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“They’ve done worse,” Salem says with an airy shrug that does nothing to calm my nerves.

The three of them skid to a stop. Taylor falls off the bike first, shoulders shaking with laughter. Devon and Christian yank off their helmets, grinning from ear to ear as confetti rains down everywhere. I’m about to turn to Huck when he leaps from his seat and barrels across the tarmac toward his boyfriend.

Speechless, I watch as he lifts Taylor right off the ground and kisses him without hesitation like there’s no one else in the world but them.

Then Christian turns to Devon, grabbing his hand as they exchange a few quiet words, and⁠—

Oh, fuck me.

Then they’re kissing, too. Confetti sticks to the sweat on Devon’s face, Christian’s hands tangled in the Pride flag still draped over his shoulders. My chest does that silly thing where it tightens and loosens all at once.

The crowd is loving it. Phones are out, people are cheering, and rainbow smoke lingers in the air like magic.

I turn to Salem, heart in my throat as she captures the moment on camera, wishing for… something. I don’t even know. Maybe the freedom to be like they are? The absence of guilt to love who I want to love?

Her lashes are low, lips parted slightly in concentration. When she notices my attention, her gaze drops to my mouth, and I can see the idea cross her features. She wants to kiss me. I just know it. Fuck, I want it so damn bad.

But then she smirks, turns her head, and plants a dramatic, open-mouthed kiss on her best friend’s lips instead.

Arya squeals, clearly caught off guard, but she wraps her arms around Salem’s neck and kisses back so passionately that the crowd roars even louder.

Their tongues dance, fingers tangled in contrasting locks of hair. It’s downright sexy, and honestly, I have to subtly adjust my excited dick at the sight. Even as disappointment settles heavily in my gut.

Because I’m not the one she’s kissing. I’m not the one she chose.

And I get it, I do. The whole point of today was rebellion. Pride. Kissing your best friend on a ramp in Ohio to piss off every homophobe in the tri-state area. But God, watching her press her mouth to someone else’s while my body still craves hers?

It stings. Maybe it wouldn’t if she’d just love me, too, but she doesn’t.

So, I clap along with the crowd, a smile stitched onto my face like I’m not threatening to split apart at the seams. The ring on my finger suddenly weighs a ton.

Because I love her, and I’d never ask her to dim her fire just to keep me from burning.

Even if I’m halfway to ash, already.

Chapter

Seventeen

Salem

Ohio passes by in a blur.

Most of us are so drained from being on the road for the last three weeks that it’s all we can do to crawl into bed after a show—with the exception of Christian, Arya and Devon, who seem to be fucking every night. I only know about it because Arya has no semblance of boundaries and tells me everything.

“I sucked both of them off… at the same time.”

“Oh my hell, Devon's huge.”

“He fucks like a god.”

Yada yada. I really don't give a shit. At least Dev isn't causing mayhem since he's getting laid on the reg, unlike me.

By the time we leave for our next destination, I'm fucking exhausted from sleeping in the truck. I can’t do it anymore, which is why I announce to the entire group that we're getting a hotel as soon as we get to Indianapolis.

“Thank fuck,” Taylor mutters around his gas station burger, eyes on Huckslee at the gas pump. “Sneaky blowjobs under the covers are getting old real quick.”

"You’re not that sneaky, cariño,” Christian snickers, watching his girlfriend and Dev practically fuck against the side of the RV.