“Why is it on me?” Cairo asks. “Shouldn’t we all agree what we’re doing here?”
“Yes,” I say, nodding and turning back to Gen. “I’ll be upfront. I want to do this again. I want to do it often. I want to hang out with y’all, and I definitely want to fuck around.”
“With both of us?” Cairo asks, his voice uncharacteristically soft.
“Hell yeah.” I lean back in my chair, abandoning my burrito for a minute. “I thought it was obvious that I’ve been working on the two of you for months.”
Cairo’s brow pinches, but he doesn’t say anything. Instead he takes another bite of his burrito, glancing at Gen. I think the two of them have some kind of secret language. They don’t even need words. I must be a crazy man trying to break in, but I can't help myself, and now that I know how incredible the three of us can be together, I don’t plan to back down.
But as my eyes shift back to Gen, completely ignoring the tension at the table and eating his breakfast, it becomes clear I need to measure my approach. Gen is down for sex, but everything else? Not so much.
We finish eating in silence while I figure out how to pull them back in.
“I have an idea,” I say, spit balling my way through this. Both guys look up at me. Gen looks terrified while Cairo looks interested. “Uh, so, we had fun last night.” I grin. “And this morning. Am I right?”
Gen nods, his body language visibly tense, like he’s bracing for me to punch him. What the hell happened to him?
“Lots of fun,” Cairo offers.
“Alright, yeah. So, my idea is we do more of that. Just hanging, being friends, fucking like rabbits. What do you say?”
Gen’s eyes narrow. “Is that it?”
I shrug. Nope, but it’s all I’m saying. “Yeah. I just want to make sure you guys are down for more.” Gen bristles, so I add, “Sex. More sex.”
Gen’s shoulders drop as he nods. “I’m always down for more sex, boo.”
A smile pulls at my lips. “Good. Cairo?”
“I’m in.”
Step one: get them in bed. Check. I just figured out that step two is gonna be a hell of a lot harder, but the good thing about me? I’m a persistent fucker, and I’ve got all the time in the world to wear them down.
I twist to gaze at Cairo, who smiles at me. I think he could be an ally. He understands how Gen works, and probably knows what happened to the guy that makes him act like he’s about to get his ass kicked when someone wants to talk. If I can get Cairo to see the vision, maybe he could convince Gen how fucking epic we could be together.
One dirty fuck at a time.
Cairo
When I enter the bakery the next morning, Genesis is already there, working at a station. He glances up and smiles.
“Morning, boo.”
He stretches his neck, offering his cheek for a kiss. His cheek. After what we did this weekend? Okay. I kiss his cheek.
“How long have you been here?”
“Twenty minutes. Couldn’t sleep, so I came to work.”
“Everything okay?” I grab my apron from the hook by the sinks.
“Yes.”
After washing my hands, I go to my workstation and start gathering what I need to make the Pan de Mallorca. We work silently for a while, but I know if I want his attention, I better seize it now before the others arrive.
“Gen, I want to talk about this weekend.”
“What about it?”
I already know from his flippant tone this isn’t going to be easy.
“Are we just going to pretend we didn’t fuck around with Luca? That you and I didn’t kiss? That’s what we’re doing?”
Gen glances up, his well practiced smile on his lips, even though he knows I know that it’s bullshit. “That’s what we’re doing.”
“Why? It’s you and me. We talk about everything.”
He sets his mixing spoon down, giving me an exasperated look. “Why are you making this hard? We already talked about it. We’re gonna fuck around. That’s it. You and I can separate our friendship from that, can’t we?”
“Can we?”
“It’s not like we don’t have practice with hookups. This is just better because we know each other. No surprises. No serial killers. We’re friends with benefits. Isn’t that good enough?”
I know him well enough to know this conversation isn’t going anywhere and the more I push, the more he’ll shut down.
“Fine.”
“Why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad. I just like definitions.”
“I’m doing the best I can. You know me, Cairo. I’m one and done, but here I am agreeing to...two and some.”
I frown. “Two and some?”
He laughs. “You know, not one and done.”
“Okay, Gen.” I grab my flour. “I guess it works.” For now.
A few hours later the door opens, and Luca enters with Casper and another guy they work with. What’s his name again? Greyden, I think.
“Morning, fellows,” Luca says, his eyes lingering on me to the point where I’m pretty sure other people will start to notice.
“Hey. Gen’s over in the other shop.”
“That’s cool. How you feeling?”
“Good. You?”
“Yeah, I’m good. We came to get breakfast.”
Tate comes in from the back, grinning at the tall blond with the guys. “Hey, Greyden. How are you?”
“Hi, Tate. Good to see you.”
“You too.”
Tate gets to work helping Greyden and Casper pick out pastries to take back to the shop while Luca leans on the glass, grinning at me.
“You look cute,” he says, winking. “Cute enough to tear up.”
Smiling, I shake my head. “Saint will kill you if he sees you on the glass.”
Luca shoots upright. “My bad. I forget I’m not alone.”
“Are you gonna go say hi to Gen?”
“Should I? He was acting…” He shrugs. “I don’t want to scare him off.”
“Yeah.”
Luca glances over his shoulder. “Is he okay?”
I nod. “Yeah, he’s just…Gen.”
“But we’re hanging out again, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I’m good. I’ll ask Gen for you.”
“Cool.” He glances around again. “I can’t stop replaying it in my head. It was so hot. Best experience I’ve ever had.”
“Me too, Luca.”
“Fuck if I don’t want to jump over this counter and claim your mouth one more time.”
I shake my head, even as my dick twitches in my pants, I shake my head. “Stop.”
Luca grins. “Do I make you feel things, Cai?”
Cai? “Things between my legs, yes.”
“Good enough for me.” He winks. “I’ll text y’all.”
“Have a good day, sexy.”
He smiles big. “You too.”
I busy myself with more customers while the guys from Black Heart check out. It doesn’t take long for Tate’s questioning eyes to meet mine.