Page 3 of Praised
“Where did you have in mind?” I asked, looking away from Owen and catching Archie’s eye.
“Nothing fancy.” He shrugged. “Grayson says there’s a bar in Manhattan Beach that has turtle races.”
“What now?” I asked.
“We used to do that for free at the pond back home,” Frankie said, smacking Owen in the chest fondly. “You remember that?”
I knew what he was doing. Frankie was posturing, trying to swing his dick and assert his claim over Owen. But the joke was on him. He could have Owen all he wanted. Archie’s boyfriend was not where my interests lay. The fact that Frankie looked like he would have kicked me into traffic on the 405 only served to make me want him more. Because then I’d be able to prove him wrong across the board.
I wasn’t too rich or too good-looking. And even if I were, I only used my powers for good. There wasn’t anything wrong with liking sex and having sex. There wasn’t anything wrong with the kind of sex I liked to have either. In fact, I found most people enjoyed it beyond measure, and I was always more than happy to open their eyes to all the exciting and very verbal ways you could bring someone off.
“We can all fit in my car,” Archie said, giving his house a quick scan and counting off on his fingers.
There were five of us handling the last of the unpacking. Between the three of them, me, and Grayson, we’d gotten it finished pretty quickly.
“Tight squeeze in the back seat,” I said, earning a glare from Frankie.
Grayson appeared from the bathroom then, dusting his hands off on the front of his chinos.
“For someone who looks like he’s never met a washcloth he likes, you have a surprising amount of toiletries,” he said.
“Are you sure you want to live here?” Frankie asked, tone half serious and half teasing. “They’re all kind of horrible.”
“You haven’t even met Barclay yet,” Grayson said with a casual raise of his left shoulder.
“They’re not horrible,” Owen interjected. “They’re just…who they are.”
“That doesn’t sound much better,” I said.
“Trust me, it is.”
“But wherever we go, I’m taking my own car because I’m supposed to meet Rob at Rapture later tonight, and that sounds a lot more fun than hanging out with you guys. No offense.”
“I want to go to Rapture,” I pouted. “Why didn’t anyone invite me?”
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I swiped through my messages until I got to the Trophy Doms group text.
Me: I want to go to Rapture tonight.
Me: Why didn’t anyone invite me to Rapture?
Archie’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he sighed, ignoring it.
Dalton: Who’s going to Rapture?
Rob: Grayson and I.
Dalton: And us?
Barclay: I’m taking a pass tonight.
Barclay: I also still want the record to reflect I’d like to take a pass from this group chat too.
Me: Just put your phone on silent if you don’t want your romantic dates with Val to get interrupted.
Dalton: So are we going to Rapture?
Archie: I’m down if you are.
