“Oh yeah.” My face heated at the memories of the way Jake and Declan had pounded into me until I came on their cocks. I was still stunned by nearly every part of yesterday. It had been the best day—and night—of my life. I was almost feeling guilty at how happy I was that they both wanted me around. For the foreseeable future, all of my nights could be that fantastic, spent cuddled with them in a big bed.
This morning, I’d woken up with Declan’s lips on my wood, too. I’d come down his throat, then watched him burrow under the covers to wake Jake up the same way. It was obvious, even his short time away from us made him hungry to have us.
And I liked that, too.
No one had ever spoiled me the way they did.
I got a poke to the side and a snicker from Emmy. Their eyes flashed with amusement. “Okay, globetrotter, why don’t you focus on me and this drink we’re making, and not the dick you had last night.”
I frowned at them and their lips quirked. “You have no idea what I was thinking about.”
“Pfft. You can’t fool this one right here.” They waved a hand at themself. “I know that look. It’s the same one Red gets when she has someone in her claws.”
There was a thud from the kitchen area through the door to our left, followed by an “I heard that!”
Emmy danced around and giggled to themself in a way I found endearing and annoying at the same time. Their energy levels were through the roof and borderline menacing in my current state.
“Not sure one trip out of New York state qualifies me as well-traveled.”
They stuck out their tongue. “Maybe not, but something put that smile on your face, and Red saidDeclan Greenwoodwas your boyfriend, and I doubt it was the miles on the plane that got you all flustered.” They bit their lip and waggled their eyebrows. “Dish. Tell me all about it. I have this guy I’m thinking about talking to, and I need a few tricks for when I finally—”
Red stuck her head out from the back and snapped her fingers at both of us like we were misbehaving puppies. “Emmy, watch it. Don’t scare him off already.” She came out and gave them a hug. I was envious of their embrace that didn’t seem to be about sex at all, more just an easy friendship. Red sashayed her way over to the alcohol, poured herself a shot of Jack, downed it, and then went out to the front to start wiping down tables while she teased the customers on her way around the room to clean.
“You two are close?”
Emmy watched Red work for a second before they pushed a button on the espresso machine that had a shot materializing as if by magic in a glass underneath the spout.
“Yeah. Red’s been there for me through some weird stuff. She knew my mom.” Their happy smile dulled for a moment, the first time I’d seen that happen.
“Knew?”
They grunted. “She passed when I was thirteen, and I went to live with my dad. He’s a biker, and it’s no shock to anyone he wasn’t ready for a sulky, angry, missing-their-mommy teenager who was not the straightest needle in the haystack. Dad’s girlfriend hated me. Still does. Red and the other…. uh, Mom’s friends who also ride bikes”—they glanced quickly out at Red, where she was laughing with a customer—“used to check on me. She helped me find a place of my own. My dad died in a shootout.” Their throat bobbed and they ducked their head to study the espresso shot. “Recently.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, don’t be. He was not a man who would’ve wanted sorries, or me to feel bad over him kissing dirt.” They sighed and dumped the shot in the mug with the booze, which sent the smell of alcoholic caramel into the air. It was sweet and stung my nose and made me even sleepier, somehow. They got out milk and dumped some in a stainless-steel mug, and when they steamed the milk, the high-pitched whistling noise the machine made had me wanting to close my eyes. I thought maybe they did that on purpose so they wouldn’t have to talk anymore.
In the mornings we took orders at the counter, but in the afternoons we were supposed to do table service. So I wasn’t quite sure what to do as a tall guy dressed in jeans, a plaid purple scarf, and a beat-up white Henley came in, then stood at the counter. His long, glossy black hair could have been in a Pantene commercial. He cradled a skateboard to his chest like it was a baby, and he couldn’t have been more than nineteen or twenty. The thing that had me shaking my head in his direction was the jittery energy that bubbled around him. He had the not-quite-calm look of someone trying really hard to be aloof. Emmy checked where I was staring, and their eyes went huge.
“Finish this drink,” they whispered as they shoved the steamed milk into my hand and hustled over to the register on the end. “It needs another shot of espresso and more caramel on top.” They positively radiated helpfulness in the man’s direction. “Hi, Jason. How are you?”
Jason, apparently, tilted back his head to stare at the order board on the wall behind us, but otherwise acted like Emmy wasn’t even there, which was awful considering how Emmy might be able to achieve liftoff from their excitement alone.
“You have your skateboard.” Emmy leaned their palms on the counter and sort of drifted toward Jason’s space. “Were you out riding today?”
“Later.”
“Oh, where?” Emmy kept that sweet smile in place, even in the face of complete indifference.
Jason sighed like Emmy was bothering him, which sucked for Emmy because the crush they were obviously harboring on this guy was the sort that hurt to experience, even vicariously. I very badly wanted Jason to leap that counter and declare his love, just so I could watch Emmy swoon to the floor. I turned and hurried to finish the drink, doing my best to get the espresso just right, while still snooping on Emmy. After the way they’d been trying to get info out of me all day, this was priceless.
I’d carried the drink out to the man who ordered it and was back cleaning up my workstation by the time Jason answered Emmy. “Probably that empty building on the corner of Coolidge and Second Street. We’re going in.”
Emmy gasped and bit their lip. I stole glances, but Jason was cool, bordering on cold. As far as I could tell, he might have thought Emmy was a nice bag of coffee beans rather than a human being. “That sounds… interesting.” Emmy’s feet tapped, and they looked imploringly at the stone-faced boy. Even way over here, I could almost hear their internal screaming to be invited.
“Maybe. The cops might chase us out of there.” Jason shrugged a shoulder and glanced down at his board. “You know how it is.”
“That doesn’t sound safe,” I grumbled.
