by Jo Raven
I blink. “Then what…?”
But Jet tugs harder on the bag, and it splits down the middle, spilling old papers between us. Jet swears, and I huff in annoyance—not because of this mess, but because Jet is obviously determined not to talk to me today. Or maybe ever.
“I thought,” I mutter as I kneel down in my dark slacks and polished shoes, not caring that I’m getting everything dirty, “that you’d trust me by now, fucker. Enough to tell me what’s on your mind. Enough to come to me if there is a problem. I’m not a mind reader. Hell, I’m thick when it comes to reading clues and hints and piecing it all together, and I’m the first to admit it. Trust me, goddammit. Let me help you.”
He closes his hands around the scraps of paper, scrunching them up. “You’re not listening. You can’t help. So drop it, okay?”
“Jet…”
He abruptly gets up and presses the heels of his hands to his eyes. “Fuck.”
My stomach is a knot of worry. “Come on, Jet, let’s go home.”
“I trust you,” he whispers. “I do trust you, dammit.”
“Okay.” That’s good, but it does nothing to allay my concern. “Come on, then.”
He lets his hands drop to his sides. “What about Candy?”
“I’ll find a way. I’ll crawl and fucking beg if I have to. I promise.”
***
I leave Jet in bed, curled up on his side, an arm thrown over his face, and wander into the kitchen to pour myself some water.
At least I managed to get some painkillers down his throat. Of course he didn’t eat all day. He forgets to eat if I’m not around to remind him.
Or Candy. Apparently Candy also made him eat. She made him smile.
I breathe out, rub the back of my neck. She makes me smile, too. She makes me hard, and makes me happy. That feeling when I’m with her and Jet? Yeah, I figured it out in the end.
I feel accepted. At peace. In the right place in my life.
How can I find her? A search on her social media hasn’t given me any clues. I also found out we’re friends on Facebook—have been, for the past year. I don’t fucking remember how that happened.
One more question that needs to be answered.
It’s pretty warm inside the apartment, and I’m lounging around in my black briefs with a tension headache of my own.
How did I fuck this up so thoroughly before it really began?
Tomorrow. I’ll fix things tomorrow. Can’t think clearly right now. I think I’ll hit those painkillers myself and hope that come morning I’ll have an answer and a solution.
Before I make my way to the bathroom to find the pills, the doorbell rings. Knowing how light Jet’s sleep is, I curse under my breath as I run to get the door, my bare feet skidding on the floor. The bell rings again, and I groan.
I throw the door open, not even bothering to check through the peephole to see who it is.
“What do you want?” I snarl.
Candy is standing there, a flush splashed over her cheeks, her hair caught back in a ponytail, her wire-frame glasses in place. I can’t stop staring at her, my heart hammering.
She clears her throat. “Donna said Jet was sick, and she sent him home. Can I see him? Is he okay?”
Speechless, hope clawing through my chest, I open the door wider and step aside to let her in.
Chapter Twenty Four
JETHRO
Everyone leaves. Only the bloodied memories and the nightmares remain.
He’s not coming back, I tell myself. He’s gone. My dad is gone. The violence is gone.
But bad things always come back.
There are voices nearby, familiar voices, meshing with the noise in my dreams.
“We need to talk,” Joel says.
“You can start.” Candy. Candy is here. “You can tell me why you lied about not being with Ellen.”
“I’m not with Ellen. Never was.”
“And the picture where you’re naked with her? What was that?”
There is blood in my dreams. Always. I cling to the voices, hoping to escape, but the tension seeping into the words has me gritting my teeth and the dreams keep me under.
“Did you see that picture?” Joel asks.
“No, but Brylee told me—”
“That I was naked with Ellen and another woman.” Joel sighs. “Listen, this may sound fucking crazy to you, but you have to believe me, girl. I’ve never been with Ellen. Never even kissed her. Never had sex with her. I’ve never gone down on her or had her go down on me, never touched her anywhere else, never even touched a fucking inch of her bare skin. Ever.”
Joel is angry. It makes my muscles clench. My fingers claw into the pillow.
“Then what’s that picture? Was it a set up? Was it Photoshopped? What?”
“No, I… I was really there.” Joel groans. “Damn, here goes. The thing is, Ellen isn’t into guys. She likes girls. And she had a girlfriend at the time who didn’t mind if I watched them get each other off. We tried it twice.”
“You watched them get each other off.” Candy’s voice is flat. “Awesome.”
“Look, it wasn’t because I felt something for her. For them. I never cared for her. Not like I do for you. I just couldn’t…” Joel struggles for words, and I struggle to wake up completely. “I had some trouble getting off. I didn’t know why, but I’d realized that watching others get off helped.” Another pause. “It’s why I flaked that one time I took you out. I was scared I wouldn’t get it up, or wouldn’t come, and you’d think it was because of you.”
“And it wouldn’t be because of me?”
“What? Fuck, no. Haven’t you noticed? With you I come like a fucking geyser. I mean…”
Candy giggles, and after a moment, Joel gives a chuckle.
“So what changed?” she asks quietly.
“Everything. I guess the problem was that I… I wasn’t with the right people? With both you and Jet I got off just fine. I care for you, okay? And I want you. That’s what’s different.”
“Joel,” she says, her voice warm. “I’m fine with you wanting Jet. Why don’t you admit he turns you on, too?”
I shift on the bed, uncomfortable, the bloody dreams breaking apart. I’m getting hard from the turn their discussion has taken.
“I’m not denying it. But that’s not the point right now. We both want you, Candy. You mean a lot to us. Don’t leave us.”
I start to push myself up, the urgency to see them, touch them, make sure they’re really there haunting me.
“J.” Fuck, my voice sounds like a chain-smoker’s tonight. “Candy?”
“I told you she’d come back, didn’t I, fucker?” Joel’s arm is around my shoulders, helping me sit, and then Candy’s face fills my vision.
“How’re you feeling?” she asks, cupping my jaw.
“Better now,” I grunt and grab her arm, sighing in relief when it proves solid. “Much better.”
Not a dream. They’re both here.
“We still need to talk,” Joel says, wrapping his other arm around Candy and drawing her closer to us. “About why you left last night. What you meant.”
“I’ll tell you everything,” she says, ducking her head. “I won’t keep the truth hidden from you any longer.”
A chill chases her words, and I shiver. “What truth? What do you mean?”
In my world, secrets are huge, gaping black holes full of knives and pain. I have a vague idea that not all people have secrets like mine, but hey, I just woke up from another messy nightmare. What can I say?
“The truth about how long I’ve wanted you, guys.”
Okay. That doesn’t sound so bad. So when Joel drags us all to the end of the bed, leans back on the headboard and puts his arms around us, I don’t resist.
Heh, who am I kidding? Their bodies pressed to mine chase away the tattered remnants of the nightmare, and this is a story I wanna hear.
***
“Why did you run?” Joel asks, tucking Candy into his sid
e. “What could be so bad?”
“I’ve wanted you for ages,” Candy whispers, her cheek resting on Joel’s shoulder. “Both of you. I was afraid to tell you, in case you thought I was a stalker. Or that I wasn’t serious.”
“How can wanting us for ages make us think you’re not serious?” I ask, baffled. “Isn’t that, like, the opposite?”
“I was afraid you’d think me one of those obsessed, brainless fangirls.”
“How long are we talking here?” Joel is frowning.
“Um. Like I said last time, a few years?” She’s biting her lip, and I want to kiss her. I want to smooth away the worry from her gaze. “I used to watch you from afar when you were in college. Saw your pictures on Facebook and Instagram, with Jet. Lots of girls want you two.” She looks away. “And I thought I seriously wanted you, both of you, with me.”
“So now it’s not serious?” I shake my head that’s starting to ache again. “Candy…”
“It wasn’t serious back when it started. Or even before I met you. But now… now it is. For me.” She looks up at Joel, then reaches for me, takes my hand. “You just mean so much to me, guys. I got scared last night that you’d freak out if you found out.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “This is it? This is the big secret?”
“Jet…” Joel says warningly, and I shut my trap. He’s right. This obviously distressed her a lot and wasn’t an easy decision. I shouldn’t make light of it.
“That’s not all,” she says, and yeah, I thought not. “Meeting Joel at the bookstore was a shock. I never expected to meet him, really. But you, Jet…” She glances at me, and my stomach twists again.
“What?”
“Connie, a friend, found out you were going to be at that concert and told me about it. You were the only reason I showed up there. I wanted to meet you.”
Silence falls. I can hear Joel breathing. I can hear the blood rushing in my ears.
“You knew who I was all along. You came to my stall to buy beers, and you knew my name.”
“Well, I didn’t know for sure, but I thought it might be you. You’re always blurry in Joel’s pics on Facebook.”
I nod. Of course I am. I always move and look away, so that anyone looking at them won’t recognize me. Turns out it might all have been for nothing, though. If I’ve been found, as I fear…
Hell.
“Jet. Are you upset with me?” Her small hand squeezes mine, forcing my mind back to the present. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” Her gaze flicks to Joel, and she juts out her chin a little. “To both of you. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not mad,” Joel says, and his mouth turns up into a faint smile. “Are you, Jet?”
The thoughts bouncing around in my head blur, but… “Nah. Why should I be? It’s cute.”
“Really, you guys?” She’s blushing crimson now, but also smiling widely, and I pull her hand up to my mouth to kiss her palm.
Never had a girl secretly want me that much. This girl. Wanting me, and Joel, together. Man, I’m lucky.
“Oh, come here, you.” Candy scoots closer to me and kisses me. Her lips are soft and warm and the tension finally leaves my shoulders as her arms wind around my neck. I pull her onto my lap and kiss her back, tasting her mouth, nipping on her lower lip. My body hums with arousal, and I’m so hard I ache.
Oh yeah, damn lucky.
Joel’s arm around me tightens. “Fuck, yeah.” His fingers dig into my arm, his breath warms my neck. “I’ve been seeing reruns of last night in my head all day today.”
Candy breaks the kiss with me to turn and kiss Joel, and I lick my lips, savoring her sweetness, watching avidly as she wraps one arm around his neck and closes her eyes, moaning against his mouth.
“Want us?” I mutter, placing my hands on her waist, kissing her neck from behind, shifting my hips to let her feel my hard-on against her perfect ass. “Like last night?”
Her head falls back against my shoulder. “What about your headache?”
“Fuck the headache.” I thrust against her to show her I mean it. Big time. She turns toward me, finds my mouth again, slips her tongue inside, touches mine.
Mindblowing.
Joel leans back, rubbing himself through his briefs. “Fuck, I wanna watch you do her, Jet. Want that, Candy? Want me to watch you come on his cock?”
When she turns around fully with a wicked smile on her face and starts taking off my T-shirt, well… I guess that’s all the answer we need.
***
Things get a little hazy after I suit up, and she sinks down on my cock. I’m still coming to grips with the fact she came back, came to check on me, that she’s wanted us all along, and that she’s now riding me, her pretty tits bouncing in front of me.
Pressure is gathering fast behind my balls and in my dick. I gather her against my chest, needing to feel her closer, skin to skin, feel her tits and her belly and her whole body against mine as I rock up into her heat.
She found me. She came for me, helped me find a job, wants me, and it feels as if I was in pieces and I’m being put back together. I want to bury myself in her, I want her and Joel to surround me, crush me between them.
Let me know they won’t let me go.
She’s panting against my neck, our sweaty bodies sliding together. God, this is good. I like it soft. But can’t take it for long. I also need rough.
As if reading my mind, my need, probably because it echoes his own in a way, Joel reaches up and grabs a fistful of my hair, pulls my head back.
“Fuck her harder,” he hisses. “Make her come, man.”
The sharp sting in my skull spurs me on. His words send an electric bolt to my cock and grabbing her hips, I slam her down on my hard-on, faster and faster. She moans my name and clenches around my dick, all silken fire, and gasps as she comes, her nails leaving furrows down my back.
Oh shit. I fall back on the pillows and she rides me some more, her ponytail slipping over her shoulder to slap my chest as her pussy milks my dick, making it jerk with aftershocks.
“Holy fuck,” I breathe, my pulse beating in my temples, in my neck, in my dick, in my ass. My hands tighten on her hips. “I think I’m out of cum.”
She laughs, and that sends more shocks through my semi-hard cock. I groan, trying to keep her still. She’ll be the death of me.
A good death, though, all things considered.
“Ready for round two?” Joel says, his voice all low and raspy, and fuck if my dick doesn’t valiantly try to harden again.
She shifts off me, wincing a little, and I help her, hissing between my teeth as she lifts off my dick. “What do you have in mind?”
“You, sitting on my dick.” His voice is growing huskier with every passing second. “My hands all over you. My mouth on your tits. And Jet…”
I blink at him, still out for the count, lying on my back. Only my dick is up. Or trying to get there. “What?”
“We do this together.” His gaze collides with mine, serious and dark with arousal. “Need you closer, Jet.”
Not sure what he has in mind, but I push myself to a sitting position and settle beside them. “I’m here. Always.”
Watching as he gives a slight nod, and as he gathers her to his chest, seals her mouth with his.
The sight makes my mouth water. I wasn’t sure I could get it up so fast, but now I know better. My dick is already hard as a rock and leaking.
“Fuck, I need to be inside you, girl,” Joel breathes, and she raises herself, letting him in. I watch her face as she sinks down, taking him in, emotions flitting over her features—discomfort, shock, always shock at his size, then pleasure.
They’re rocking together, and I might blow my load just from looking at them. I put my hand on Joel’s shoulder, knead the muscles there, then slide my hand down his back, between his shoulder blades.
“I’m right here,” I say again and fist my dick with my other hand, stroking myself as they fuck. His gaze flicks
to my crotch and he draws an uneven breath, his eyes gleaming.
He really likes seeing me like this. It turns him on, no matter how he fights it. If only he’d do more than watch… The urge to bite his neck, mark him again, has my breath catching in my throat, but I know he won’t let me, not with Candy here. He doesn’t think he needs me that way when there’s a chick to fuck.
She grips his strong shoulders, riding him faster, and like he promised, he sucks on her tits until she moans out loud and shudders. He chokes on a groan, his hips jerking, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from joining them as they cling to each other and rock madly, riding their orgasms.
My dick is wet and aching, and I stroke myself harder, hunching over, needing to come.
“Joel…” Candy kisses him, then turns to me. “Would you boys try something for me?”
“Anything you want.” He’s panting, still buried inside her. “What do you need, baby girl?”
“You know I fantasized about you two for a long time,” she says.
I slow my stroking, gripping the base of my dick, caught between the urgent need to come and curiosity for what she’s about to say.
She slowly, carefully shifts out of Joel’s lap. He gasps, grits his teeth, and grips his dick. He’s still fully hard.
Goddammit. He’s so fucking hot.
“What do you need, Candy?” I ask, unable to tear my gaze off his dick as he tugs off the condom and ties it off.
“I want…” She puts her hand on my face, forcing me to look at her, then glances from Joel to me and back. Her mouth is reddened from kissing us, her eyes bright, feverish with excitement. “To see you together.”
Joel’s face goes still, so still and white it’s like he’s hewn out of stone.
“How do you want us?” I can’t stop the tremble of excitement going through me, but, shit, I don’t want Joel to do something he’s not into, either.
“I want… to see you kiss.” She licks her lips, her pretty face taking on a dreamy expression that excites my dick even more. “Would you?”
Joel leans back against the wall, eyes hooded. Some color is returning to his cheeks, and I look down, fully expecting his hard-on to be wilting.
