Gabe shoved his boyfriend lightly. "Shush you."
I frowned, feeling like I was out of the joke. Or rather, the butt of the joke.
"What are you guys on about?"
"I think I heard ghosts, too," Eden chimed in, fighting a smile.
I rose to lean on my elbows, a confused frown etched on my face as I glanced between my friends.
"Mmm hmm," Ryan nodded. "They were moaning and saying things like 'oh, God' and 'that feels good.'"
"Oh, God!" Mortifying heat covered my face as it finally dawned on me what myformerfriends were referencing.
"Hey, you sound just like one of them," Ryan teased before bursting into peals of laughter.
Poor Gabe tried to rein him in, but I could see his face grow red with exertion as he tried not to join in with the teasing.
"Youheardus?" I groaned, holding onto my flame-red cheeks.
After Simon came in my mouth and almost ate my face off afterward, I snuck back down to the bathroom to clean up. I stole a look outdoors and spotted Eden and Ryan still in the hot tub, and I could hear Barron and Gabe shooting pool down in the basement. We were in the clear.
Simon washed up next, and I swear, I had every intention of sleeping in my bed. That conviction lasted until Simon came up and gave me a heated stare. I was still horny, so I opened my comforter without thinking and wordlessly invited him in.
We spent a couple of hours making out and groping each other before falling into an exhausted heap, our limbs tangled. I slipped out early while he was still sleeping to help with breakfast, again thinking everyone was none the wiser.
Eden patted my hand. "Honey, I know it appears like you're secluded up there, but you are in a loft with no doors or walls to muffle you. The whole house echos, too, so..." she shrugged.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck."
"Hey, that sounds -"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," I warned Ryan.
He held his hands up and pinched his lips together in contained amusement. I could feel my own lips start to twitch. It was pretty funny, and I would be the first person to give Ryan or Eden shit if our roles were reversed.
"So what gives? I thought you hated him. You always seem like you can't stand to be in the same room."
I groaned and scrubbed my face, attempting to rub any lingering shame off. "I know, I know. It's...complicated."
"Was it the picture?" Eden asked.
I sighed, knowing the jig was up. To explain what happened last night, I would have to explain everything.
"That was the catalyst," I slowly started, "but this wasn't something sudden that just...happened."
Ryan sat up straight, his gaze wide-eyed. "You guys hooked up before?"
"No! No, I mean...for some reason, we just kept bumping into each other over the years."
I took a deep breath and then proceeded to confess all - starting from that first proper meeting at Barron's mom's barbecue a few years ago, how I kept bumping into him at my apartment when he visited Maria. Next, the engagement party, him being locked out by Maria, finding him drunk at Malley's, the run-in with Brian, and crashing at my place. Right up until the moment we drew companionably outside, sharing secret smiles and inside jokes.
I left out the more intimate details of our conversations - Simon's confession that he didn't measure up to his parents and my admission that I was holding out for true love like my mom and dad.
"Wow," was all Eden said. "That's...wow."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ryan pressed.
Why didn't I?
