Page 274 of Worthy

“Second base is Netflix without chilling,” Tanner said, laughing.

“Third base?” Damien pondered. “Kissing.”

“And having brunch in public is home plate for sure,” Tanner finished.

I looked between the two of them and shook my head, my lips stretching into a smile. They were made for one another.

A horrible realization washed over me and I concealed it by drinking more beer. I was the third wheel here.

I didn’t have enough time to unpack these thoughts, however. Damien crushed his can and shot us both a challenging look. “Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Depends,” Tanner said. “Are you thinking we should abandon our earthly possessions and live the rest of our days in a forest, one with nature, eating what we can hunt and hunting what we would eat?”

“What the fuck?” I gaped.

“No,” Damien said, a mock horrified expression on his face. “We should go skinny dipping.”

My tongue tied into a knot and I choked on my own saliva. “I, um…maybe I’d rather do Tanner’s thing.”

“Thank you,” Tanner said with another exaggerated bow to me.

“Come on,” Damien nudged. “We’re dirty as hell.”

“It’s night already,” I pointed out.

“Full Moon,” Damien said simply.

“He’s right,” Tanner said, his focus was on his guitar when Damien and I looked at him.

“Who is?” I asked.

“Damien,” he replied. “Two against one. We’re going skinny dipping.”

“Er, that’s not how anything works,” I said.

“Oh yeah?” Tanner challenged, hopping to his feet. “Ever heard of democracy?”

The comment made me roll on my blanket with laughter and nearly choke on my beer. I spat out the foam it turned to while my two friends gathered up for a short walk down the slope to the lake.

Moments later, I was rushing after them. Moonlight bathed the forest with its silver rays and when I reached Damien and Tanner, out in the grassy field, it was so bright that you’d be forgiven for mistaking the night for day.

Damien and Tanner were predictably laughing out loud so much that they set distant birds to flight from the forest canopy. Together, we went to the pier, and I wondered if they wanted me to go back. They would never say such a thing. I was their friend.

But if I really was that great a friend, I would give them some time and space to flirt without holding a candle for them.

I hesitated when Damien and Tanner lifted their T-shirts and threw them on the wooden boards of the pier. They were so smooth and easy-going that it left me gaping. Silver moonlight made their bodies shine.

I gazed at their broad backs as they bent down and dropped their shorts, then casually stepped out of them. Two jocks with nothing more than underwear to hide what I desired the most stood in front of me, almost unaware of my presence and completely blind to the water that ran in my mouth.

Teasing one another, Damien and Tanner grappled a little as if to tip the other into the lake. “You go first,” they were challenging the other. “What if it’s cold?” “It was your idea.” “Let go of me.” “Take off your boxers.”

The laughter and banter wrapped me into their hold and I found myself grinning at these two as they released one another.

“On the count of three,” Tanner huffed.

“One. Two. Three.” Damien said.

Facing away from me — like always, dammit — both my heartthrobs bent down and dragged their underwear to their ankles, then lifted themselves to the tips of their toes while stepping out. They grappled again, but to catch some balance, except that each of them tipped the other one over the edge and they both tripped into the lake, sending splashes upon splashes of lukewarm water in every direction.

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