01-15-2025, 08:14 PM
The way Liam scraped his chair along the floor probably announced to the whole cafe that he had a burning secret to share. A smile flickered to Cali’s lips as she leaned on the table between them, her chin propped on her fist to listen. Dad and Mum would probably kill me if they knew, buuut was such a common disclaimer on his antics that Cali could almost have parroted it along with him. She barely paused over the fact he said he was grounded, that was pretty normal, even when she’d still been living at home. And she didn’t know what a dark web party was, though it didn’t sound like the sort of place a sixteen year old ought to be.
His giggle made her smile – his effervescence always did, even when they were small. There was only four years between them, and they talked about most things completely candidly; they always had. When Cali tried drugs for the first time on campus, for instance, she’d told Liam about the experience. Not that they had been illegal ones, but both of them were curious creatures, even when Paragon gave them the insight to know better. As for sex, it was natural and not something shameful; they hadn’t ever been subjected to the strict religious upbringing of their father (that’s how he would term it – subjected) so there was no judgement even though she was momentarily surprised. Liam was always unexpected but a threesome wasn’t remotely what she had been prepared for him to blurt.
“In the…” she repeated. She made some offhand, very vague gestures with her hands while she processed what he meant by middle. Then her eyes rounded with understanding as her chin returned the cup of her palm. “Didn’t that hurt?” Her curiosity was entirely genuine. Though the proud way he said it clearly revealed he’d enjoyed the experience, so even as she spoke she realised it was a redundant question. “You were safe though, right? With both parts of that equation?”
His giggle made her smile – his effervescence always did, even when they were small. There was only four years between them, and they talked about most things completely candidly; they always had. When Cali tried drugs for the first time on campus, for instance, she’d told Liam about the experience. Not that they had been illegal ones, but both of them were curious creatures, even when Paragon gave them the insight to know better. As for sex, it was natural and not something shameful; they hadn’t ever been subjected to the strict religious upbringing of their father (that’s how he would term it – subjected) so there was no judgement even though she was momentarily surprised. Liam was always unexpected but a threesome wasn’t remotely what she had been prepared for him to blurt.
“In the…” she repeated. She made some offhand, very vague gestures with her hands while she processed what he meant by middle. Then her eyes rounded with understanding as her chin returned the cup of her palm. “Didn’t that hurt?” Her curiosity was entirely genuine. Though the proud way he said it clearly revealed he’d enjoyed the experience, so even as she spoke she realised it was a redundant question. “You were safe though, right? With both parts of that equation?”