Better Together: Boys of Talbert Hall #3

by Ward, Quinn

  My entire body tensed. I wasn't sure how it happened, but I was hard again, and ready to explode. Colin curled his hand around my shaft, stroking me in time with Daniels thrusts into my hole.

  “Damn, baby, you were made for this. Come again, make Daniel explode. Tighten that hole around him so he can't make both of us look bad.” Daniel threw his head back. At first, I thought he was laughing, but as his thrusts became erratic, I realized he was holding back.

  Colin must have come to the same conclusion. He kissed my cheek before whispering, “I'll be right back.”

  He let me go, shuffling around behind Daniel. I held my breath, waiting to see what was about to happen. I didn't see as much as feel. Daniel's body dropped until his face hovered directly over mine. Without thinking, I curled my hands around the back of his neck, closing the distance between us. I kissed him softly at first.

  This was my thank you to him. No matter what happened after the cum dried, I would never forget that he was the one who'd given this to me. But that wasn't enough for him and I wasn't the one in control. As he continued plunging into me, his tongue did the same. The kiss dragged on until both of us were gasping for breath.

  I glanced beyond Daniel's body, noticing Colin behind him. He waggled his eyebrows and continued staring directly at me. Daniel stilled, his body rigid as Colin began fingering him.

  “Are you going to let me in?”

  Daniel seemed conflicted. He stared down at me as if asking if that was okay with me. Hell yes, it was more than fine. I nodded, reaching up to cup his cheek.

  “It's only right,” I whispered. “Don't you think?”

  “It's not too much?” He turned, kissing my palm. He had been so careful with me since the very first time we broached the subject of the three of us together. And that was only one of the many reasons it would be far too easy to fall in love with him. But this wasn't the moment to admit that I was pretty sure I'd already fallen and didn't know what I would do if the time came when it wasn't the three of us, just like this.

  “Let him in,” I pleaded. “Show me how good it feels to be inside of me while he helps you fuck me.”

  “How in the hell are you not too good to be true,” Daniel mused. His body collapsed on top of mine. He spread his legs wider, inviting Daniel in. He continued fucking me slowly, but now I knew Colin was the one directing his body. We made out as Colin prepared him, pausing when Colin stepped away long enough to grab a second condom. “Damn, he’s gorgeous.”

  He stood over us, watching for a moment. “Even if I couldn't be part of this any longer, I could die happy watching the two of you together.”

  I glared at him. “But you don't have to worry about that because you are part of us. “Now, get your ass down here and fuck him.”

  “Is that anyway to speak to me?” He could glare at me all he wanted. He was being an idiot, and I was through letting him think he was only a bridge to bring the two of us together before walking away. We needed him for us to work, not because we were incapable without him, but because we would be incomplete.

  “It is if you’re going to stand there talking nonsense and wasting time,” I scoffed. There was no doubt in my mind I’d pay for that little outburst later, but I couldn't bring myself to worry about it now. Not when we were this close to being completely connected to one another.

  Colin kneeled behind Daniel, quickly sheathing his dick before lining it up against Daniel's entrance. He leaned over, kissing Daniel’s shoulder, staring at me. “You two are amazing, and I can’t tell you how glad I am I met you.”

  Whatever Daniel was about to say was cut off as Colin buried himself with one long, slow thrust. He held onto Daniel's hips, pulling him out of my body then shoving us together with every thrust. The world lost focus as the room was filled with nothing but a series of incoherent grunts and cries. Within minutes, we lay in a heap on the mattress, all of us sated and breathless.

  Eventually, I'd be forced to move them off of me so I could breathe, but I just needed a little while longer, feeling this connected to both of them. I wanted to hold on to this moment forever, calling it up as a reminder when I convinced myself I was unworthy of love.

  16

  Colin

  The next few weeks felt like I was living some sort of strange double life. There was Colin the student, trying to get to know my brother without our parents’ overbearing personalities keeping us from being the men we were. I was starting to see him as not only someone who I was related to by genetic bond, but also a guy I liked hanging out with.

  Who knew?

  But the newfound friendship with my brother only made it that much harder when I disappeared to my side of the suite at the end of the night. Every night, I retreated into my room, waiting until the common area went silent. Then, I snuck into Zach and Daniel’s room, taking my place between the two men I was falling for.

  The mattresses had never made their way back to the bed frames after that first time. Zach had pulled his mattress to the floor, creating one big bed that covered the center of the room, and we’d hidden away until the following morning. Daniel snuck out at some point to grab food and drinks, but we just hung out, talking about nothing in particular.

  Last weekend, we disassembled both bed frames, neatly stacking the wood in Zach’s closet so we had more room to place the mattresses side-by-side on the floor, pushed up against the wall. It was the closest any of us could get to moving in together when we were already sharing a living space but hiding from the rest of the suitemates.

  Whenever I joined them, it felt like one of them had stayed awake enough to welcome me. I quietly closed the door behind me and stripped out of my sweatpants as one of them lifted the sheet, inviting me in. It was perfect, except for that whole bit about my guilt keeping me awake at night.

  I thought I had done a good job of hiding how much it was eating at me, but late one night in early November, I felt a firm hand pressing between my shoulder blades.

  “You want to talk about it?” Daniel whispered. I slid closer, nestling my ass against his groin. He draped an arm over my chest, gently rubbing circles against my stomach with his thumb. “I don't know how you function when you never sleep.”

  “I'm sorry,” I apologized. “If I’m keeping you awake, I can go back to my room.”

  Another hand clamped down on my hip.

  “Like hell you will,” Zach grumbled. “If you have shit keeping you up at night, you're supposed to tell us about it so we can fix it.”

  I choked back a weak laugh. Zach, the same one who kept telling us he was shit at talking, was sitting here lecturing me on needing to open up to them.

  But he was right.

  “Are you unhappy with us?” It was impossible to miss the anxiety in Zach's voice.

  I pulled him on top of me, kissing the corner of his mouth. “Not a bit. The only time everything feels close to right is when I'm in here with you guys.”

  “What’s bothering you when you’re out there? Because, as you can tell, you’re not doing as good of a job as you thought at pretending.” Daniel pulled me closer to his body. I closed my eyes, soaking up his warmth.

  “I don't like lying. I know I was the one who said we shouldn't tell everyone, but I didn’t think it was going to be this hard,” I admitted. “I keep thinking about saying we should come clean, but I don't want to wreck the relationship I finally have with Chase, either.”

  “So, we tell them the truth,” Zach blurted out his suggestion as if it would be simple. When I didn’t immediately agree with him, he added, “I mean, unless you have a reason you don't think that's a good idea. Your brother loves you, but I get if you think—”

  “I'm not ashamed of you, Zach,” I insisted. “But I don't want them thinking either of you coerced me into anything.”

  Daniel chuckled. “Oh, if they only knew. But I suppose they'd never believe it if we explained that this is all your fault, would they?”

  That was it!

  I sat u
p, an idea forming in my mind. “That's exactly what we need to do. Chase knows how convincing I can be when I want something. And we need to tell them this weekend.”

  “Why this weekend?” Zach didn’t sound opposed, so much as sleepy and confused. I couldn’t blame him since it was after two in the morning.

  “Chase wants everybody to go to the fall festival. He seemed nervous about inviting us, but maybe…”

  “Is that because of…” Daniel’s question faded, and Zach stiffened in front of me. He'd asked a few times what the deal was with Chase and Jayden, but we'd kept putting him off, not wanting to tell their secrets. But maybe if he knew about them, it would make it easier for him to see they didn't have a leg to stand on when it came to us.

  “Yeah, I am pretty sure Chase wants some little time. Matt, too.”

  “What the hell is little time?”

  I drew my knees to my chest while I tried to figure out how to explain things to Zach without betraying anyone's trust.

  “You know how you like it when we tell you what to do?” I wouldn’t go so far as to say the word submission to Zach. It was stupid, but until he was more comfortable in his own skin, I’d continue to skirt around reality.

  “Yeah. I still don't really get that,” Zach scoffed. His submission was something he still struggled with, but every time we offered to back off, he got all grumpy. He didn't know why it was something he needed, but he did.

  “It's kind of like that,” I explained. “Not exactly the same, but similar. They'll have to decide how much they're okay with you knowing, but trust me, if they try to give us shit for the three of us being together, I'll put my brother in his place. It's not up to him to determine how I live my life. And if I have to choose between pissing him off in the short-term or hiding how I feel about the two of you, then he's just going to have to go pout in his corner and talk to me when he gets over it.”

  “And you think doing this when were all out in public is a good thing?” Daniel seemed uncertain, but he was willing to hear me out.

  “I think it's perfect,” I insisted. “We’ll just let them see the three of us interacting together, just like they do with each other. If we act like it’s no big deal, then why should anyone else? I’ve been wondering if hiding is making it more of an issue that anything. Plus, they won't be able to cause a scene when we’re all out in public together.”

  “That sounds like a good idea to me,” Daniel agreed. He pushed me back to the mattress, draping an arm over my chest and a leg over both of mine to keep me from sitting up again. Zach mirrored his position, and I surrendered, knowing I would be a sweaty mess by morning. “Now, can we please get some sleep?”

  Yeah, sleep felt like a good idea. And now that I knew I wouldn't be lying to my brother for much longer, I was able to tamp down some of that guilt and drift off between the two men I was in too deep with to let go. I wasn't at the point of saying I was in love with them or anything, but we were definitely headed down that path.

  * * *

  Saturday afternoon, I felt restless and fidgety. Zach was finishing a lunch shift at the restaurant and Daniel was at a study group. When they came home, the seven of us would be loading up into our cars to spend the night at a local fall festival that Jayden's uncle was helping with.

  After finishing and turning in a paper that was due by Sunday night, I wandered down to Chase’s room to see what he was up to. Like me, he was on his own for the day because Jayden was picking up some hours at The Lodge, helping his uncle get ready to reopen the more hardcore side of the club. Most of the time, Chase went with him but today he’d stayed home. I was grateful for a little time where it could be just the two of us.

  “Are you sure you're okay?” Chase pulled me down on the bed next to him. “If you need help with your homework, you know I’ll do whatever I can, right? I can’t write your papers or anything, but I’m pretty good at proofreading, just ask any of the guys.”

  “No, it's nothing like that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. It wasn't fair to Chase to find out I was dating Zach and Daniel at the same time as everyone else. They were all friends, even playfully called one another brothers at times, but we were different. We were actual siblings. And he deserved to know the truth. If Zach or Daniel wanted to be upset at me about that later, I’d explain my rationale to them.

  “There's something I wanted to talk to you about.” I picked at the hem of my shirt. Chase draped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me close to his side. We probably looked ridiculous because, while he was older than me, I dwarfed him.

  “That sounds ominous.” Chase pulled his knees up to his chest and began rocking gently. I felt like a tool for making him worry.

  “It’s nothing bad,” I reassured him, hoping like hell he’d feel the same once I came clean. “I know you worried about me meeting somebody now that I don't have to worry about mom and dad judging me…”

  He wasn't relentless about it but, every once in a while, he'd drop hints about how I needed to put myself out there, and I was even worse at being a hermit than he was. He knew I hadn’t been happy living under our parents’ roof, and he’d been starting to notice that I wasn’t eager to go out and party now that I’d had a taste of freedom.

  “Did you finally start seeing someone?” My gut tightened at the genuine smile he flashed me. He wanted to be happy for me, but I wasn’t sure he would be once he knew…

  I swallowed hard, wringing my hands. “Yeah, I've been dating. It wasn't something I planned on, but things are going well.”

  Chase rested his hand on my thigh. “Then I'm happy for you. Are we going to meet whoever it is soon?”

  I loved that my brother didn't assume one gender or the other.

  “You actually already have,” I admitted. My stomach turned, and I was glad I hadn't eaten a heavy lunch. The lump in my throat grew thick and heavy, making it difficult to breathe.

  When I glanced at Chase, his brow was furrowed, and I could almost picture him trying to figure out who he would have met that I’d be interested in. With him being so far ahead of me, we didn't have any classes together and I never brought anyone back to the suite.

  “Is it Justice?”

  I barked out a laugh. Justice was a roommate in name only. I would be shocked if he even knew any of our names. It wasn't my place, so I didn't pry, but that dude had some shit going on. He obviously didn't want to be trapped in the suites, based on the few conversations I'd overheard the first few days of the semester. I was pretty sure he only stopped by often enough to pick up his mail and swap out his clothes. When he did, he was always sneering at me like I was shit on the bottom of his shoe, or his shoulders were curled in like he was trying to make himself as small as possible so I didn’t notice him. And I shouldn't complain because it basically meant I had a room to myself.

  “No. It's not him,” I mumbled. The seconds ticked down on the bomb I felt like I was holding. I squeezed my hands so tight my knuckles blanched. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve been seeing Zach and Daniel.”

  “You’ve been seeing them what?” My gaze snapped to my brother; shock written all over my face. He seriously couldn't be this oblivious, could he? Of course, he could. He was Chase, the sweet and innocent one.

  I took one of his hands in both of mine. “I mean, I've been seeing them,” I repeated, hoping my emphasis cleared up any confusion. It didn't. “For fuck’s sake, Chase, I’m screwing Zach and Daniel.”

  “Do they know?” Chase scowled, his nostrils flaring with every breath as his irritation grew. I knew that look; my brother was working his way to a full-blown tizzy. “You can't do that, Colin. They just got together. It's going to crush them if they find out that both of them have been sleeping with you.” He jumped off the bed, pacing back and forth across his tiny room, fists balled at his sides. “Are you seriously that selfish? I know you’re new, but the two of them have been hung up on each other since before I moved in. And now you think it's okay to just w
ork your way in between them? God, I never thought you'd be this way.”

  I hopped off the bed, grabbing Chase by the shoulders, shaking him gently.

  “It's not like that,” I insisted. “And, yeah, I'm pretty sure they both know that I’m sleeping with the other. It's been a few weeks since I spent the night in my bed because I’m tucked in between the two of them every night.”

  That caught his attention. He stopped so abruptly, he nearly tripped over his feet. “How does that even work?”

  Chase started turning his head to one side, then the other, making hand gestures I didn't even want to know what they were for. My big brother was seriously sitting there trying to figure out how sex between three guys worked. I would have laughed if I wasn't so freaked out.

  “It just does,” I replied simply.

  “Why didn't you say something sooner?” His expression fell. There was the pain I'd been hoping to avoid.

  I quirked an eyebrow. He was on the verge of a freak out. I took his hand, leading him over to the beanbag I knew he and Jayden snuggled in.

  Fuck. Jayden was going to be mad that I gotten Chase worked up when he wasn't here to comfort him, but this was something that needed to be taken care of between brothers. He'd have to respect that. I went to the bed the two of them shared and grabbed Chase's blanket. It wasn't surprising at all when I pulled it off the bed and had to make a quick grab to keep his pacifier from falling to the floor. Without a word, I handed both to him. He stilled, his eyes growing wide. He couldn't pull his eyes away from the pacifier.

  “Just take it,” I insisted. “Believe me, this isn't something that's new to me.”