How many details could Crim sniff out?
“You were bullied in high school. Your relationship with your father— you didn’t have a bond with him. I see you tied to your mother, but your father was just like this flickering entity that moved around in your life. There’s no affection there, only pressure.”
Oliver eyed me. I wondered if this revelation made him feel closer to me. Crim saying that Oliver was originally from Alabama and then grew up in Kentucky certainly made me feel closer to him. I wasn’t the only one here from the midwest.
“My father was… he was a normal dad,” I said carefully. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You defend others that wronged you because you take personal responsibility for how smoothly things go. Stop doing that,” Crim urged.
I felt like a sword was being plunged into my chest.
He knew. Somehow, he knew.
“It happened to you again in high school. You want to be seen as a good person so desperately, so you became a stickler for rules. This didn’t earn you many friends,” he said.
The sword in my gut twisted and my champagne in my hand began to tremble.
“There was… there was one person — who was it, Thomas? Tom,” he said with certainty, his red hair hanging low over his face. “He betrayed you. And wow, did that mess you up with trust.”
I clenched my jaw. I hadn’t thought of him — of Tom’s name — for a long time. It was as if I kept him as this nameless entity in my mind, it would be easier to forget. Forgetting was easier than forgiving.
“You blamed yourself. You took all of that hurt and directed it inward. That’s where all of this poison is coming from,” he said, gesturing to the area around me. “Though you’re doing a good job of getting rid of it. It’s already better than when I arrived.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“How do you… how do you know all this?” I asked.
He shrugged, his inked shoulders rising out of the water. “I just do. Now, the reason you’re unhappy… first of all, you haven’t forgiven yourself. You’re hard on yourself, Charlie. Stop that nonsense — we all like you. If you haven’t noticed, we all have pretty severe crushes on you.”
I was speechless as I looked from him to Mason, then to Oliver. All three of them were quiet as they stared at me.
“I— I— no way, there’s no way—”
“It’s true,” Oliver said quietly.
Mason looked off to the side, breaking his gaze. That told me all I needed to know.
My face flared as I felt the truth flood through me. All of these guys — all of them, had crushes on me…?
Crim looked over at Mason. “I think I’ve won.”
Mason regarded him with his arms crossed over his chest, his blue eyes trained on Crim carefully.
“What were the terms, again?” Crim said, taking a step toward Mason in the water. “You’re not going to chicken out, are you?”
I watched with bated breath as Crim moved closer and closer to Mason, giving him every opportunity to chicken out and run away. With each step, the grin on Crim’s face spread wider and wider.
Mason was trying to look calm, collected. His competitive nature wouldn’t let him leave.
It occurred to me that he could lie; he could deny that anything Crim said was true easily, and have an out. But I could tell he was curious, and he was attracted to Crim.
There was nothing for any of us to lose.
Then Crim was only an inch away from Mason, their noses almost touching. Both of them were about the same height.
I could see Crim ask Mason for permission with his eyes, and he drew closer and closer to Mason’s face, then stopped.
Mason closed the gap, pressing his lips onto Crim’s.
Oliver and I watched in silence as the two most attractive men either of us had ever seen made out.
I felt my mouth come open a little, longing to taste them on me as my cock sprang to life in my pants.
Oliver sat his champagne flute on the edge of the tub with a slight clink as he readjusted his posture. Then his eyes flickered over to me.
I stared into his eyes, eyes that were filling very quickly with lust. I’m sure that mine looked much the same.
Then we were kissing, melding our mouths together.
I loved the taste of Oliver’s thick lips on mine; they felt warm and gentle as they danced around mine.
This kiss was different than the lust-filled kiss a few nights ago when we had the threesome; that one carried a sense of urgency. But this one, this one was slow and tender. Oliver was taking his time.
Now that I knew Oliver used his work as a shield against me and he actually, truly had a crush on me, it made me feel closer to him.
His naked torso pressed up against mine in the tub, the water sloshing out from between us. Oliver’s glittering abs ground against my slim-ish body, and I could feel his erection gyrating against my own.
I reached up and cupped my hand on the side of Oliver’s face, feeling his short stubble slide through my fingers.
“Mmm,” he moaned as I tilted his head to the side, then planted a trail of kisses down the column of his neck.
“Oh yeah…” Mason moaned from my right as Crim matched my movements.
Mason eyed me to his left, then snuck his arm around my back and pulled me away from Oliver. He kissed me on the mouth too, but it was way different than Oliver’s movements. Mason was kissing me voraciously like he needed me. Just like that night we hooked up, it was like he was getting lost in me.
Crim began to plant kisses on my neck, then trailed them down my back.
Oliver was at my front, gently trailing kisses down my torso.
I was cocking my head back and moaning at all of these electric sensations.
“You are so fucking hot, Charlie,” Mason said when he took a breath.
Hearing that made confidence
