Page 47 of Unexpected Prejudice

“In a public lake.”

He swam toward me and stopped with his arms gripping my shoulders. “Isn’t it awesome?”

“What if someone sees us?”

“Who?” He looked around and then screamed. “Hello? Is there anybody out there?”

I quickly covered his mouth with my hands. “Shh!” I panicked as he laughed. The camp was far enough, but still.

“It’s okay, Babydoll. It’s just us, the stars, and some coyotes.” His white smile shone even brighter under the moonlight. “Perhaps some bears.”

“Bears?”

“I’m only joking.” He leaned forward and gave me a small kiss. “You’re pretty. Have I told you that today?”

“I am not,” I mumbled, trying to look away when he pulled me into a hug. His skin was cold and wet, but so was mine. I closed my eyes and leaned my head on his chest, filling my ears with his heartbeat while he moved his fingers through my soggy hair.

“I thought about something you asked me the other day,” he said, his fingers still caressing me.

“What is it?” I chuckled, wondering what random thought popped into his head this time. Was it about another animal? Maybe a joke he read somewhere. Or perhaps a theory about why the stars shone so brightly.

“You asked me if I was attracted to Jordy, and I thought about it.”

My eyes flew open, and the water, which felt warm until now, turned freezing.

“You did?” I pressed my head to his chest to avoid his stare, which I knew was on me.

“Yeah.”

“And?” Despite my uproar of emotions at the mention of Jordan, my voice came out normal and unfazed.

“I am attracted to him.”

“Oh.” Oh? He’d just admitted to finding someone else attractive, and my reaction was oh?

“Actually, I thought about something else as well.” He moved his hands to my shoulders and slung them around my body. “I thought that I wanted to have sex with him.”

Shocked, I pushed out of his hold and stared at him with my mouth open. My only consolation was that the water hid the lower part of my body, so I was a little more confident to face him.

“What?”

“Hey, hey, relax.” He touched my face. “I’m talking about a threesome. You, me, and Jordan.”

His admission felt like a stab to my heart, and I had so many questions to ask, but the only word I managed to blurt out was— “Why?”

“‘Cause it will be super hot, that’s why. I would love to see you with another guy. Remember that one time a random dude kissed you at a party? We both got so turned on by it.”

A while ago, we went to some rave, and while drunk and high, a stranger kissed me. It lasted no more than a minute, but it riled up Jessie, and seeing him so turned on did it for me, so I just went with it. But this wasn’t the same. There was a vast difference between kissing a stranger at a party and having an actual threesome. And yet, I found myself asking the one question that bothered me the most.

“Why Jordan?”

Jessie shrugged. “Well, you also find him hot, don’t you? I saw the way you looked at him and smiled at him. Besides, why not? He’s nice, gay, and would probably be up for it.”

I had about a million reasons why Jordan would be the last guy I’d pick to sleep with us, the first being why we even needed a third person in our bed in the first place. But as I looked at Jessie and found his eyes filled with anticipation and excitement, I couldn’t bring myself to admit my insecurities. Every part of my body told me to say no, to shut down this bizarre idea of his here and now. I wanted to refuse, but what would happen if I did, and he decided to go ahead with his idea without me?

“Can I think about it?” I asked, swallowing the lump that formed in my throat. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. I knew he didn’t mean anything bad by asking this. He wasn’t trying to hurt me, and yet, he had.

“Of course.” Jess rubbed my shoulders and kissed my head. “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I swear it won’t change anything.”