Page 14 of Reckless Youth
While our friendship made all the sense in the world to us and always had, no one else in our small, back-water town could make heads or tails of it. Now that we were older, it was something that the gossip mongers latched on to and turned it into something torrid and taboo.
Apart from the previous two times when I’d kissed them both separately, there hadn’t been any jealousy or deception that I was aware of. Although it did create a little awkwardness for a while, leading to some avoidance, this was the first time we’d openly discussed anything like this.
“London.” Cam’s voice was hesitant, offering a whiff of condemnation. “People would talk if you went with both of us. I think it’s best that Sage take you.”
I looked at Sage, who was staring out the window as if he wasn’t even paying attention. I squeezed his knee and he turned to me and shrugged.
“Doesn’t matter to me either way. Y’all know we always have more fun together, anyhow.”
His eyes darkened as he glanced at me and then at Cam, giving us a rare glimpse into the thoughts he kept hidden from us.
The comment threw me off a bit because there was an implication there; a hidden innuendo that hovered just out of reach.
I patted them on the thighs, smiling at them both. “So, it’s settled, then. Hallie can find her own date.”
Turning to place a kiss on Cam’s cheek, I missed it entirely when he moved his face toward me at the last second and our lips smashed together. My eyes widened, as Cam’s sprang open, seeking to gauge Sage’s expression.
None of us, to my knowledge, had shared anything about our separate and brief intimate encounters with the other. I guess I’m the only one who knew the whole truth.
We’d kept it secret, not because of the potential jealousy that could arise, or because of the potential stigma associated with it, but likely from an underlying uncertainty of what it meant for our friendship.
Whatever the case, it was still this fragile, guarded secret that could go either one of two ways. It could lead to something beautiful that we’d share together, the three of us; or it could shatter the friendship we shared entirely.
The air in the truck cab sealed off like a lid on an airtight container, vacuum sealing our stalled breaths. Cam’s hand tentatively wrapped around the back of my neck, his fingers threading through my hair and pulling my mouth to his, stealing the sips of air that escaped my lungs, his lips curving over my mouth. I opened for him, his tongue penetrating and eagerly exploring, reclaiming what had been his all those months before.
Without realizing it, my right hand searched for Sage’s, who remained silent next to me. Upon finding it, I clasped it tightly and pulled him in closer. My body screamed for his touch. For the connection. I couldn’t bare for him to feel left out.
It felt undeniably good to have Cam on one side of me and Sage curled against my back, his thigh pressed snugly against me. My body was like an inferno, bursting into flames so hot it felt I was coming out of my skin. Sage’s breath turned ragged, a sexy sound that expressed his desire at what he was watching. Cam groaned into my mouth in the same manner.
Pulling away from Cam, I licked my lips to find Sage staring at us, his expression a mixture of awe and raw hunger.
“Sage,” I whispered, uncertain how to tell him that I wanted him, too.
Instead of words, I showed him. A longing bubbled up from deep inside my belly as I leaned forward and grazed his lips with mine.
Due to our height disparity, I had to lift myself off the bench seat, craning my neck slightly to touch the soft velvet of his lips.
He sat immobile for a moment – perhaps stunned by my boldness. Either way, the crackle of electricity and desire swirled around us, and the sounds of our three breaths in synchronicity and chorus turned into a deafening orchestral concert.
I blindly moved my hand from Cam’s thick thigh, while reaching around the back of Sage’s neck and grabbing onto the longer fringes of his dark hair, applying more pressure into the kiss. His breath came out in a warm whoosh as if something inside him had burst wide open, and he took the reins from me in one swift motion. His sensuality and confidence spilling over and drenching me with excitement.
Sage covered my cheeks with his hands, his mouth moving solidly over mine, kissing, licking and sucking, as his tongue slid between my lips with a moan.
Everything about that moment was heaven.
It was the first time that the feelings we shared for each other were openly shared between the three of us – opening like a Pandora’s box of pleasure – morphing into something more. Something different and special. Something unique and shared only between the three of us.
I allowed my fingers to weave through Sage’s soft locks as we kissed, and our chests pressed against one another. His hands moved to my waist, pulling me into him, telling me without words that he wanted me closer. As if to say I was the only thing he ever wanted and that he craved me, my touch and my kisses.
Perhaps it was the love and friendship that Cam and I provided him that held him together most days, as he dredged through an otherwise loveless home life. Where his father would do and say anything to tear him apart. To belittle him and make Sage feel small and weak. And unloved.
Emboldened by my squeak of pleasure that erupted when Sage’s tongue swirled deeper, Cam inched closer to our entwined bodies, his hand landing on my knee, trailing up the inside of my thigh, dragging the material of my skirt up as he went.
This was the first time Cam had ever touched me in this manner - scrolling up my bare legs with his rough fingertips. The contradiction of his rough touch and Sage’s soft lips felt forbidden and erotic. It dripped with sensuality and carnality.
I wasn’t sure where to place my concentration – on Sage’s kiss or Cam’s delightful exploration of my leg. Cam’s face was next to my ear beside me, his breaths rapidly increasing, as his nose drifted up my neck, the action mimicking to the movement of his fingers on my thigh.
Goosebumps danced across my flesh, as Cam’s palm navigated toward the juncture between my legs where he abruptly stopped. I jolted from excitement and anticipation.
