some boxers, folded up neatly. He looked at Rick and then he unpacked some more, and my thighs felt like jelly strings as he lined up a load of sex toys on the dressing table. Dildos and plugs and a big bottle of lube. I tried to play it cool, relaxing at Rick’s side as though I wasn’t absolutely shitting myself. Carl loosened his cuffs, rolled his sleeves up as though he was about to get stuck into manual labour, and I nearly did shit myself.
He must have seen my expression, as he smirked.
“Later,” he said.
Rick turned my face to his, and he was smiling. “Chill,” he said. “You’ll enjoy it. I promise.”
My throat felt too dry to even risk replying, and I couldn’t think of the words to say if I’d wanted to.
“We’re wasting the day in here,” Carl said. “Let’s go. Sunshine calling.”
I kicked off my pumps and swapped them for sandals, and headed to the bathroom to swap my jeans for cut-off shorts, tossing my hair for a bit of extra volume before I was ready to don my pink shades and head outside. The day was warm and bright, and it chased my reservations away. We took a table on the beachfront for lunch, and we drank fruity cocktails while Rick talked about the string of old family holidays he’d been on as a child.
One of four kids, he said, loads of fun. Well-to-do parents with loads of money and an easy demeanour. It was easy to see why he was so confident.
“I was the cool one.” He grinned. “Bit of a joker.”
I could believe that.
He finished up his stories and looked between us both, waiting for one of us to pick up the baton and share our own tales. When Carl looked away I figured it was my turn.
“Mum took me away when she could,” I said. “Those crappy little budget caravan breaks in the school holidays, where the food is nothing but value burgers and the pool is a higher percentage of child piss than it is water. It was on the edge of Bognor Regis, a total shithole. Loved it, all the same.”
I couldn’t imagine either of those two knowing what I meant, but Carl surprised me.
“I went once, same park. Only holiday I ever had, just for a couple of days. Best time of my childhood.”
“Only holiday?” I asked.
He nodded. “They didn’t really have the budget to take us kids away, not from the hostel.”
“The hostel?” The question was out of my mouth before I thought, and Rick put his hand on mine, squeezed.
“Ice cream,” he said. “I think it’s time for ice cream on the beach.”
I could take a hint. “Sure,” I said. “Sounds a great idea.”
We walked slowly, and I threaded my fingers with Rick’s as he threaded his with Carl’s, and it felt nice here, absorbed by the crowd of other unusual parties, colourful people in colourful clothes, gay and straight and everything in between.
“You mentioned your mother,” Carl said. “What about your father?”
“I don’t have a dad,” I replied in a beat. “My dad is nothing but a blank space on my birth certificate.”
“Sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be,” I said. “I’m not.”
He looked at me over Rick’s shoulder, and his eyes were so green in the sunlight. “I don’t have a dad, either,” he said. “Not one that matters. People should learn to keep it in their fucking pants if they’re not man enough to step up to the plate.”
We agreed on something, that was for sure.
“And now I feel like the odd one out,” Rick laughed.
“You are the odd one out,” Carl smirked. “Always.”
“Whatever.” Rick grinned, wrapped his arms around our waists and pulled us in tight, so tight that the scent of Carl knocked into me when he did, and he was dark and deep and smelled like leather on skin. “I’m the glue that holds this shit together.”
“Not tonight,” Carl said, and his tone dried my throat once again. “Tonight it will be Katie holding us together.” He smiled and it kicked up my heartrate. “Quite literally.”
Literally. I pictured the lube on the dressing table, the rope-like veins in Carl’s huge meaty dick, and wondered if I’d actually be able to take just him, never mind both of them. Oh fucking fuck.
Carl ordered his ice cream first. “Strawberry and chocolate,” he said. “Always a winning combination.” He took his cone and I could have combusted when he licked it, his eyes fierce on mine.
He was challenging