Page 65 of Black Hearts
Jaxon huffed, “I think it’s a you thing, Will.”
“Oh, don’t act like you haven’t thought about it. We’re all banging the same girl. Don’t you want to know if yours is the biggest? Maybe the biggest is the only one doing it right. Not all dicks are the same. There’s long dicks, short dicks, thick dicks, thin dicks, dicks that have a kind of curve to them—”
Bennet muttered, “You seem to have a thing about dicks.”
“I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” Will glanced around to each of us, waiting a moment before adding: “Dicks, in case that wasn’t clear.”
Someone’s tall, menacing presence in the doorway alerted us to Markus, who suddenly stood there, leaning and glowering, his arms folded over his chest. He wore a black suit. Black on black on black. Black tie, black shirt, black suit. With his black hair and dark eyes, he looked like the devil made flesh.
“What the fuck is going on in here? The word dick keeps reverberating down the hall,” Markus growled out, frowning. He spotted me amongst the sea of guys on the bed, as if insinuating this was my idea.
“Ah, big guy,” Will said, grinning. “Perfect timing. Are you a grower or a shower? On a scale of one to three inches, how big are you?” He paused, and then he chuckled, probably because Markus looked like he was ready to beat him up. “I’m kidding, we all know your dick blows all of ours out of the water—”
“I don’t agree with that,” Bennet hissed.
Will whispered, “Do you want him to beat you up again, or…”
“For fuck’s sake,” Markus muttered. “I think I liked it better when you all hated each other and were going behind my back to spend time with Juliet, because this, whatever the fuck this is, is nauseating.”
“No need to get jealous,” Will said, and then he patted the bed beside him. “There’s plenty of space here for you, big guy. Plenty. So why don’t you just come over here? Maybe on your way, you can take off your belt and—”
“Will,” Theo cut in, “this whole conversation is highly inappropriate.”
“Come on, Juliet would enjoy seeing us all naked together, I think, and this way we know who has the biggest dick.”
“Perhaps this can be a conversation we continue at a later date,” Theo suggested. “I don’t think today is the best day to… get lost down that particular rabbit hole.” Will opened his mouth, probably to say something else that was equally inappropriate, so he was quick to add, “Ah, that was not the best analogy to use. I see that now.”
Markus let out a groan that was more of a growl than anything else and stalked away, not saying a single word more. He left us to a quiet room, at least for a few moments.
I looked between the guys. At Theo, then Will, then Jaxon and Bennet. In my head, the recent conversation replayed itself, and I couldn’t help it: I started to laugh. I really, truly laughed. Heck, I couldn’t think of a recent time when I’d laughed so hard.
I couldn’t stop. It was just so… so… ridiculous. Yes, that was the word. The whole thing was just ridiculous, given everything else going on. What Stella had said earlier, before leaving, rose to the forefront of my mind: a dick measuring contest. That’s exactly what Will was trying to do here, and I couldn’t help but wonder if Stella’s comment had put the idea into his head.
Each and every one of the guys watched me laugh, like I casted some kind of spell on them. Whatever annoyance they had toward Will and the conversation faded away the instant they paid more attention to me and my laughter.
“Sorry,” I eventually said, quieting down. “It’s just… you guys are funny.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Will said. “Well, maybe a little bit, but—”
“I think we’ve all had sufficient talk of dick for now,” Theo said. “Perhaps we can move on to other subjects? Please, let’s, because I don’t know if I can take any more of that particular conversation.” He tore off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I agree,” Jaxon said. “We could talk about literally anything else.”
“Oh, yeah? How ‘bout you putting a fucking shirt on,” Bennet hissed out, narrowing his stare at Jaxon. “No one needs to see that. It’s bad enough that’s how you work out here—”
As Bennet and Jaxon went back and forth over his choice of no shirt, I couldn’t help but smile. I really did love them, as silly and as bizarre as they could be. It was only one part of them, too. I knew they each carried a darkness, a darkness they were all too happy to let out.
My mouth went along with my brain before I realized it: “I love you guys.”
Jaxon and Bennet stopped the moment I said it, each of their heads whipping toward me. Will wore his lopsided grin, and Theo reached for my hand, holding it.
Before anyone else could say whatever it was they were going to say, I went on, “I mean it. I do. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.” I mean, I’d definitely be dead or brainwashed completely by my father, but that wasn’t a fate I wanted to think too much about. “I love you, and I don’t want to ever go a day without seeing any of you. I don’t know what the future holds, but I want each of you in it.”
Theo whispered, “I want the same.”
“Me, too,” Jaxon said.
Bennet appeared uncomfortable for a moment, but then his broody exterior softened a bit. “Yeah, yeah. What they all said.”
