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“We’re total virgins,” I blurt out. “Not a single date or kiss or anything.”

“Oh my gods, Nix,” Kassian hisses out, shoving his elbow into my side.

“What? I’m not lying!”

“I know that but you don’t have to go around telling people we’re virgins!”

“Fine.” I turn to Dean, leaning my elbow on the table. “I’m a virgin and I totally have no idea what’s going on with Kassian. For all I know he’s a secret sex god.”

“Oh my gods,” Kassian says again, covering his face with his hands. “I hope the floor opens and swallows me whole.”

I giggle. “Hole, hahaha.”

At that, even Dean starts laughing. I sit back in my seat, feeling light and airy. My head feels empty except for Dean and Kassian. Usually, my thoughts spin Kassian around like the inside of a microwave but now Dean is there with him.

What would it be like to have the three of us spend more time together? Why does Dean fit so well with us? And why the hell has Kassian been acting like this is somehow the best idea and the worst idea at the same time?

Too many questions for my tipsy brain to process.

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t have much more experience than you do,” Dean says with a shrug. “The only time I’ve ever been intimate with someone, it was really awkward and we were trying to make a baby.”

“Oh, yikes,” Kassian murmurs.

“I wanna make a breeding kink joke but I feel as though now isn’t the time,” I say under my breath, making them both start laughing all over again. “Hey, Dean? Do you wanna go to the beach with us tomorrow?”

Dean looks at me in surprise. “I would love to,” he says, my hopes rising. “But I have to work.”

“Ugh! How dare your job get in the way of our beach trip.”

“How are we supposed to live, laugh, love in these conditions?” Kassian asks, making me giggle.

Dean grabs a pitcher of water I didn’t even notice was on the table. He pours me a glass of water, telling me I should drink it. I do as I’m told, sipping at the cool water as we talk.

“I started my reread of ‘Through Winding Doors’,” Kassian tells Dean. “Thank you again for allowing me to borrow it. It’s been so long since I’ve read it and it feels like being embraced in a warm hug.”

Dean looks down at the table, smiling softly to himself. When he looks back up at Kassian, there’s something to his blue eyes that makes my stomach flutter. I take another drink of my water, just watching them interact.

There’s something about the way Dean looks at Kassian that sets something ablaze inside my stomach. He’s soft with Kassian in a way that Kassian deserves. He sees Kassian, the same way that I do.

“That makes me really happy to hear. When you’re done with it, I think I’ll do a reread as well.”

“I will continue until my dying breath for you are worth nothing less than my all,” Kassian says with a grin. “I just got to that part tonight and I got literal goosebumps rereading that line.”

Dean groans. “That part is so good. I can’t believe he’s just saying these things to himself without knowing that his beloved can hear every word of it. Can you imagine just seeing and hearing that without being able to do anything to help or let them know you’re listening and supporting them? Gods.”

“Right?”

That’s when it hits me. I enjoy seeing the two of them together. Is that weird? Maybe that’s weird, but I don’t care. I like seeing Kassian happy and talking to Dean makes him happy. It’s as simple as that.

A plan starts to form in my head. How can I get Dean to stick with us more often? How can we convince him to stay in touch once we have to go back on the road?

I’ll figure out a way to make this happen, one way or another.

I didn’t even realize I was so zoned out until a warm, familiar hand finds my thigh. My eyes snap over to Kassian, widening in surprise.

“You look like you’re about to pass out, Nix.”

“I am a little tired,” I confess softly.