Page 79 of Filtration Play
“Oh my god, I’m going to vomit,” Micah said. “This is too disgustingly sweet.”
“I’d say it’s about time,” Tristan said. “We’ve been waiting a long while to see you open your heart. A relationship looks good on you.”
“The pizza order’s ready. I’ll go grab it,” Kai said.
“Wait, what pizza order?” At least half the room turned in his direction.
He shrugged. “Food was mentioned earlier. I figured I’d get the ball rolling, since you all seemed to be distracted.”
“It’s like herding cats with you lot,” Ezra teased, his hand on Sloan’s hip.
“Is he talking about kitty play?” Pixie asked Eva, who patted her girlfriend on the head.
“The expression,” Eva said. “It’s not hoarding cats.”
Kai, Sloan, and Ezra had made a quick exit, probably to pick up the pizza. Ollie soaked in the sight of everyone around them. How Meg and Nolan perched on either end of their couch, and Parker stood at the far wall with his arms wrapped around Micah. Eva and Pixie leaned on the nearby wall, and Tristan had managed to find a folding chair. These people were loyal, warm, and affectionate in spades, and somehow, they wanted him around too.
He hadn’t forgotten what Meg had said to him. About how even if Fin hadn’t wanted to pursue a relationship that they wanted him around regardless. That spoke volumes.
He’d been searching for a long while for somewhere to fit in, and this was the first time he felt like he’d found it. Like he belonged.
Fin leaned in and nipped at his earlobe, which sent a shiver down his body. “Hey, thank you,” they whispered into his ear. “For staying. For believing in me. For knowing when to push and when to wait.”
He tipped his head against theirs, keeping his voice low. “Thank you for accepting me as is. For always making me feel seen.”
Fin threaded their fingers through his and squeezed. “Always, sweetness. You’re mine.”
God, those words. They bubbled up inside him, filling him with a molten heat that coursed through his veins.
The door creaked open again, and Sloan, Ezra, and Kai entered with pizza boxes, enough to feed the mass amount of people in this room. They plunked the tower on the coffee table in a stack.
“If you think I have enough plates to feed y’all, you’re underestimating how severely single I used to be,” Fin said. “There are paper towels in the other room. If you make a mess, you can lick it up. Preferably off the floor.”
A chorus of groans sounded throughout the room.
“Only my Dom is inflicting that on me, and you’re not him.” Micah flipped them the middle finger.
“When’s the last time you cleaned this floor?” Eva said. “I’m a sadist, but even I’m not that bad.”
Fin’s small grin, the softness in their hazel eyes filled Ollie with elation. After everything they’d been through, he’d expected those walls to stay up forever, but each time they lowered them was a treasure, one he’d remember.
And they’d let him in completely.
Fin leaned in again. “Once these fuckers leave my apartment, I’m going to take you apart, sweetness, and fill you up with more than you ever dared before.”
His heart thumped hard, adrenaline coursing through him. God, that was so hot.
He couldn’t fucking wait.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Thank fuck everyone had cleared out of Fin’s apartment.
Having the whole crew descend upon them had meant more than they’d ever be able to express, but after the extreme ups and downs of the day, they were beyond tapped. Nolan and Meg had single-handedly figured out the framework to move Fin’s photography show to Whipped, and the rest of the time they’d spent giving each other shit and unwinding from the stress of the day. Being around these people made Hera’s post and the whole social media mess feel amillion miles away.
And now they were alone with their fucking boyfriend, and they planned to give him an experience they’d been talking about over the last week or so.
Fin had been tempted to join Ollie in the shower they demanded he take, but if they joined him, their plans would get tossed out the window. Instead, they prepped the materials they needed, assembling them on the side of the bed so they were all ready to roll when he emerged. They had a few backup plans if the initial didn’t work because this was an intense kink to dive into, but Ollie would be adventurous enough to try.
