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When it came to Eli, I’d love to have an actual date with him, and something told me the two of them needed to get past this for that to happen. Besides, was it so wrong that I wanted a taste of both of them? If I went to a bakery, I was an adult, I could have two cookies. Why did I have to take a side and pick just one guy? Especially without a sample of each.
“That night you got really drunk.” I was going to take us back to the topic they seemed to connect on. I liked knowing more about them, and hated talking about myself and my past. Besides, Andrew was about to air a lot of my dirty laundry for the world to see. Soon, everyone would think they knew me. “What else did you do besides get caught?”
They both paled and exchanged furtive glances.
“Do you remember?” I nudged playfully. It was clear they did at least a little.
Eli winced. Every time he did that, his nose scrunched up and his serious expression turned adorable. He’d probably hate hearing that—most men didn’t like to be called adorable by their dates, I was sure—but it also made him vulnerable and kissable.
God, those kisses…
“We went out on the town,” Joystick said.
Eli’s wince grew. “—ish. We went out on the town-ish. We weren’t old enough to know what that really meant, and we went to the nearest convenience store and tried to buy more beer. Both for ourselves and to replace what we drank.”
Joystick let out a barking laugh. “The guy behind the counter didn’t believe for a second that we were old enough.”
“Especially since he recognized us right away, and threatened to leak the security footage to the press if we didn’t scram.” Eli’s smile was almost back. If he wasn’t careful, it might burst through. “So we scrammed. Went to another place, and decided we were more hungry than anything.”
“Those hot dogs…” Joystick pulled a disgusted face. “They looked so sus. What was it you said?”
Eli held up his hands and shook his head. “I didn’t say anything. Except maybe,Austin, we should go.” His laugh slipped out.
“Liar.” The way Joystick pointed, his tone, were both comically exaggerated. “What you said washow long do you think a guy has to jerk off before his wiener looks like that?”
“It was wordplay—wiener, hot dog, dick…”
“Ha.” Joystick looked smug. “So you admit you said it.”
Eli let out a long sigh. “Yeah, fine. I said it. But at least I didn’t saywe should get a couple. See how they taste.”
Joystick cringed. “And I was wrong.” This wasn’t the smooth-talking guy who took me back to the hotel in Italy. He looked the same. Sounded the same. But he was more relaxed and more himself.
I could almost see them having the conversation now. Eli trying to be smart. Reasonable. Joystick knowing better but egging him on anyway. Years apart, and that connection between them still existed. Did they know that? Would they admit it?
And God, I wanted them both. Was that wrong? It had to be. Everything about the way I was raised said it was wrong. Yeah, sure, I knew multiple people who were in three-person relationships, but I wasn’t wild and free Kandace.
I wanted to be. And I wanted to be watching the two of them kissing, and—
“Are you all right?” Eli was looking at me.
“Fine. Why?”
He tilted his head to study me. “You’re making a face and blushing.”
“She’s thinking about wieners,” Joystick offered.
My cheeks grew hotter. I could deny it, but I didn’t think the lie would come out believable. Besides, it wasn’t right to lie. “Was your relationship really so bad that it’s made you bitter for more than a decade?” I’d already asked something similar, but my brain was stalled on the two of them kissing, and I couldn’t make new thoughts.
“I’m not bitter.” Joystick almost sounded sincere.
Eli shrugged. “Me neither.”
I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.
“I just thought the boy I loved had decided I wasn’t worth loving back, and walked away,” Joystick said.
Eli clenched his jaw. “You left me.”
