Then Jiro shifted.
His hand came up to her jaw, turning her face toward him with careful intention. His mouth slanted over hers, making everything else fall away. His other hand found the back of herneck, holding her steady, and April heard herself make a sound she didn't recognize.
The screen kept flickering behind him, but she couldn’t have said what was happening on it. His tongue swept against hers and her body pulsed with desire.
The room had gone very quiet. The movie still played in the background, the soundtrack swelling for some dramatic moment April would never remember, but no one was pretending to watch anymore.
Eight men around her, sprawled and watching. With expressions that ranged from Caleb's open heat to Arthur's controlled attention to Dante's dark satisfaction.
Then Jiro thumb traced her jaw and he leaned forward until their foreheads touched.
The world narrowed to just this; his hand steady at her jaw, his forehead warm against hers, his presence settling everything inside her that had been spinning too fast.
"Can you handle all of us?"
Around them, April registered movement. Subtle shifts. Eyes that were ostensibly looking at the screen or at the ceiling or at nothing in particular.
"At once?" she managed.
"At once."
Oh.
Oh.
Her brain tried to map configurations and immediately hit capacity errors. How would that even—where would everyone—
"Probably not?" she said honestly.
Caleb’s voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. "Three holes. Two hands. Five positions total."
April looked at him, grateful, and he gave her the smallest nod.
She looked back at Jiro. The answer came out immediate, eager, and several of the men smiled.
"Yes," she said. "Five."
Fuck Wednesday morning. Fuck the part of her brain trying to calculate the emotional hangover. She was taking everything. Being so greedy the universe would have to file a complaint.
TWENTY NINE
All Rise
April
“That means someone has to sit out," Killian said. Arthur was already unbuttoning his belt, leather sliding free with a soft hiss. "I'm sitting out." Everyone looked at him.
"I want to watch," he said simply, settling back into the cushions.
Killian's reached for her hand, "I'm abstaining. If that's acceptable. I want all of your attention when it's my turn."
“Yes.”
His shoulders eased.
"That leaves six of us for five positions," Caleb said, already moving. He produced a cup with straws from somewhere. "We draw. Shortest gets first pick, longest sits out."
The six men stood: Mateo, Jiro, Caleb, Liam, Dante, Jax. And then they were moving away from the couch toward wherever Caleb had found the straws, leaving April alone with Arthur and Killian.
