the movement to show off his muscles. “I’m just saying, I’m down. I’m down for whatever, wherever, whenever, however… all of it except the whoever, because obviously it’s just you.” He winked at me.

Yeah, he winked. A legit wink. I wanted to call it ridiculous, but it came off so effortless it was actually kind of sexy.

“You’d fuck all day and all night if you could,” Deacon muttered, and Priest didn’t deny it. I, myself, couldn’t imagine doing something like that—but then again, maybe that was just because I’d never, as Priest had put it, done the midnight tango before. Maybe once I had, I’d love it and want to do it all the time.

Bishop closed his eyes and shook his head, and when those hazel orbs opened once again, they were on me. He gave me that warm, gentle smile I was so used to. “I feel like I’m saying this a lot, but ignore Priest. He’s dumb. Whatever you want, always.” He scooted up the bed and placed a sweet kiss on my cheek, causing a flurry of butterflies to erupt in my gut. He glanced at the others and said, “Come on, guys. We don’t want to overwhelm her.”

Too late for that. I was already overwhelmed. Although, to be fair, I was in a constant state of being overwhelmed ever since we’d started this four-way relationship.

“Well,” Priest spoke as he slid off my bed, “I, for one, am looking forward to the night when you come crawling into my bed.” A smile that might be sleazy on any other guy simply looked charming on him. “Believe me, love, that night, neither of us will get much sleep.” He was the first to stroll out of my room, though Deacon was on his heel.

Bishop was the last to go, although he stopped and threw a glance at me over his shoulder. The smile he wore right then was more than comforting; it made me feel at home. Like this was where I was meant to be. That smilewas the last thing I saw before he disappeared and closed the door behind him.

Bishop was sweet. He was… everything I needed. He knew what to say and the exact right moment to say it.

I think I knew what I wanted to do.

Chapter Twelve – Bishop

I took a long shower that night. Not because I was, you know, doing stuff in there, but because my mind drifted off when I stood there under the showerhead, letting the hot water pelt my back.

I loved her. She loved me. She also loved Priest and Deacon, and they each loved her in return, but I wasn’t going to get caught up in that part.

I was in love. I was in love with the girl I thought I’d never see again, my childhood best friend, the girl who got me into music to start with. It was such a light, funny feeling—and not funny in the ha-ha sense, but more like the ironic or bizarre way.

Itfelt good. I felt giddy, smitten, on cloud nine. I couldn’t remember a feeling similar to this in my entire life. Nothing could ever compare.

That’s why I lost so much time in the shower, why it took me so long to wash up. When I stepped out of the shower and grabbed my towel, I moved in front of the vanity as I dried off. My dirty clothes were on a pile on the floor. I’d been so lost in what transpired in Angel’s bathroom that I’d forgotten to get myself a new set for nighttime.

I wrapped the towel around my midsection and ran a hand through my damp brown hair. It needed a trim. When it was weighed down by water, it was long enough to start bothering me, which meant it’d soon start to bother me when it was dry, too.

But my thoughts of my hair and how it needed a cut were once again pushed down by thoughts of Angel. Of Maggie. No one else knew her real name; it was something we alone shared. Maybe we wouldn’t share it forever. Eventually the guys might ask, and she might tell them, but for now, it was a secret between us.

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