4
Zayden
Nicky’s eyebrowshitched so high they almost became one with his black dreads. He held up a finger to me, mouth open. “Let me get this right, youkissedyour straight best friend after he saw you in your preggers belly, and you haven’t talked about it with him since?”
My cheeks warmed and I glanced at the men on either side of Nicky. He’d introduced them as Harley, on his right, and Kwan, on his left. They were buddies from his kickball team.
Nicky waved his hand. “Don’t worry about them. This guy here—” He pointed with his thumb at Harley. “—is a cat, and Kwan’s a dog. They don’t judge kinks, trust me. And Kwan’s in love with his boss, so….”
“I am not.” Kwan’s cheeks flamed red and embarrassment gleamed in his deep brown eyes. I understood exactly how he felt. I took a moment to study the men in front of me. They werecuterather than handsome—it was the only way to describe them. Kwan was Asian and stood a few inches shorter than me. He had a permanent pout on his pale pink lips and high black brows.
Harleydidremind me of a cat in a lot of ways, especially with his misty blue eyes, which were decidedly feline. He was touchy, a little snippy as Nicky kept figuratively poking him, and he scowled at everyone around us like he’d rather be anywhere else. He’d still chatted with me politely, although with less of Kwan’s overfriendliness. He was dark-haired and fair-skinned, and even though he wore a button-down white dress shirt, a pink leather collar sat low on his neck and peeked out every so often when he moved a certain way.
Nicky stood out between the four of us because of the shimmery rainbow crop top he wore, which stopped at his belly button. Wherever he went, glitter danced around him like a rain shower, and I didn’t miss the glare we got from the workers in the burger joint we were currently having lunch in. The floor sparkled around him. The denim shorts glued to his lower half barely hid his asscheeks when he was standing, but if anyone could pull it off, it was Nicky.
Nicky waved his hand at Kwan and pointed at me. “You. Tell us exactly what happened. Every single second of it. How did you end up kissing him? What did hesayabout your belly? Nothing at all?”
I ducked my head and tucked a curl behind my ear. I didn’t have many friends outside of Dare. Meeting new people was hard for me. It didn’t take much for me to be mentally drained, and I’d been manipulated more times than I cared to admit. I always believed the best in people, which concluded with me having my heart broken by not only partners but friends.
“Um, well.” I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, flushing at the thought of the small burst of confidence I’d gathered to lay a kiss on Dare’s mouth. I’d hoped he’d kiss me back, and he didn’t. I’d also expected him not to talk to me this morning, but he’d greeted me as though nothing had happened, and that was how I’d acted, too. “No. I told you, we didn’t talk about last night at all. I went to bed and woke up this morning to the breakfast he always cooks on Sundays, and then I helped him with his Excel sheet for work, and then I came here.”
I glanced around the new restaurant—Molly’s Burger Joint—so I didn’t have to see the incredulous look Nicky was sending me. This was only the second time I’d been to the restaurant since it opened three or four months ago, but the food was delicious, and I could easily see this being one of my favorite places to eat. Everything about Molly’s was what I’d expected from a retro place like this, with black-and-white tiled floors, red countertops, and chrome everywhere, from the tables and chairs we sat on to the walls behind the registers.
Nicky snapped his fingers in my face, and I looked at him with a small smile.
“Hey, we’ve talked about this before,” he said, mouth pinched. “Dare’s straight. Unless… he’s not?” His grin widened, and alarm bells went off in my head. “How did he react when he saw you with the dildo and belly?”
“Do we have to talk about this here?” I mumbled, face so hot I thought I would combust. Shifting uncomfortably on my chair, I nodded in thanks to the server who turned up with our food. When he was gone, I leaned across the table, closer to Nicky. “It doesn’t matter how he reacted. He’s straight.”
“Oh, blue balls on a chilly night. That’s bullshit.” He waved his hand and rolled his eyes.
I shook my head. I shouldn’t even be surprised by what he said anymore. Kwan’s light chuckle made me smile, though, because it was adorable.
“Sexuality is fluid. There’s no such thing as straight.” He jiggled in his chair and more glitter fluttered around him, dancing its way from his shirt to the floor. I was beginning to wonder if he’d added the glitter to the shirt himself. “So, this is what you’re going to do.” He tapped the table in front of him. “You’re going to go home after we eat, and you’re going to tell him how you feel. Tell him about all your dirty fantasies, and how you want him to stick his dick inside you and fill you with his babies.”
Two women about our age were walking past us in summer dresses and high heels, and one of them let out a gasp and nearly rolled her ankle as she shot us a wide-eyed look.
Nicky didn’t even give them a glance as he continued, “It’s that easy. Thrust and sperminate.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them, and I frowned at him when he flashed me his palms. “And that’s how you get a bun in the gay oven.”
The girls whispered to each other as they hurried out the door. My need to hide under the table couldn’t get any worse as my cheeks flooded with a heat I’d never felt before. I liked Nicky because he was unashamed and proud of who he was, and moments like this were expected when you took him out in public.
“Any questions?” He flashed me a big grin.
Harley shook his head, while Kwan chuckled until his entire body shook.
“You’re embarrassing him, Nicky,” Harley mumbled, poking him in the ribs.
“I am not, Harley cat.”
Harley glared. “You know you can’t call me that. Only Brad can.”
Nicky laughed and pulled on Harley’s ear, but Harley swatted at him and narrowed his eyes in a fierce glare.
The door to Molly’s opened and another man stepped inside. He glanced over at us and waved, and to my surprise, Harley waved back, completely forgetting about Nicky and his teasing. The man strode over to the table, kissed both Kwan and Nicky on the cheeks, and then he pressed his mouth to Harley’s. They kissed so passionately that my stomach turned in jealousy. It was difficult not to feel the rise of the green-eyed monster when these two men were so clearly in love and in tune with each other. This man—Brad, I assumed—tugged gently at the hidden collar in Harley’s shirt, and Harley let out a small whimper.
“Hey, Harley cat,” Brad murmured.
Harley fluttered his lashes at him slowly and a smile spread across his face. “Hi.”
