He pulled out of me and disappeared into the small bathroom, returning with two warm washcloths. Before tossing one to Eric, he leaned over and licked a path from my belly button to my neck, lapping Eric’s cum as he went.

“So, next time I get to take you, right?” he asked before leaning over me to kiss Eric, who groaned in agreement.

As I watched them, all I could think was “There’s going to be a next time.”

Chapter 14

The insanity of trying to straighten out Pot of Gold had been a blessing when I’d first arrived in Milwaukee. It had kept my mind occupied with things other than trying to figure out what I should do about everything with Drew. Unfortunately, the deeper I dug, the more dire the situation appeared. It was a wonder they’d managed to keep the doors open as long as they had, and it had become imperative for me to fix it before we had to tell those kids they had nowhere to go. And I was determined to figure out a way to do that even if it killed me.

Unfortunately, that meant I’d had almost no time to spend with Drew and Eric since the night we’d all spent together. I’d expected there to be regrets and awkward distance the morning after, but it’d been amazing. When Drew had tried retreating into his bedroom and I’d started to make my way for the front door, it’d been Eric who stopped us.

“Where do the two of you think you’re going?” he’d asked. I turned around and saw him leaning against the wall, looking so damn sexy I wanted to drop to my knees in front of him and pull down his lounge pants. Like Drew, I felt bad that Eric hadn’t been an equal participant in what we’d done in the basement, but Eric was adamant that he wasn’t keeping score.

“I don’t know about him, but I’m going to bed,” Drew responded. His brow furrowed as the doubt visibly crept into his mind.

“Oh, I figured we’d do that in here,” Eric said, pointing toward his own bedroom. “I mean, you two were already planning to spend the night together, but your bed is really too cramped for the three of us.”

It didn’t seem odd to me that we’d fallen into this carefully constructed little bubble where it was all of us. No one was left on the outside looking in. I’m sure they both had the same concerns and doubts I did about our ability to keep everything as uncomplicated as possible, but no one mentioned it.

We’d spent a few evenings together, but that’d been the only time I’d spent the night. I needed to stay focused on my deadlines at work and no one had protested when I’d said it was time to go home. If they had, I’d have gladly run out to my car and grabbed the bag I’d left in my trunk just in case. I hadn’t done that because I expected Eric or Drew to invite me to stay, but I’d learned after the first night that I’m not a fan of having to put on the same clothes and go commando. At the same time, I already felt as though I’d pushed them both out of their comfort zones the first night and didn’t want them to eventually look back and feel as though they’d been manipulated in any way.

That was all supposed to change tonight. Eric had stopped by my office on his way home from working out and asked me if I’d like to spend the weekend with them. Not just the night, but the whole weekend. I’d tried to school my features when I told him that sounded like a great idea, but the way his eyes sparkled as I agreed told me that I’d done a shit job of hiding my excitement. I just had to get to a place where I could stop until Monday without feeling guilty about it.

The sun had long since disappeared by the time I walked down the front steps of the building. I’d said goodnight to Jacob and let him know I’d have my phone with me if anything happened over the weekend. He obviously knew something was up, because he spent an inordinate amount of time running through the standard procedures before reminding me he was more than competent enough to keep the facility from burning to the ground in my absence. I knew he had bigger dreams than hanging around the center, but it dawned on me as I walked to my car that this kid was likely the glue that’d been holding everything together before I arrived. I made a mental note to talk to the director on Monday and see if there wasn’t something we could do to recognize his hard work and help him get to where he wanted to be.

I waited until my car was warming up to check my messages. There was one from Eric, asking me to call him before I came over. That sounded ominous.

“Hello?” he answered before the phone could even ring on my end.

“Hey, sorry I didn’t call sooner,” I apologized. “It was a long day and I had my phone on silent. What’s up?”

Eric didn’t respond immediately and I started to worry that he was going to tell me Drew was having another one of his bad days. They weren’t as frequent as they’d been at the beginning, but they still occurred. Most of the time, the decline of his mood correlated to Eric trying to get him out of the house. Drew felt safe within the confines of the home they shared. His attacker was still roaming free, and I got the distinct impression he was trying to avoid admitting that it terrified him to think about that concept. Hell, it would likely turn me into a hermit if I were in his shoes. Still, that didn’t mean it was healthy.

“Eric? Are you there?” I prompted when he remained silent.

“Yeah, sorry.” It wasn’t my imagination. Something was distracting the normally focused man I’d grown to think of as something more than a friend. Someone who I could finally admit to myself I thought had the potential to be an excellent partner. “I know I asked you to come over for the weekend, but I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”

Life seemed to be full of ideas that seemed good at the time and quickly fell apart. “Oh, okay,” I said, trying to not sound upset. And I wasn’t, really. I was more confused than anything. Earlier, Eric had practically bounced in his seat when I told him I’d love to spend some time with them. Did that mean Drew was the hold out? Had he been upset with Eric’s scheme? Did he feel as though the two of us were forcing him into something he’d seemed to want and was now having second thoughts about?

“Don’t sound like that,” Eric pleaded. “Believe me, I’m no happier about it than you are. It’s just…Cam’s coming home and Drew isn’t sure he’s ready to face questions from his best friend.”

“And he thinks he’d have to if we were both there?” That was ridiculous. Jason had stopped by once when we were all hanging out and he didn’t suspect anything was going on. We were capable of keeping our hands off one another when others were around.

“I know, I said the same thing,” Eric huffed. “The thing is, he and Cam have been friends forever and he’s sure Cam will see it on his face and pull him aside. And he doesn’t want that. Not tonight, at least. He wants to make sure tonight’s all about welcoming Cam home and hearing about how things went with the show.”

“I get it,” I assured him. And I did. The chemistry between the three of us was insane. Most guys might not see it, but that was because they didn’t know or care to look for it.

But Cam was different. I’d heard from Jason how rocky things were for them at the beginning, when Drew was forced to admit that he had feelings for his best friend which ran deeper than typical childhood friendship. I couldn’t blame him for that, because under the usually gruff, sometimes cocky exterior lay a man with a heart of gold. And I considered myself lucky to have seen glimpses of that.

“Why don’t I give you a call in the morning?” Eric offered. “I have a feeling Jason’s not going to give up Cam for the entire weekend, so maybe we can just delay the start until tomorrow and you can spend Sunday night here if you want.”