One More Year Ch. 17

"Sure, why not?" I shrugged, as if it was all the same to me.

Louis was still sitting where I'd left him. I held out my hand, and he gratefully grabbed it and pulled himself up. The four of us walked back in silence to my car.

"Do you want to come back with us to my house, Louis?" Eric asked. "We're going to keep drinking and hang out in the hot tub. You can stay over in one of the guest rooms."

"No, I can't. Sorry," Louis said. "I've got to do something with my mom tomorrow."

"We'll just take you home then." I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

I'd been somehow hoping he would have come with us, but he was clearly having an off night. The last thing I wanted to do was try and pressure him into hanging out more with Nick, of all people. It did mean I was on my own with those two, though. Which wasn't ideal, but it seemed too late to back out.

When we got to Louis' house, I turned the car off and walked with him to the gate. I gave him a hug as it started to open. He put his arms around me and squeezed back tightly, putting his head on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." He pulled out of the hug, nodding. "What's that you're always saying? 'I hate it when people ask me that'?"

I laughed. "Yeah, well. I'm a mess, and you should not emulate me."

"You're not a mess. You're the best." He grinned. "And yeah, I'm okay. Worry about yourself - you've got a long night ahead of you, hanging out with those too."

I looked back to the car. I'd thought they'd be making out, but Eric had climbed into the front seat, and it didn't look like they were even talking.

"Oh god, what have I done?" I groaned, and Louis chuckled.

The gate started to close, but he quickly dashed over and triggered the sensor, and it rolled to a stop. "Okay, I should really head in, or my mom is going to come out here and yell at me."

"Good night."

"Good luck." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes, smiling, and got back in the car. It seemed like they'd been quiet for a while, and I immediately felt uncomfortable.

Eric cleared his throat as we got back on the road. "Jay, you can stay in the guest room if you want."

"Thanks, but I think I'll just walk home afterwards. It's not far."

"You can leave your car in the driveway if you want to drink." He shrugged.

"Um, thanks, but I was thinking I'd just drop you guys off, park at home and then walk over. My mom won't check on me that way."

He nodded. "Oh, that's a good idea. We'll walk with you."

"Do we really have to walk?" Nick groaned irritably.

"Fine." Eric shrugged. "Let's drop Nick off at my house, and then I'll walk back with you."

"No, it's okay." Nick leaned forward into the space between us, bracing himself on the backrests. "I'll walk with you guys."

We lapsed into another silence after that, and Nick flopped back into his seat. I turned on the radio, so at least we had music for the drive home. Once we'd gotten out of the car, Nick seemed really determined to fill the silence, so though the walk was short, he'd still managed to get in a good half-dozen non-sequiturs on the way. By the time we'd arrived at Eric's house, I was glad I'd be able to start drinking.

We grabbed a bottle of tequila from the bar, and Eric went to the kitchen to retrieve some lemons and a salt shaker. Then we headed to the hot-tub that sat just outside Eric's room. He and I had never really used it when we'd been dating, so it was kind of nice to get to, at least once. And after the two tequila shots I'd had before we'd gotten in finally took effect, even Nick seemed like remotely bearable company.

"Nick, watch this." Eric handed me a shot of tequila. "Drink it."

I brought the shot to my lips and downed it, letting out a satisfied sigh.

"See? No flinching." Eric said, chuckling.

"Fuck, that's terrifying." Nick laughed. "Are you even human?"

"It's fine. It's just tequila. Nothing to be a baby about." Honestly, I kind of liked the taste. It was bitter and it burned, sure, but if you were drinking good stuff - and, of course, Eric's family had the good stuff - then it was fine. Nice, even.

They both took their shots, flinched, and rushed for the lemons and salt.

I laughed. "Weak."

"I want to see you do it again." Nick handed me another shot.

"Fine." I shrugged, and threw it back.

"Again, again," Nick chanted, giggled, and poured me another.

I laughed, and drank.

"Enough, Nick." Eric said, grabbing the bottle and putting it down. Nick pouted, and I tried to ignore the awkward tension between the two of them.

The hot tub was amazing. You could hear the sea from the little garden where it was situated, and it was sheltered enough that the cold wind didn't ruin the warmth too much. Steam floated gently off the surface, and between the humidity drifting against my skin and the fiery warmth of the liquor inside me, it almost felt like I was floating through a dream.

Nick and Eric both had pretty nice bodies, too, so I was even enjoying the view. I'd definitely had enough tequila to no longer feel too self-conscious about looking. It was a pretty stark contrast - Eric had always been kind of bulky and pale, while Nick was swarthy and wiry. I knew both of them worked out a lot, and it showed - they both had very defined muscles, even if Eric's were bigger. Not quite the show of the bartenders without the matching uniforms, but it wasn't bad.

I was missing Louis quite a lot. Even with alcohol in my system, and the pleasant, relaxing atmosphere of the hot tub. Without him, all I had was my awkward accord with my ex, and my even worse fresh-acquaintance with his new boyfriend. I probably wouldn't have had a great time anyway, given the situation, but Louis being there would have made it much more bearable.

"So Jay," Eric said, leaning back. "What's that stuff about a secret lover?"

I tilted my chin up and smiled. "No comment."

"So there is a guy?" Nick asked.

"It's fine, if Jay feels weird about it, he doesn't have to tell me."

There was that word again. Weird. Jay feels weird. I wondered if he was doing it strategically, because every time he said that, I just wanted to do stupid shit to 'win' the breakup.

"There is a guy."

'There was a guy' would have been more accurate, but I was working towards a goal here, even if I wasn't quite sure what. Jamie was still maintaining radio silence, but I couldn't quite rule out that he'd get back to me in the future. So what I'd actually said had seemed true enough. Even though I'd be incredibly unlikely, at this point, to want to do anything with him again. I was done with guys who didn't know what they wanted. Or telling myself that, anyway.

"Is it Louis?" Nick asked.

"What? No." As if Louis needed my bullshit in his life. "It's a guy from school."

"SERIOUSLY?" Nick splashed gleefully. "Who?"

"I can't tell you."

"Booo." He laughed.

Eric looked up at me sharply. "Is it Jamie?"

I was too relaxed to react fast enough to give anything away, and luckily Nick spared me the trouble of responding by immediately letting out a loud snort.

"Jamie? Jamie Thomas? Don't be fucking ridiculous." He chuckled. "Jamie's got a new girl every week. I mean, YUM. But no way he's doing stuff with Jason."

Eric shrugged.

"Why would you even think of Jamie? How do you even know him?" Nick poked him in the ribs.

"He came to Jamie's birthday party with me." I smirked. "He got jealous. Thought he was flirting."

Nick frowned at me. "Flirting? Why?"

"He winked at Jay." Eric shrugged.

"Oh god." Nick rolled his eyes. "Jamie winks at everyone and everything. Girls, guys, ancient librarians, fire hydrants. He's got like... a sexy twitch. He can't help it."

"Whatever." Eric sank into the water. "Forget I brought it up."

"Done!" Nick turned to me, beaming. "I want to hear more about Jason's hookups with his secret lover anyway. How are they?"

"Good." I nodded, laughing. "A little weird."

"Why?" Eric asked.

"He never wants to kiss me." I glanced at Eric, wondering if I should clarify. "Even though we've sucked each other's dicks."

"Sounds like a straight guy." Nick said. "Fuck, that's so hot."

"He's not straight if they're blowing each other." Eric said sceptically.

"Whatever." Nick said dismissively. "Blowjobs and no kissing is still a straight guy, in my opinion. It's not like you topped him. Right, Jason?"

I blushed.

Nick looked overjoyed. "Oh my GOD, what? You fucked him? Seriously?"

"Yeah, okay." I sighed. "Just once though."

"Wow." Eric gave me a strange look.

"Did you like it?" Nick asked.

"Yeah." I shrugged. "It was good. It was hot."

"Did he like it?"

"Yeah." I blushed again. But something in me knew this was making Eric uncomfortable, and really wanted that, so I carried on. "He came without touching his dick."

"Holy fuck, that's amazing. I wish Eric could do that to me." He laughed.

"Hey!" Eric looked horrified.

"Sorry." Nick shrugged and smiled.

"So you guys do that?" I asked. Bad idea, but oh well. The alcohol in my system wanted to know.

"Oh yeah, all the time." Nick said. "Eric's got a nice dick. You know that."

"We should have more shots." Eric said, a little loudly, and grabbed the bottle again to begin pouring.

I couldn't tell if I was winning or not, so I consulted more tequila about it. When Eric didn't get up to pour another round after a few minutes, I grabbed the bottle and took a swig directly from it, causing Eric to frown and Nick to whoop.

"I'm uncomfortable." Nick smiled, and his hands slipped down to his waist. He wiggled his way out of his swimming shorts, pulling them out of the water triumphantly.

"What are you doing?" Eric sounded horrified. "Put your shorts back on."

"No." Nick flashed us a mischievous grin, dropping them on the floor next to the hot tub. "You guys should take off yours."

"No. No way. Absolutely not." Eric looked over at me.

The whole situation had begun to strike me as vaguely funny, and Eric's discomfort was just delightful. Patronising ass. I kind of wanted to ask him if we were making things too 'weird' for him. That, and I'd had enough tequila that being naked around these two hot guys didn't seem like such a terrible idea. I took another swig, and set the bottle back down on the table behind me.

Settling back into the water, I reached in and pulled my shorts down around my ankles, wriggling out of them and grabbing hold. I lifted them out of the water and, making eye contact with Eric, dumped them on the ground next to Nick's.

"Yes! Jason's the best." Nick laughed and shifted up next to me, sliding his arm around my shoulders. "Come on, Eric."

"Yeah, come on. Eric." I put a strong emphasis on his name, and grinned broadly.

"Fine." He stood up to tug his shorts down, his semi-erect dick bouncing out free for a few seconds before he stepped out of them and sank down beneath the bubbles again.

Nick had moved his hand up to my shoulder, and was sort of gently massaging it. It felt really nice. Usually I'd tense up if someone I didn't like was touching me, but I guess I had left that reflex behind around the time I'd started drinking directly from the bottle.

Plus, for all his shortcomings, Nick was... not unattractive. His big brown eyes were staring directly into mine, his slick, black hair tumbling over them whenever the breeze ruffled it. I could feel his bare hip pressed up against mine, which only got me thinking about the other things our shorts were no longer covering.

"You have such nice eyes. So green. I don't think I know anyone else with green eyes." He smiled at Eric. "Doesn't Jason have pretty eyes?"

"Yeah," Eric said softly. "Jay's eyes are amazing."

"So amazing." Nick leaned forward and kissed me.

It should have been a shock, but it wasn't. Or, at least, the part of my brain that was shocked was no longer actively participating in the evening. I just let it happen. He was a good kisser, and he had nice, full lips. But he was a smoker, so his mouth tasted like an ashtray, but minty. Menthol cigarettes. Of course. I chuckled.

"What?" He pulled away.

"Nothing." I looked over at Eric. "Nothing at all."

I felt like I could read various emotions in his face - surprise, annoyance, anxiety, jealousy. But above all of that, I could tell he was incredibly turned on. I'd seen that look many times, and the other flickers of emotion on his face weren't winning the battle.

I don't know why I did it. Maybe I'd had too many tequila shots. Maybe I thought I was still winning. Maybe I liked that Eric was watching, horny and conflicted, and I wanted to put on a show for him.

Or maybe it was just that Nick was a hot guy, with a body and face that more than made up for his personality, and I hadn't kissed someone really attractive since Eric. So I threaded my arm around the back of his neck, and pulled him in for another kiss.

I picked up more subtle tastes underneath the cigarettes this time. Lemon, tequila, maybe a bit of salt too. He really was a very good kisser, and my tastebuds eventually adjusted to the ashy bitterness with its hint of mint.

"Eric never mentioned your eyes." Nick said, pulling away with a mischievous grin. "But he did mention some of your other... features."

His other arm swung around in the water to grab my dick, which was already hard. I groaned and closed my eyes, feeling him stroke me under the bubbling surface. I heard a sloshing nearby, and looked up to see Eric had moved to sit right next to me on my other side.

"Is this okay?" He put his hand gently on my back.

I didn't say anything. I just looked into his eyes and nodded. He smiled, and leaned in to kiss me.

The sensation was almost overwhelming - Nick's hand stroking up and down my shaft, while Eric's lips were on mine, his tongue in my mouth. I usually worried about not cumming too quickly, but that seemed like a minor concern compared to how I felt at that moment. I thought I might spontaneously combust.

Eric ran his hand along my chest as we kissed, and Nick watched us with rapt attention as he pumped away at my cock. I wanted to explore both of them, so I ran either hand down each of their torsos, coming to rest on their dicks. I wrapped my hands around them, causing them both to groan. They actually felt similarly sized, and I thought of something and started to chuckle again.

"What is it now?" Nick sounded slightly exasperated.

"Sorry." I pulled away from Eric, who was smiling. "I just remembered a joke about a guy who dreamed he was skiing."

Eric laughed. I don't know if he knew what I was referring to. Not that it mattered. Everything suddenly felt surreal.

Nick just rolled his eyes. "No more tequila for you."

"Should we go inside?" Eric asked.

"Yes." Nick jumped up eagerly.

Nick hopped out of the tub, his erection eagerly pointing the way to the room, and I followed him, feeling uncharacteristically nonchalant about mine. Eric began to deal with the hot tub and the stuff we'd brought outside, as Nick grabbed my hand and led me inside.

He sort of pushed me onto the bed - requiring some cooperation on my part, because he wasn't a big guy, and if I'd resisted even slightly, I wouldn't have budged. I flopped down, and he climbed on top of me, grinding his hips against mine and rubbing our dicks together.

Eric stepped inside and stood there for a few seconds, stroking himself and watching the two of us. Nick reached out his hand, and Eric took it, allowing himself to be pulled down onto the bed next to me.

Eric ran his hand slowly up my arm and across my shoulder, and when it got to my neck he pulled me into another kiss. Nick pushed himself off of me, and I ran my hand along Eric's arm and back while we made out.

I gasped as I felt Nick's mouth inhale my cock. He'd positioned himself over Eric's lap, and he was sucking me off while Eric tugged idly at his cock. He'd occasionally groan, and I felt it reverberate from my crotch up through my body.

Eric pulled away from me, and shuffled backwards out from underneath Nick, rolling away onto the bed. I lost track of what he was doing after that. It was too hard to pay attention to him when Nick was bobbing up and down my shaft, sending an electric tingle through my body with each motion.

But then Eric popped up again, and I almost gasped at the sight of him just shoving his face in Nick's waiting ass. Nick must have appreciated the effort, because he pushed himself down as far as he could go on my cock and gave a low, satisfied groan, which drew a similar noise out of me.

Nick then continued to bob up and down on my cock, while I sat there watching Eric rim his boyfriend. I began to wonder if tequila could cause hallucinations, because it was getting hard to believe this was happening. It never even occurred to me to worry about what I was doing. It felt too good.

"Are you going to do that all night?" Nick asked, letting my dick slip out of his mouth and turning back to Eric. "Or are you going to fuck me?"

Eric didn't say anything, he just grinned at me and stood up, giving Nick's ass a playful slap as he stepped away from the bed. I laughed softly, and he came around to the side table and pulled a condom out of the drawer, which he proceeded to put on and apply lube to - all while staring directly at me. He stepped back around behind Nick, and slicked up Nick's hole before lining his dick up and sliding right in.

Nick grunted deeply when he did, but he kept bobbing up and down on my cock without pausing. Eric began to thrust in and out of him with a slow and steady rhythm, which gradually increased until both of them were covered in a slight sheen of sweat. Something like guilt or worry tugged at the edge of my mind, but Nick was enthusiastic, and that was distracting. Whatever the feeling had been, it was gone again, very quickly.

He groaned and grunted as Eric gyrated against him. Nick wasn't as good at sucking dick as his boyfriend. Maybe he wasn't even as good as Jamie, who had at least been doing it long enough to figure out what I liked. But his vocalisations were amazingly effective, and every sound pushed me further and further. It was a miracle I hadn't come yet. Maybe a tequila-based miracle.

My skin felt like it was on fire, and the whole thing seemed like some sort of fever dream. Drunk or not, I was on my way to cumming. But then Nick stopped, pulling off of my dick, and resting his head in my lap as Eric continued to rail him, occasionally emitting a guttural moan or sharp exhalation.

"I think," Nick said, between heavy pants. "Jason should have a turn."

Eric grinned at me, and nodded to the side table. I extracted myself from Nick, who stayed in position, with Eric pumping in and out of him. I grabbed a condom and rolled it on, and stepped up to Eric. He grabbed the bottle of lube, without pausing his motion, and he squeezed some into his hand and then began to rub it on my cock. I groaned.

He pulled out of Nick, and rolled away onto the bed. I contemplated, for a second, whether I was really going to do this. But my erection was raging, and Nick's hole was pink, wet, and inviting. My brain was swimming, and not in much of a mood to think about anything too much. Positioning myself behind him, I grabbed his hips and slid right in.

I didn't bother trying to work up to a rhythm. I just immediately started going at the pace Eric had set. Nick didn't seem to mind, whimpering every time my dick bottomed out in him. Eric had laid down on the bed, just next to us, and he'd taken the condom off and was stroking his cock, watching us with rapt attention. Nick pulled up his head and looked across at him.

"Hang on." He reached back his hand to stop my thrusting.

I slowed, stopped and slipped out of him as he pulled away from me. He clambered on top of Eric, and then turned around, biting his lip and nodding me over.