Faking with Benefits

by Lily Gold

“We’re on a personal mission to fulfill as many of her fantasies as possible. She gave us a list, obviously. It’s going to be a hell of a lot easier now you’ve got your head out of your backside, let me tell you. Most of them involved a third guy. I was gonna start swiping through Tinder.”

“Hey,” Zack says indignantly. “You don’t let me tell you what to do! I told you to get on your hands and knees the other day, and you told me to make violent love to myself!” My eyes fall half-shut. “I-it’s not hot when you do it.” He’s outraged. “Excuse me? Everything is hot when I do it!” “Quit talking,” Luke orders. “Make yourself useful and eat her out.”

Bahahaha!! The narrator is so perfect here with her intonation 😂

“I don’t know what else to do,” he groans, wiping a hand over his face. “I can’t just forget her.” “You don’t have to forget someone to move on,” I say, looking at the brick wall opposite us. “When my mum died, it consumed my life. It doesn’t, anymore. Some days, I don’t think of her at all. It doesn’t mean she’s gone.”

Well. It was stupid. And after this past week without her—” he shakes his head. “I’m sick of being a coward.” I nod. “Me, too.” “Me, three,” Zack adds morosely. “Poor Layla. We romanced her half to death, then dropped her as soon as she got the balls to tell us how she felt. It’s not her fault she fell in love with three total idiots.”

“We wouldn’t normally air personal issues like this,” Josh adds. “But when you make a public mistake, I think it’s unfair to expect someone to accept a private apology.”

❤️

Zack snorts. “Layla doesn’t lead people on. She’s usually trying to make people leave her alone.”

Sounds familiar 😆

Zack stops talking immediately, his eyes going wide. He stands, and his massive knees knock his mic off the table with a clatter. He doesn’t even seem to notice, staring at me like I’m a ghost. He looks… destroyed. His eyes are swollen, and his thick beard is tangled. There’s a coffee stain on his shirt. In short, he looks like a man who’s spent the last few hours recounting the biggest trauma of his life live on air. And for what? For me?

Hehehe ☺️

My heart jumps in my chest. I reach out and take her hand. She watches, curling her fingers into mine. “I can’t promise I won’t hurt you,” I say levelly. “I’m sure I will. But I promise that when I do, it will never, ever be on purpose. And I’ll find some way to fix it. I will.”

❤️

“You can let go of me, you know,” I tell Zack, who has his arm around me like a vice as he draws patterns on my thigh with his fingertips. “Can I?” He doesn’t move. He hasn’t for the past twenty minutes. Now, I think it’s clear that we’re not experts at this whole ‘group relationships’ thing — but I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to involve some more sharing. “I won’t run away.” I try to stand, and he yanks me back down, settling me back into the crook of his arm and sighing happily. “Zack.”

🥰🥰🥰

I need to pee, for Christ’s sake.” He pats my knee. “You can do it here, I don’t mind.” “Zachary.” He heaves a massive sigh and lets me go. “Fine. I’ll miss you.”

😆

I stand and shuffle along to the other side of the sofa, plopping myself down on Josh’s lap. His arms come to wrap around me immediately, and he buries his face in my hair, breathing deep. On my left, Luke takes my hand. Zack makes an outraged noise and scoots closer on my other side. “You little liar.” “You need to learn to share. You’ve had me for ages.” I kiss Josh’s cheek. “He looked sad.”

Hahahaha

He looks awful. His hair is greasy, his suit is too big for him, and he’s still sporting a fading black eye. “Wow,” I say. “You look like crap.” I glance up at Zack. “Nice job.” Zack puffs out his chest with pride. Josh rolls his eyes.

🤣

Zack shrugs, picking up a plastic cup. “Okay, mate. Baby, do you want a lukewarm sauvignon blanc or a two-pound rosé?” “Surprise me.” “Aight.” He leans over to pick up the bottle, and then diverts his direction and kisses me hard on the mouth. I gasp against his lips. “Zack!” “I was surprising you! Sorry, wasn’t that what you meant?”

🤭😆