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sand and reached out and curved a hand behind Lucas' head, pulling him forward. He smiled at
Lucas. "You already know me, but friends with benefits never go out of style, right?"
Ben's soft, puffy lips sealed over Lucas' and Lucas decided that Ben was right: this
would never go out of style. He slipped his tongue between those generous lips and groaned
appreciatively as Ben sucked him inside. They kissed for nearly a minute, a slick of wet tongues
and soft lips, before Ben pulled back, smiling a bit goofily.
"Love kissing you," he murmured, staring at Lucas' mouth.
"I think you should be a professional," Lucas confessed. "You have the best lips."
Ben grinned. "So they say." He released Lucas and picked up his beer. "Alright boys,
who's next?"
Hewie shrugged and pulled the joint out from between his lips. "I'll go. Lucas is cool. I'd
like to kiss you."
Finding Hewie's attitude amusing, Lucas took hold of the skinnier man's T-shirt and
pulled him forward.
The sweet smell of weed was on Hewie's breath but Lucas didn't mind it. Hewie's lips
were thin but smooth, and his tongue, once it pushed into Lucas' mouth, moved quickly in a
circular motion that Lucas needed a few seconds to get used to but soon caught the hang of. It
was like kissing a small, wet hurricane but Lucas found it fun, if not exactly sexy.
"You're a good kisser," Hewie agreed when they finally broke apart. He immediately
pinched the joint between his lips and took a hit. "Thanks, Lucas."
"No, thank you," Lucas said with a chuckle. Then he turned to Kip.
Kip, oddly enough, looked back at Lucas with undisguised nervousness. Even weirder,
Lucas felt something of the same. Lucas didn't understand it. If there was anyone who should
be easy to kiss it should be his roommate and first true friend on Joyboy.
"I'm on the record saying I don't think this is a good idea, bro."
"Yeah, yeah, we all heard you," Ben said, winking at Hewie as if he had also noticed the
nerves at play. "Just kiss already. You two are like a couple of sixth graders about to be locked
in a closet for Seven Minutes in Heaven."
"I'm just savoring the anticipation of my first lip-lock with Mr. Most-Wanted," Kip
joked, but his tone was off and none of them laughed. He lost his smile and his expression
hardened. "Alright, whatever, come on, bro. Show me what's got Adam and Tyler creaming
their shorts every time they come near you."
He leaned forward, but Lucas realized he didn't want to kiss Kip. Not like this. He'd
thought of kissing Kip. Of course he had. Kip was cute and fun and obviously adventurous. But
in his imagination the two of them kissing had always sprang up out of some fun teasing and
evolved into something sexy. This was none of those things because Kip clearly didn't want to
do this. Kip thought he was poaching on his captain and first mate's territories.
"Forget it," Lucas said, lifting his beer to his lips. He washed out the sour taste of
something that wasn't quite disappointment but reminded him a little of shame. What did he
have to be ashamed of? He wasn't cheating on anyone. He wasn't even in a relationship. "You're
making me feel like crap, Kip. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it."
Kip's shoulders slumped. "Look, bro, I'm sorry. It's just that I know what I know and
what you know isn't what I know. If you knew what I know you wouldn't be trying so hard to
prove that Adam and Ty don't mean anything to you."
"Wait -- wait, what's all this?" Ben forced a laugh as he looked between Kip and Lucas.
Lucas wouldn't meet his eyes. "After all the garbage and sexual tension we all watched with Ty
and Adam you're trying to tell me that Lucas doesn't want them now that he's got them? Lucas,
buddy, be reasonable."
"I just don't like the fact that I'm suddenly in a relationship I never asked for in the first
place," Lucas muttered. "Don't get me wrong -- I think they're both super hot and I know I'm
lucky they're interested in me. But it's all -- it's happening way faster than I ever expected it to. I
was a virgin yesterday, Ben! Now I'm practically married?"
"Dude," Hewie mumbled, "you need to take a hit off this." He held out the joint.
Lucas waved him off impatiently. "I don't remember anyone telling me that joining the
crew meant I was suddenly going to be shuffled off into a relationship not of my choosing."
"Lucas," Ben said quietly, his teasing gone, "you did choose them. You put up with an
awful lot, otherwise. Tyler hasn't been easy on you and I know Adam's been pressuring you.
Why let them treat you that way if you didn't want to be with them?"
Because I would have been kicked off the island if I hadn't played along, he wished he
could tell them.
"Bro, walk with me," Kip said abruptly. He jumped to his feet and held down a hand for
Lucas. "Please. We're cool, but -- we need to talk."
After a brief hesitation, Lucas allowed him to pull him up. "We'll be back, I guess."
"Take your time. Talk it out. We'll be here, talking smack about you." Ben grinned but
Lucas could see the worry in his eyes.
Lucas couldn't do much relieve it though, and gave him a distracted smile before
following Kip down to the water.
"So maybe I played up the threesome thing too much," Kip said as he dipped his toes
into the foam that fizzled on the sand. "You're not married to Adam and Tyler and obviously
you can date or screw whoever you want to, Lucas. I shouldn't have made it sound like you're
trapped with them. I just thought -- well, I thought they were what you wanted."
"I do want them, but for fun. For sex."
"But I thought you realized that even though they bring in a third all the time, they never
work for a third. Not like they've worked for you." He glanced up at Lucas. "I thought you saw
it all coming and knew what it meant."
Lucas forced himself to be honest. Yes, he knew it had been difficult for Adam to get
Tyler to accept him. Yes, he had been aware the entire time of Tyler's huge trust issues. And
yes, he recalled that Tyler had normally been the one to bring a third person into their bed and
yet this time Adam had been the one to do it. Adam and Tyler had fought each other because of
Lucas and Lucas had watched, seeing how much Tyler had struggled with it. He'd known in his
heart that joining them wasn't something to be taken lightly.
So why was he resisting that truth now? Why was he insisting that this was just a fling
and that Adam and Ty would kick him out in a week once they'd grown tired of him? Adam had
risked his relationship with Tyler to include Lucas.
But that was the problem, and it had simmered in the back of his mind until now. Adam
had done everything he could to heal Tyler, including bringing in someone new. Adam had
done whatever it took -- because he loved Tyler.
Lucas wasn't a fling. He was a Band-aid. Kip and the other guys didn't see it because
they were romantics, wanting to believe the best of their captain. But Lucas, being new and not
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