Page 115 of Baseball and Shifters

Lucas glares at him. “It was a metaphor, Bas. Expand your horizons. Besides, Moonbeam liked it. Didn’t you?”

“I mean…” Rachel lifts her glass, swirling the last bit of her drink like she’s really contemplating it. “I liked the soundtrack. And the concept. And the lighting was kind of hot.”

Bas groans dramatically. “So no. She didn’t like it either.”

Lucas clutches his heart. “You wound me, woman.”

“I’ll wound you more if you make me watch another movie where a vacuum symbolizes intergenerational trauma,” she fires back, smirking as she stands, helping him gather the rest of the dishes.

Derrick chuckles, rising from his seat. “Let’s just go with something that doesn’t require a thesis to enjoy.”

“Agreed,” I say, stacking plates and pressing a kiss to Rachel’s cheek as I pass.

She grins and hip bumps me. “I vote for something sexy and ridiculous. Make it worth all the stress from this week.”

“Oh-ho-ho,” Bas croons, wagging his brows. “Are we leaning into our spicy era tonight, Firefly?”

Rachel just smirks over her shoulder as she saunters into the kitchen, totally unbothered. “Aren’t we always?”

Lucas groans. “Okay, one movie, and then no promises about anything after that.”

And just like that, the air changes again.

Still light, still warm, but now it's charged by the electricity rippling through our bond.

Bas, Rachel and I move to the living room. The blankets are already tossed across the giant sectional. The lights dim, the screen flickers to life.

Rachel takes her place in the center and Bas and I sink into the couch beside her, he has one arm draped lazily over her shoulders and I pick her legs up draping them over mine before beginning to knead the knots from her muscles. Her bare legs are smooth and warm against my lap, twitching slightly as I find a knot in her calf. Bas’s fingers ghost along her upper arm as he scrolls through the choices, obviously looking for something specific.

The screen flickers and the movie title scrolls into view.

“How about this one?” Bas asks with a smirk.

Rachel’s smile turns coy. “Is this how you suggest an orgy? By putting on a movie about making a porno?”

I bark a laugh and lean toward her. “That doesn't sound like a no to me, Shadow Girl.”

She raises a brow. “I’m not saying anything, wolf boy. Hit play and we’ll see where the night takes us.”

Challenge accepted.

Derrick and Lucas join us in the living room, passing around drinks and snacks then taking their seats. Derrick sits beside me pulling Rachel’s feet into his lap until she’s basically draped across three of us like a bed. Lucas sits on the floor in front of her and instantly her fingers find his hair, playing with the ends, twirling it around her fingers. This, us all together like this, is something I didn’t know I wanted and so desperately needed. I may have fought it at first, but now I wouldn’t want anything different.

Bas hits play and we all tune into the movie, or at least we pretend to.

I trail my hand from her knee to her hip bone and back, lazy and slow. Catching the hem of her shorts on every pass. Bas’s fingertips dance circles on her upper arm sending goosebumps down her arm. Derrick’s hand has settled just above her ankle, his fingers locked around her leg holding her in place. It’s all innocent… technically. But the heat rising in the room tells a different story.

Rachel shifts, adjusting how she’s sprawled across us. Her tank top rides up just enough to show a sliver of soft skin above her waistband and my mouth dries. She catches me staring and smirks like she knows exactly what she’s doing.

“I’m just going to say it,” Bas murmurs. “That big bed upstairs is feeling very… underutilized.”

Lucas looks up at him. “Are you saying what I think you are?”

Bas shrugs, nonchalantly. “I’m just saying, we’ve got the world’s biggest bed upstairs and five fully consenting adults down here. Someone really should break it in.”

Rachel sits up slightly, a slow grin spreading across her face. “So… you’re suggesting I take one of you upstairs and break in our new bed properly?”

“Oh, we’re well past suggesting,” Derrick rumbles. “I’ve been waiting for this since the day we moved in.”

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