Page 97 of Knock Knock

“Nate?” Evan called. “Xavi?”

Xavi looked at me, the clock on our lives about to start ticking to a new time zone, the one that marked our switch from being the punchline to a joke to being who we really wanted to be.

“Twenty-five-to-life, Nate,” he whispered, hand in mine. “It starts now.”

And then…

Knock knock.

EPILOGUE

XAVI

1 MONTH LATER

The boat rocked peacefully,making all the hours after work worth the time and effort of fixing her up. This was her maiden voyage since she got a makeover, and I already loved it. Knew we’d spend days out here, just living because we could! We had the time, security, and peace to do that shit now.

“I told you,” Maddox scoffed at Devon. “I told you not to make that bet. Devon, you dumb fuck.”

I grinned at the sky, an actual piña colada in my hand, my head on Nate’s wet thigh he was no longer insecure about. Nate bet Devon that he couldn’t swim all the way to the bottom and back up on one lungful of air. They pitted their smoker’s lungs against one another, and since Nate quit and Devon didn’t, Nate’s lungs were giving him the win.

“Fuck you, Maddox. I didn’t see you try.” Devon glared.

“Now we have to listen to their shit because you can’t hold your breath. Jesus, you can suffocate on a dick, but lose your shit in the ocean?” Maddox hit Devon.

“Speaking of dicks,” Nate said, amped enough to have me sitting up. “The bet was that if I won, you had to listen to our sex stories. Which one you wanna start with, Xav? We’ve got a whole kink list to get through.”

Maddox groaned. Devon kept his scowling mouth shut.

“Oh, the failed attempt at water sports?”

“What? You pissed on each other?” Maddox jumped up. “Fuck no. Skip that one.”

It was a failure anyway. We just… peed together in the outdoor shower. Wasn’t really sexy, but it was like a locker room experience we never got in high school because we weren’t athletes. So, it was fun anyway.

“Oh! How about the sensory one where you thought my silky nutsack was that satin pillowcase we own?” I laughed. “That one was fun.”

“You do have nice nuts when you get rid of the squiggly pubes,” Nate agreed. “Almost felt as good as the warm cock blanket.”

“Uh… warm cock what?” Devon asked.

“Cock warming,” Nate confirmed. “That one is definitely at the top.”

Devon and Maddox looked at each other, confusion on their faces.Ha!They didn’t know what it was either. No time like the present for me to shine in my role as president of the gay club.

“It’s when you heat up a little blanket and wrap your dick in it.” I smiled, slurping my piña colada and snugging up my shades to my eyes. What a gorgeous day! My body hurt like a son of a gun after a few weeks of farm labour, but I could feel new muscles growing. “Like a nice little cock sock.”

“Uh, no it isn’t,” Devon said.

“Uh, yeah it is.” Nate looked at me. “Right? We did it. We’d know.”

“Well, you did it wrong. Jesus, you’re embarrassing.” Maddox sat back down.

“Cock warming. Warming of the cock. Pretty on the nose, Madd.” I shook my head at my brother.

“I can’t believe we are having this conversation,” Devon mumbled. “Tell them what it is. Don’t make me say it.”

“No,” Maddox barked.

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