Page 112 of PET

He pulls out a thin, black leather choker that has the lettersCandZburned into the sides. My heart pounds as he steps forward and wraps it around my neck. It might only be a choker, but it means so much more between the three of us.

“Our pet,” Zeke rasps, as he steps up and wraps his arms around me.

“I got us something, too,” Christian adds, pulling something out of his other pocket. “One for each of us.”

He holds up two leather bracelets that match my choker, handing one to Zeke, who puts it on without hesitation.

“We’re now bound to each other.”

“Forever and ever,” Zeke and I whisper in unison.

After we share an embrace, and a few soft private kisses, we head over and find our spots among our peers. I’m only a few chairs down from Zeke, but Christian is three rows back, and he looks annoyed as fuck.

Zeke leans forward and gets my attention by making a psst sound with his lips. I look at him with a grin, shaking my head. He winks and then stands, moving to me where he glares down at Mike Luckhurst sitting beside me.

“Switch spots with me, dude.”

“No!” Mike whines. “We won’t be alphabetical then.”

“We won’t be alphabetical.Shut the fuck up and move down. We’ll switch back before we walk across the stage. Jesus.”

With an annoyed groan, Mike switches spots with Zeke. He falls into the seat next to me, then pulls me onto his lap. I let out a yelp and grab his shoulders.

“Zeke!” I scold.

We get some dirty looks from our peers, but we don’t care. It seems we didn’t make most people happy with our decision to be together. I’ve heard some kids saying it’s like sharing, like we’re cheating on each other with each other. They’re a bunch of morons and will never understand. Too bad for them, though, because this kind of relationship is beautiful, and I feel sorry that they’ll never know what this feels like.

“Christian was wondering what kind of comforter we’re getting for our bed because he says quilts make him too hot, but he’s allergic to down and—”

I giggle, framing his face. “He’s super picky already and we haven’t even moved in together yet. Do you think he’s going to be the drama king?”

Zeke smirks, looking over his shoulder at Christian, who’s watching us with a smirk on his lips. “Oh, yeah, most fucking definitely.”

Falling into Zeke, I laugh into his neck before shushing us when the headmaster starts her ceremonial speech for graduation.

After the first row stands and accepts their diplomas, our row is next. I stay in front of Zeke, his arms wrapped around me, as we walk in unison toward the stage. When we come to a stop, Mike rushes back to us and taps Zeke on the shoulder.

“We’re about to be called onto stage, dude. Go back to your spot.”

“Alright, Mike. Everybody just calm down,” Zeke jokes as he pulls his arms from around me and kisses the top of my head. “See you across the threshold, hot lips.”

He moves to his spot a few behind me when the headmaster says my name. “Billie Lucas.”

Plenty of cheers come from the stands, but the loudest ones come from our peers. I’m surprised by this, glancing into their faces as I walk across the stage. They’re not looking at me like I’m their enemy, but someone they admire. And after the start I had to my senior year, I’ll gladly take this kind of ending.

“Congratulations, Billie,” the headmaster says, handing me my diploma with one hand while shaking with the other. Her gaze drops to the leather choker secured around my neck with a scowl, but doesn’t remark on it.

We find our seat again, waiting and watching for Christian to make his walk across. And when he does, me and Zeke shoot up out of our seats and cheer our boyfriend on. He takes the diploma and shoves it into the air with a fist, cheering back at us. We garner a few chuckles through the crowd.

His line is the last one to cross the stage, so when they head back to their seats, Christian slips into our row and joins us. We embrace in a hug before I kiss the side of Christian’s neck and then Zeke’s cheek.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to your class of 2023!” the headmaster says into the microphone as we all stand, grab our caps, and toss them into the air. “Congratulations, graduates! Now go out into the world and make a difference!”

I throw my cap, but I’m not concerned with its whereabouts because my boys are kissing the hell out of me, taking turns with my mouth.

Christian pulls me in for a bear hug as he buries his face into my collared neck and says, “I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us, little hellfire.”

I smirk when I lean back to look into his eyes. “For all three of us, but I think I already know it’s going to be fucking amazing.”

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