Leah plopped down beside him on the couch. “I read for two or three days? But we’re not resting that much, so maybe longer...” She sipped from her mug.
“Right.”
“How are you, though?”
“Can’t be bad with you here.” He smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Cute, but seriously…” She stared up at him, determination and concern glowing in her eyes. “I mean, this festival thing still feels unreal, and I think we’re all trying to accept it’s actually happening, but you seem to be in your head a lot lately. And not just these days, but before.”
Marc was an introspective person, broody even—the reason he knew himself so well—but not depressing. Apparently, he’d been like that too much. He wanted to think that although he’d never been in love with his last girlfriend, the bittersweet taste a breakup always left was still lingering.
“Nothing, I promise.”
“You know you can talk to me.”
“I know.” He kissed her temple.
“Holy fuck, I think I just peed the fucking Niagara River,” Chris said as he finally came out of the bathroom.
Leah scrunched her nose. “Sounnecessarilydescriptive.”
“Oh, am I interrupting something?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “Want me to leave you two alone?”
“Please, do.” Marc gestured with his chin towards the door.
“On second thought, nah.” Chris sat on the other couch facing them, the smugness on his face staying. “I wanna watch.”
Leah mimicked her friend’s shitty expression. “Go die, Schmidt.”
“What?” He raised his hands in an innocent and so damn unapologetic gesture.
“Do you get off on thinking of us fucking or what?” she countered, totally comfortable with them and this conversation because, of course, it wasn’t the first time Chris had pushed her buttons about it. He loved ruffling her feathers. “Sorry to break your dreams like this, but I don’t wanna fuck Marc, and he doesn’t wanna fuck me.” She looked up at the bassist, searching for confirmation.
“What she said.” He solemnly nodded.
Lies.
Half-lies really.
Marc wasn’t a deviant, even if by some people’s standards, he didn’t tick all the checkboxes of “socially acceptable” behaviors. But in the past, he and Viktor, who he’d thought was the love of his life, sometimes liked to add a man, or two, into their bedroom games, even though they’d thoroughly enjoyed their one-on-one moments. And he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t set eyes on Leah from the start and considered bringing up the possibility of some MMF action to Viktor, who wouldn’t touch a pussy with a ten-foot pole.
He’d known how fragile she was when she’d moved to Munich, though, so even if his boyfriend at that time had agreed, proposing anything to her would have been plain insensitive. And honestly, Marc had always respected and liked her too much as a friend to risk losing her over a fuck.
That, and the fact he appreciated his balls were the real reasons he’d never even flirted with her. Chris had threatened to cut and feed his reproductive organs to him if he ever even tried to hit on Leah.
“You’re both so boring,” Chris protested.
“And you’re annoying.”
“At least I know how to have fun.”
“That’s what you think.”
“Anyway,” Marc cut in because they’d otherwise get stuck in a ridiculous conversation that would end up in a never-ending loop of‘no, you more’.Kids. “Shouldn’t we be getting ready to leave or something?”
“Right,” Leah said, jumping to her feet and stretching her back. “Gonna take a quick shower. You should wake up Erik. The princess needs his time,” she mocked the drummer’s long morning routines.
“Will do.” Chris grinned at Marc devilishly.
