Misfits

by Garrett Leigh

  Cass and Jake jumped in unison. Cass spun around and found Tom behind them, his smile a mile wide. “Hey! You’re not supposed to be here until tonight.”

  Tom shrugged, unrepentant. “So call me an impatient twat. I don’t care. I’m done waiting. I want to see it all.”

  Later that day found Cass in a place where, professionally at least, he felt most at ease. Misfits’s kitchen was exposed, and the pressure of supervising a fledgling team on an opening night was always brutal, but tonight, the kitchen was flying. Opening nights were usually Tom’s thing, but it felt different this time, and with the buzz of the kicking restaurant and Nero along for the ride, Cass was on cloud nine.

  He checked his whites for obvious grease stains, then left the grill in Nero’s capable hands and searched out his partners in crime.

  Tom was easy to spot. He’d cut his teeth in the restaurant business as a student waiting tables in a busy London gastropub, and the opening night of any restaurant found him bussing tables and scraping plates with the troops. Cass caught his eye and grinned. Tom returned the smile and inclined his head to the old fire station’s open staircase. Cass followed his gaze. Jake stood on the second floor of the restaurant, leaning on the railing, watching, taking in the result of a year of hard work. His hard work.

  Cass headed over and climbed the stairs. Jake saw him coming and raised his hand in an absent wave. Cass took his place beside him and looked out over the restaurant. “You done good, mate.”

  Jake shrugged. “You and Tom are good teachers, and I had a lot of time to get it right.”

  He wasn’t wrong there. The Camden project—Misfits—had fallen way behind schedule when Tom and Jake had taken a few weeks out to support Cass through Dolly’s last days. The whole company had felt their absence. As if Cass had ever needed reminding how hard Tom and Jake worked. How hard they all worked, and how much that needed to change.

  Jake touched his arm. “It feels weird seeing it in motion. It’s been on my computer screen for so long.”

  “Think you’ve got the bug?”

  “Um . . .” Jake thought on that a moment, then shook his head. “I started this because I needed a job, then I carried on because I fancied Tom. I finished it because he convinced me I’d be proud of it, and I am, but I wouldn’t want to do it again.”

  Cass chuckled. Jake looked worried, like he thought Cass would be disappointed, but he wasn’t, far from it. They all knew Jake’s passion lay in web design and managing the company’s growing social media presence, and that he was far happier working from home with the cat for company than negotiating planning permissions and sourcing crockery. “Then don’t do it again. You can do whatever you like.”

  “I liked watching you cook tonight.”

  “Yeah? Why’s that?” Cass glanced at the kitchen, but Nero appeared to have everything under control. “You’ve seen me cook a hundred times before.”

  “Not like this. You’re different at home. Here . . .” Jake popped and shook his head. “You look like someone else.”

  Cass rolled his eyes. “And you like it? Cheers, mate.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant it was hot, and I know Tom thinks so. He can’t take his eyes off you.”

  Cass felt the part of his heart reserved for Tom light up. He knew Tom was proud of him, of them all, and knowing Jake knew it too made him feel more sentimental than he cared to admit in the middle of a crowded restaurant. “Did you call your mum?”

  Jake shrugged. “Last night while you were out getting dinner. She invited me to my stepdad’s birthday party.”

  “That’s good, isn’t it?”

  Jake clicked. “I don’t know. I think she’d had a few vinos. She might change her mind.”

  Cass didn’t know what to say to that. He found Jake’s hand and squeezed. “Well, if she doesn’t change her mind, you should take Tom with you. Everyone loves Tom.”

  “Would you come?”

  “Me?” Cass hadn’t considered that. Tom’s family had accepted their three-way relationship with little comment, but Cass wasn’t naïve enough to believe they’d be so lucky with the rest of the world. If Jake wanted him there, though, he’d be there. He’d always be there. “Sure. Just let me know the date. I’ll get Pippa’s covered.”

  “Not if it’s a Thursday.”

  Jake shot Cass a sideways grin, and Cass grinned right back. In the last six months, he’d cut his hours at Pippa’s in half and every Thursday he got Jake all to himself, since Tom made a point of being elsewhere, much like Jake did on Mondays. With Saturday’s being Jake and Tom’s day, and Sundays the sacred day they all spent off together, life was good. Better than good. Life was awesome.

  Cass took Jake’s arm and tugged him towards the bar. “Come on. Let’s kidnap Tom and go get drunk. We’ve earned it.”

  Jake pushed Cass down on the bed. Clothes had disappeared long ago, littering the stairs and the landing, and now it was just them, bare, and wanting.

  And, fuck, Cass was wanting. He wanted it all.

  He kissed Jake hard, reaching for Tom. His hands found the warm flesh of his chest—fine hair, muscle, and bone. He grasped at it with clumsy hands until Tom’s lips replaced Jake’s.

  Tom’s kiss was rough and bruising, the way Cass liked it. They wrestled for dominance until Cass fell slack, content to let Tom own him.

  Let them both own him.

  Cass shared another biting, bruising kiss with Tom as Jake climbed over him. “I want you to fuck me, and I want Tom to fuck you. That okay?”

  Jake bit down on Cass’s pierced nipple. Cass gasped and arched his back, wondering how this was going to play out. Jake had fucked him a few times, but never in front of Tom, and he’d never been the one in the middle. Being the most versatile, Cass usually got that privilege, but he didn’t want that tonight. Tonight was about Jake, in every way.

  Tom moved behind Jake and rubbed his back. “I’d like to see that,” he whispered. “I’ve never seen Cass get fucked before. Never could, but I’d like to see you do it.”

  Jake groaned. “I want to do it, but I don’t know if I can handle you both.”

  Cass understood his desperation. The first time he’d found himself in a Tom-Jake sandwich, he’d shot his load in ten seconds flat.

  He tugged Jake down for a kiss. “We’ll look after you. Just enjoy it.”

  It was persuasion enough for Jake. He took Cass into his mouth and worked his fingers inside him until Cass writhed and begged for more. His legs shook and his back arched. He needed Jake.

  But he had to wait. Tom had a big cock, and Jake needed to be readied too.

  Jake rose up on all fours while Tom prepared him. Cass gripped Jake’s dick, found the rhythm of Tom’s tongue behind and matched it.

  “Fuck.” Jake hung his head. His arms trembled. “I can’t . . . God, you’re going to make me come.”

  Tom eased off and kissed his way up Jake’s spine. “Yeah? You ready?”

  Jake nodded, breathless. “Cass first.”

  Cass lay still; it was best for everyone if he let Jake take charge. Sex between them all was sometimes too hot to handle. Often, Cass got rowdy and people fell over. Then Tom got cross and Jake laughed, and no one got to come. A bloody shambles, that’s what it was unless Jake called the shots.

  And it wasn’t about who put what where. It never had been. It was about holding Tom and Jake in his arms and loving them for everything they’d done for him.

  Jake rolled a condom on and climbed over Cass again. He was still a nervous top, but they’d practiced this when Tom wasn’t home and they had it down. Cass widened his legs and raised his hips, met Jake in the middle, and took him deep inside his body.

  His breath caught in his chest. Jake wasn’t as big as Tom, but there was an edge to the push and slide of his cock that made Cass’s eyes water.

  Jake gentled his movements to a barely there rhythm. He stared at Cass, and in the dim light of the room, his dark gaze seemed to gleam.
“Okay?”

  Cass nodded. He was more than okay. “I’m good.”

  Jake rolled his hips. The motion was nothing like the slamming thrusts Cass often craved from Tom, but he felt it in every part of his body. He let out a long breath and gripped the hand Tom offered him. “Yeah, do it like that.”

  “Like this?” Jake teased.

  Cass groaned and screwed his eyes shut. “Just do it.”

  Jake laughed and fucked Cass for a while, slow and deep, a way he never knew could feel so good until the first time Jake had eased inside him. Cass shook and whimpered, and it was only Tom’s grounding hands that kept him from screaming and blowing his load.

  Then it all stopped. Tom kissed Cass’s fingertips, one by one, then moved behind Jake and pushed him down, chest first, onto Cass.

  Cass gasped. Jake was still buried inside him, and everything was about to get a million times hotter. He held Jake tight, soothing him as Tom breached him. He’d watched Tom and Jake fuck more times than he could count, but it never got old. From the very first time, it had blown his mind.

  Jake panted out a curse, cheeks flushed, eyes wide, and from that point on, Tom had them both, owned them both, and they were powerless beneath him, enthralled by him, as they always had been.

  Tom took his time, holding Jake in place in a gentle grip with one hand, and soothing Cass with the other, constantly mindful of the care and balance it took to keep them all joined together, in every way possible. Cass watched Jake’s heated blood bloom beneath his pale skin, and the vein throb in Tom’s temple. Felt them sweat and shake until his own climax crept up on him.

  Cass grabbed the headboard and gritted his teeth, trying to delay the inevitable, but it was no good. It was Jake’s cock inside him, but, fuck, he felt Tom too, felt them both, everywhere, and it was too much. He came with a guttural shout; Jake wasn’t far behind, and they clung to each other, trembling.

  Afterwards, Jake lay prone, exhausted. Tom withdrew from him and disposed of the condom. Cass put an arm around Jake and beckoned Tom closer. Tapped his lips. “Come in my mouth.”

  Tom slid his cock past Cass’s lips. He was rock hard, legs shaking, and it wasn’t long before he tensed and groaned. The gravelly moan rumbled through Cass who opened his throat and grazed Tom’s cock with his teeth.

  “Cass.” Tom jerked. Release ripped through him, and Cass felt every shudder and jolt like it was his own. “Fuck, Cass . . . Jesus Christ.”

  Panting, Tom pulled his dick slowly from Cass’s mouth, kissed him, murmured his love, then turned his attention to Jake, who was already half-asleep. “Jake, wake up a sec.”

  Cass chuckled as Jake moaned. Sex always knocked him out, but Tom manoeuvred him enough to retrieve the condom and wipe the sticky mess of Cass’s release from between them. He left the bed to get rid of the detritus. While he was gone, Jake rolled over, taking Cass with him, and curled into his chest.

  Cass wrapped his arms around him. His heart ached for Tom, but he was back before Cass could really miss him. Tom pulled the covers up the bed and tucked them tight around Jake, then he lay down behind Cass and kissed his cheek. “Hold him, and I’ll hold you. All night, I promise.”

  Cass woke up wrapped entangled in Jake, with Tom’s warmth at his back. Jake was fast asleep, sprawled out on his stomach, but Cass knew before he even opened his eyes that Tom was wide-awake. Of course he was. A lot had changed in the past year, but never that.

  Tom rubbed Cass’s arm. “You with me yet?”

  Cass smiled and stretched, and then, because it felt wrong to turn away from Jake, he climbed over him and held Tom’s hand over Jake’s back. “My head hurts.”

  Tom rolled his eyes. “Not surprised. Anything else sore?”

  “Very funny.” Cass quite liked it when he woke up aching from his encounters with Tom, but he didn’t miss it this morning. Getting topped by Jake, even with Tom calling the shots from behind, had been a whole new world. Jake’s loving was a beautiful contradiction of fierce and gentle, and even with a brewing hangover, Cass felt amazing.

  A flash of colour caught his eye. “Did you put flowers in here?”

  “Yep.” Tom glanced behind him at the vase of pink dahlias on the bedside table. “They’re from the bush my mum planted when we first moved in. I caught Souris gearing up to piss on them, so I thought I’d bring them indoors. They’ve been in here two days.”

  Cass hadn’t noticed, but the thought of Tom picking flowers in the garden made him smile, especially with the added image of Souris stalking his every move. “You’re so gay.”

  Tom raised his middle finger. “Lucky for you, eh?”

  Cass squeezed Tom’s other hand. “Lucky for all of us.”

  Tom smiled, but Cass could tell his thoughts were elsewhere.

  “Something on your mind?”

  “Hmm?” Tom brushed his thumb along the bumps in Jake’s spine. “Oh, not really. At least, nothing bad.”

  Cass yawned. “Spill. It’s too early for introspection.”

  “It’s not that early,” Tom countered. “But if you really want to know, perhaps you can tell me something.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Tom rolled his eyes, but then his gaze fell on Jake, still sleeping peacefully, and his expression softened. “How did you really feel when you first found him in our bed at the flat?”

  That woke Cass up. “You’re asking me now?”

  “I asked you at the time, but you never gave me an answer.”

  Cass took over tracing patterns on Jake’s beautiful bare skin and thought back to another morning he’d found Jake in bed, fast asleep. “I didn’t feel anything to start with. Messing around with other blokes had always felt right until that point.”

  “What changed?”

  Cass considered the question, and found his answer was more convoluted than he’d ever realised. Jake and Tom were two of a kind, both one of those rare beings that set the world alight with just a gentle smile. Cass had felt no jealousy when he’d discovered Jake in their bed, the sheets rumpled with sex and sleep. No, he’d only felt hope . . . hope that Tom would finally get the life he deserved, a life where his lover didn’t beat him back and shut him out. A life that made his smile reach his eyes every bloody time.

  But it was more than that. Deeper. Cass kissed Jake’s shoulder. Breathed him in. “He didn’t hear me come in that morning. I’d watched him for ages before he woke up and punched himself, really hard, you know? Like he hated himself, then he looked at me, and I just wanted to rub his chest better. I never really got over that.”

  “Know the feeling.” Tom sounded wistful. “When I figured out you felt the same way about him as I did, I thought I was the luckiest bloke in the world.”

  “And now?”

  “I still feel like that, but it’s changed over the past few months. I feel like it’s . . . I don’t know, solidified? Like it’s permanent. I don’t feel like we’re searching for something anymore, that make sense?”

  It did. The bond between the three of them felt perfect. Tom and Cass had their past, and Jake was their future: the link they’d never known was missing. Cass had always believed Tom to be his one great love, but he loved Jake too, just as much, and somehow it all seemed to work.

  “It makes sense,” Cass said. “I was lucky before, but now, I can hardly remember what it was like without him.”

  Tom smiled, and he didn’t need to say he felt the same. Tom had never hidden his heart from Cass. It was in every touch, every kiss. It was in the gentle fingertip he traced over Cass’s lips. He loved Cass, lived for him, and that would never change.

  Jake stirred. His hand twitched and he muttered something into the pillow. Tom and Cass leaned away in unison. Jake’s tics were often explosive when he first woke up, and he got upset if he hit one of them.

  But that didn’t happen this morning. Jake buzzed a few times, then opened his eyes and stretched like a cat. He stared, sphinxlike at Cass for a moment before
his gaze flickered to Tom.

  “Why are you both looking at me like that?”

  “Because we love you.” Tom kissed Jake’s cheek. “Cass was just telling me how smitten he is.”

  Jake scowled. Cass took pity on him and ruffled his hair, but with Jake awake, he was reminded of something important he’d forgotten to do the day before. Something really bloody important.

  Damn threesomes are too distracting.

  Cass slid out of bed and felt Jake’s curious eyes on him. Unless he was working, Cass never got out of bed first.

  “Don’t worry,” Tom said. “He’ll be back in a minute.”

  Cass padded downstairs to the kitchen where Tom had dumped his bag the night before. He flipped through the papers in the laptop case until he came across a nondescript folder and took it back upstairs with more trepidation than he cared to admit. The folder contained something that would either make Jake’s day, or really piss him off.

  Jake jerked upright, like he knew Cass was handling an unexploded bomb. “What’s that?”

  Cass stalled. He wanted to pass it off to Tom, so he got the blame if it all went wrong, but he couldn’t do it. Tom had given Cass everything—love, security, a home, but more than that, he’d given him a life, a life with promise, prospects, and a future.

  It was time to pay it forward.

  Cass pushed the folder into Jake’s hands. “It’s for you.”

  “For me?” Jake opened the file. “What is it? Something for the new project?”

  “Not quite.” Cass waited, tense. He and Jake had recently started work on setting up a new food bank in Stratford, supplied with surplus goods from local restaurants, but the folder contained something else, something that linked back to where they’d all started in Camden.

  Jake pulled out the headed paper from the law firm Urban Soul used to handle their legal business. Stared at it. “I don’t understand.”

  Tom nudged him. “Yes, you do. Read it again.”

  Silence. Cass could almost hear the cogs turning in Jake’s brain. “You’re giving me Misfits?”

  “Kind of,” Tom said. “Technically, it’ll still belong to the company, but it’s in your name. If anything happened, or you left the company for whatever reason, the restaurant, and the brand, belong to you.”