Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
“We should go back to the house and deal with this,” I say, glancing down at my fingers. “I’m turning into a prune here.”
No one seems to need convincing, and I lead the way back across the sand, finding my slides and carrying them toward the house. Music plays from inside: something jazzy and soft that fits with Allie. Clay makes himself a coffee and a few of the others follow suit, filling the kitchen with the scent of bitter roasted beans and creamy milk. I hunt in the drawers and cupboards for something suitable to make straws. There isn’t anything like that, but I find some string and a pair of kitchen scissors.
When I start cutting lengths, Jimmy watches across the island with Theron and Gabe.
“I still can’t believe Allie’s accepted this idea,” Gabe says.
“She could still change her mind.” Theron braces his big, work-roughened hands on the counter like the idea is too much for him to take. I know what he means. Now she’s said yes, hearing no would sting. It’s still her prerogative, though. At any point.
I just hope the men who go first really think about how they treat her and what kind of experiences they give her so that they don’t fuck it up for the ones going later.
When I have a bundle of different length strings, I put them into my fist with the ends protruding all roughly the same length. Their true size remains concealed.
“Alright, guys. Time to pick.”
“How do we decide who gets to pick first?” Theron eyes the strings like there’s a conspiracy against him.
“Just pick a fucking string,” Oliver grumbles. “Let’s get this ridiculous task over.”
Theron gives him an annoyed side-eyed glare but picks a string. Gabe is next. Then Jimmy. Carson, Clay, Tom and Stefan follow. Russell and Oliver are last, drawing strings with pained expressions and I bite my lip against telling them they need to decide one way or another. If they’re in, they’re in. If they don’t like it, they should just butt out. Having them grudgingly involved isn’t going to be good for anyone.
The string that’s left behind is mine, and that’s fine. I’m a big believer in fate. Whatever will be will be. The men stand around me, holding strings, trying to work out who’s got the best one. There’s not an obvious difference, so it takes a while for everyone to work out where they stand in the lineup. Stefan whoops when he realizes he’s got the longest string. As it turns out, Russell has the shortest, which is a big relief. The rest of us work out our numbers and then the strings are tossed into the trash.
“Who’s going to tell Allie the order?” Oliver pushes his hand through his hair, leaving finger-lines of stress.
“I think it’s best if we don’t,” I say. “Less weird anticipation that way. We just tell her who’s next when it’s the right time.”
“You mean, after each of us is done?” Trust Theron to make it sound like we’re embarking on something unpleasant that involves work.
“When each of us has given Allie an awesome experience,” Tom says, as though he read my mind.
Oliver turns away from the group and makes his way upstairs. Theron’s eyes follow, suspiciously. “You don’t think he’s going up there to tell her she needs to change her mind?”
Stefan places his empty cup into the sink. “He won’t do that,” he says with certainty. “He might not be sure about this, but he believes in free will. Allie gets to make her own decision.”
“Treat her good,” Theron says. “You’re like the warm-up, dude. The fluffer. Don’t wreck this with any weird, kinky shit.”
“What makes you think I’m kinky?” Stefan grins.
“Dudes your age have done it all. You need to add some weird shit to your repertoire just to get off.”
Stefan snorts with laughter. “I’m not that much older than you, dude.”
“Old enough.”
“So, what’s the deal with this? Are we all keeping what we do to ourselves or is everything up for discussion? I mean, I’m not usually a kiss and tell kind of guy. What happens in the bedroom stays the bedroom and all that, but this isn’t exactly a standard situation. You guys know more about my dick than any other man ever has. And this whole thing is about sharing.”
“I guess we should leave that part up to Allie. She’s going to be there for it all, so it’s not like we need to discuss it in the open unless she wants us to.”
“Maybe we should compare notes, though. You know…aim to make it the best for her it can be.” Stefan scans the group for responses, and receives a mixture of nods, shrugs and grimaces. It kind of blows my mind how different the men’s attitudes are, even though we all signed up for this assignment.